Die Gewichte und Werte der ptolemäischen Münzen

Friedrich Otto Hultsch (1833-1906) studied classical philology at the University of Leipzig from 1851 to 1855; then he was specialized in the history of mathematics and the numismatic metrology. The first edition of the current work was published by Teubner under the title ''Die ptolemäischen Münz- und Rechnungswerte'' (Leipzig, 1903). More than 25 reprints by various publishers followed during the 20th century, despite the fact that Hultsch had in part revised the text of the first edition, just before his death in 1906. The year 1904 was also the year of the publication of Jean Svoronos’ great work on the coins of the Ptolemies (''Τὰ νομίσματα τῶν Πτολεμαίων'', Athens 1904), in three volumes. Svoronos had also planned a French edition of this book for his international audience, but finally he preferred to proceed to the edition of a revised fourth volume in German, four years later; in the foreword he writes that six months before the release of the Greek edition and while he was preparing the international version, the German metrologist sent him a copy of his study. One of the main differences of the fourth volume of Svoronos, in comparison to the previous ones, would be the addition of a chapter on the Ptolemaic metrology; but the reading of Hultsch’s study convinced him that the two texts were incompatible. Therefore, Svoronos wrote a long letter to Hultsch, exposing his opinions and urging the German savant to revise his treatise in the light of the new data; he also added that he could omit his own chapter on metrology from the fourth volume and replace it with an appendix containing the revised text by Hultsch; and the great Hultch consents and —when after a few months receives the first three volumes of Svoronos — says that the new finds and the new classification was a pleasant surprise to him! Unfortunately, Hultsch was already seriously ill when he began revising his treatise; despite his ilness, he managed to finish it but could not correct the proofs sent from Athens by Svoronos; this was done by Franz Poland who, returning the corrected proofs, also announced to Svoronos the death of the German savant. The new text was published as an Appendix in the fourth volume of Svoronos (''Die Münzen der Ptolemaeer'', Athen 1908); since actually it was the second edition of the 1903 study, we may consider the current edition as the third one: it contains the revised German text and the footnotes as published by Svoronos; a few corrections were silently made, among them the formula on page 58. Two somehow shortened translations, in modern Greek and English, have also been added. The main points of the long German footnotes have been incorporated to the texts of the translations. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Einführung Die Gold- und Silbermünzen ptolemäischer Währung – Wertverhältnisse Die demotischen Silber- und Kupferwerte Die ptolemäischen Silber- und Kupferwerte Deben und Obolos in der ptolemäischen Kupferprägung NAMENINDEX Εισαγωγή Χρυσά και αργυρά νομίσματα των Πτολεμαίων Αξίες των δημοτικών νομισμάτων Αξίες αργυρών και χάλκινων πτολεμαϊκών νομισμάτων Ούτεν και οβολός στη χάλκινη νομισματοκοπία των Πτολεμαίων ΕΥΡΕΤΗΡΙΟ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΩΝ Introduction Gold and silver coins of the Ptolemies Values of the demotic coins Values of the silver and copper Ptolemaic coins Deben and obol in the copper coinage of the Ptolemies NAME INDEX