The Heberden Coin Room houses a systematic and comprehensive collection of some three hundred thousand coins and medals with particular strengths in the fields of Greek, Roman, Celtic, Byzantine, Medieval, Islamic, Indian, and Chinese coinages. It also holds collections of paper money, tokens, jetons, and commemorative and art medals. It has an academic staff of nine and is a leading international centre for teaching and research in numismatics and monetary history.
Collections
Since its creation one hundred years ago, the Heberden Coin Room has grown to become one of the leading international coin cabinets. The original collection of 60,000 coins and medals has grown to nearly 350,000 and has become strong in the fields of Greek, Roman, Celtic, Byzantine, Medieval, Islamic, Indian, and Chinese numismatics. Far from being a single collection, the Heberden Coin Room is a rich tapestry of collections, combining the original holdings of the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum with over sixty former private and college collections. It is now the largest University coin collection in the world.
Display
The Museum includes a major Money Gallery, numismatic displays in 24 other galleries, and a Coin Study Room for visitors and numismatic teaching.
The Money Gallery features: highlights from the collection, important local finds (including hoards), displays and hands-on activities specifically designed for children, exhibitions introducing important cultures that used money,
displays exploring the nature of money, and Special Displays.
Teaching
The Coin Room enjoys a dual role as a major international cabinet and as a department of the University of Oxford. This fruitful conjunction has helped us to develop the Coin Room into a centre for the teaching of numismatics and monetary history of worldwide significance. Curators currently supervise research degrees and teach courses for those undertaking masters degrees under Classics, Byzantine Studies, Oriental Studies, History, and Archaeology, and the undergraduate degree in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. They also support the teaching of numismatics using objects by faculty members and the teaching of numismatics in other universities. Four of the curatorial staff currently hold formal lecturerships. Information about studying at the University of Oxford may be found on the University website.
Archives and Library
The departmental archives include documents relating to the collections formerly in the Bodleian and in the Colleges, as well as to the Ashmolean's own collection. They also contain material important for the history of numismatics, including the papers of a number of eminent scholars (for example Sir John Evans, Sir Edward (Stanley) Robinson, Derek Allen, J M F May, and Colin Kraay).
The Coin Library is administered by the Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library Library. The holdings of books and periodicals may be searched on Search Oxford Libraries Online.
The Library also contains extensive collections of pamphlets and auction and sales catalogues. A list of the auction catalogues is available for download in CSV and Microsoft Excel format.
The LibGuide for numismatics http://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/Numismatics by Diane Bergman provide valuable information about the Coin Library administered by the Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library.
