GCAM
Welcome to GCAM!
GCAM is a numismatic research database online. It contains information (descriptions and technical information) on more than 50.000 ancient coin types. GCAM attempts to represent as completely as possible the ancient Greco-Roman coinage issued by cities in Asia Minor (roughly the area covered by present day Turkey), only excluding coins produced in the Roman imperial mints. Although absolute completeness will probably never be achieved, GCAM is still a powerful research tool for the Greek Coinage of Asia Minor.
GCAM is based on a database first designed and established in the mid-1970s under the name of ISEGRIM ("InformationsSystem zur Erfassung GRIechischer Münzen"). ISEGRIM is online for almost 15 years now, but due to its complex database design and its highly difficult search procedure, the number of users remained frustratingly low. One of the main aims of GCAM is thus to make available to a wider public the highly valuable data contained in ISEGRIM. To achieve this aim, GCAM offers a whole bunch of new search options—among them the old search form of ISEGRIM, but also search forms that are up-to-date and far easier to handle. For detailled instructions on the search options please consult the menu item "Search".
Another important aim of GCAM is to pave the way for the integration of images. For reasons of restricted storage capacity back in the 1970s, ISEGRIM was developed as a database containing pure textual information. This no longer makes sense, so it is only reasonable to usher in a new database philosophy for ISEGRIM/GCAM. However, adding images for so many database entries will take a while. We are currently preparing the migration of the old data into a new database.
One last note: For specific reasons, GCAM will finally use two different databases. The original ISEGRIM database will still be available via the search forms now listed under "Search simplified" and "Search complex". Additionally, there will be a new search form under a menu item "Search (regular)". This will retrieve data from a database specifically compiled for GCAM on the basis of the original ISEGRIM data. The two databases differ in how they provide and process the data. Each of the two databases has its strengths and weaknesses: Most importantly, the original ISEGRIM database provides no images, while the new GCAM database will be restricted to one language version only (English). We will provide more information about the search options once the new database works properly.