The catalogue, arranged according to standard rules geographically and chronologically and based on the metal and denominations, contains 725 coins illustrated on 91 BW and 52 colour plates. In the introductory text, the history of the relevant part of the numismatic collection is presented including its beginnings, the origin of individual acquisitions and previous fate of particular private collections which came to the National Museum. Coins of the Seleucid Empire and Syrian cities are the most numerous components in the published assemblage. Thus, a fairly representative overview of Seleucid coinage was made covering the time span from Seleucus I to Antiochus XIII. The catalogue also includes several previously unpublished coins, and numerous variants of previously unpublished variants demonstrating the extraordinary variety and intensity of Seleucid coin production. The second most numerous assemblage within the published volume represent the coins of ancient Judaea from the Hasmonaeans to the Second Jewish Revolt, including the Roman Provincial issues. The coinage of ancient Phoenicia is considerably less numerous and represented mostly by the production of Aradus. The rest of the relevant territories, i.e. Mesopotamian, Armenian and Arabian issues, are presented only marginally within the published numismatic material. An important part of the publication are the results of the XRF analyses of particular coins, and their evaluation. The published numismatic material and the way of its presentation is intended to make it available to further scientific research and to develop the current knowledge on the coinage of the Middle Eastern part of the ancient world.

Various disciplines that deal with Achaemenid rule offer starkly different assessments of Persian kingship. While Assyriologists treat Cyrus's heirs as legitimate successors of the Babylonian kings, biblical scholars often speak of a "kingless era" in which the priesthood took over the function of the Davidic monarch. Egyptologists see their land as uniquely independently minded despite conquests, while Hellenistic scholarship tends to evaluate the interface between Hellenism and native traditions without reference to the previous two centuries of Persian rule. This volume brings together in dialogue a broad array of scholars with the goal of seeking a broader context for assessing Persian kingship through the anthropological concept of political memory.

An inventory of 2387 hoards of Greek hoards with a cut-off point of 30 BC. The hoards are presented geographically, beginning with Greece itself and encompassing the Near East, Egypt, Italy, North Africa, Spain and Gaul.

Information on the rarity of each type, including estimates of their value when first published in 2000, are presented in a separate table. The numerous, though less precisely understood, local coinages of the Imperatorial period are listed in an extensive appendix.