The University of Richmond Museums presents the online exhibition “A Pound of Whatever Silver He Pleases: History and Economy in the Late Medieval Eastern Mediterranean from the Lora Robins Gallery Coin Collection” through December 31, 2020.
Coinage was, in the Middle Ages, more than just currency. It was also a source of profit and power. As a result, coins from this period are particularly useful in understanding the interconnectedness of the medieval world and its various conflicts. Combining history and numismatics, this exhibition traces the political and economic developments of the thirteenth and fourteenth century eastern Mediterranean. Through a close examination of 53 unique coins, mostly in silver, from a number of the politically and economically important regional entities during the period, the exhibition utilizes monetary history to tell the story of the Mediterranean at a tumultuous point in its past.