Ancient Civilizations Coins
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 2,000 coins from ancient civilizations. These date from 300 BC to AD 602. This collection comprises gold, electrum, silver and bronze coins from the Mediterranean and Ancient Near East. Of these, 656 are from the Roman Republic and Empire – including Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain and Syria – with examples of the coinage of emperors from Augustus (31 BC–AD 14) to Theodosius II (AD 408–450). A further 386 originate from the Ancient Greek world, the empire of Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kingdoms, including some 50 from the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Hellenistic Egypt (305–32 BC). In addition, the Burrell Collection includes 34 electrum, silver and bronze coins from cities throughout the Ancient Greek world. Smaller groups of coins include six coins from Carthage in North Africa (300–200 BC), seven coins from the Parthian Empire in ancient Iran (173 BC–AD 4 AD) and a further 30 Byzantine coins, which extend the date range in the eastern Roman Empire to Maurice Tiberius (AD 582–602). There are 740 copies. Coins survive in abundance from the ancient world and have been collected for many centuries, in part for their material value but also for their artistic merit. Analysing these coins can help us to understand the economies and political allegiances of ancient societies.
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