DINIACOPOULOS COIN COLLECTION AT QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON, ON, CANADA

During the early part of the 20th century, Vincent and Olga Diniacopoulos acquired a vast collection of ancient art. Following the death of Vincent and son Denis, most of this collection has been acquired by international museums. Ancient masterpieces from the Diniacopoulos family collection can today be viewed in the British Museum, the Louvre, the ROM, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

In 2001, Queen's Art Conservation Program and the Department of Classics acquired a large number of pieces from the remainder of this collection, which originates from all regions of the Mediterranean and date from the prehistoric to the late Roman periods. The pieces were acquired for educational purposes. Students from both Art Conservation and Classics have the opportunity to work with original artifacts as they conserve and preserve these objects, and publish them in their theses.

Among the pieces acquired in 2001 are 627 Greek and Roman coins, a good part of which have not been identified and studied yet. Professor Cristiana Zaccagnino (Department of Classics and Archaeology), Professor Amandina Anastassiades (former member of the Art Conservation Program), and Professor Emy Kim (Art Conservation Program) with the help of their students have recently started to study, conserve, and digitize the coins. Archaeometric analyses are also in progress. Review and updating of records are ongoing. The Diniacopoulos Coin Collection is a Matariki Shared Facility.

Designed, built and maintained by Cristiana Zaccagnino and Bernard Cheng