Alexander the Great : A Linked Open World
by Collectif (Author), Simon Glenn (Editor), Frédérique Duyrat (Editor), Andrew Meadows (Editor)
Publisher: Ausonius (29 Nov. 2018)
ISBN-10: 235613235X
ISBN-13: 978-2356132352
Product Dimensions: 24 x 1.4 x 17 cm

For more information, or to order, see:
Alexander the Great : A Linked Open World(https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexander-Great-Linked-Open-World/dp/235613235X)

Numismatics is a field of study that benefits from a well-developed vocabulary for describing both its basic concepts - such as "coin", "mint", or "hoard" -and the relationships between those concepts. Such an opening sentence must come, however, with the firm qualification that the definitions of numismatic termsand the realities of their usage are not always precise and consistent within the discipline. Nonetheless, it is the case that the vocabulary numismatics hasat its disposal has been effective. By which I mean that as a centuries-old specialism, numismatics has made essential contributions to the study of theancient Mediterranean world. This observation is true at the level of large-scale historical analysis and in the discussion of the role of coins in specificeconomic environments. For their part, the papers in this volume show the contribution that the study of coins can make to scholarship on a defined historicalera, in this case the post-Alexandrian Hellenistic Kingdoms and neighbouring regions.

Clarity of language is nonetheless important and in the context of this particular chapter it is the terms "concept" and "relationship" that most needdefining. By "concept" I mean the basic intellectual building blocks that comprise the field of study. "Coin", "mint", and "hoard" are among the concepts thatwill occur most frequently here; and while it is not the case that these concepts and others are so familiar that they can always stand without furtherdiscussion, such consideration is outside the scope of this paper given their fundamental role in the discipline. By very loose analogy, I take the concept of"coin" to be as axiomatic as numbers are in mathematics. We are confident they exist, even though there are many kinds.

Relationships, for their part, connect concepts. Numismatists express the connection between coins and mints in various ways. "Issued by", "produced at",even the very short "of" are common phrases to indicate the relationship between a mint and the coins associated with it; phrases, however, that surelyhighlight the issue of variable usage raised above. For its part, "mint" is an evidently useful, though very ambiguous, concept. It can mean the city in whicha coin was struck, even if that city, by way of incorporation into a territorial state, is not necessarily the issuing authority. A more direct usage, by which"mint" is an attribute of a coin, is also common. Because this chapter is fundamentally about an aspect of digital numismatic practice, one can look towebsites of public collections as a good indication of everyday usage, wherein this last use of "mint" is usual.

For more information, see:
PELLA IN OXFORD AND PARIS (http://numismatics.org/pocketchange/oxford-pella/)
Alexander the Great. ALinked Open World, Scripta Antiqua n° 116, Ausonius, Bordeaux, 2018, 270 p. (https://www.academia.edu/38502432/Alexander_the_Great._A_Linked_Open_World
_Scripta_Antiqua_n_116_Ausonius_Bordeaux_2018_270_p)