Insurance Era: Risk, Governance, and the Privatization of Security in Postwar America

flights of fancy, as when Holt declares, “Numismatics may someday be a required course for biology students and galactic explorers” (182), and “The cent too powerless to purchase anything on our store shelves will be honoured and coddled by an alien race as the most extraordinary messaging device in galactic history” (183). For all its occasional wackiness, the book contains a hidden gem in the form of chapter 9, “The Ethos and Ethics of Collecting.” Framed as a dialogue between an archaeology professor, a retired marine biologist who collects coins, and a group of students, the chapter even-handedly explores views on both sides of the debate about the private possession of antiquities, including coins. It is, as Holt writes, “a subject often ignored, or argued from one side only” (142). He helpfully situates the discussion in the context of the debate that has taken place over the past fifty years among archaeologists and museum curators, as well as pointing out how coins occupy a slightly different position compared to objects like sculptures or vases (for example, due to their seriality). Though the dialogic form has no firm conclusion, Holt point toward a future in which numismatics functions as a citizen-science in which collectors and dealers can play their part in the study of coins, provided they take responsibility for where their coins come from and where they go. Holt’s chapter will not be the final word on this important topic, but it is good to see engagement with these debates from a specialist numismatic perspective, and it is hoped that the dialogue here will stimulate more thoughts, publications, and discussion. The book is handsomely produced, with more than 130 crisp and clear images. There is a useful glossary at the end that will provide guidance for non-specialist readers. This reviewer’s only complaint is that pages have already come loose from the binding of the review copy, and reports suggest that this is not an isolated incident. This is frustrating in any book, but particularly so in one produced by a publisher as eminent as Oxford University Press.