THE ILAC-PROJECT: SUPPORTING ANCIENT COIN CLASSIFICATION BY MEANS OF IMAGE ANALYSIS

This paper presents the ILAC project, which aims at the development of an automated image-based classification system for ancient Roman Republican coins. The benefits of such a system are manifold: operating at the suture between computer vision and numismatics, ILAC can reduce the day-to-day workload of numismatists by assisting them in classification tasks and providing a preselection of suitable coin classes. This is especially helpful for large coin hoard findings comprising several thousands of coins. Furthermore, this system could be implemented in an online platform for hobby numismatists, allowing them to access background information about their coin collection by simply uploading a photo of obverse and reverse for the coin of interest. ILAC explores different computer vision techniques and their combinations for the use of image-based coin recognition. Some of these methods, such as image matching, use the entire coin image in the classification process, while symbol or legend recognition exploit certain characteristics of the coin imagery. An overview of the methods explored so far and the respective experiments is given as well as an outlook on the next steps of the project

Das Antlitz des Fremden : die Münzprägung der Hunnen und Westtürken in Zentralasien und Indien

In the collective memory of western and eastern civilizations the Huns more than any other people symbolize the menace of migrating nomadic peoples from the steppes of Asia in late antiquity. Over time, “Huns” referred to a number of different peoples, from the tribes against whose onslaught the Chinese built the Great Wall to the formations under the command of Attila († AD 453) who devastated Europe. However, the Huns and their Turkish successors were much more effective in Central Asia and northern India where they established themselves in the 4th century, profoundly influencing the region’s culture and history