• Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage

International audience

International audience

International audience

In difficult times for the humanities – and in particular for the antiquities – it is intended to present a reasoned note on the contribution that the study of coins brings today to historical and archaeological knowledge and on the situation, the critical points and the ways of teaching the Numismatics in Italian universities.

This is a survey of numismatic research on Punic coinage in Italy conducted in the twenty years. The Carthaginian series in Sicily, in the islands of the Strait of Sicily, in Sardinia and the Italian Peninsula date from the end of the 5th century B.C. to 211 B.C. They begin with the coins of Phoenician tradition minted by Motya, Panormos ans Solus and end with the series that circulated during Hannibal’s campaing in Italy. This review has made it possible to reexamine topics that are still open to investigation, including, in particular, the identification of Italian and island mints in relation to the monetary policy of the Carthaginian motherland.

This article aims at presenting an overview of recent research on Numismatics of Magna Graecia. It is based on a critical reading of major themes and approaches to Greek coinage trough a wide range of contextual studies. The available quantity of data is increasing daily and produces results under general models or theories, estimates or spatial analysis, covering several centuries of Greek coinages in Italy.

Medieval jettons or tessere mercantili are a class of material with still many aspects to be clarified, despite being studied since the 18th century. The lack of documentary sources and the still limited number of findings in archaeological contexts, in fact, make it difficult to reconstruct a sufficiently clear picture of the production, function and circulation of these objects, known by a great variety of types. This article presents four jettons of the series traditionally known as “Androcles and the Lion” found at the cathedral of Saint Lawrence in Grosseto (Tuscany-Italy). The place of discovery and the analysis of the associated materials provide precise chronological data about the probable period of use and the moment in which they terminated their function. The study also offers the opportunity to discuss different hypothesis related to the identification of the man with the lion.