A recent acquisition by the University Library’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections of more than 800 coins from medieval Greece will help researchers deepen their knowledge about a period of Middle Age history that has been little understood by scholars.

The Sarmas Collection of coins from medieval Greece is available to researchers on campus and around the world through the University Numismatic Collection. The new coin collection, assembled by London-based businessman Theo Sarmas, comprises coins minted in the eastern Mediterranean in the 13th and 14th centuries following the fall of Constantinople by armies of the Fourth Crusade.

“This makes Princeton an unrivaled resource for the study of a coinage about which there are many unanswered questions,” said Alan Stahl, curator of the University Numismatic Collection. “Until now there has been no specialized collection of the coins of the Greek lands of the later Middle Ages available for study to the public.” Read Full Story