Hello everyone,
This is first and foremost a request for ideas and advice focused on how we might best convey new discoveries and insights regarding this hobby we love. If you have a background in marketing/ communications; if you have experience with or contacts at organizations focused on ancient
numismatics (journals, associations, societies, universities, etc); or if you have ideas regarding these topics - I covet your thoughts.
Over the past 5 years, I have spent countless hours studying Byzantine bronze coins. My initial focus was the
anonymous folles, but that has expanded into all bronze coins from
Anastasius I to the coinage reform of
Alexius I in 1092. I have made many discoveries and want to communicate them broadly but am at a loss for how to do so in an effective way that doesn’t take too much time. I have considered journal articles and periodicals, but I am a slow writer, and the process is rigorous (my first peer-reviewed numismatic article has been accepted for publication will end up taking more than 1.5 years from submittal to publication). I am much more comfortable speaking, and I know many people today consume content via videos, but I don’t know how to do this in an effective way either. There can also be value throwing things out to the crowd for comment/ consideration (much like the
Forum Discussion boards), but then what? If a great discovery is made or confirmed here, how does that get communicated more broadly? How does it stick?
I want to get this stuff out of my
head so it doesn’t get lost. I also feel that how we communicate needs to keep up with the times, so we don’t lose the next generation. I’m afraid how ancient coin information is conveyed has become, well, ancient.
Ideally, we would have a single source of truth where we could take new discoveries and also find all the latest known
types, varieties, etc for every coin in a series that have all been confirmed by an expert. Given the rapid pace of discovery and change, I believe modern coin guides should be online so they can be 1) updated regularly as new discoveries emerge, 2) accessible from anywhere, and 3) viewed in any language via resources that can translate web pages into any language.
One example of this is the page on
United States Morgan Silver Dollars, called VAM World (VAMs are to
Morgan Dollars as varieties are to
ancient coins – there is the main
type, such as SB 494, and there are varieties, such as
MIB 65Da, 65Db, 66D, N66Da and 67D). VAM World provides educational information, lists of VAMs, how to identify each VAM, photos, a
discussion board, and a means to have new VAMs considered by an expert and added to the list.
Of course, the time and cost to create this would be tremendous, and I’m not aware of sponsorship available to create something like this. This is why I am throwing this out to you all for advice.
Here are some examples of content I wish to share:
1. Bronze coins from the Byzantine Anonymous Era
• Varieties. Apparently unpublished varieties of Anonymous Classes A1, A2, B (beyond
Zervos), C, D, E, F, H and I plus the
signed folles of
Romanus IV and
Michael VII• Relative
rarity of all
types based on more than 60,000 documented examples from excavations, museum holdings, private
collections, etc.
• Mints. Not all
types were made in
Constantinople. For example, my first scholarly paper proves that Classes E and F were minted exclusively in
Thessalonica.
• Dates of issue. The dates we today were guesses by scholars based on limited data from the 50’s and 60’s. Adjustments are needed, especially for Classes B, C, D, E, F, and I.
• Corrections to the Classes. DO Classes L, M and N need to be eliminated (not official issues), a new class needs to be added (discovered in Amorium excavations, but several more have come to the market lately), and one class is out of order (probably my next scholarly paper).
2. Bronze coins from
Anastasius I to the Anonymous Era that are apparently unpublished (hundreds):
• New
types• New varieties
• Reginal years
•
Officina• Date forms
If you have read this far, thank you.
Thoughts or ideas?
Kevin