Coins were made of pieces of gold, silver, or bronze, known as blanks, which were cast or cut to specific weights. To make a coin, a blank was sandwiched between a pair of dies with engraved designs. This was then struck, or hit with a hammer, the force of which impressed the designs into the coin on both sides. Struck from solid gold, this type of Roman coin, called a solidus, was first minted in the late 3rd century A.D. and was used until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Although many of the techniques used in the ancient world for striking coins are lost to us today, this video demonstrates...

An occasional series of short videos on coins that shed light on various aspects of ancient history, presented by Professor Kevin Butcher. Does this coin depict the emperor Nero as a musician, or does it show the god Apollo instead?

Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick takes a closer look at coins from the ancient world and discovers new meanings and insight into the lives of emperors, nobles and ordinary people from this time in history. Professor Butcher looks at why Agrippina seems to have been given precedence over her son Nero on the earliest coins of his reign?

Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick takes a closer look at coins from the ancient world and discovers new meanings and insight into the lives of emperors, nobles and ordinary people from this time in history. Here Professor Butcher looks at a coin minted in the Spanish city of Bilbilis in AD 31 and how it records the rise and fall of Emperor Tiberius' henchman Sejanus.

Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick takes a closer look at coins from the ancient world and discovers new meanings and insight into the lives of emperors, nobles and ordinary people from this time in history. Here he examines coins from the reign of Cleopatra as evidence of what she looked like.

Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick takes a closer look at coins from the ancient world and discovers new meanings and insight into the lives of emperors, nobles and ordinary people from this time in history. Professor Butcher examines a brass sestertius of Caligula which provides contemporary proof of the high regard the emperor had for his three sisters.

Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Warwick takes a closer look at coins from the ancient world and discovers new meanings and insight into the lives of emperors, nobles and ordinary people from this time in history. Professor Butcher examines a Roman coin and asks: What was the tribute penny of the Bible?

Professor Kevin Butcher and Dr Matthew Ponting discuss the technique used by the Roman mints to disguise the quality of the silver coinage and how to analyse the coins.