Angels and Ducats

Full of intriguing facts and literary quotations; this fun; engaging and beautifully illustrated book explores the role of money and medals in Shakespeare's world and works. Deniers and ducats; groats and guilders; crowns and cruzados; the author reveals how coins and medals illustrate the personalities and events that shaped Shakespeare's world.
Through lively and informative text the reader will discover the role of money in Shakespeare's life and career; how much people were paid and how much things cost looking in detail at the theatre and currency and how it changed.
Shakespeare used coinage in his plays to give crucial information on status and character; as a plot device and to add local colour. Money provoked and motivated Shakespeare's characters and this book engages with his monetary references to reveal the meaning behind the metaphors and the significance of the issues the playwright was addressing.

Barrie Cook is Curator of Medieval and Modern Collections in the Department of Money and Medals at the British Museum, with particular responsibility for the coinage of Britain, Europe and their colonies and dependencies c. 600-c. 1800. His role has included responsibility for new English coin hoards in his area of specialism under the terms of the Treasure system. He has curated 15 numismatic exhibitions at the British Museum and contributed to a range of other major exhibitions and galleries. He acted as series curator for the BM/BBC Radio 4 collaborations A history of the world in 100 objects, Shakespeare’s restless world, Germany: memories of a nation and Living with the Gods and was lead curator for the exhibition Germany: memories of a nation, at the British Museum (2014), Berlin (2016) and Copenhagen (2019).