"Coins in Medieval Material Culture"

Proposed Sessions for the Leeds International Medieval Congress,

July 1-4, 2019

Commentators from Aristotle to Aquinas have recognized that coinage is primarily a

medium used to measure the need for or utility of other objects. But by its nature, coinage also forms a conspicuous part of a society’s material culture. While medieval coins did not carry the high-relief portraits of their ancient predecessors, they nonetheless give us direct evidence of visual and textual messages promulgated by governments. These sessions will broadly consider the extent to which coins in Latin Europe, Byzantium and Islam helped shape or were shaped by

the societies in which they circulated. Was the success of a coin dependent simply on its reliable fineness and weight or was its physical appearance a factor? Did authorities successfully employ coins as propaganda? How relevant were coin legends in a world where literacy was not widespread? Did coins successfully circulate across political or cultural boundaries? 

Please send a one‑page abstract along with a very brief curriculum vitae no later than 21 September 2018 to either:

Alan M. Stahl

Curator of Numismatics

Firestone Library RBSC

One Washington Road

Princeton NJ 08544

astahl@princeton.edu

(609) 258-9127

or

James Todesca

Department of History

Georgia Southern University

Savannah, GA 31419

jtodesca@georgiasouthern.edu

(912) 344‑2850