Research project

The Coin Finds of the Nowak Collection

In recent years, coin finds have increasingly become the focus of scholarly interest, as they provide important insights into the monetary history of a region. Furthermore, they can serve as key indicators of the presence of immovable archaeological monuments from specific periods and represent an important source for their chronology.

Photograph of a coin, one side of the coin depicts a portrait, the other side depicts a building. — A follis from Flavia Solva (Wagna, VB Leibnitz), struck in Siscia (Sisak) under Constantine I for Constantius II Caesar between 326 and 327, which is very likely to belong to a very extensive hoard, of which only parts are known.

With around 40,000 numismatic objects, predominantly Roman coins, Heinz Nowak’s collection is undoubtedly one of the most significant private collections of coin finds in the country. Nowak, who in the 1970s and 1980s – when the search for archaeological objects using metal detectors by non-professionals was still permitted – primarily scoured eastern Austria for artefacts, meticulously recorded each of his finds, including not only coins but also items of traditional costume, jewellery and tools. Thanks to this, the objects can still be traced back to their exact location decades after their discovery. In addition to the geographical index and the reports submitted to the Federal Monuments Office – which in many cases enabled the definition of archaeological zones – Nowak also provided a preliminary classification of the coins. Heinz Nowak was keen to make his collection accessible to the scientific community, which is why he donated it to the Kunsthistorisches Museum during his lifetime. The numismatic finds were transferred to the Coin Cabinet in 2003, whilst the other finds are held in the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

The items from the Nowak Collection therefore hold a significant place amongst the countless finds that do not originate from archaeological excavations: Firstly, unlike in most other cases, the finds have not disappeared into private collections or the trade without any indication of their place of discovery; secondly, they expand our knowledge of the range of finds associated with the archaeological sites from which the objects originate, and can thus provide important clues for dating and also for the nature of the archaeological site.

Phase 1 of the project: “Vor den Vorhang” (June 2023 to August 2024)

Thanks to the Kulturerbe digital funding initiative, launched by the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, the KHM-Museumsverband was able to realise the project “Vor den Vorhang”, including sub-projects in different collections. In the first phase of this project, over 5,000 coins from the Nowak Collection were fully documented and identified at the Coin Cabinet under the direction of Klaus Vondrovec and with the collaboration of David Burisch and Kathrin Siegl; they were also made freely accessible as digital files in the KHM’s object database and in the Coin Cabinet’s Interactive Catalogue (IKMK).

Phase 2 of the project: “Sharing and Showing – From Vienna into the Digital World” (since December 2024)

Thanks to further support from the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, work on the coin finds from the Nowak Collection at the Coin Cabinet has continued as part of the project “Sharing and Showing – From Vienna into the Digital World”. Vanessa Zumtobel has been part of the team since February 2025.
In this phase of the project, too, the aim is to fully catalogue 5,000 coins, which will once again be accessible in the KHM’s object database and in the Coin Cabinet’s Interactive Catalogue (IKMK). A key focus is the finds from Wagna, the Roman site of Flavia Solva (Styria), the processing of which began in the first phase of the project. This important collection currently comprises 4,023 finds, including several previously unknown pieces from a scattered hoard dating from the Constantinian period.