<p><em>Currency & exchange in ancient Pompeii</em> examines how coinage became a key component of the economic life of the town from the third century BC to the dramatic destruction of Pompeii by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. </p><p>The study discusses one of the largest assemblages of coins found so far from below the layer of destruction of AD 79. Over 1,500 coins were found during a ten-year campaign of excavation of Regio VI, Insula 1 by the Anglo-American Project in Pompeii (AAPP). </p><p><em>Currency & exchange in ancient Pompeii</em> looks at the range of coins found, from mints across the Mediterranean, reflecting Pompeii’s wide-ranging trade connections, in particular, Ebusus, Massalia, and Rome, and the development of local imitations, many unique to Pompeii. </p><p>The book reviews other evidence for Pompeii’s economic life, such as the price of goods and services, the activities of bankers and money-lenders, and the ‘live’ coinage left behind by those fleeing the volcano. A full catalogue of the AAPP assemblage and the ‘Bathhouse hoard’ is included, with illustrations of many of the coins. </p><p>The book is an invaluable resource for all interested in Pompeii, its economy, and the everyday life of its ‘small change’.</p><p>Richard Hobbs is curator of the Romano-British collections at the British Museum</p>
