Debasement
Manipulation of Coin Standards in Pre-Modern Monetary Systems
A Workshop at the University of Warwick, Friday 24 March – Saturday 25 March 2017
Venue: Seminar Room, Institute of Advanced Study, Millburn House, Millburn Hill Road, University of Warwick Science Park, Coventry CV4 7HS.
FRIDAY 24 MARCH 2017
9.30 Welcome and introductory remarks Kevin Butcher and Matthew Ponting
9.50 Kevin Butcher (Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick) The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage Project
10.30 am COFFEE BREAK
Session 1: Comparative studies
Chair: Bernhard Woytek
11.00 am Martin Allen (Senior Assistant Keeper, Dept of Coins and Medals, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge): Debasement in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Explanations and Theories
11.40 am Matthew Ponting (Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool): Metallurgy and debasements
13.00 pm LUNCH
Session 2: Case studies I
Chair: Marguerite Spoerri-Butcher
14.00 pm Arnaud Suspène (Professeur d’histoire ancienne, Université d’Orléans / CNRS): Civil war, gold coinage and debasement. A few case studies from the Republican period and early Empire
14.40 pm Alejandra Irigoin (Assoc Prof, LSE) Silver shockwaves in 17th century Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and beyond. The debasement of Potosi' coins in the 1630s.
15.10 COFFEE BREAK
Session 3: Explanations
Chair: Clare Rowan
15.30 pm Nick Mayhew (Emeritus Professor of Numismatics and Monetary History, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford): Was medieval sterling overvalued?
16.10 pm Colin Elliott (Assistant Professor, Dept of History, Indiana University Bloomington):Debasement and Plague in the High Roman Empire: Questions, Correlations and Problems
16.50 pm Gilles Bransbourg (Adjunct Roman Curator, American Numismatic Society): Inflation, orthodox and not-so-orthodox coinage reforms in the 4th century
SATURDAY 25 MARCH 2017
Session 4: Systems of production
Chair: Nathan Murphy
9.30 am Bernhard Woytek (Institut für Kulturgeschichte der Antike, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna): Metal and system in Roman mints: an exploration
10.10 am Alfred Hirt (Lecturer in Roman History, Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology,University of Liverpool): Sources of gold and silver in the Roman empire
10.50 am Nicola George (PhD Student, University of Liverpool) Experiments reproducing debased alloys
11.30 am COFFEE BREAK
Session 5: Case studies II
Chair: Kevin Butcher
11.40 am Thomas Faucher (Chargé de recherche, IRAMAT-Centre Ernest-Babelon)and Julien Olivier (Responsable de la collection des monnaies grecques, department des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques de la Bibliothèque nationale de France) From Owls to Eagles. Metallic composition of Egyptian coinage (5th – 1st c. BC).
12.20 am Rory Naismith (Lecturer in Medieval British History, KCL): Denarii mixti: Debasement and Rhetoric in the Early Middle Ages (5th-11th Centuries)
13.00 pm LUNCH
Session 6: Case studies III
Chair: Matthew Ponting
14.00 pm Julian Baker (Assistant Keeper of Medieval and Modern Coins, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford): The debasement of the currency in late Byzantium and in the Latin successor states, 1200-1450
14.40 pm Concluding remarks
15.30 pm Finish