COIN HOARDS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE RESEARCH PROJECT
About the research project
The Chalgrove Hoard
Thousands of coin hoards have been discovered throughout the geographical area that once constituted the Roman Empire. With new hoards discovered every year, there has long been a need for a comprehensive and accessible online resource to unlock their potential to enhance our understanding of the Roman economy.
The project aims to collect information about hoards of all coinages in use in the Roman Empire deposited from 30 BC to AD 518. Imperial coinage forms the main focus of the project, but Iron Age and Roman Provincial coinages in circulation within this period are also included to give a complete picture of the monetary systems of both the West and the East. The project also includes hoards of Roman coins from outside the Empire to demonstrate Rome's economic and cultural reach, and to illuminate its interaction with other peoples. The 19,000 hoards currently documented contain over 7 million coins.
The project is a joint initiative of the Ashmolean Museum and the Oxford Roman Economy Project.
Research aims
The project aims to provide the foundations for a systematic Empire-wide study of hoarding and to promote the integration of numismatic data into broader research on the Roman economy. The data are also relevant to a wide range of topics extending beyond monetary history to subjects as diverse as the study of imperial ideology and the cultural factors that influence the way coins are deposited. The project fills a gap in the digital coverage of coin hoards from antiquity. Its success depends on the efforts of our substantial body of collaborators around the world. The information gathered is being made freely available online for the benefit of the general public and the wider research community.
Project funders
The Augustus Foundation
Project start
September 2013
Project team
Professor Chris Howgego, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Professor Andrew Wilson, Oxford Roman Economy Project, University of Oxford
Dr Andrew Brown, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dr Marguerite Spoerri Butcher, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dr Cristian Gazdac, University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Research Connections
This project involves collaboration with numerous organisations, individual scholars and graduate students. A full list of partnership institutions and individuals can be found within the collaborations section of the project website.
Outputs
- Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire online resource
- Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman World (Oxford, 2022)
- Roman Coin Hoards Across Frontiers (Oxford, 2026)
- The Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project (Oxford, 2026)
