This page tells you where to find the main print catalogues and online databases used to find and research Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins, and explains how they relate to each other.
For guidance on how to cite coins in your essays, see the CLAS Style Guide: How to Cite a Greek or Roman Coin. It has a decision tree that will guide you to the right citation format.
Where a stable print catalogue number exists, use it as the primary reference, and cross-reference online database records where possible (online databases come and go). If the source where you found the coin is online-only, use the database reference and a stable URI with access date.
The main resources you need to search for, and research, individual coins
| Dedicated print catalogue / collection | Dedicated online equivalent | |
| GREEK COINAGE | ||
| SNG | Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum Illustrated catalogues of Greek coins in public and private collections in the British Isles. Covers all ancient Mediterranean civilisations except Rome, though it includes Roman provincial (“Greek Imperial”) coinage. |
SNG Online |
| HN³ | Historia Numorum, 3rd ed. The standard typology for Greek civic coinage. The superscript edition number is essential to include in citations – coin numbering changed between editions. |
No dedicated online equivalent exists for the full typology, but two partial options complement each other:
MANTIS (see below) contains ANS-held coins catalogued with HN references and is useful, but covers only what the ANS physically holds rather than the full typological range.
IRIS — Online Greek Coinage
Iris is designed to address Greek coinage not covered by existing online databases. It focuses on the ancient world from Spain around the Mediterranean and Black Sea to North Africa and the territories of Alexander’s conquests. (Coverage is still developing.) It has a good search engine and maps interface. |
| CPE | Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire The standard catalogue of Ptolemaic dynasty coinage, by Catharine C. Lorber. |
Ptolemaic Coins Online (PCO) Provides wide online access to the print volumes. Provided by the American Numismatic Society under the numismatics.org domain. |
| Coin hoards | An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards (IGCH) Thompson, M., Mørkholm, O., and Kraay, C.M. (eds.). American Numismatic Society, 1973. The standard catalogue of Greek coin hoards, covering the advent of coinage in sixth-century Asia Minor to the end of the Hellenistic period (c. 30 BC). Note that the records vary in completeness: many are summary accounts rather than full inventories of hoard contents. |
CoinHoards The online database equivalent of IGCH. Although no post-1973 coin hoards have been added, those in the book have been enriched with extra data, so it supports searching, mapping, and hoard analysis. Coin distribution data is indicative rather than definitive, because of the variable amounts of information the book holds about each hoard. |
| ROMAN REPUBLICAN COINAGE | ||
| RRC | Roman Republican Coinage Crawford, Michael H. Cambridge University Press, 1974. 2 vols. The standard catalogue for Republican coinage from the early 3rd century BC to the Battle of Actium (31 BC). Vol. I is the catalogue; vol. II contains interpretative notes and specialist guidance. It covers coins struck by the Roman state only, so it does not include non-Roman issuers in Italy. Library classmark: CJ 909 V.2. Also available online via Kent library. Note: RRC contains only a small selection of images. You have to use CRRO to view photographs alongside catalogue numbers. All Republican coins are cited by their RRC/Crawford number. |
CRRO – Coinage of the Roman Republic Online Scroll down to find CRRO, and use it to look up RRC reference numbers and view coin images. |
| Coin hoards | There is no standard print book for Roman Republican coin hoards, but there is an excellent online database. | Coin Hoards of the Roman Republic Online Database covering Republican hoards mainly from 155 BC to AD 2. |
| ROMAN IMPERIAL COINAGE | ||
| RIC | Roman Imperial Coinage The standard reference for Imperial coinage. The superscript edition number in your citation is critical, as numbering has changed between editions (e.g. RIC I²). Note: for coins of Constantine I onwards, reference numbers are mint-specific; for these later dates, always include the mint in your citation. |
OCRE – Online Coins of the Roman Empire Joint project of the ANS and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU. Scroll down to find OCRE, and use it to cross-reference RIC numbers and view coin images. |
| Coin Hoards | There is no standard print book for Roman Imperial coin hoards, but there is an excellent online database. | Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Online A very rich and interesting online database of Imperial coin hoards from Oxford, including great mapping tools. One of the most rewarding online sources to browse and explore. |
| British Museum collection | British Museum Catalogue of Coins of the Roman Empire (BMCRE) A detailed print catalogue of Imperial coins held by the British Museum, published in multiple volumes. A useful supplement to RIC. |
British Museum Collection Online This link takes you to the BM’s general online collection database, which is broader than BMCRE. It includes the relevant coins with images and persistent URIs, and can be searched by BMCRE number. |
| Late Roman coinage | Late Roman Bronze Coinage (LRBC) Standard reference for late Roman bronze coinage. |
No dedicated online equivalent exists. MANTIS (see below) may contain some of these coins. |
| ROMAN PROVINCIAL COINAGE | ||
| RPC | Roman Provincial Coinage Authoritative account of coins minted in the provinces of the Roman Empire. |
Roman Provincial Coinage Online The online version is regularly updated with new material. |
| BYZANTINE COINAGE AND SEALS | ||
| DOC | Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Byzantine coins) Catalogue of the 12,000 Byzantine coins held at Dumbarton Oaks. |
Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Coins Online |
| Lead seals | Byzantine seals Dumbarton Oaks holds 17,000 Byzantine lead seals. |
Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Seals Online Ongoing project to record and publish the collection. |
ANS MANTIS and Numismatics.org – one site, many databases
Most databases in the table above – CRRO, OCRE, PCO, RPC Online – are typological databases: systematic digitisations of a specific print catalogue, covering every coin type in a dedicated catalogue. Use them to identify a coin type and find its catalogue number.
ANS MANTIS is different. It is the American Numismatic Society’s own object database – a museum inventory of the 600,000+ physical objects the Society holds in New York. It carries richer data on individual coins (photographs, provenance, condition), but covers only what the ANS owns, not the full typological range.
Where a typological database has been given in the final column above, that’s the best place to start. For Greek coins, there is a gap. IRIS (for Greek typology) or MANTIS (for physical specimens held by the ANS) are the most useful supplements. IRIS is designed to cover the territories that others do not.
There is a further opportunity for confusion, to be cleared up here: MANTIS, CRRO, OCRE, and PCO all live under numismatics.org because all are hosted or co-published by the ANS. They are distinct databases, but they share an infrastructure. Two practical consequences of this:
— if you are searching MANTIS, you are not at the same time searching CRRO, OCRE etc (and vice-versa)
— in citations, the website name you give should be the database (e.g. OCRE, CRRO), not its domain, nor the ANS, just as you would cite a book by its title (not its publisher).
Coins found in Britain through the Portable Antiquities Scheme
Portable Antiquities Scheme Database: a searchable database of hundreds of thousands of Roman coin finds recorded through metal-detecting in the UK. Useful for studying coin circulation and hoarding patterns in Roman Britain.
PAS Introduction to Roman Coins: a short guide to emperors, dynasties, denominations, and mints, helpful for understanding terminology in the literature. Also explains how to search the PAS database.
Background and explanatory reading
Oxford Handbook of Greek & Roman Coinage. Ed. Metcalf, W. 2012.
The standard scholarly reference work. Available online via Kent library login.
Ancient History from Coins. Howgego, C.J. London: Routledge, 1995.
Library classmark: CJ 335 HOW
The Hellenistic World: Using Coins as Sources. Thonemann, P. 2015.
Library classmark: DF235.A2 THO
From Caesar to Augustus (c. 49 BC–AD 14): Using Coins as Sources. Rowan, C.
Library classmark: CJ 833 ROW. Aimed at undergraduate students of the late Republic and early Principate.
Roman Republican Coinage. Crawford, Michael H. Cambridge University Press, 1974. 2 vols. The introduction remains an important scene-setter for the field.
Library classmark: CJ 909 V.2. Also available online via Kent library. Vol. I is the catalogue; vol. II contains interpretative notes. It has hardly any images, so use CRRO to view photographs alongside catalogue entries. All Republican coins are cited by their RRC/Crawford number.
CLAS Style Guide: How to Cite a Greek or Roman Coin
For guidance on how to cite coins in your essays, see the CLAS Style Guide: How to Cite a Greek or Roman Coin. It has a decision tree that will guide you to the right citation format.
