COINAGE DECLARATION Am eos mi, offic tesequid quat. Rovitas quam ex etur molorepudame perum cum venda nos pedicipid ut ea nit et eicimus eiur, nimporias none net qui cor re rernatur? Et omnia con repudaeprati ducipienim ipsum esti quossim porestem voluptaque omnimaxim quatibusa conest, omnias nus ulparch icitatiis nonsequis nim faces autectiaecto dolupta voloribus pra sit, tem et ium aliqui ident. Ipitenis magnien damenem dus ad es am voluptatas incium res net doluptis suntur? 01 02 03 TITLE 610 - 600 BCE 600 - 500 BCE 539- 332 BCE CO(I)N TENTS 04 05 520 - 480 BCE 539 - 332 BCE INDEX BIBLIOGRAPHY A COINAGE PRAKRITI JAIN 1 2 How do coins help in understanding history? The coins plays an vital role in illuminating history Why leran about coin designs? not known from other sources and help in it’s reconstruction. Study of coins modify and amplify Coin designs don’t change much in today’s world. history. Coins are not only source of economic But this hasn’t always been the case. Emperors history but also give a extensive information and kings used metal currency as a means of about official, religious and cult, political thought, mass communication, especially in the ancient ideology and actual portraiture of historical figures.i world, the spread their messages far and wide in both image and text. Like stone, they survive 3 almost in perpetuity and provide us with a means of understanding what otherwise may have been lost. 4 LYDIAN LION (610 - 600 BCE) 5 01 6 Lydian Lion is the world’s first coin produced in Lydia, western Turkey, over 2500 years ago. Aesthetically, the Lydian Lion is pleasing.It has a captivating archaic King Kroises of Lydia was the first person to issue style, with the design consisting primarily of simple geometric shapes. bimetallic currency, meaning that they used both The composition is both balanced and dynamic. The hatch marks of gold and silver coins. But before Kroises, Lydian the lion’s mane divide the coin roughly in half, diagonally. Most of the coinage was in great disarray. visual “action” -- the roaring mouth with teeth bared, the fierce triangle- shaped eye, and the mysterious starburst takes place to the right. The lion head is sometimes referred to as a lion protome, with “protome” an archeological term meaning decorative motif in the form of an animal or human head.Lions have been considered kings of the jungle, and symbols of kingly authority, from time immemorial. One of the most fascinating coins of all time, a coin that I believe is the first true coin, features one the most fascinating lions ever to appear on a coin. The lion on this coin is seen as a symbol of royalty. The two deep impressions were created by a hammer, used to punch the image of the lion. The truncation of the lion head indicates that these coins were struck on a die larger than the planchet, preventing part of the design from appearing. 7 Fig 1.1 8 The lion attacking the bull motif on this coin type has been variously theorized as symbolizing the sun and moon, spring and winter, strength and fertility, the bull - symbol of Hellenic Zeus are facing each other in truce. The hunting lions attack from the rear, also imagery of a predator and prey lying down together in peace is reflected in other ancient literature.The lion represents the Lydians’ supreme god, or Baal, and the bull represents Zeus, the supreme god of the Greeks. Zeus took the guise of a bull in his seduction of Io. Like most of the earliest coins, instead of a design, the Lydian Lion features on the reverse an incuse punch created during the minting process, from the hammer used to force the blank planchet into the anvil die. These early Fig 1.2 coins had the royal Lydian symbol on the obverse; the lion. When Kroises came to power, he retained this symbol, but also added a bull. There are many theories as to why he put this new symbol on. Some say that the lion represents Asia, and The Lydians were the first people to mint coins and the bull, Europe, symbolizing his power conquering the Greeks. also the first to utilize symbolic animals, like the lion and bull, which represented strength and virility. The Lydians became the first in the Western world to make coins 9 10 YING YUAN (600 - 500 BCE) 11 02 12 Ying Yuan is a kind of gold coin issued by the ancient Chinese state of Chu during the Warring States period. The oldest ones known are from about the 5th or 6th century BCE. They consist of sheets of gold 3-5mm thick, of various sizes, with inscriptions consisting of square or round stamps in which there are one or two characters. Pieces are of a very variable size and thickness, and the stamps appear to be a device to validate the whole block, rather than a guide to enable it to be broken up into unit pieces. Some specimens have been reported in copper, lead, or clay. It is Fig 2.1 probable that these were funeral money, not circulating coinage, as they are found in tombs, but the gold coins are not. It is It is believed that Chinese coinage probably believed that Chinese coinage probably developed independently developed independently from Western-style coinage, from Western-style coinage, which influenced nearly all of the which influenced nearly all of the world’s early coins. world’s early coins. The first gold coins of this time period were issued by the State of Chu during the Warring States period. They were made out of rough squares of gold, stamped with inscriptions indicating the coins monetary unit or weight, which is read as yuan. LINE DRAWING 13 14 A few of the common coin symbols and their meanings: Coins with four characters on one ncient Chinese coinage was created around the same time as the side (Bao, Chuen, Yong, Fu), symbolizing forever A first Western coins .The coin has only two characters and one of the prosperous and eight characters on the flip side (Fu characters resembles an hourglass or an “X” with a horizontal line on top Zhai Yien Chien, Re Re Sheng Chai), symbolizing and bottom. Another common symbol is the crescent which is a short good fortune ahead and wealth multiplies daily. curved line similar to a semicircle. Crescents sometimes resemble the mark a fingernail would make if pressed on a soft surface. This is an example of a moon or crescent and the Chinese variously refer to these marks as “moon lines” ,“nail lines” or “moon marks”.Crescents are found both on the obverse and reverse of coins. gold coin is inscribed with the characters “ying yuan.” The coin was found at a dig in Liubaozi Village in Xi’an. It dates from the Warring States Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (475 - 221 BC). “Ying” was the capital of the Chu State and indicates a succession. The State of Chu produced rough squares of gold, stamped with one or two characters which were used as money. Fig 2.2 15 16 YEHUD (539 - 332 BCE) 17 03 18 Yehud silver coins, minted in Jearusalem depicted flowers, people and animals. Madona Lily flowers were commonly used on these ancient coins.On the obverse is shown a lily flower, or fleur-de-lys, which later became the French sign of royalty. Given the Latin name lilium candidum by biologists, it is a symbol of purity and was regarded in Ancient Israel as the most beautiful flower.The flowers have been revered and admired since antiquity. The use of the lily on this coin is apparently derived from the design that graced the capitals of the two main pillars that stood in front of the Temple, known as Jachin and Boaz. Following from its earlier use, the lily became a popular motif in Jewish art of the Second Temple Period, appearing on coins struck in Jerusalem during the second and first centuries BCE under Antiochus VII, John Hyrcanus I and Alexander Jannaeus. This minute silver coin, minted in Jerusalem in about 350 BC, is one of the earliest known Jewish coins, one of the artistic highlights of Jewish numismatics, and is the first extra- biblical instance of the common usage of ‘ J u d e a ’ t o d e n o t e t h e I s r a e l i t e p r o v i n c e . Fig 3.1 19 20 With the lack of Persian symbols on the coins gives a strong indication of great autonomy on the part of Judean authorities granted by the Persians – they could make their own money! These coins give us a good idea about the political status of Judea within the Persian Empire; it was one of the more respected provinces. Fig 3.2 The reverse side bears an image of a bird. It is suggested that it is a falcon or hawk. The heraldic form of the bird is borrowed from contemporary coins of Asia Minor that depict other birds in a similar fashion. Near the bird’s head is the word ‘Yehud,’ “YHD,” in ancient Aramaic script. This expression had a twofold meaning, signifying both the name of the city Jerusalem as the capital (Aramaic ‘Birta’) of Judah and the province (Aramaic ‘Medinta’) itself. This assumption is based on the fact that at the time of the minting of this coin and during the previous few centuries “YHD” was the name of Jerusalem.