The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage

Kevin Butcher is Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick. He is a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London and has written extensively on Roman coinage and monetary systems. Matthew Ponting is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool where he lectures on artefact studies, numismatics and the scientific examination of archaeological artefacts. He has published extensively and is a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Part I. General Introduction: 1. Roman silver coinage and monetary history; 2. Roman silver coins and monetary stability; 3. A science on the margins of numismatics: the history of metrological and metallurgical studies; 4. Metrology and hoard analysis; 5. The issues of 'fineness', of instrumental analysis and of data quality; 6. Metallography and the production of denarius blanks; 7. The material sampled; Part II. The Denarius: 8. The Julio-Claudian background; 9. The reforms of Nero, AD 64–68; 10. The Civil Wars, AD 68–69: Rome; 11. The Western denarii of the Civil Wars; 12. From Vespasian to the reform of Domitian, AD 69–82; 13. The reforms of Domitian; 14. From Nerva to the reform of Trajan, AD 96–99; 15. The denarius: summary and conclusions; Part III. Provincial Silver Coinages: 16. Cistophori of Asia; 17. Other provincial silver of Asia Minor; 18. Caesarea in Cappadocia; 19. Syria; 20. Egypt; 21. Provincial silver coinages: summary and conclusions; 22. Summary of conclusions.