Coins are an essential source of primary evidence for all students of the ancient world — historians, archaeologists, and literary scholars alike. This two-week training course provides hands-on experience of working with coins, both for those new to the subject and for those who wish to further their interest.

The course offers a chronological survey of Greek coinage, beginning in the late Archaic period and continuing through the Classical into the Hellenistic period. The coinages of Greek settlements in various parts of the eastern and western Mediterranean will be studied. There will also be sessions on the analytical techniques that assist the study of coins, such as describing and cataloguing them, the importance of die studies and the information that can be derived from them, hoards and site finds, weight standards and metrology, metallurgical analysis, databases.

The course will be taught at the BSA.  In addition to lectures and seminars led by the course Directors (Prof. Keith Rutter and Dr Simon Glenn), there will be guest lectures on a variety of numismatic topics, and students will engage in personal and group work, in particular to identify coins which will be assigned to them and to present the results of their study. The course will utilise the rich range of numismatic resources in and around Athens – museums and other coin collections, archaeological sites, and libraries.

The course fee of €550 includes accommodation in shared rooms at the BSA, where self-catering facilities are available, as well as 24-hour access to the superb library, entry to all sites and museums, and BSA membership for one month. Travel to and from Greece is the sole responsibility of the course participant.

The course is limited to 10 places, and is open to students pursuing post-graduate degrees. Students are recommended to apply to their universities for financial support; a number of BSA-administered bursaries are available for students who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Further information can be obtained from the BSA website (www.bsa.ac.uk). Completed application forms and an academic reference letter should be emailed to the Assistant Director, Dr Michael Loy, ([email protected]no later than 13th March 2020.