Tetradrachm of the polisof Rhegion (present-day Reggio Calabria) in Bruttium, south Italy. On the obverse, a lion’s head; on the reverse, the head of Apollo, crowned with laurel. Artist unknown; minted between 410 and 387 BCE. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com
Denarius minted by L. Plaetorius Cestianus in the summer or autumn of 42 BCE, from a military mint under the control of M. Junius Brutus and C. Cassius Longinus. The coin celebrates Brutus and Cassius’ claim to have liberated Rome by assassinating C. Julius Caesar. On the obverse, the head of Brutus, identified as IMP(ERATOR); on the reverse, the pileus, a cap worn by freed slaves, between two daggers with the inscription EID(IBUS) MAR(TIIS) = “On the Ides of March”. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com
Stater of the polis of Corinth. On the obverse, Pegasus above the Greek letter qoppa; on the reverse, Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet. Artist unknown; minted ca. 515-500 BCE. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com
Numismatics is the study of currency, money, and its uses thereof. U.S. Currency is noteworthy for several reasons:
(ha! “note” worthy! Get it? It’s another of my famous puns. You lucky, lucky bastards…)
Anyways: -Did you know that US currency is the only money where the notes are all the same size? People in Europe refer to USD as “Monopoly Money” for that reason. Seriously.
-Since 1969, the largest denomination in circulation of US currency is the $100 Note. On top of that, there are far more people in the U.S. than there are $100 notes. Consequently, whenever you use a $100 note, most people would be smart enough to verify the authenticity of the note!
So, starting from the top:
-Yup. The first issuing note of $100 from the U.S. Treasury featured Lincoln on the note. It was in 1862, one year before his assassination, and in the midst of the Civil War.
-The next series was put into Circulation in 1870. It featured Senator Thomas Hart Benton (Missouri) on the note. He was most closely associated with the “Manifest Destiny” idea of westward expansion. Also, do you see where it says “GOLD” all over the note? US Currency is ensured in value by our stores of gold bullion, which are kept in places like Fort Knox, Kentucky or the Federal Reserve Bank, in NYC.
-1914 Was the first time Benjamin Franklin made his appearance on the note. That is Independence Hall on the back (it is where the Liberty Bell is: in Philly.)
-1966 Was the next series. I kinda like the typography on that note. It is kinda cool looking. It also has a new seal of the US Treasury, and the Latin has been replaced with English. It was issued because of a bunch of changes internally, and because of a decrease in the amount of currency in circulation.
-Series 2006A was the next release of the note. It was actually released in 1996, but was renamed the 2006A because it underwent numerous changes to stop counterfeiting efforts.
-the most current version of the currency from 2009. Current Currency designs are often subject to recalls, modifications, and so forth. (Current Currency is the correct terminology. it is also alliterative, with the same root for each word. Do you KNOW what that means? It means that I have given you lucky bastards TWO examples of my stunning word-play, in only one post! You guys hit the freaking jackpot with me!) The 2009 series was DESIGNED in 2009, but was released in 2011, recalled and replaced with an uncolored version (some kind of problem with creasing), and the next series is set to be released in October of 2013.
It is actually kind of interesting, when you read about it. Also, look at world currency pictures at some point. They’re often quite beautiful. Another thing to look for: in the UK, Coins issued with the Portrait of the Queen are issued with her age correct for the date of issue. So, the first coins released under her reign showed a young woman. Now, they show her to have aged quite considerably.
Obverse has a bust of Honorius, diademed, draped and cuirassed right with the inscription: D N HONORIVS P F AVG
Reverse has Honorius standing right, trampling a captive lying at his feet, holding a standard and Victory on glove with the inscription: VICTORIA AVGGG
These two bronze coins are thefinal evidence of the political history of Axum; nothing remains that documents any subsequent kings.
They were minted by King Armah of Axum in the early 600s AD, and are held at the British Museum.
The decline of the Kingdom of Axum can be seen in several details on the coin:
(1) the material of the coin is bronze, rather than gold or silver, meaning that it was meant for local circulation,
(2) the inscription, although attempting to mimic Greek sayings (“Let gladness be to the peoples”), is written in Ge'ez rather than Greek, so that only a local audience could understand it, and
(3) the cross-topped arch on the reverse of the second coin is, according to one theory, a representation of the Holy Sepulcher; a reference to the Arab conquest of Jerusalem in 637.
Was the emphasis on Christianity in the coins’ iconography meant to invigorate Axum’s sense of identity in the face of defeat?
Was the (possible) reference to the conquest of Jerusalem meant to display Axum’s friendship and subservience to the new Rashidun Caliphate?
Philippine banknote changes are afoot! I hope for the BSP rethink their design strategy of endangered fauna over heroic personages in the obverse. Diverse elements can always be seamlessly integrated if they belong in a coherent narrative. A banknote is a story in and of itself and not mere footnote of history.
It’s been eleven years since the inauguration of the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas’ New Generation Currency Series of 2010. It is ideal to change the design of security features of bank notes after a decade or so to prevent counterfeiting. Please keep a copy of my medallic and numismatic design, the Order of Lakandula if you can. It is found on the 1000-peso banknote. I still got two 1000-peso notes with the Order of Lakandula image in circulation from the bank. I will keep them as design specimens, and do keep yours, too.
I was 27 years-old when Manuel ‘Manolo’ Quezon III tapped me to design for the national government back in 2002, under the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Historical Affairs which was under the Office of the President. It was fresh from receiving my second industry award for website design and development for the Lopez Museum and Library when he recruited me to collaborate with him on a life-changing project. To upgrade and contemporize the designs of the Republic and President/VP coats-of-arms and seals; which were originally designed by the great Galo B. Ocampo in 1946; and to design the medallic and numismatic requirements for a new civilian order for the country; which became one of the highest decorations of the nation, the Order of Lakandula. Among its conferments are to the Emperor of Japan Akihito (conferred by PNOY); the King Juan Carlos I and Crown Prince Felipe of Spain (conferred by PGMA); and the Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton (conferred by PNOY); and among others. It turned full circle when Captain Galo B. Ocampo (1913-1985) one of the great Triumvirates of Philippine Art (with Victor Edades and Botong Francisco) is conferred with the Order of Lakandula posthumously in 2015 in a ceremony at the National Museum of the Philippines presided by his current successor as museum director Hon. Jeremy Barns. The Filipino Historian Ambeth Ocampo is also a recipient of the Order of Lakandula.
The image of the Order of Lakandula is found as “Medal of Honor” in the one thousand-peso banknote of the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas’ New Generation Currency series of 2010. It was the first national order to have its image featured in a Philippine banknote. Eventually deemed ‘mislabeled’ and also ‘out of context’ with the three featured heroes (Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda, the heroes and martyrs of World War II) and thus the image of the medal was removed in 2017. The latest conferment of the Order of Lakandula was in 2019 by PPRD to Filipino Chinese Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong, the President of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc.
It was a great honor, privilege, and experience having my design work included in the banknote for a long time before the banknote security design upgrade in 2017. But the Coat of Arms of the Republic of the Philippines found in all banknote denominations is that of my design.
My contributions to the national heraldry, medallic, and numismatic designs will be there for a long long time as it is mandated by law and in use by the Philippine Government for honor and protocol. Unless the laws are changed, or the existing form of government is changed, or if there will be a call for a plebiscite to change the symbols of the nation.
Have you seen our new Anglo Saxons home learning pack yet? ✏️
Travel back in time to Anglo Saxon England with a short video from our Learning team, try your hand at a quiz and have a go at two jigsaw puzzles. You can also learn how to make your own Anglo Saxon brooch in our short craft activity video.
These coins are from the Crondall Hoard, which was buried before AD 650 and includes the earliest-known Anglo Saxon coins. The hoard was found in Hampshire in 1828 and came into our collections in 1944.
The obverse has the image Dionysos wearing an ivy-wreath and the reverse has the inscription ΘAΣION behind Herakles, who’s wearing a lion’s skin headdress, kneeling and shooting an arrow, a K is inscribed on the right, all within a linear square within an incuse square. This rare coin sold at auction for around 82,500 USD.
Thasos is an island off the ancient Thracian coast in the northern Agean Sea. The island was important in wine trade and also controlled rich gold and silver mines on the mainland. It was colonized at an early date by Phoenicians who founded a temple to the god Melqart, whom the Greeks identified as “Tyrian Heracles.” The temple still existed in the time of Herodotus.
Extremely Rare Hekte with Helios & Horses, C. 410 BC
An electrum hekte from Kyzikos, Mysia with a naked Helios kneeling while holding two horses by their bridles; a tunny fish, the civic badge of Kyzikos, is below them while the reverse side is a quadripartite incuse square. Extremely fine and extremely rare, almost certainly the finest known.
The engravers of the Kyzicene coinage drew their ideas from numerous sources, both local and foreign. Here, the inter-connected mythological relationships of Helios to Apollo; and Apollo as father to the city-founder Kyzikos point to an indigenous origin. The symmetrically balanced composition of the sun-god Helios flanked by the horses’ foreparts must have been sculptural in inspiration and it has been suggested that since the composition on the obverse is perfectly square that it was copied from a metope of a temple. Although full staters bearing this composition exist in some numbers, the hektes are exceedingly rare.
This is a quarter stater attributed to the AtrebatesandRegni Celtic peoples. It was struck circa 10-40 AD under the rule of Verica, a British client king of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Claudian invasion of 43 AD.
It known as a “Vine Leaf Rex” type with a vine leaf on the obverse and veri written around. The reverse has a naked warrior on a horse, holding a spear and a sword, with r[ex] written below and an f behind. Extremely fine and excessively rare.
These unique initials are among the finest found in our collection. Rather than being printed from woodblocks, these specimens were engraved on a metal plate. While this process is more laborious, the results are far superior, with crisp, deep detail.
Images from: Norden, Frederik Ludvig. Travels in Egypt and Nubia. London: Printed by Lockyer Davis and Charles Reymers, 1757.
This late 4th-century belt comprises two gold, imperial medals, the larger of Constantius II (reigned 350-361) and the smaller of Galeria Faustina (died 140/141), wife of Antoninus Pius. Such medals were distributed to supports and friends, who often mounted them in jewelry or articles of personal adornment to proclaim their favored status. The Constantius medal, minted in Nicomedia (Asia Minor), represents on the reverse the triumphant emperor in his chariot. Other mounted medals and coins, separated by lengths of chain, would have completed the belt.
The belt is in the collection of the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore.
Aureusof Antoninus Pius, struck at the mint in Rome, with the Deified Faustina (d. AD 140) on the obverse and the Temple of the Deified Faustina on the reverse. Yale University Art Gallery.
Left to right: Elagabalus, Severus Alexander and Gallienus. All from the third century crisis phase when Rome nearly collapsed. Elagabalus went from Syrian priest to Emperor of Rome at the age of 14, made a complete hash of things as a figurehead since he wanted to replace Jupiter with his home god Elagabalus as Rome’s primary deity. That might have gone over better had he not also married a Vestal Virgin, tried to give his charioteer the title of Caesar (and husband), or allowed female senators. His reputation as the gayest, craziest, most debaucherous Emperor that ever was is probably not entirely deserved, but he was definitely not the right man for the job. Needless to say, he was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander (note Jupiter firmly back on the obverse). He was also mostly controlled by his elders and was also assassinated, triggering the Third Crisis, wherein 50 different factions proceeded to fight for control. Gallienus wound up on top for a decent number of years, but spent most of it at war along the Rhine, I believe. I was never a big Roman history buff - I’m more into Bronze Age Greece - but these poor doomed cousins are pretty compelling.
