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3/9

XI.

BARCLAY

VINCENT

HEAD.

To the

bibliography

f

Head's

works,

which

was

promised

in

the

last

issue

of

the

Numismatic

hronicle

we are

glad

to

be

allowed to

prefix

he

sympathetic

otice

which

was

contributed

to the Athenaeum

for June

20

by

one

who knew

him

well.

We

take the

opportunity

lso

ofmentioning hat he was elected an honorarymember

of

the

Academia

Romana of

Bukarest

a

few

days

after

his

death,

but before

he

news

had reached

the

Academy.

Barclay

Head

was one

of

the rare and

happy

men

who

seem

to

have been born

to

do a

particular

piece

of

work

in

the

world,

nd to

do

it

admirably.

Most

people

will

thinkof ancientnumismatics s a small field fspecialist

study,

almost

as

a

refuge

of

dilettantism.

They

will

admire the

exquisite

productions

f

the

mint of

Cyzicus

or

Syracuse,

nd

pass

them

by.

But

Head saw

that

coins

are serious

historical

monuments,

hat

they

contain

in

a

nutshell the whole

history

of

the

cities

which

issued

them,

nd

that

by

an

intensive nd

comparative

tudy

of

them

ancient

history

an

be

made

real

and

living.

He

entered the

Department

of

Coins

in

the

British

Museum n 1864, and about 1870 was set by the Keeper

NUM.

CHRON.,

VOL.

XIV.,

SERIES

IV. S



4/9

250

BARCLAY

VINCENTHEAD.

of

Coins,

E.

S.

Poole,

to

work

on the

newly

planned

Catalogue

of Greek

Coins,

of which the

firstvolume

appeared

in

1873

and

the

twenty-seventh

n

1914.

Every

scientific

pecialist

knows

that

compiling

cata-

logues

is the

best

of all

training.

The

work

of

catalogu-

ing

thoroughly

uitedHead. He

had

unlimited

atience,

an excellent talent forcomparison, sense of style in

art,

and

a

great

love

of

historic

research.

The

prelimi-

nary

work

in

preparing

the

Catalogue

of

the Coins

of

Sicily

gave

him his

opportunity.

The

beauty

of

Sicilian

coins,

and

their

value to

Greek

mythology,

had

long

been

recognized

but

no

one

had

yet

worked

out their

value as historic documents

on

the

political

and com-

mercial

history

of

the

island.

Brandis

and

Mommsen

had seen the laciina,but theirpupils had

as

yet

done

little to

fill

t.

Head's

paper

on

the

Coinage

of

Syracuse, published

in

1874,

was but 80

pages

long,

but

it

revealed a true

historic

method

applied

for the first ime to the whole

of

the

coinage

of an ancient

city.

Its value was

imme-

diately

recognized

broad

the

French

Academy

rowned

it,

and

the

University

f

Heidelberg

bestowed

Doctorate

on

the

writer. From

this

time

Head's

task

lay

clear

beforehim to treatother series of Greek coins bythe

same

method

which had

been

successful

n the

case

of

Syracuse,

nd

so

by degrees

to make

numismaticsnot a;

morass,

ut a

cultivated

field

with

paths

in

all directions^

Hence

came the

great

Historia

Numorum

published

by

the

Oxford

University

Press

in

1887,

of

which

a

new

edition

came

out

in 1911. It

has

enjoyed

the honourof

being

translated

nto modern

Greek,

and

has become

an

invaluable

book

of

reference

o

all

who have

worked

upon

Gi;eekhistory. English historicalwriters enerallyfind



5/9

BARCLAY

VINCENT

HEAD.

251

much of

their material

in

German

books

but

in

the

matter f

numismatics

Head

turnedthe

tables.

He

won

the rare distinction f

being

a

corresponding

member f

the

Academies both

of

France

and Prussia.

A

Doctorate

at Oxford ame

appropriately,

hough

somewhat

ate.

What

kind

of

reputation

he had

acquired

throughout

Europe was best shownwhen he retired rom he British

Museum.

A

volume

of

numismatic

apers

then

published

in

his honour contained

contributions

rom

almost

all

the

authoritieson

ancient

numismatics.

Of

the

thirty-

contributors,

en

wrote

n

German,

five

n

French,

one

in

Italian,

and one in

Greek.

It was an

oecumenical

offer-

ing,

and the

day

on

which

Sir John

Evans,

in

the

name of

the

subscribers,

resented

the

first

opy

of

the

book

to

him

was

a

fitting

onsummation

f his

career.

The volume

was well entitled Corolla

Numismatica

Barclay

Head

was

Keeper

of

the

Department

of Coins

and

Medals

from 1893 till

1906.

He was

also

joint

editorof

The

Numismatic hronicle rom

869

to

1910.

In

England

there s not

much endowment f research

but the

British

Museum

serves,

n

fact,

as

a

great

in-

stitution for the

purpose.

The

Museum

never

fostered

a better

example

of

research

than

Head.

In character

he was the typical student of the sort at his best sweet-

tempered,

f

infinite

patience,

perfectly

ree

alike

from

self-assertion

nd

from

ealousy

of his

colleagues.

He

was

always ready

to

retract

n

Monday

a view

published

on

Saturday,

if

good

cause were shown.

He

always

weighed

n even

balance his own

published opinions

and

those

of

others;

yet

his

mind

was

so well

poised

and

cautious

that

he seldom

had

to retract. More than

a

specialist

he

was not

probably

he never

published

a

line on any subject but numismatics yet so blameless

s

2



6/9

252

BARCLAY

VINCENT

HEAD.

a

career,

nd

a

success

within

ts own

imits

so

complete,

can

seldom have been exhibited n

any

country.

Bibliography.

From his istareexcludedhereviews,igned runsigned,

of

numismatic

orkswhichHead

contributed

o

the

Numis-

matic

hronicle

nd

other

periodicals.

The

place

of

publica-

tion,

where

ot

otherwise

tated,

s

London.

1867.

Account

f

the

Hoard of

Anglo-Saxon

oins

found

at

Chancton

arm,

Sussex. Num.

Chron.

1868.

Anglo-Saxon

Coins

with

Runic

Legends.

Num.

Chron.

1868.

Notes on

Ilion,

numismaticalnd

historical. Num.

Chron

1870. Translation f Ernst Curtius On the Religious

Character

f

Greek

Coins.

Num.

Chron

1871.

On

some

rare

Greek

Coins

recently

cquired

y

the

BritishMuseum.

Num.

Chron

1872.

British

Museum

Guide to

the

Select Greek

Coins

exhibited

n

electrotype

n

the

Gold

Ornament

Room.

1873.

British

Museum

Catalogue,

taly

(with

R.

S. Poole

and

P.

Gardner).

1873. Greek

utonomous

oins

from

he

Cabinet

of

the

late Mr.EdwardWigan. Num.Chron.1874.

History

f

the

Coinage

f

Syracuse.

Num.Chron

1875.

Metrological

Notes on

ancient

electrum

Coins.

Num.

Chron.

1876. British

Museum

Catalogue,

Sicily

(with

R.

S.

Poole

and

P.

Gardner).

1876,

1877.

Noteson a

recent

ind

of

Staters f

Cyzicus

and

Lampsacus.

Num.Chron

1877.

The

Coinage

of

Lydia

and

Persia.

(International

Numismata

rientalia,

t.

II.).

1877.

Notes

on

Magistrates'

ames

on Autonomous

nd

ImperialGreekCoins. Num.Chron.



7/9

BARCLAY

VINCENT

HEAD. 253

1877.

British

Museum

Catalogue,

Thrace

(with

P.

Gardner).

1878.

Himyarite

nd

otherArabian

Imitations

f

Athe-

nian Coins.

Num.Chron.

1878. On

an

unpublished

rchaic Tetradrachm

f

Olyn-

thus. Num

Chron.

1879.

Note

on

a

Find of

Sicilian

Copper

Coins

struck

abouttheyear344 b.c. Num.Gliron.

1879.

British

Museum

Catalogue,

Macedonia.

1879.

Origin

nd

Transmission

f

some of the

principal

Ancient

Systems

of

Weight.

Journal

of

the

Institute

f

Bankers

1880.

British

Museum

Guide to

the Select

Greek

and

Roman Coins

exhibited

n

electrotype.

New

edition.

1880.

A

Himyaritic

etradrachm

nd the

Trésor

e San'â.

Num.

Chron

1880, 1881. Historyof the Coinageof Ephesus. Num.

Chron.

1881.

Chronological

equence

f the

Coinage

of Boeotia.

Num.

Chron.

1881.

British

Museum

Guide

to

the

Principal

Gold

and

Silver

Coins

of the

Ancients

rom

irc.

00

b.c.

to

1 A.D.

Second

dition.

[This

is the

second

dition

f

the

Guide

pub-

lishedunder

different

itle

n

1880

it

appeared

in six

issues,

ach

containing

he

whole

text

butonly portion

f

the 70

plates. Subsequent

editions,

omewith

only

seven

plates,

ppeared

in

1883,

1886,

1889

( third

edition ),

1895

(

fourth dition

)].

1882.

The

Coins

of

Ancient

pain.

Num.Chron.

1883.

Coinage

of Alexander:

an

explanation.

Num.

Chron

1883. Remarks

on two

Unique

Coins

of

Aetna

and

Zancle.

Num.Chron.

1884.

British

Museum

Catalogue,

entral

Greece.

1886. Greek

nd

Roman

Coins.

In

L. Je

witťs

English

CoinsandTokens.



8/9

254

BARCLAY

VINCENT

HEAD.

1886.

The

Coins

found at

Naukratis.

In W.

M.

F.

Petrie's

Naukratis

Egypt Exploration

und).

1886.

Coins

discovered

n

the site

of

Naukratis

reprint

of

the

preceding,

with

introductory

emarks).

Num.

Ghron

1887. Electrum

oins

and their

Specific

Gravity.

Num.

Ghron

1887. Historia Numorum, Manual of GreekNumis-

matics.

Oxford.

(See

also 1898and

1911.)

1888.

British Museum

Catalogue,

Attica,

Megaris,

Aegina.

1888.

Germanicopolis

nd

Philadelphia

n

Cilicia. Num.

Ghron.

1889.

Notanda

et

Corrigenda.

I.

N

or M

on

Athenian

Coins.

II.

Two

misread

oins

f

Ephesus.

III.

Philadelphia

ydiae.

I Y.

Lydian

Gold

Coinage.

Num.

Ghron.

1889. British Museum Catalogue, Corinth and her

Colonies.

1889.

Apollo

Hikesios.

Journal

f

Hellenic

tudies.

1891.

Archaic

Coins

probably

f

Cyrene.

Num.

Ghron.

1892.

British

Museum

Catalogue,

onia.

1893.

Coins

recently

ttributed

o Eretria.

Num.Ghron

1893.

The

Initial

Coinage

f

Athens.

Num.

Ghron.

1897. British

Museum

Catalogue,

aria.

1898.

'Ierro

ía

tcjv

No/xtcr/xarcov

¡toi

Ey^etpťStov

EAÀt/vi/cÇs

No/Atcr/jtartK^ç

itTacjìpao-Oèv

.

.

Kál

rvfnrXrjpwOev

V7TO

I

o)dvvov

.

2

ßopoivov

2 vols,

and

plates.

Athens.

1901.

British

Museum

Guide to

the

Department

f

Coins

and

Medals

in

the British

Museum

(assisted by

H. A.

Grueber,

W.

Wroth,

nd

E.

J.

Eapson).

1902.

BritishMuseum

Catalogue,

ydia.

1906.

BritishMuseum

Catalogue,

hrygia.

1906.

The Earliest

Graeco-Bactrian

nd

Graeco-Indian

Coins.

Num.Ghron.

1908.

Ephesian

Tesserae.

Num.

Ghron.

1908. BritishMuseum Coinsdiscoveredn the British



9/9

BARCLAY

VINCENT

HEAD.

255

Museum xcavations t

Ephesus.

(

The

Archaic

Artemisia.)

1911.

Historia

Numorum,

Manual of Greek Numis-

matics.

New and

enlarged

dition.

(Assisted

by

G.

F.

Hill,

George

Macdonald,

and W.

Wroth.)

Oxford

To these

may

be added

Corolla Numismatica NumismaticEssays in

honour

f

B.

Y.

Head.

Oxford,

906.

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