From reality to virtuality. A Database for the Cyrenaican specimens from numismatic trade

The importance of auction sales catalogues in the study of any ancient coinage is unquestionable and they are of prime interest for numismatists in various ways (e.g., to gather a large body of material; to do an almost complete die-study; etc.). For all these reasons, since first catalogues started to appear frequently in the second half oh the XIX century, a complete examination would require the treatment of a considerable amount of data. With the CyReNe-Project (Cyrenaican Research Numismatic e-Project) we decided to face this task and to create a database where all the specimens minted in Cyrenaican cities and sold during the years could be collected together. The aim is to make available all these data in a structured and systematic way and, on the other hand, to safeguard this important cultural heritage. Starting from 2011, due to the numerous looting carried out against the archaeological and numismatic heritage in Libya, the presence of Cyrenaican coins on the market has increased enormously; reconstructing the pedigree of a coin is an useful tool to exclude a possible illicit origin. For these reasons we began to check past sales (more than 6000 auction catalogues and still counting) and their data will be implemented in the database. Incorrect identifications or attribution changes that have occurred throughout the history of the studies, are just some of the problems we are facing in undertaking such a project