International Numismatic Congress, Taormina 20-25 Sept. 2015

[Andrew McCabe]

I attach a good article about the upcoming numismatic congress, published in the Money and Medals Bulletin.

[Andrew McCabe]

I attach the schedule of speakers. I have the good fortune to be the first speaker in the Roman section on Monday morning. A half hour after the congress starts, I can break open the Nero d'Avola and relax..

[areich]

That's something that cannot be overestimated! Of course, you have the (unfair) advantage of speaking in your native language anyway.
I wish I had made the time and saved the money to go.

[Jochen]

Do you think that there is the possibilty to mention the planned German law to protect the national cultural goods?

Jochen

[Andrew McCabe]

Do you think that there is the possibilty to mention the planned German law to protect the national cultural goods?

Jochen

Contacts and influencing is done socially - the actual agenda is fully planned and packed. I vented some steam a few days on Forum that not a single Forum member other than myself has said they are attending. During that venting (letting off steam) I mentioned the general issue of MOUs and anti-collector controls as something that a large number of collectors should be directly influencing, by their presence at all the various discussions and social events at Taormina. The decision makers for numismatics are those who are actually at Taormina.

So if the German government chooses to ask the views of All of Numismatics, they'll ask the key influencers who will be at Taormina. It seems from what I asked about Taormina presence that All of Numismatics won't include collectors due to our complete absence from the event.

Essentially we have voted "Did not attend and Don't Care", and that's the vote that'll count. Not what we say on Forum.

[areich]

Can you even see us lowly collectors from your high horse, Andrew?!?

[Andrew McCabe]

Can you even see us lowly collectors from your high horse, Andrew?!?

What's your point? I'm talking about collectors such as yourself who have the highest standing in numismatics. Indeed I am annoyed that a great many very expert collectors, quite a few of whom make significant contributions to numismatics, won't be there. Jochen has written books. Nick is writing a book. I could think of two dozen Collector-Experts on Forum who have written far more than I will ever write, and probably another 50 who have written numismatic articles of some standing, perhaps for The Celator perhaps for an Italian journal or the Numismatic Chronicle perhaps for high level archaeological book such as The Journal of Hellenic Studies. These are also collectors. And are Forum members and contributors. We are the collectors who need to be influencing events. And my tone on this is annoying, it's with the intent of knocking collectors out of complacency. If we don't make our voices matter, then others, who are influential in policy, will stop us collecting.

I do know of coin dealers who will be there. I think Victor England is encouraging many of his staff to attend, as he did in previous INC conferences. And I'm aware of other dealers attending. Which is good!

[curtislclay]

Most of one's time at congresses is spent listening to papers; but these will be published in a year or two, so no real need to attend. And for most of us the many papers in foreign languages will probably be much easier to comprehend in printed form!

I haven't attended the international congresses since London 1986; I figured my time and money will be better spent visiting museums to collect material for my various projects.

I don't think personal discussions at international conferences are going to help collectors and numismatists to fight off the "provenance is essential" archaeologists and the governments intent on acquiring all artifacts dug up or found within their borders.

[Andrew McCabe]

Most of one's time at congresses is spent listening to papers; but these will be published in a year or two, so no real need to attend. And for most of us the many papers in foreign languages will probably be much easier to comprehend in printed form!

I haven't attended the international congresses since London 1986; I figured my time and money will be better spend visiting museums to collect material for my various projects.

I don't think personal discussions at international conferences are going to help collectors and numismatists to fight off the "provenance is essential" archaeologists and the governments intent on acquiring all artifacts dug up or found within their borders.

This is a well thought out comment, and appreciated.

My own experience differs though. I've attended typically one or two significant numismatic conferences each year going back to the last INC at Glasgow, which I did attend. I missed the 2003 Madrid conference despite the siren calls of those more knowledgeable than me who said I really should attend.

My experience of most conferences I've been to is that a fair bit of time is spent in influencing and quasi political discussions. Yes this is break time and dinners and excursions, but matters such as funding for research, and roles and who gets to do what and such like are often what's talked about. It may have changed since the 1980s but most researchers are as concerned about these sorts of things as on die studies and hoard reports.

[carthago]

I would have had no idea that this event was a lobbying opportunity.  How utterly depressing.

My day today has been spent almost exclusively discussing virtually unsolvable business problems associated with government mandates and compliance edicts that are crushing my business and industry.  Now I get to enjoy those threats in my hobby.  I really don't have words for it.

I've done my share of lobbying during my career, and after years of giving it my best shot, I've decided it's a waste of time and money.  There are only so many battles I can fight.  I'm tired.  And discouraged.

I wish you the best.  Taormina is a beautiful place.

[Enodia]

Can you even see us lowly collectors from your high horse, Andrew?!?

oh get with it areich! the realities of families, job restrictions, personal finances, prior committments, etc be damned. someone's hobby is being jeopardized!

hey, i am as concerned about these issues as anyone, but this "let them eat cake" attitude is a bit much, imo.

~ Peter

[Andrew McCabe]

The abstracts for the International Numismatic Congress have just been uploaded. Here they are, as a single PDF

http://www.xvcin.unime.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ABSTRACTS-of-papers-posters-and-Round-Tables-2.pdf

I read through and marked which talks particularly interested me. Some in areas that I know absolutely nothing about (Free bronze currency in Han China, post-war banknote design in Eastern Europe, the significance of the Crab on ancient Greek coinage), and others in areas close to or right in my street. I marked 66 (out of 400+) and will now work up a schedule to bounce me between the 8 simultaneous conference rooms, and the 'poster' sessions area. OK 66 talks isn't going to happen except through a scheduling miracle, but choosing from the menu will be fun.

[Andrew McCabe]

The abstracts for the International Numismatic Congress have just been uploaded. Here they are, as a single PDF

http://www.xvcin.unime.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ABSTRACTS-of-papers-posters-and-Round-Tables-2.pdf

I read through and marked which talks particularly interested me. Some in areas that I know absolutely nothing about (Free bronze currency in Han China, post-war banknote design in Eastern Europe, the significance of the Crab on ancient Greek coinage), and others in areas close to or right in my street. I marked 66 (out of 400+) and will now work up a schedule to bounce me between the 8 simultaneous conference rooms, and the 'poster' sessions area. OK 66 talks isn't going to happen except through a scheduling miracle, but choosing from the menu will be fun.

I guess few will have downloaded this list of abstracts, perhaps partly based on the tone of the discussion above it, but I'll soldier on in attempting to generate interest in this event: From the list of abstracts I've made my own selection of those talks I'm likely to attend, 35 in all - out of 400 odd talks - this ratio being inevitable given there are 9 parallel conference rooms.

Here's my personal list. There are additionally at least a dozen big regrets as I can't be in two places at once. The list is in chronological order, so I won't have to wait long before hitting the red wine.

Travaini: Mints as Volcanoes: Fire and Technology
McCabe: Roman Struck Bronze Coinage in South East Italy during the Second Punic War
Barbato: Roman Republican coins from modern excavations of the Largo Argentina (Rome)
Bransbourg: The Currency Rates of the Roman Republic
Ripolles: Unofficial Roman Republican asses struck in Spain
Martin: Strangers in Rome? ‘Foreign’ deities and the numismatic evidence
D’Angelo: Un lingotto con il segno del “ramo secco” dalla Pinacoteca Civica di Ascoli Piceno
Frey Kupper: Historia Numorum, Sicily and Adjacent Islands
Hoge: Dispersion and Denouement of the Archer Milton Huntington Collection
Katz: Muttonis Mutunus: Q. Titius and the Case of the Obverse Head (RRC 341/1)
Hollstein: Zum Prägeort des Sicinius/Coponius- Denars (RRC 444)
Kousoulos: Unbearded Hercules on the coins of the Sicilian cities in the late 5th c. BC
Moreno Pulido: Influencias sículo púnicas en la amonedación del Fretum Gaditanum
Arnold Biucchi: The meaning of the crab on ancient Greek coins and its relation to ancient medicine
Berthold: The Horses of Maroneia
Tekin: Pegasus or Hippalectryon: a creature on the coins of Mysia and Troas
Wolf (Ulrike): Expressing power relations in the Western Mediterranean 5th to the 1st centuries BCE through coin iconography
Evans: What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Date of the Opening of the Civic Mint in Sardis
Kourempanas: The bronze coinage of the roman quaestors of Macedonia
Lannin: Transitional Obverse Die Linkages in Seleucid Coinage
Vogt: To whom belong the coins? Jewish coin collections, the Third Reich and museums of today
Stahl: The Antioch Excavation Coins Re-excavated
Zapolska: Late Roman Deposits as a Perceptible Sign of Elusive Goldsmiths
Jankowski: Para-numismatics - Do all the coin related items deserve to be kept in a coin room?  
Von Heijne: Spatial analysis as method for studying anonymous medieval coin
Parisot: Ancient silver coinages between the Rhone and Po rivers: new data from elemental analyses
Ponting: The metallurgy of Roman silver coinage: Augustus to Commodus
Pafford: Coins from the Morgantina Thesauros – Reconsidered
Ilkic: South-Liburnian pre-imperial numismatic finds from southern Italy and Sicily
Bracey: How rapid was ancient coin production? The contribution of die studies
Guney: The Roman Monetary Economy in Bithynia during the second half of the first century BC
Chowaniec: The history of ancient town Akrai/Acrae, south-eastern Sicily, in the light of new numismatic finds
Gargano: Problemi e spunti dai rinvenimenti di monete negli scavi archeologici a Vibo Valentia  
Birch: Coinage and development of bullion sources across the Western Mediterranean from the 5th to the 1st centuries BCE
Constantin: Information on silver and gold Dacian “Koson” coins based on alloys composition
Hobbs: Silver plate as elite currency in the late Roman Empire

Others will have their own, no doubt totally different, lists. Still, this is what I thought of as interesting. There's also a number of round table events - extended open discussions with some pre-programmed input. I may drop by, in my experience such discussions often prove more compelling than their agendas would suggest.

Andrew

[Carausius]

I had downloaded  the full list, and I found it pretty overwhelming!  Kudos to you for whittling-down from 400 to 35.  Your short list looks like an interesting program.  Enjoy!

[Andrew McCabe]

I had downloaded  the full list, and I found it pretty overwhelming!  Kudos to you for whittling-down from 400 to 35.  Your short list looks like an interesting program.  Enjoy!

It's up to 40 ish now. I'm continuing to mess with my agenda:

I've kicked out the following

Ponting: The metallurgy of Roman silver coinage: Augustus to Commodes (I'll just look at the book instead)
Bracey: How rapid was ancient coin production (very interesting but Murgan's same-time talk trumps it)
Guney: Roman Monetary economy in Bithynia 1st century BC (also interesting but opted for Spagnoli's follow-on from Murgan on lead money tokens in Ostia)
Berthoud: The horses of Maroneia (attractive, but Kleeberg on the Mexican bar scandal trumps it)

I've added in:

Murgan: Pre-monetary objects in Italy and Sicily, lumps and bars
Spagnoli: Piombi monetiformi da Ostia e Porto
Thompson: Petty's Quantuluncunque concerning Money
Tonisch: Prices, wages and values in the Roman Empire
Makeler: Money production as a lifestyle
Friedman: Free coinage in early imperial China
Kleeberg: The forgeries of western US and Mexican gold bars by John Ford and Paul Franklin
Carbone: Semissi pestani a Pompei: dati sulla circolazione
Jellonek: Dynastic propaganda of Caligula- imperial patterns and provincial answers
Parisot-Sillon: Ancient silver coinages between the Rhone and Po rivers

I've no expectation of achieving anywhere near 40 talks, but it's as well to have the menu planned. I can always skip courses. Also, there's a Poster area and I've all half dozen also listed for review in my "free time" (hahaha)

I'm like a kid let loose in a sweet shop!

[Bonus Eventus]

I will be in Taormina for the Congress. Your lecture will be the first of my agenda, which is still under construction. I will be happy to meet you in person. This is my first time to a Numismatic Congress and I am very excited  
Fabio

[Andrew McCabe]

I will be in Taormina for the Congress. Your lecture will be the first of my agenda, which is still under construction. I will be happy to meet you in person. This is my first time to a Numismatic Congress and I am very excited  
Fabio

Great! Make sure to come talk with me sometime during the week! It's very exciting for me too. I wish there were more short breaks in the schedules, so people could meet easier during breaktimes, but the agenda is very busy.

[Andrew McCabe]

I'm going to try my hand at tweeting the XV International Numismatic Congress as I go. I'm @AMcCabeCoins and I'll build in #XVINC to tweets. Just setting up now.

[Jschulze]

Following. Looking forward to your posts. ive rarely used my Twitter account for more than bouncing photos onto since signing up in 2008... So this will be a social media and numismatic education! Thanks for your willingness to share!

Josh

[Andrew McCabe]

I've also uploaded my own, probably aspirational, agenda for Taormina on academia. It's likely a hopeless task to actually fulfill this agenda, but perhaps I'll drink lots of water and go to bed early and stay fit for a series of 40 lectures and 10 posters. Here it is

https://www.academia.edu/15713189/Andrew_McCabe_conference_agenda_for_Taormina_International_Numismatic_Congress

(you'll need to be registered and logged into academia to see)

Andrew

[Carausius]

I've never attended an academic, numismatic conference.  To me a "poster" is something I hang on a wall. Clearly, in this context, it means something different.  What is a poster at such a conference?

[Andrew McCabe]

I've never attended an academic, numismatic conference.  To me a "poster" is something I hang on a wall. Clearly, in this context, it means something different.  What is a poster at such a conference?

It's a poster you hang on a wall, which is usually a printout of a series of slides, for example it might be two slides wide and three deep so that the content can comfortably be read at one meter distance. The format allows for more complex diagrams than would be suitable in a lecture, but fewer of them. It's more suitable to providing information (e.g. describing a hoard content) rather than making interpretive judgments that need explanation (e.g. redating a coin series). Facts. Often there'll be attached a box of flyers, scripts or business cards, and usually the 'owner' of the poster will be on hand during break times to talk through its content. There may be an agenda saying "I'm here at these times". Typically they are arranged in booths in open foyer areas that one walks by several times per day. So there's an argument that a poster will attract more discussions and footfalls than a fixed-time presentation.

I'm very used to the process at business conferences. It's an efficient way to get the attention of business leaders in those awkward periods between close of talks and start of cocktails. Or even during cocktails. Usually in my old organization (Shell) the CEO and board retreat-days were accompanied by a well organized army of poster presenters who would set up in a foyer. When the Great Leaders would emerge from serious considerations, there would be informal time for you to pitch new business or technical ideas to them, typically in 5 minute bursts, with rotations between poster sessions sometimes even managed via time whistles. In this way those Key People get exposure to a dozen new ideas in what's otherwise dead intervals, when they are by then too tired to deal with serious decision making. Then they head to dinner, during which the poster presenters pack up their paperwork.

It's a process that's suitable for large events, where all sorts of schedule constraints means there is a real struggle to match idea-generators with opinion-formers. Certainly it's appropriate for Taormina 2015, but might not be used again at a numismatic event before Warsaw 2021.

[Carausius]

   Thanks for the informative poster post.  Now I understand. While moving from one formal presentation to another, you can engage in an informal discussion/presentation/vetting with a poster. That does sound exhausting, but fun.  At the conferences I've attended, it is typically vendors that clog the hallways with book and software offerings, not informal speakers.

[Andrew McCabe]

On 5th September 2009 I reviewed my attendance at the International Numismatic Congress in Glasgow, here on Forum:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=56067.0
 
The review remains pretty fresh to me and has a lot of pretty interesting numismatic content. I made essentially the same points then as I did at the start of this thread regarding the long intervals between and the importance of these congresses. But maybe I did it more sensitively! I also briefly commented on the heavyweight proceedings publication here
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=80486.0

For those not wanting to click, below is the text from 2009. Interestingly, every link still work though in the case of the Hunterian links some go to a generic Hunterian webpage which is still pretty interesting


I spent all this week at the International Numismatic Congress in Glasgow. It is a once in six year event, the last being in Madrid 2003, so I think it worth a few comments. Here are a few photos from my mobile phone to give a flavour. Whilst Glasgow may look (and I think is) rather bleak, the conference as an event was probably the most interesting week in numismatics I spent in my entire life.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/sets/72157622123955989/detail/

The full agenda of the conference can be found on the INC Glasgow 2009 website.
http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/inc-congress/programme.htm

As there were some 500 papers presented – averaging approximately one paper presented per delegate – no-one could review the entire congress, so my focus was naturally on the Roman Republican papers. I attended perhaps 30 lectures spread over ten or so 90 minute sessions. The quality of the lectures and related papers varied. Those by eminent numismatists were generally excellent, thought-provoking with new information decisively and clearly presented. Bernhard Woytek, Clive Stannard, Wilhelm Hollstein, Frank Berger, Jane de-Rose Evans, Vincent Genevieve, Sam Moorhead and Samuele Ranucci gave some of the best lectures for me. It is difficult to choose between them but, just as an example, I liked the clear research on site finds and local collections by Vincent Genevieve to determine the mint location of the Octavian prow denarius with ram’s head. The coin type:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3538138793/

And a sample of the presentation:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3888473747/

The systematic manner in which Frank Berger approached location finds to prove decisively the location of the Teutoburg forest battle in AD9 was a great example of how well-applied numismatic technique can answer questions that historians and archaeologists have failed at. Frank demonstrated that the exact mix and volume of coins together with related artefacts such as gambling tokens
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889276098/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889266372/

provided a closely bracketed date in the range 7-11AD for the site he proposed, whereas sites proposed by others fail on the numismatic evidence with coins that are either too late or too early. Many other presentations by eminent numismatists were also case studies in clarity. That the presentations were often in German, Spanish or Italian did not matter if the material was clearly presented and the speaker guided us through it slowly with the aid of visual information.

I took the opportunity to ask a question or two at many of the presentations and this was a perfect opportunity to make the acquaintance of numismatists whom I previously only knew through their books. With 30 minute breaks between each session there was ample time for follow-up questions. This in turn led to the exchange of cards, offers of further communication, and introductions to yet more people. Many of the speakers are museum curators, and it was a great opportunity for me to ask to visit their coins cabinets for the purpose of one or other research project that I have in mind. Michel Amandry for example extended an invite to visit the Bibliotheque Nationale, which contains the best, without exception, collection of Roman Republican bronzes in existences. What I liked so much of the atmosphere was that these numismatists in person proved so approachable, not at all the distant experts one might imagine.

On a related subject, several archaeologists and numismatists, once they realised I was a collector as well as a numismatic student, asked keenly of my collecting interests and focus and study areas. I felt none of the bad vibes one sometime reads about. Quite the reverse. The general sense was that serious collectors are essential for the assembly of coherent study groups of material, to work on detailed studies that curators do not have time for, for example die studies, and to provide a nucleus of interest in ancient history and archaeology amongst non-academics that will benefit historians and archaeologists as a whole. Amongst the 600 or so delegates were many pure historians and archaeologists (i.e. not numismatists per-se) and even amongst those there was a consistent view that systematic collecting of coins, for study, can only be a good thing.

This brings me to another topic, the presentations given by non-numismatists. I would classify those in three bands.

Firstly the INC sponsored 40 young students at 600 euros each to come to the conference. Many also presented papers. These often contained interesting material but sometimes had inevitable weaknesses that stem from lack of experience. The presenters were simply not old enough to have read widely enough, nor to have made the judgement calls as to what published material was valuable and what should be ignored. But there was passion in the presentations, most which contained points of interest, and all who spoke will make fine historians, numismatists or archaeologists.

Secondly, many papers were presented by archaeologists. These were usually quite excellent, with material properly analysed and conclusions properly drawn. Sam Moorhead of the British Museum for example presented on finds of individual Roman Republican coins under the Portable Antiquities Scheme, as compared with presence of Republican coins in hoard finds. He found a very consistent and mirrored pattern – the individual coins presented the same histograms as the hoards – with one specific exception there being a statistically significant peak of individual finds as against hoard data in the 120-110BC period. In the post presentation discussion I suggested that perhaps this was associated with coins struck in Gaul in that decade i.e. Crawford 282 from Narbo, in combination with the defeats suffered by the Romans from 109BC by the Cimbri in Gaul, which would have left a lot of coins as battle spoils.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3351939634/

In other words, perhaps the peak of coins from 120-110BC as individual finds related to coins that filtered through Gaul to Britain at that time, and not post-Claudian coin arrivals which would be as represented in hoards. This is a great example of how archaeologists and numismatists can improve our understanding of the ancient world when they work together.

A third tranche of papers were presented by historians. These were on balance disappointing as in several cases the historians did not appreciate some fundamental numismatic matters. For example one claimed that the presence of a counter-stamp Delta Upsilon on a Cistophorus of Mark Antony was a mint mark of a city name and that these coins were minted, with counter-stamp, prior to coins without mintmark. Any numismatist would know that one does not mint a coin and then on the same day apply a counter-stamp with mintmark to the same coin rather than simply engraving it on the die.

Moving off serious numismatics, there were many social activities during the week, notably the two receptions hosted by the Lord Provost (Mayor) at the Kelvingrove museum, and by the Royal and British Numismatic societies at the Hunterian museum.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889266962/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889267172/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3888476341/

These gave an opportunity to mingle with numismatists, historians and archaeologists of all interests, and one could tour the museums at the same time, so being rather efficient in our use of time in what was a very busy week! The Hunterian is of course famous for its coin cabinet, but I was rather disappointed by the publicly displayed coins, which were merely a small set of trophy coins, rather dumbed down.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889271578/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889267834/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3889270258/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3888477821/

The little you see above is just about the entire display. Despite the underlying collections being of similar quality, the display was as nothing compared to the quality and interest of the coins integrated into the British Museum, about which I talked about a couple of weeks back
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=55685.0

Several trips to distilleries, lochs and glens, and the Antonine wall were also organised. As I have lived before in Scotland I opted out of these and went instead to the Burrell Collection, another gem of a museum, primarily Mediaeval, but with at least one nice ancient artefact!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/3888479065/

The collected papers from the congress will be published some time in 2010 and the next congress will be in 2015. Based on the quality of papers from the Madrid conference, the proceedings should be well worth having. Hopefully, as with Madrid, they will be subsidised and cheap.

Should anyone have any questions on specific papers in the Roman Republican world I will be happy to answer them.



The next congress will be in Warsaw in 2021. So it won't come as a surprise.

[Andrew McCabe]

Just a bump on this:

I've started a twitter feed that's dedicated to the conference and I've been uploading preparation related info in the last two days. My account

https://twitter.com/AMcCabeCoins

During the conference itself I don't intend to post on Forum. It's going to be too busy and fast moving, and I'll be working off my mobile which is fine for Forum posts when I've time to carefully edit, but I won't have time. The twitter feed will stand in its place, and will also take the place of the post-conferenced feedback that I wrote in 2009 (as I don't want to duplicate effort). Depending how things work I'll be on it a few or maybe many times a day with photos of our most famous (!) numismatists, conference scenes, Greek temples, and commentary on what's happening and what's great and what's nonsense (well, maybe I'll just say nothing about those). All this depends of course on reliable internet connections but as I've an unlimited international roaming setup that includes Italy, I'm hopeful.

Andrew