Maria Vrij Search the coin collection online The Barber coin collection is now searchable online! You can now search over 11,000 items in the coin collection online at mimsy.bham.ac.uk. The chart below shows the percentage of the collection currently available online by category, listed by volume of coins online. Click here for a guide to getting the … Read more
Roman Egypt Ptolemaic Egypt was gradually absorbed into the Roman Empire between the days of the First Triumvirate in Rome and the change in rule from Ptolemy XIII to his sister-wife Cleopatra VII in Egypt, in 47 BCE, and the suicides of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE. This was related to the … Read more
Late Roman Coins Coins from between the end of the house of Constantine – with the death of Julian in 363 – and the reforms of Anastasius I (491-518) are, in the Barber’s collection, considered as a separate and ‘Late Roman’. The century sees the continued shift from the importance of the silver to the … Read more
Coins from the Roman Empire Coins from the demise of Marc Antony in 31 BC, leaving Octavian as sole military dictator (imperator) and later acclaimed as Augustus (by which name he is better known), are counted as Roman imperial, rather than republican. This is the case for all Roman issues until the reforms of Anastasius … Read more
The “Empire” of Trebizond As Anatolia became increasingly under Turkish rule during the eleventh century, the city of Trebizond (modern Trabzon in the North East of modern Turkey) and its environs became like a Byzantine islet, albeit a rebellious one. Initially under the domination of the Gabras family, Trebizond began striking its own coins at the … Read more
The Emperor’s New Nose | Coin from the Collection In 695, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II, son of Constantine IV (668-685), grandson of Constans II (641-668), great grandson of Constantine III (641) and great great grandson of the dynasty’s founder, Herakleios (610-641), was violently deposed. To prevent him returning to power, his tongue was slit, … Read more
New to Numismatics? An introduction to Numismatics, the study of coins, and the Barber’s own extensive coin collection. ‘Numismatics – not money in your pocket, spotting the 1869 penny or the 1953 sixpence – it is the story of civilised society who finds it difficult to do without, in order to give work for bread … Read more