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IntroductionAn archaeologist was once heard to remark that 'Coins are only wellndated pieces of metal'. He was, of course, wrong: coins are not usuallynwell dated nor are they necessarily made of metal. But these smallntechnical points of fact aside, the drift of the comment well reflects thenplace that coin studies have occupied in the archaeological world.nCoins are perceived as dating evidence, as art objects and as a uniquenspecies of evidence that is best left to the numismatist and confined tonthe museum strongroom at the earliest possible moment. It is thenpurpose of this short book to bring to the attention of archaeologistsnand historians something of the full potential of coin evidence. Ifnnumismatic studies are to transcend the mere identification of coins itnwill be in collaboration with scholars who need the answers tonquestions which push the numismatist into areas of speculation whichnare at the very limits of inference in his specialist field. By the samentoken the optimistic misuse of coin evidence by archaeologists may bencurtailed by the reasoned understanding of the numismatist of thencomplexities of coin production, circulation and survival. In this worknI have tried to bring coin studies out of the closet and expose some ofnthe techniques of study which have been developed in the fields ofndating, economic and social studies. In doing so I have deliberatelynignored the problem of coin identification. This can be learned, bynhard work, from a pile of coins or from study in a coin collection, butnnot from the pages of a book.The emphasis throughout this work is on Roman coinage. This isnnot because this is the only area in which numismatic techniques cannbe used but because it is the author's own field of research. The samensort of work is being done in other coin series, in other periods and bynother workers. However, it is the coinage of Rome which forms thenlargest component of the archaeological record and it is the classicalnpast which occupies the attention of a very large part of thenarchaeological profession, so that emphasis on this period may not benentirely out of place. If there is a single thread within this work it is thatnthe study of processes, not things, should be the concern of the appliednnumismatist. It is a process which underlies the issue, use and loss ofncoins. The individual coin is merely the representative of a complexnseries of events. Furthermore, there can be no understanding of thenevidential value of coins in the mass without the recognition that theynare an expression of political will and economic forces. What thenarchaeologist has to deal with, as does the numismatist, is the residualnevidence for the operation of these forces filtered through thenfrequently bizarre behaviour of individuals. n n n n n n n
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