AbstractThe coin treasure discovered in 1981 not far from the city of Misurata (Libia) is a major hoard of folles (108.000 bronze coins with silvered surface) minted between 294 and 333 AD. This paper deals with the research project of this treasure, devoted to study the coins in detail, with the support of a new informative system. Main goal of this system is to store and to handle both historical and material data of coins obtained by means of a set of portable analytical instruments.We discuss also provisional results of the research. Until now, we have been able to report all the series of the treasure, to catalogue with the informative system about 83.000 items, to detect many unpublished coins, and last but not least, to analyze a relevant number of coins belonging to each series, in order to trace the progress of the composition and to identify the manufacturing and minting techniques.The research model we follow, with a good cost/benefit balance, is suitable to other projects if sufficient economical resources and qualified personnel will be at disposal.
