Originally published on August 9, 2021 (Episode 217)
Introduction
Those of us who still carry coins or cash—and I notice that I do that less and less—carry around “a pocket guide to world history and culture.” Money, writes Frank Holt, provides us with a historical record “unrivaled by papyrus, paper and parchment. Coins are perhaps the most successful information technology ever devised.” In his new book When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics, Holt briskly and whimsically explores the life of coins; the importance of coins; and how to decode the information that coins provide, as well as providing us with a history of the history of doing that.
About the Guest
Frank Lee Holt is Professor of Classical History at the University of Houston. His research emphasizes the forgotten peripheries of the classical world and the emerging methodology of cognitive numismatics—an approach to understanding how coins functioned in the minds of those who used them.
For Further Investigation
Frank Holt, When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics (OUP, 2021)
Andrew Burnett, Coinage in the Roman World
Christopher Howgego, Ancient History from Coins
British Museum’s Online Collection of Coins
Listen & Discuss
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