Richard Abdy
Curator of Roman Coins
Coinage of the Roman Empire
Department: Coins and Medals
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8640
Email: rabdy @ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Richard Abdy helps to curate
the Museum’s collection of ancient coins, and works in particular
with the 115,000 Roman coins. Much of his time is taken up
recording and cataloguing the many Roman coin hoards discovered in
England and Wales and reported under the Treasure Act 1996.
He is interested in the
world of the Roman Emperors in general – the notable historical
events and personalities as well as evidence of daily life – and is
particularly concerned with the way such information can be
gathered from Roman coins and medals. Coins were as ubiquitous in
antiquity as they are today. Whether lost by accident or buried for
safekeeping, as offerings to the gods or in graves, their very
survival has much to say about the people of the past. Their
designs also carry the images and political messages of the
emperors and empresses.
Current British Museum projects
Editing a new, updated and revised edition of Principal Coins of
the Romans, a catalogue which includes the highlights of the
Museum’s collection of Roman coins. This information will also be
transferred to the Museum’s collections database and subsequently
become available online.
He is also preparing contributions to the Oxford Handbook of
Greek and Roman Coins (forthcoming, 2008)
Previous British Museum projects
BM exhibitions curated by Richard Abdy
include:
Public Image: Portraits on Coins &
Medals (2004)
National Treasures: Icons to mark 25 years
of the National Heritage Memorial Fund,1980–2005
(2005)
External fellowships/ honorary positions/ membership of professional bodies
Editor of CCNB (Coordinating Committee for Numismatics in
Britain) newsletter
Publications
R. Abdy, Roman Army
(BritishMuseumPocket
Dictionaries), London (BM
Press, 2008).
R. Abdy, ‘In the pay of the Emperor:
coins from the Beaurains (Arras) treasure’ in Constantine and
Britain, E. Hartley et al (eds.), (London:
Lund Humphries, 2006)
R. Abdy, ‘After Patching: imported and
recycled coinage in 5th-6th century Britain’ and ‘A catalogue of
hoards and single finds from the British Isles c. 410-680’, with G.
Williams, both in: B. Cook and G. Williams (eds.) Money and
History in the North Sea World: Essays in honour of Marion
Archibald (Leiden: Brill, 2005)
R. Abdy, Romano-British Coin Hoards
(Princes Risborough: Shire, 2002)
R. Abdy, Coin Hoards from Roman Britain
XI, with I. Leins and J. Williams (eds.), (London: Royal
Numismatic Society Special Publications 36, 2002)
R. Abdy, ‘A Survey of the Coin Finds from the Antonine Wall’ in:
Britannia, xxxiii (2002), pp. 189-217