Too big to study? The numismatic collection in the National Museum of Aquileia

This contribution try to provide for the first time an extensive historical survey of the coin cabinet of the National Museum in Aquileia. Details are given about how and when this collection was formed and the features of its different sections are examined as well. Thanks to the inventory lists, is possible to know that by the end of the First World War more than 60,000 coins were already part of the collection. Since the entire assemblage of the 20th century still needs a detailed survey, the real amount remains undetermined but a total number of 80,000 specimens, or more, is to be expected. For this reason, after Rome itself, Aquileia features the greatest archaeological numismatic collection in Italy and one of the more prominent in the entire Mediterranean area. Since the collection is up to day largely uninvestigated, a methodological approach is proposed as well to deal with such a large amount of data to be recorded. This work has to be undertaken in the future in order to provide a unique set of data concerning coin finds and to convey to the large public, in the best way, one the most important collections held in the National Museum of Aquileia.