Welcome to The Punch Die

Welcome to The Punch Die, a weblog of history and numismatics, mostly chronicling my budding obsession with collecting Roman coins.

For as long as I can remember, I've been a collector of things, be them baseball cards, or comic books, or U.S. coins, or even stamps for a little while. A recent visit to New Orleans and a chance encounter with an antique dealer on Royal Street led to to my first purchase of an ancient Roman coin - the silver denarius of the emperor Trajan below:


The obverse is a laureate portrait of Trajan with slight drapery on left shoulder and reads IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P. The reverse shows Victory standing left holding a wreath and a palm and reads SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI. Reference is Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) 193.

I was immediately struck by two things: the beauty and detail of a coin that's over 1,900 years old, the fact that a nearly 2,000 year old coin is not only readily available for historians and enthusiasts like myself to collect, but also comparatively inexpensive to what I figured such a coin would cost. And that's despite the fact that, in hindsight, I overpaid a great deal for the coin. What did I expect buying it on Royal Street in New Orleans? In any event, I consider it the hobby's "entrance fee" and it's certainly been worth it.

As my profile indicates, I'm a medievalist by formal academic training, a Roman enthusiast by informal seasoning, and a numismatist by obsession. In this blog I will primarily be showcasing and discussing the various coins in my collection, providing a "real time" chronicle of both my collection as it grows, and of my efforts to that end. But, as any collector of Roman coins knows, it is impossible to separate the numismatic obsession from an acquisition of a firm understanding of almost all facets of Roman history. My particularly interest is military history, but on this blog I'll also discuss all aspects of ancient and medieval history, sometimes as it relates to numismatics, but oftentimes independent of the hobby.

Most Roman coin collectors would agree that the acquisition of several "landmark" texts in the field is necessary, almost even before you buy your second coin, if not your first. Some are obscure and some - like RIC and Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values - are voluminous and expensive. And while I was surprised at the breadth of Internet resources for Roman coin collecting, I was far more surprised at the scarcity of blogs devoted to the hobby. There are a few, and some, like Scotvs Capitis, are quite good. But it is my intention with The Punch Die to also expand the presence of Roman coin collecting in the blogosphere. Hopefully, one day this blog will grow into a running discussion for other historians, numismatists, Roman coin enthusiasts, and even archaeologists - who are often at odds with collectors of ancient coins. One day perhaps this blog will be a valuable resource. So, let's see...

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