Gareth Williams

Curator of Early Medieval Coinage

Coinage of Early Medieval Britain and Europe

Department: Coins and Medals

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8257
Email: gwilliams @ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Gareth Williams has been a curator at the Museum since 1996, with responsibility for British and European coinage, c. 500-c. 1180.  Within this area he specialises in Anglo-Saxon and Viking coinage. Much of his work focuses on the use of coinage as evidence within broader historical and archaeological studies.

His wider research includes the history of the British Isles and Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages, with particular interests in different types of economy, medieval warfare and military organization and the history and archaeology of the Vikings. He also works on the history of cultural identities, with a particular focus on the changing nature of British identity.

He has strong interests in experimental archaeology, and has been actively involved in historical re-enactment for several years. Since 2002, he has also directed a collaborative research project on the history of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. www.tutburyresearch.org

Current British Museum projects

Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles: British Museum, Anglo-Saxon Coins volume 10.
This volume covers the Expanding Cross and Pointed Helmet types of Edward the Confessor (1042-66), and includes a corpus of the Expanding Cross type, and the publication of the Appledore Hoard.

Director of the Tutbury Castle Research project.
This is a collaborative project with Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire and the University of Birmingham, and covers the history and archaeology of Tutbury Castle and the surrounding area, including the Tutbury Hoard of 1831, the largest coin hoard ever discovered in Britain. The project will be complete in 2009, and forms the subject of the exhibition Ruin and rebellion: uncovering the past at TutburyCastlein Gallery 69a at the British Museum from July 9^th 2009.

Viking Warfare and Military Organisation.
This book, due for completion in 2009-2010, provides a general introduction to the history of warfare in the Viking age, together with a detailed study of the underlying systems of military organization and their broader links to Viking society.

The Vale of York Hoard and other Viking hoards in Britain and Ireland

The Vale of York hoard, found in 2007, is the most important Viking hoard found in Britain since 1840, with a mixture of coins, ingots, intact ornaments and hack-silver (silver cut up for bullion) all contained in a beautiful gilt-silver cup. A short book for the non-specialist (co-authored with Barry Ager) is planned for publication in late 2009, and the hoard will also form the focus of a more extensive research project on Viking hoards from Britain and Ireland.

Portraits in Gold and Silver

The exhibition Portraits in Gold and Silver: Coins and Medals of the Tudors and Stuarts looks at the way that coins and medals were used to present public images of English and Scottish rulers from the l480s to the 1660s.  The exhibition at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire is based around electrotype copies of objects in the British Museum collection, and opened on April 13^th, 2009.

Previous British Museum projects

World of Money CD-Rom (1998). This CD provided an interactive guide to the history of money throughout the world, and explored the nature of money as well as how it has been made, saved, and used.

Paid in Burnt Silver: Wealth and Power in the Viking Age (2000). Temporary exhibition exploring the changing nature of wealth, power and society in the Viking Age.

Coenwulf gold coin touring exhibition.
The unique gold mancus of Coenwulf of Mercia was acquired by the BM in 2006, and has featured in an extensive programme of temporary exhibitions. Venues so far include the British Museum, Norwich Castle Museum and the British Library, and the coin formed the centrepiece of the collaborative exhibition Gold, Gods and Kings: The Anglo-Saxons in Bedfordshire in Bedford Museum in 2007.

External fellowships/ honorary positions/ membership of professional bodies

Director of Research, Tutbury Castle: www.tutburycastle.com

Advisor, Tutbury Castle Trust www.tutburyresearch.org

Publications

G. Williams, Eirik Bloodaxe (Stavanger: Saga Bok, forthcoming 2009)

G. Williams, Early Anglo-Saxon Coins  (Oxford: Shire Books 2008)

G. Williams, Silver Economy in the Viking Age, edited with J. Graham-Campbell (London: UCL Press, forthcoming)

G. Williams, West Over Sea, edited with B. Ballin Smith and S. Taylor, (Leiden: Brill, forthcoming 2007)

G. Williams, Coinage and History in the North Sea World, c. 500-1250, edited with B. Cook, (Leiden: Brill, 2006)

G. Williams, Sagas, Saints and Settlements, edited with P. Bibire (Leiden: Brill, 2004)

G. Williams, World of Money CD-ROM(London: British Museum Multimedia, 1998)