Lombard coinage For the coinage minted by the Lombards, the most recent reference work is the first volume of
Medieval European Coinage, by Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn. In the catalogues one therefore often finds a reference of type "MEC 1, 274", where MEC indicates the initials of this work, 1, the first volume, and 274, the index number of the coin in MEC. Coins of Lombard mints are catalogued between 274 and 331 in the first volume of
MEC. The illustrations show coins of the collection of the
Fitzwilliam Museum,
Cambridge. A slightly more recent study, but more specialised, is that of Ernesto Bernareggi, published in Milan in 1983, under the title
Montea Langobardorum. In particular, it collects the various studies of the same author published since 1960. Reference to this work is made by "Bernareggi", followed by the index number. Other catalogues in common use include the "BMC
Vand", which covers the coinage of the Vandals and other migration periods groups present in the
British Museum, in 1911. An important collection of Lombard coinages is found in the civic collections of
Milan, at the
Sforza Castle, and a catalogue of this collection was published in 1978 by Ermanno Arslan. This work is generally referenced as "Arslan", followed by the index number. Less commonly used internationally, but equally relevant, is CNI (
Corpus Nummorum Italicorum), which illustrates the collection of
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Lombard coins are covered by volumes IV (Pavia and other minor mints of Lombardy), V (Milan) and XI (
Tuscany).
Byzantine coinage The first coins issued by the Lombards were imitations of those coined in the
Eastern Roman Empire; the models used were those of
Maurice (582-602),
Heraclius (610-641) and
Constans II (641-668). There are various recent catalogues which covers these issues; most important are the catalogue of the collection of
Dumbarton Oaks, abbreviated DOC, and
Moneta Imperii Byzantini by Wolfgang Hahn, abbreviated as MIB. Maurice's coinage is catalogued in the first volume of DOC, and the second volume of MIB; the issues of Heraclius and Constans II are in the second volume of DOC and the third of MIB. == Finds and hoards ==