van Heesch abstract 2008

Coin find registration in Belgium and France: what has been done and what should be done

The aim of this talk will be to give a brief analysis of the work on coin identification and coin registration that has been done in Belgium and in France.

Coin finds registration started in Belgium in the early 1960 and focused on Celtic, Roman and Merovingian times. From 1988 onwards a database has been created and used. Unfortunately the actual political situation in Belgium as a federation of different regions does not simplify the work of a national institution. In the Wallonia and in Flanders, there are several local and regional projects using professional archaeologists as well as private individuals.  In Flanders, a central archaeological inventory of all archaeological finds exists but finders can input the data themselves.  
In France, coin hoards are systematically studied and published since 1978 by the “Centre d’étude des trouvailles monétaires” publishing the “Trésor monétaires”-series. Coins from excavations are catalogued by different institutions. Ancient coin hoards were published in a series edited by the Société française de Numismatique.