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RACOM News & Events

Muon testing on Hellenistic and Roman Republic coins

Between Wednesday 28 November and Monday 2 November the RACOM team carried out an experiment at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire. The objective was to measure the depth of surface enrichment in late Hellenistic and Roman Republican coins of varying degrees of fineness using negative muons. The technique allows us to measure the proportions of silver and copper at different depths within the body of each coin. These coins will now be analysed using various surface and sub-surface sampling techniques to see whether these latter techniques can overcome the surface enrichment.
A look at what went on RACOM project photos
Tue 21 Jan 2025, 11:10

Coinage & Imperialism Exhibition

Silver coinage formed the backbone of state finance in Classical antiquity. The fineness and quality of a coinage is often taken by historians to be a comment on the fiscal health of the issuing state. Until recently little was known about fineness and composition. The Silver coins currently on display in the Antiquities Cabinet, on the second floor of the Faculty of Arts Building (FAB), belong to the University of Warwick's collection and most form part of the European Research Council funded, Rome and the Coinages of the Mediterranean, 200 BCE - 64 CE (RACOM) Project.

It's worth a look!

Tue 27 Aug 2024, 13:58

Measuring debasement in antiquity

Professor Kevin Butcher presented at the Third International Congress on the History of Money and Numismatics in the Mediterranean World in Antalya, Turkey 1st to 4th April 2024. The aim of the congress, limited to the Mediterranean region, was to bring together distinguished scholars working on the history of money and numismatics related to the Mediterranean world, to share original research findings, draw attention to the cultural and economic diversity that has shaped the Mediterranean from the Lydians to Islamic states, as well as highlight the monetary and economic history of Anatolia.

Congress Programme

Wed 10 Apr 2024, 16:51

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