BUTCHER, K. Coinage in Roman Syria. SP. 34 RNS Publication. 2004
Casebound, jacket, xii, 536 pages + 32 plates. ROYAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 34 This work examines the production, circulation and significance of coinage in northern Syria during the first three centuries of Roman control of the province. The coinages of the region share features which justify their study as a group. The book includes a catalogue of the issues produced by the thirteen cities in the region which minted coins, and of the coinage of the Kingdom of Commagene. Studies of site finds, drawn from published excavations and firsthand examination of unpublished material in the Middle East, of hoards and of countermarks highlight features of the patterns of circulation of these coinages in Syria, as well as foreign issues circulating in the region. The distribution of Syrian issues outside Syria, the longevity of coins in circulation and the effect of debasements of the silver coinage upon the circulating medium are also considered. Central to the study is the coinage of Antioch, one of the major provincial mints in the Roman Empire, whose coinage has hitherto been largely neglected. Separate sections study the metrology and denominational structure of sequences of issues, and broader surveys cover the relationship of Syrian coinage to that of other provinces and to that of Rome itself. The study considers ways in which the Syrian coinage can be used to illuminate aspects of other provincial and Roman imperial coinages, such as to what extent the Roman authorities had a consistent ?monetary? policy in the eastern provinces, and whether the coinage of Rome was viewed as a preferred currency in the east, as some scholars have suggested. The survey ends in AD 253 when coinage of a Greek type ceases in the region. (Ref: 3171)
£75
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