cxprrii-nce and kn(i\\kdr;e which distim^uishrs these 

 scholars in liieir fields. Of in\aIuaMe assistance in 

 sjatherinc; basic information aljont the actual status (jf 

 ninnismatics in difTerent countries were: i'rof. I'Vli|X' 

 Mateaii v Llo|3is, Director of the BihUoleca dc 

 Cataluiia, Barcelona; Dr. Paul Grotenie\t-r, Director 

 of the Staatlichc Miinzsammlunt; in Munich; Mr. 

 }acc|iies 'S'Non of the C^abinet des Mecl.iilles, P.iris; 

 Mr. Antonio de Andrcadc Rebelo, Curator at the 

 Museu Niimismatico Portugues, Lisbon; and Pi-ol. 

 Walter Ilavernick, Director of the Museum liir 

 Hambursische Gcschichtc, Hamburc;. 



My <;:ratitudc also is extended to Dr. Otto M0rkholm, 

 Curator of the Konaielige M0nt- os, NU-daillesainiint;, 

 Nationalmuscct, Copenhagen, to Mr. I. (i. Sp.isskii, 

 Curator of the Numismatic Department at the 



Herniitaf;e, Leningrad, to Prolessoi' li.ln^ior^ Bloesch. 

 in cfiari^e of the .\Iun/kabinett of the St.i(ltl)ibliothek 

 in W'iiuhirthur. Sw it/eil,nuk .uul lo .Mile. .\Ionique 

 Du \ errlier Inmj lh<- Bil>lioihei|ue .Xalion.ile. i'aris. 

 lor tlieir aid in .secui in^ iuiport.nil illusli .ili\-e nialeri.il; 

 to .Mr. .Sawyer M. Mosser, l>.\eculi\e Director of 

 the .American Xumismalic .Societ\-, Xew \'ork, for 

 many practical su<;t;cstions conci-rniii',; the st\le of 

 the manuscript, and to Mr. Richard P. Hreatk'u and 

 Mr. Geoffrey J I. North, Librari.ui and .Assistant 

 Liljrarian, respectively, of the .American .Xumism.itic 

 Society, New York, for their continual help; to Mr. 

 Isadore Snyderman, Xew York, for providing trans- 

 lations froin the Russian. Pin.illy, without the assist- 

 ance of m\' husband. Dr. Xkuhmir ( 'laiu-.Stefani-lli, 

 this work would h.ive nevi'r reached its conclusion. 



EVOLUTION OF A SCIENCE 



About a hundred and twenty years ago, a historian, 

 Friedrich Creuzer, called numismatics" the enlighten- 

 ment of archeology." He charaeteri/e<l the coin as 

 "a mirror of the ancient world, which indicates the 

 progress of the arts, which accompanies human society 

 in all its aspects, ci\ic life, laws, institutions, 

 wars, conquests, peace treaties, changes of go\-ern- 

 mcnt, trade, and alliances. It perpetuates the fime 

 of noble generations and it keeps ali\e the memory of 

 great men." ' 



Expressed in the exuberant lanniiage of the roman- 

 tic era, this is the rather vivid descri|)tion ol a disci- 

 pline which traditionally has been regarded within 

 the strict denotation of its Greek or Latin root 

 vofiiatia or niimmirs (coin) — as the science of coins. 

 .So terse a definition as the latter, however, suggests 

 little of the origin and scope of an area of research 

 that often is looked u|)on as a Ijranch of histor\- and 

 archeology. The function of coins as an official prod- 

 uct of the issuing authority, as an essential element in 

 trade, as a reliaf)le soiu'ce of information lor historic, 

 linguistic, and epigraphic phenomena, as a subtle 

 interpreter of artistic trends, and, above all, as a clear 

 rellection of many aspects of human societv lhrou<_;h 

 the ages, usually escapes the lasinan and even the 

 student. Numismatics, with a ircord as a .scholarK 

 discipline which dates back at least to the l.ilh eenlurv', 

 suffered greatly in prestige because of its earlier 

 methods. Necessarily descriptive at first, it emerged 



verv slowlv as a more interpretative science wherein 

 eni|)hasis on the application of estaiilished data 

 became the ijasis for rese;neh ol .1 broadir iialuie. 



With English and es|)ecially German scholars as the 

 leading theoreticians, numismatics as a science has 

 movi-d more .nid more toward a dehnitiou wliiih 

 Would include the esseiuial problems ol oriL;in. sco|)e, 

 metliod, and ap|)lication. .Such a dir<( lion was 

 pointed olU in 1'I21 in a le( lure b\- the (ierin.ui 

 luunismatist Behrentl Pick.- It li.is suice become the 

 subject for many learned debates anions scholars,' all 

 of whom seem to agree at least in one respect lh.it 

 niunismatics can as|)ire to scientific hoiiois onlv il it 

 approaches coins primarily in their hisl(jii(al fiuiclion 

 as monev.^ 



' I5ahi IMS. I niiic. mjI. 1, I of. <j6. 



-His l((turc, "Die Ntrm/kuiulc- in <lir .Mlinuiiisui.sscii- 

 siliaft," was picsiMited at a nirclinn ul |iliiliilii!;isls in Jena, 

 ri21, and pul)lislicd in CIdtli.i, I ''22. Il was r(|jri>diir<-il later 

 in his Aiifsiilrj- z'l' .Kiimhmalik (ly.M). 



■' frssF, ".Anlgabcn und (Mcnz<'n d<i Ntnnisniatik" (192-1- 

 ri2ti); .ScHWiNKowsKi, "NninisMialifi nnd (n-ldwi.sscn.sclialt" 

 (l')2')); Gi.BH.\Rr, .\'iimnm,ilil, iiiul Cflilivifhiihlr (l')49); I.ni.MK, 

 •■Xiiniisniatik nnd ( icldi'csi liii lite" (l'IS7); CiiiEiAKr, "Nnn 

 dir .\ninistnatik /in t Irldijcsc hii lur'" (l')S'l). 



* Tile n-latinn brtwecn nuniisnialirs and histciiy lias Ix'c-n 

 disi nsscd in (Inn rson, .XiiiiuvikiIii \ 'iiiJ /fmen (I')SI ); liui im 1 \, 

 ■Possiliilila I' liiniti dil i ontrilnilo nnniisniali( 11 .ill.i 1 i< en ,1 

 stori( a" (1''5"); .SeTiiMUANP, Aminit .\imn\}iii:lin: .1 Ihirf In 

 hiuliuliun (l'l=,S); WAi.i.Acr, "(Jicck Coins anil Clieik History" 

 (1'15K); JoNis, ■'Nuniisniatirs and Ilislois" (l'>^(.); (a<AM, 

 Human Ilnlury fiim f,'..j>K (T'SK); liUAi'N \i'N SiiMM, •■Die 

 Miinzc als HilfsniiUrl di 1 inillikillri lii lien Knlturluisi luiii!;" 

 (1953). 



P.A.I>ER 32: NUMISM.'XTICS .^N .XNf :II'.NT SfllENCF, 



