Coins from the Classical World

Dunedin philanthropist and businessman Willi Fels, CMG, donated a significant collection of Greek and Roman coins to Tūhura Otago Museum. Multiple researchers have worked to identify, document, and provide context for these coins. For example, Dr Chris Ehrhardt expanded on work begun by Miss M.I. Turnbull and Prof. G.R. Manton to produce a catalogue of the Greek coins. Professor Robert Hannah has written a number of accessible blogs about specific items, and more recently, Assoc. Prof. Gwynaeth McIntyre and Dr Daniel Osland from the University of Otago's Classics Programme have arranged student internships at Tūhura to photograph most of the Classics coin collection. The students have presented on their work at end-of-semester seminars, and staff members have published on various aspects of the collection and the digitisation project.

Blog Posts

Research Articles

'Commemorating the Past and Performing Power: Parades of Ancestors on Caligula's Coinage'. Antichthon (2023), 1–21.

'Numismatics and the Currency of Online Access' in Mediterranean Collections in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, 2025.