Coins and Seals Collection

The collection of about 12,000 coins, together with the Whittemore Collection of the Fogg Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, forms one of the greatest specialized collections of Byzantine coins in the world. The main series, covering coins from 491 to 1453, has now been published in five catalogues. Volumes I, II, and III (491–1081) by Alfred R. Bellinger and Philip Grierson appeared some time ago; volume IV (1081–1261) by Michael F. Hendy, and volume V (1261–1453) by Philip Grierson, were both published in 1999, completing the series. The Coin Exhibition can be viewed online.

In addition, there is a considerable collection of late Roman coins of the fourth century and an important one of coins of the fifth century, together with a substantial number of late Roman medallions.

The latter were published in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 12 (1958), and the gold and silver coins of the late third and fourth century in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18 (1964). A catalogue of the late fourth- and fifth-century coins (395–491) was published by Philip Grierson and Melinda Mays in 1992.

Seal Collection

The 13,000 lead seals at Dumbarton Oaks, together with the Fogg collection of 4,000 seals which are temporarily on loan to Dumbarton Oaks, form the largest and most comprehensive collection of Byzantine lead seals in the world. Five volumes on geographical seals have appeared. Work on the sixth catalogue is in progress.