Congress welcomes world numismatists

ANTALYA - Anatolia News Agency

The congress hosts scientists in the field from Turkey and around the world. AA photo

The first International Anatolian Monetary History and Numismatics Congress kicked off in the southern province of Antalya on Feb. 25 with the attendance of scientists in the field from Turkey and around the world.

The head of the organization committee, Professor Oğuz Tekin, said numismatics was the science of people dealing with coins in a scientific way and that the field’s practitioners contributed to historical and archaeological works with their findings.

“Every year, thousands of coins are discovered and brought to Turkish museums through archaeological excavations and by being purchased,” Tekin said. “Their number reaches millions. But scientific works in this field are almost nonsexist. Also, because the number of researchers working on Seljuk and Ottoman coins is so low in Turkey, this causes the work on Islamic numismatics to fall behind ancient numismatics.”

Speaking at the event, Antalya Deputy Gov. Recep Yüksel said the congress was very important for Turkey since money was first used in western Anatolia.

The congress, which is being organized by the Koç Foundation’s Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations and continue until Feb. 28, is hosting 60 scientists from Germany, France, the United States, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Egypt and Romania. The speeches at the congress will also be published as a book.