• January 9, 2026 | 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
• Imperial B, Ballroom Level

4J: Small Change (Joint AIA/SCS Colloquium)

Sponsored by:
Friends of Numismatics

Organizers:
Roberta Stewart, Dartmouth College, and Fae Amiro, Western University

Discussants:
Nathan Elkins, American Numismatic Society

Overview Statement:
The panel explores the character and functions of small change (i.e., lower-value denominations) in Greek and Roman cultures broadly defined. With the continuing publication of the Roman Provincial Coinage (RPC) volumes, primarily made up of small-value coinage, there is renewed scholarly attention on the lower denomination coins from across the Roman Empire.

Papers engage with ongoing debates about the economic and political functions of small change, to fulfill monetary needs (Sargent and Velde, 2002; Kemmers 2003; Stannard and Frey-Kupper 2008) and to serve as a medium of mass communication in and between communities across broad geographical areas (Howgego, Heuchert, and Burnett 2005; Burnett 2011). They further address methodological challenges for using coins as evidence to study varied monetary systems, including monetary functions of coinage (Crawford 2003; DeRose Evans 2018; Horsnaes 2017) and the value of typology and iconography to study political messaging (Bucolo 2024).

The first paper, “Pale Sulfur for Broken Glass: Sulfur as Small Change?,” takes a novel approach to the small change supply debate and presents the evidence for considering sulfur as form of commodity-based currency. It further explores the significance of the finding to our broader understanding of the Roman economic system.

The next paper, “Pierced and Cut: Contextualizing Small Change on the Roman Frontier in the First Century C.E.,” adds to this debate by considering another understudied form of irregular currency: pierced coins. The paper proposes that some pierced coins, usually believed to have ornamental functions, also had monetary functions.

“Imperial Women’s Portraits on Provincial Small Coinage During the Flavian-Trajanic Period: Importance and Significance” considers small change as media of mass communication. The paper proposes that the concentration of portraits of imperial women on lower-value currency increased both the women’s visual reach and political impact.

The next paper, “The Emperor’s New Hair: Noncanonical Hairstyles of Augustus on Small Change in the Roman Province of Hispania” takes a different approach to imperial portraits. Using deviations from the metropolitan Roman models by local Spanish mints during the reign of Augustus, the paper explores the roles of local agency and imperial communication.

The final paper “Uncovering Tarsus’s Small Change: A New Look at Pseudoautonomous Coinage” considers the iconography and material features of Roman-era Tarsian small change to resolve questions about its denominational structure. The proposed system furnishes a new understanding of the function of small change in the local economy, showing how Tarsus addressed its small change supply problem.