Understanding Hoards

The importance of coin hoards makes it imperative to study them properly. After classifying eight different kinds of hoards, this chapter shows how some historians and numismatists have not treated the evidence carefully. For example, the “Marner Paradox” warns against our natural impulse to reconstruct in detail the identities and lifestyles of hoarders. It is also important to remember that it is the non-recovery of buried treasure that is meaningful and measurable. Coin hoards are best investigated collectively rather than individually. In this way, certain categories of hoards provide a Misery Index that can illuminate changing historical conditions and the responses of populations to them. An example is the No-Tomorrow scenario faced by the victims of Vesuvius. Finally, hoard data are used to calculate how quickly the gold of Alexander the Great disappeared from circulation.