2017 March Enews

Hellenistic Royal Coinages Project Funded by NEH

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The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded the ANS a substantial grant to fund the web-based Hellenistic Royal Coinages (HRC) project. This three-year project (Phase 1, planned for 2017­2020) promises to radically transform the ability to identify and research Hellenistic royal coinages, and to incorporate this numismatic material into broad analyses of political, economic, and social history.

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HRC will be built around seven interlinked web-based components, employing the principles of Linked Open Data, already successfully deployed in a number of other ANS projects (including the NEH ­funded Online Coins of the Roman Empire). These include: PELLA, with a focus on the Argeads of Macedonia including Alexander the Great; Seleucid Coins Online; and Ptolemaic Coins Online. Incorporated within these three tools will be a monogram and symbols repository. Two additional tools, Greek Coin Hoards and the scanned notebooks of Edward T. Newell (d. 1941), will provide full documentation of available hoard evidence and provenance information for many individual coins. While all of the tools will be interlinked, they will also be united through the HRC portal site, which will serve as a union catalogue for global searches and as a platform for later expansion, which will focus on adding the coinages of the remaining Hellenistic dynasties (Phase 2, post­2020).

Read the full description of the Hellenistic Royal Coinages project and its significance on the Society’s blog, Pocket Change.

OCRE Update

Nearly all coins of the Roman Empire in the ANS collection have been photographed and uploaded into MANTIS. The most recent update includes images for 13,500 Roman Imperial coins, which have been incorporated into the Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE) database. In total, nearly 39,000 of the ANS’s coins in OCRE have been photographed. Across all departments in MANTIS, there are now 146,475 objects with images available, keeping pace with our goal of adding approximately 20,000 images per year. OCRE has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which faces elimination in the current budget.

Grant for NEH-Mellon Humanities Open Book Program

In other grant news today, ANS Publications has received $61,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of the joint NEH-Mellon Humanities Open Book Program. This is the second year the ANS has received funding to convert all of its monographs (pre-2010) into Open Access ebooks, which also includes linking from the text to other online global resources and authorities for people, places, events, objects, and more. By June 2018, over 200 ANS books with value-added Linked Open Data will be available for the public good, fulfilling the ANS’s mission (Bylaws Article II) to “promote and advance the study, research, and appreciation of numismatics.” ANS Director of Publications, Andrew Reinhard, and Director of Data Science, Ethan Gruber, will oversee the project.

 Fowler Lecture

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On Monday, May 1, 2017, the ANS will host the Harry W. Fowler Lecture, featuring a presentation by Phillip Wagoner, Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Wesleyan University. Prof. Wagoner’s lecture, “The Deccan as an Integrated Currency Zone: New Approaches to the Study of Peninsular Indian Coin Hoards (1347–1687),” will begin at 6:00 pm. Professor Finbarr Barry Flood will serve as his respondent.

Registration is required, and space is limited. To RSVP, email membership@numismatics.org or call (212) 571-4470, ext. 117.

“Signs of Inflation,” Money Talks Lecture

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The Society is pleased to offer another lecture in the new series Money Talks: Numismatic Conversations, “Signs of Inflation.” During this event, Dr. Gilles Bransbourg, ANS Associate Curator, will discuss how inflation translates into coinage debasement and banknotes bearing large denominations, from ancient Rome to modern Zimbabwe. Guests will have the opportunity to view and handle pertinent examples from the ANS collection.

Please RSVP for this lecture, which will take place on Saturday, May 6 at the American Numismatic Society headquarters in New York City. Lunch begins at 1:00 pm, followed by the lecture at 2:00 pm, and a Q&A at 3:00 pm. The ANS will remain open from 12 noon until 4:00 pm.

“The State Coinages of the Confederation Era, 1785–1788,” Money Talks Lecture

The June Money Talks: Numismatic Conversations will feature ANS Fellow Ray Williams, who will present “The State Coinages of the Confederation Era, 1785–1788.” The coins issued by the authority of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey will be discussed, along with the economic climate bringing them into existence, the people involved, and the minting operations. How these coins are collected by modern numismatists will be touched upon. Mr. Williams is currently Vice President of the New Jersey Numismatic Society, and past president of the Colonial Coin Collectors Club.

Please RSVP for this lecture, which will take place on Saturday, June 10, 2017, at 1:00 pm. American Numismatic Society. Lunch begins at 1:00 pm, followed by the lecture at 2:00 pm, and a Q&A at 3:00 pm. The ANS will remain open from 12 noon until 4:00 pm.

“The Art of Photographing Coins,” Money Talks Lecture

On Saturday, July 15, Alan Roche, the Society’s photographer, will present “The Art of Photographing Coins” as part of the Money Talks: Numismatic Conversations series. Mr. Roche will consider the various aspects involved in the production of high-resolution images of coins and banknotes. A hands-on photographic demonstration will be included.

Please RSVP for this lecture, which will take place on Saturday, July 15, 2017, at 1:00 pm. American Numismatic Society. Lunch begins at 1:00 pm, followed by the lecture at 2:00 pm, and a Q&A at 3:00 pm. The ANS will remain open from 12 noon until 4:00 pm.

AJN Delivery Issue

The American Journal of Numismatics, Volume 28, was mailed to members towards the end of February. Unfortunately, some publications were returned to the Society because of illegible mailing labels. Please let us know whether or not you received your copy by contacting membership@numismatics.org or (212) 571-4470 ext. 117. We apologize for any delay and thank you for your response.

New Publication to Ship in June

Coins, Artists& Tyrants

Coins, Artists, and Tyrants: Syracuse in the Time of the Peloponnesian War by Wolfgang R. Fischer-Bossert is at the printer, and will be ready to ship in June. Containing the first fully translated and revised text of Lauri O. Tudeer’s Die Tetradrachmenprägung von Syrakus in der Periode der signierenden Künstler, a biography of Tudeer, and a completely new evaluation of signed coin dies and the artists who produced them, this book is the single most important source on the subject. Includes plates, a full-color die-link chart, and pull-outs featuring Syracusan tetradrachms and hoards. Last chance to purchase at the special pre-order price of $120 (plus shipping), valid until April 1. Order online or call Catherine DiTuri at (212) 571-4470 ext. 117.

Renew your Membership

This year, the Society is offering membership renewals at a special rate: join for two years—2017 and 2018—at the 2017 rate and avoid an increase in 2018 dues! Membership benefits include the quarterly ANS Magazine, invitations to events, a discount on our new lecture series Money Talks, and a 30% discount on ANS publications. Renew online or contact the Membership Department at (212) 571-4470 ext. 117.

AIA Scholarship

The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is offering a scholarship, which may be used to fund an internship with the ANS. The competitive scholarship is available to graduate student members of the AIA and those who recently completed a master’s degree. Deadline for application is April 1. Learn more on the AIA website.

Upcoming Events

 ANS at Whitman Spring Expo

The Society will be at the Whitman Baltimore Spring Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center from March 30 until April 2, joining many in the numismatic community for the event, which offers exhibitions, lectures, auctions and an array of dealers. Please be sure to stop by our table to renew your membership, review publications, and say hello.

 ANS at University of Oxford

A Linked Open World: Alexander the Great, Transnational Heritage and the Semantic Web” is the topic of a two-day conference at the University of Oxford, where Dr. Peter van Alfen, ANS Margaret Thompson Curator, will present “The Destruction and Recreation of Monetary Zones in the Wake of Alexander’s Conquests.” Ethan Gruber, ANS Director of Digital Science, will also attend the event and will present “ANS Digital Projects: A Comprehensive Platform for the Study of Numismatics.” The event will occur at New College, Oxford, April 3–4, 2017.

ANS at Chicago Coin Expo

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Dr. Ute Wartenberg, ANS Executive Director, will be at the Chicago Coin Expo where members and the public can visit the ANS table to chat and purchase recent publications. The event, organized by the History in Your Hands Foundation, features almost 100 numismatic firms, and is being held in one of downtown Chicago’s architectural gems, the Chicago Cultural Center. Both Heritage Auctions and Gemini Auctions will be holding major auctions during the show, which takes place from April 5–9. On Friday, April 7 at 11:00 am, Dr. Wartenberg will present “Early Portraits of Alexander the Great. The Numismatic Evidence,” followed by ANS Fellow, Professor Robert Wallace, who will be speaking on “The Massive Archaic Silver Coinages of those Mysterious Thracians” at 1:00 pm. We look forward to seeing many of our members in Chicago

The Art of Devastation Exhibition

Over 115 medals and 14 posters are on display in the exhibition, “The Art of Devastation: Medals and Posters of the Great War,” a joint project between the ANS and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College. Running through April 9, 2017 at the Loeb Art Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, the exhibit is open to the public and is accompanied by a full-color catalogue with essays published jointly by the ANS and the Loeb Art Center. Purchase the publication, learn more about this exhibit, and listen to an interview from Vassar’s Library Café with Peter van Alfen and Patricia Phagan.

Showcase at ISAW

Dr. Peter van Alfen will take part in the Digital Antiquity Research Showcase at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW). His presentation, “Assembling Numismatic Data Online: Concepts, Collections, Hoards, and Statistics,” is part of the program for the Linked Ancient World Data Initiative New York (LAWDNY), taking place on April 14, 2017.

Lecture at the American University of Beirut

David Hendin, ANS Trustee and First Vice President will present “Weights, Scales, and Coinage in Ancient Times,” at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The lecture, offered by AUB’s Department of History and Archaeology, will take place on April 25, 2017.

Guided Tour at the Grolier Club

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The exhibit “Images of Value: The Artwork Behind U.S. Security Engraving, 1830s–1980s” features items from the collection of Mark Tomasko, ANS Trustee and Fellow. Situated in the Ground Floor Gallery of the Grolier Club in New York City, the exhibit runs through April 29, 2017. Mr. Tomasko will lead free public tours every Wednesday from 1:00–2:00 pm. Mr. Tomasko also graciously sponsored and led a special guided tour for ANS members that took place on Friday, March 24.

Conference in Cracow

ANS members are welcome to attend “Coinage in Imperial Space. Continuity or Change from the Acheamenid to Hellenistic Kingdoms,” a conference organized by the Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, the National Museum in Cracow and the University of Oxford. The event will take place from June 28 to July 2, 2017 in Cracow, Poland. You can find more information about the event and things to do in Cracow during your stay at www.coinageinimperialspace.org.

 Recent Events

 Lecture in Israel

David Hendin, ANS Trustee and First Vice President presented “Enduring Mysteries of Ancient Judean Coins” at the Eretz-Israel Museum, Kadman Numismatic Pavilion, in Tel-Aviv, Israel on February 13, 2017. Learn more at www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/ and http://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/116.

 Islamic Art Seminar

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Vivek Gupta, ANS Assistant Curator/Fellow of Islamic and South Asian Coins 2016–2017, hosted Professor Heather Ecker’s Islamic art seminar from Columbia University on March 3. Ecker’s students considered objects of Mediterranean exchange, particularly medieval coins from Islamic Spain with Gupta and Ecker.

“The Beginnings of Islamic Coinage,” Money Talks: Numismatic Conversations

As part of the new Money Talks: Numismatic Conversations series, Assistant Curator Vivek Gupta discussed “The Beginnings of Islamic Coinage” in the seventh century and its vast trajectories within the Arab lands and beyond. Attendees learned about the styles of Arabic calligraphy that were used on early Islamic coins and handled fine examples of the ANS’s Islamic holdings. The event took place on Saturday, March 11 at the American Numismatic Society headquarters.

 Presentation in Atlanta

Ethan Gruber, ANS Director of Data Science, was in Atlanta March 13–16 to present “Challenges in Analyzing Sensitive or Uncertain Data in a Semantic Web Environment” at the Computer Applications in Archaeology conference. The paper will be published openly in the conference proceedings later this year.

Workshop Presentation: 4th-Century Roman Reform

Dr. Gilles Bransbourg presented “Inflation, Orthodox and Not-So Orthodox Coinage Reforms in the 4th Century” on Roman coinage during the workshop, “Debasement. Manipulation of Coin Standards in Pre-Modern Monetary Systems.” The lecture, held at the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom, took place from March 24–25, and is part of their seminars and conferences.

Advertise in the Award-Winning ANS Magazine

Support the ANS by advertising in the award-winning quarterly ANS Magazine. The ad deadline for issue no. 2 of 2017 is May 2, 2017. For more information about advertising rates and specs, visit the advertising page or contact Joanne Isaac, Museum Administrator, at magazine@numismatics.org or (212) 571-4470 ext. 112.

Sponsor the ANS E-news

If you or your company would like to sponsor future issues of the ANS E-news, please contact Joanne Isaac, Museum Administrator, at (212) 571-4470 ext. 112 or isaac@numismatics.org.

 Recent Acquisitions

See what’s new at the Library!