Featured Graduate Student Research: Peter Shi

My project "Money on the Nile" combines coin and papyrological evidence to explore how coins of different metals eventually result in economic inequality in the ancient world. By the time of the sixth century, the coin system in the Roman World had undergone significant changes. The previous monetary structure of gold, silver, and bronze coins was shifted into a bimetallic one with only gold and bronze coins, possible resulting from the loss of territory with silver mines to the barbarians. This change created a considerable gap of value in the denominational system as the gold coins, even the smallest piece, worth much more than the big bronze coins. Eventually, the Roman and Byzantine currency system formed a parallel instead of a bimetallic structure. The gold and bronze coins did not have a fixed exchange rate. The base metal issues constantly depreciated, while the gold coins maintained their values until the eleventh century. This division hit various social tiers with different impacts. The upper class still had gold as a hedge against inflations while the lower ones, with limited access to the precious metal, were more prone to financial risks caused by fluctuating price level.

Thanks to the support of the Europe Center, I had the opportunity to study the coins and papyri stored in Paris. I was kindly received as a visiting researcher in the Unit of Orient and Mediterranean at the National Center of Scientific Research in France. The researcher identity also allowed me the convenience to consult all the library and archival resources in the French National Library, Sorbonne and College de France. For numismatics, my primary goal was to collect the individual weight information of the coins at the National Library of France. The same collection also contains certain peculiar specimens originated from the unofficial Egyptian mint. The size, weight, and iconography from those coins all gave me new insights into the problems of local minting practice and its legitimacy.

    

As for papyri, the Papyrological Library of the Sorbonne University contains the most substantial collection of all the publications. My stay at the library allowed me to complete a preliminary collection of all the transaction records of gold-bronze exchanges in the papyrological evidence. The same stay also offered me the opportunity to work with two of the leading experts in Byzantine papyrology, Professor Constantin Zuckerman and Professor Jean-Luc Fournet. Both scholars have dedicated considerable work to the papyri from the Aphrodito village in Egypt. This collection of papyri offers central evidence to my dissertation. I will keep in touch with the two professors and work more with them in the writing phase.

In addition to the academic collection, I also had access to other interesting materials for my research. France was the birthplace of modern Byzantine study. Its passion for the Late Antiquity has been unremitting since the reign of Louis XIV. During my stay, I also went to auction houses and visited private collectors for the coin collections. Despite our different focuses on ancient objects, our discussions still enhanced my knowledge of the full inventory of coins minted in the sixth and the seventh centuries.

Peter Shi is a PhD candidate in Ancient History.