Coin Talk is a regular online talk hosted by the Money & Medals Network, presenting different element of numismatics from the basics to the more advanced. Each session will delve into a distinctive facet of numismatics, ranging from fundamental principles to advanced topics. Expect engaging talks lasting 30-40 minutes, with a dedicated Q&A session at the conclusion, allowing our audience to participate actively.

These enlightening talks will be recorded, forming a valuable resource for MMN members keen on expanding their knowledge of various numismatic subjects.

These talks are recorded, forming a valuable resource for MMN members keen on expanding their knowledge of various numismatic subjects.

We are delighted to invite you to a special lecture by Clive Stannard, in celebration of his being awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (HonDLitt) by the University of Warwick on the 24th of January 2025 (17:00 - 18:00), titled 'The Non-State Coinages of Minturnae and Pompeii and the Silver/Lead Mines of South-Eastern Spain in the Last Two Centuries BC'.

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'Republican Rome at no stage imposed its coinage on its allies and colonies. Before the Second Punic War (218–201) both Minturnae, a Roman maritime colony on the Latium-Campanian border, and Pompeii, a Samnite ally and maritime trader in the South of Campania, both used the bronze coins of Neapolis, which stopped coining about 225. During the war, Rome struck bronze for its armies in Spain, Italy and Sicily, including in Minturnae. After the war, all bronze was made in Rome, but production fell sharply after 146, and stopped altogether about 82.

During the first half of the second century, the huge profits of Roman conquest and of sea-borne trade drove rapid economic growth in Latium and Campania. The supply of Roman small change could not meet market needs, even in Rome itself, while the bronze coin stocks of Minturnae and Pompeii wasted away. Trading groups in both of these cities then made substantial non-state bronze coinages. No other ports did. They were therefore probably the major maritime traders of the time.

In Rome and upper Latium, a group of Romans traders exploiting the very rich silver/lead mines of south-eastern Spain – whom I call the Italo-Baetican group – struck coins with a unique set of types. They traded through the port of Minturnae, from at least the mid-second century until perhaps 50, and struck coins and lead pieces with these types, first in Minturnae, and, during the first century, in Baetica itself. These coinages, and a single official Roman issue in 137 BC, are the only information we have about this group, which also made a huge bronze issue in Italy in the 80s, probably for an army, as supporters of Sulla.

Pompeii traded in its abundant wines, with Sicily after the Second Punic War (264–241), and later with Massalia and Gaul. Its merchants also made an abundant coinage between about 160/150 and 90, which imitated the coinages of Carthage, Ebusus, Massalia and Rome. It also imported a large block of bronze small change from Ebusus, for its use.

At Minturnae, we can identify lead pieces struck by a company that traded with the silver/lead mines around Carthago Nova in the second century. During the first century, the Italo-Baetican group made a large number of coins and lead pieces at Corduba, in the Spanish interior, where the mining concentrated with the exhaustion of the coastal mines. By this stage, the mines were being run by a few large-scale companies, and the resident members of the Italo-Baetican group seem to have been part of the Corduban elite, acting for Roman investors in mining, agriculture, and probably fisheries, across Baetica.

Pompeii may have been the major Italian importer of Carthage’s flourishing agricultural trade before its destruction in 146. Pompeian coins found on l’Étang de Berre to the west of Marseille show that its merchants had an entrepôt there, where they landed wine in the late second century. The numismatic evidence, however, shows that Rome did not allow Pompeii, and probably all Campanians, to take part in the Spanish mining sector. This and perhaps its loss of its trade with Carthage, may have been factors contributing to Pompeii’s revolt against Rome in the Social War (91–87). After its defeat by Sulla in 89, the Romans seem to have taken away its wine trade with Massalia.

It is also possible to identify other groups of traders from the Pompeian coinage, some of which also worked with traders from Minturnae.'

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*These talks are hosted on Microsoft Teams.