the essays an old coin

Essay on “The Autobiography of an Old Coin” English Essay-Paragraph-Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 CBSE Students and competitive Examination.

The Autobiography of an Old Coin

Old coins are sometimes thrown away, but I live in a beautiful wooden box and am a coin-collector’s pride. There are many more like me, of different shapes and sizes, and we all live in harmony.

I was born many years ago out of silver. People called me a Rupee Coin.

I was handled by many people, who took me to all parts of the country. Though my value was less compared to my companions, nevertheless, I was exchanged for food, books, clothes, cinema tickets, cold drinks on hot summer days, and so many other things that money can buy.

I was jingled and kept in purses, and sometimes tossed up in the air, or thrown on the ground and turned round and round. You see, I was always being used for something!

The worst experience I had was when I was thrown into a dirty puddle. I shivered and felt the dirt sink into my body, and a huge foot trampled me. I had hardly recovered from the shock, when I was picked up, wiped clean and given to a sweet vendor. He threw me into a small tin box, and tired, I fell asleep.

When India became independent, its currency changed. People tried to get rid of us for we were no longer needed. I was left in the tin box, uncared for, until a small boy placed me in a beautiful, wooden box. I lie here still, and am looked at every now and then. I am happy, even though I have grown old. At least, I am not thrown around, and I’ve found out something more — I know I’m special in some strange way!

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thank you for this imfortion of coin please make eassy on coin name and two lines on me.

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10 Lines on “The Autobiography of an Old Coin” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students.

10 lines on “the autobiography of an old coin”.

1. Old coins are sometimes thrown away, but I live in a beautiful wooden box and am a coin- collector’s pride. There are many more like me, of different shapes and sizes, and we all live in harmony.

2. I was born many years ago out of silver. People called me a Rupee Coin.

3. I was handled by many people, who took me to all parts of the country. Though my value was less compared to my companions, nevertheless, I was exchanged for food, books, clothes, cinema tickets, and cold drinks on hot summer days, and so many other things that money can buy.

4. I was jingled and kept in purses, and sometimes tossed up in the air, or thrown on the ground and turned round and round. You see, I was always being used for something!

5. The worst experience I had was when I was thrown into a dirty puddle.

6. I shivered and felt the dirt sink into my body, and a huge foot trampled me.

7. I had hardly recovered from the shock, when I was picked up, wiped clean and given to a sweet vendor. He threw me into a small tin box, and tired, I fell asleep.

8. When India became independent, its currency changed. People tried to get rid of us for we were no longer needed. I was left in the tin box, uncared for, until a small boy placed me in a beautiful, wooden box.

9. I lie here still, and am looked at every now and then. I am happy, even though I have grown old.

10. At least, I am not thrown around, and I’ve found out something more I know I’m special in some strange way!

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Autobiography of a Coin Essay

I am now an old coin and have been in circulation for many, many years. I am worn out now and the lion’s head on my face is very faint. But I still remember my early youth when I was in the government treasury, with my bright companions.

I shone brightly then and the lion’s head glittered brightly. My active life began when I was paid out from the counter of a bank, along with other new rupees, to a gentleman who got a cheque encashed.

I went off jingling in his pocket, but I was not there for long, as he gave me to a shopkeeper. The shopkeeper looked pleased when he had me in his hand, and said, “ I have not seen a new rupee for some time “, and he banged me against his counter to see if I was genuine.

I gave out such a clear ringing note that he picked me up and threw me into a drawer along with a lot of other coins. I soon found we were in a mixed company.

I took notice of the greasy copper coins, as I knew they were of low caste; and I was condescending to the small change knowing that I was twice as valuable as the best of them, the fifty paise coins, and a hundred times better than the cheeky little paisa.

But I found a number of rupees of my own rank but none so new and bright as I was. Some of them were jealous of my smart appearance and made nasty remarks, but one very old rupee was kind to me and gave me good advice.

He told me I must respect old rupees and always keep the small change in their place. A rupee is always a rupee, however old and worn, he advised.

Our conversation was interrupted by the opening of the drawer, and I was given out to a young lady, from whose hands I slipped and fell into a gutter.

Eventually, a very dirty and ragged boy picked me up, and for some time thereafter that I was in very low company passing between poor people and small shopkeepers in dirty little streets.

But at last, I got into good society, and most of my time I have been in the pocket and purses of the rich. I have lived an active life and never rested for long anywhere.

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Essay on Autobiography of a Coin for Students of All Ages

Here you’ll find a thought-provoking essay that reimagines the life of a coin as if it were a living being. Through the captivating essay, “Autobiography of a Coin,” you’ll explore the life of a coin from a unique perspective, discovering how it would have felt to be used as currency, passed from hand to hand, and spent in countless transactions. The essay provides insight into the experiences of a coin as a sentient being, as well as the broader social and economic implications of a coin’s life. With vivid descriptions and imaginative storytelling, this essay is sure to challenge your assumptions about the objects we use every day. Whether you’re a student or simply curious about the world around you, “Autobiography of a Coin” is a must-read.

• Autobiography of a Coin

I am a Coin, and my story is one of adventure and discovery. I was minted from precious metal, crafted with precision and care, and sent out into the world with a purpose. I have traveled far and wide, from the depths of pockets to the heights of piggy banks, and I have seen and experienced things that most could only dream of.

I have been a part of transactions and exchanges, passed from hand to hand, my metal gleaming in the light. I have been used to buy sweets and toys, to pay for services and goods, and to make change. And with each exchange, I have learned something new about the world and the people in it.

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Coins, the Overlooked Keys to History

By Casey Cep

Loose change was scarce last year. Retail and restaurant industries collected less cash from customers, so had fewer coins to deposit with their banks, while limited hours and new safety protocols at mints around the country slowed coin production. Some coin-based transactions evolved right away: cashless tipping became more common, even more toll booths were converted to pay-by-plate systems, and plenty of places began rounding up or down to simplify payment. But it wasn’t enough. Only a few months into the pandemic, cafés were putting up signs begging customers for change, laundromat owners were crossing state lines to buy quarters, banks were offering rewards for clients who surrendered their coins, and the Federal Reserve formed the U.S. Coin Task Force to address the crisis.

Even though the Fed was, and still is, rationing coins, the agency insists that the country is facing a circulation problem , not a shortage: like so many Americans over the past year, American coins have simply stayed home. Plenty of coins exist—some forty-eight billion dollars’ worth—they just aren’t moving around the economy the way they should. Instead, they’re sitting in jars and hiding under couch cushions, inadvertently hoarded by millions of American households.

Coin hoards are nothing new, but the celebrated varieties, the sunken pirate’s treasure chronicled by magazines like Coin World and COINage or the ancient burial mounds documented by outlets like CoinWeek , are a far cry from what most of us keep in our sock drawers. The historian Frank L. Holt calls these everyday collections of coins “nuisance hoards,” one of the many delightful things I learned from his new book, “ When Money Talks ,” a volume more charming than its mundane subtitle, “A History of Coins and Numismatics,” might suggest. A professor at the University of Houston, Holt teaches courses on Greek and Roman history, Alexander the Great, and numismatics—the field which he believes is the key to many others.

According to Holt, the average American household has around sixty-eight dollars’ worth of coins in their nuisance jars. Collectively they throw away another sixty million dollars’ worth every year, vacuuming them up or dropping them into trash bins with lint and straw wrappers. But we do cash in some of our change, including, on average, forty-one billion coins a year to Coinstar counting machines alone. Many banks no longer convert change for customers unless it arrives wrapped and counted, but, since 1991, seventeen thousand or so Coinstar kiosks have proliferated in grocery stores around the country, and they now convert some three billion dollars annually, sorting coins from debris for a fee of roughly twelve per cent, spitting out a voucher that customers trade in for cash or gift cards.

Of course, this year and last year weren’t most years, and what economists call the velocity—the rate at which coins move through the economy—slowed dramatically. Fewer people were visiting grocery stores at all, much less to exchange their coins, and, in the early days of the pandemic , when the route of coronavirus transmission was less known and cash came to seem like a contagion, consumers went out of their way to avoid using bills and coins. This is the basis for the Fed’s insistence that enough coinage exists, if we could just get it moving again.

Cash transactions are typically coin-intensive. Being prepared to make change for any purchase that isn’t rounded to whole dollars requires a minimum of ten coins: one nickel, two dimes, three quarters, and four pennies. Pennies have the highest velocity, since eighty per cent of all transactions less than a dollar require at least one of them. But they also have what is known in the financial world as a negative seigniorage, meaning that they’re worth less than what they cost to produce: every one-cent coin costs nearly two cents to mint. Even in non-pandemic years, pennies cost more than they are worth, and they also impose a time tax on every transaction: single-cent pricing costs customers and retailers approximately seven hundred and thirty million dollars a year in wages and lost productivity.

Pennies put the nuisance in nuisance hoard, and, when they make headlines these days, it’s often for that reason: an angry father dumped eighty thousand of them on his ex-wife’s lawn for his last child-support payment; an aggrieved business owner paid his local taxes with five wheelbarrows full of them; a disgruntled garage owner upended ninety thousand of them on a former employee’s driveway in lieu of a final paycheck. In response to all of the expense and headaches that small coins can cause, Australia and Canada both eliminated their pennies; in America, the effort to do so has been championed by the fictional cast of “The West Wing” and documented at length by the directors Jamie Kovach and Zach Edick in their film “ Heads-Up: Will We Stop Making Cents? ”

Such a move would be far from unprecedented. Our coinage seems stable and fixed today, but, in previous decades and centuries, Americans spent half-cent coppers and three-cent nickels, half-dimes and two-cents, not to mention “eagles,” which came in two-and-a-half-dollar, five-dollar, ten-dollar, and twenty-dollar denominations. Holt, who managed to write a biography of Alexander the Great almost entirely on the basis of a few ancient coin-like medallions honoring his military might, argues that coins offer a rare, robust record of linguistic, artistic, and political change. Whereas other aspects of material culture are often mute about their meaning or disappear over time, coins have proved remarkably enduring, surviving for millennia for the very reason that they were created: the inherent strength of their source materials, like bronze and copper and silver and gold.

Almost every civilization has had some form of currency, but coins first proliferated nearly three thousand years ago among the Lydians, in what is today modern Turkey. Called croesids, in honor of the Lydian king Croesus, these early coins were quickly copied by the Greeks, who found them easier to exchange than land, cattle, or any of the other commodities of the ancient world. Everyday objects had long served the same purpose, but coins were more durable than the cowrie shells of Africa and more portable than the fei stones of Micronesia, although less delicious than the cocoa seeds of Central America. Parallel money systems took shape in Asia around the same time as in Lydia, with decorative karshapana circulating in stamped and unstamped forms in ancient India and coins that were not round but ornately shaped to resemble knives and farming implements changing hands in China. The earliest incarnations did not display the year or the denomination; instead, their value was understood through material or convention— nomos —and their study, first described by Herodotus, became known as nomismata .

Not everyone was a fan, though. The civilizational slope has been slippery for much longer than most of us realize, and, long before the advent of smartphones or typewriters or railroads, the Roman denarius was considered a threat to the social order. In “ Antigone ,” Sophocles depicts King Creon battling not only his niece but also numismatists, calling coins the worst invention of all time and claiming that currency “lays cities low . . . drives men from their homes . . . trains and warps honest souls till they set themselves to works of shame . . . and to know every godless deed.” Part of the proper burial that Antigone sought for her brother involved placing an obol in his mouth so that he could pay Charon’s ferry toll into the underworld; inflation and imagination turned this into the common misunderstanding that the dead need two coins, one on each eye. The early Greeks also sometimes carried small coins in their mouths while alive, before there were change purses and pockets. But others objected to carrying coins at all. Pliny the Elder hated how coinage had displaced the agrarian tradition of trading livestock and hides and slaves, writing in his “ Natural History ” that the minting of the first denarius was a “crime committed against the welfare of mankind.”

Many mintings later, the denarius was still suspect. Jesus handled them, and he or his disciples mention them in all four of the Gospels, mostly to warn their followers against greed, and sometimes to make other theological arguments. Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, Light of the World—to those monikers Holt adds “the numismatist from Nazareth.” And, although I have read a great deal of Biblical exegesis, I can’t say that I had ever heard anyone describe the “ render unto Caesar ” teaching as a “famous numismatic lecture on the relationship between coins and state sovereignty.” That’s accurate enough, although I was less convinced by Holt’s claim that Jesus would be better known as a coin expert if the translators of the King James Bible hadn’t substituted their own currency for that of the ancient world, replacing the Roman as and quadran with the British farthing and making that distinctive denarius into a penny.

But coins go by many names, and “coin” itself is not the oldest word for them. It came to us from the French coing , for the die used to stamp metal with the words or images that communicated the meaning of coins, but they were already known as money, in honor of the goddess Juno Moneta, in whose temple the Romans ran their first mint. These sorts of etymologies, religious allusions, and literary references fill the pages of “When Money Talks,” which variously dramatizes a numismatics class, investigates the ethical dilemmas of coin collecting and historical study, narrates nearly a whole chapter from a coin’s point of view, and collects virtually every poem, story, and novel in which coins have ever been essential to the plot. In keeping with the book as a whole, it is both bizarre and charming to watch Holt populate a category of literature that unites texts as disparate as Orhan Pamuk’s “ My Name Is Red ,” Edgar Allan Poe’s “ The Gold-Bug ,” George Eliot’s “ Silas Marner ,” and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “ Treasure Island .”

“I did not go into history for the money,” Holt confides. “I went into money for the history.” Only a university professor or your favorite uncle could get away with that joke, and Holt’s tone falls somewhere between the two, managing to cram into a few hundred pages a career’s worth of puns and coin comedy, everything from “Johnny’s Cash” to “Cents and Sensibility.” Take this one paragraph, a meditation on all the ironies of how we talk about money:

If you make it in your business, you are commended; if you make it in your basement, you are arrested. We call it bread, cabbage, clams, bacon, biscuits, cheddar, gravy, and dough, but almost none of it could be mistaken for food. Broke means you have no money; broker means you probably do. You can use money to do your laundry, but you’d better not launder your money. Your bottom dollar puts you in the poorhouse, but a pretty penny buys you a mansion. You can use money to grease someone’s palm or to pay through the nose, so why would you ever put it where your mouth is?

Why indeed, except, of course, that we use language the same way we use coins: both figuratively and literally, as designed and for our own purposes. Holt knows that, which is why, if you forgive him his professorial exuberance, “When Money Talks” is a genuinely fascinating book, full of ideas as well as facts: why we need money, how it has evolved, what forms it might take in the future. It is a general book by a genuine specialist, and it offers up expertise alongside a survey of his field and its history. Marching through the centuries from the croesid to today’s cryptocurrencies, Holt takes us from the thirty-three thousand coins found in the ashy ruins at Pompeii to the thirteen tons of gold and more than thirty million ounces of silver that were recovered from the remains of vaults beneath the World Trade Center after 9/11, along the way looking at a variety of global economic systems and delighting in all the routes a coin can take from mine to mint to market to museum.

Although Holt acknowledges the evolution of currency across the ages, he dismisses the idea that we are on the verge of a cashless economy, something predicted for decades now, since long before the arrival of Bitcoin , Bytecoin, Dogecoin, SwiftCoin, or any other blockchain currency. Such names, and talk of “ mining ” digital coins or “coining” computer code, are part of why Holt is convinced that there will always be a parallel physical-money system: such language is meant to reassure investors that dematerialized currency is safe and reliable even while approximately twenty per cent of all the bitcoin in existence—somewhere around a hundred and forty billion dollars’ worth—are lost or locked in abandoned wallets , and more than a hundred thousand users of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX , lost all their holdings when the exchange’s founder, Gerald Cotton, died without passing along the password to their assets.

But, even if Holt is wrong and all coinage eventually ends up in museums, he suggests that coin studies will always be relevant. His book ends with a preview of an interdisciplinary field that he calls cognitive numismatics, a theoretical approach to the study of history that uses material artifacts to try to reconstruct how people thought about money in the past. Eventually, as he points out, those people will include us. Holt imagines a time in which coins are protected objects in a cashless society, and an even more distant future in which aliens will study our quarters and pennies to try to understand our extinct society, trying to make sense of who we were through numismatics, the “beautiful science of civilizations here and beyond.”

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By Kyle Chayka

By John Cassidy

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By Erik Baker

When money talks: a history of coins and numismatics

David hendin , american numismatic society. [email protected].

At age eight I collected cents and dimes and pushed them into blue folders, gifts from my dad, a scholar-collector who was also a physician. At age seventy-six, I study, teach, or write about coins every day, although my academic training was in other fields. Am I a coin geek or a coin guru? In When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics, historian Holt says I am a numismatist—one who studies “coins…perhaps the most successful information technology ever devised.” Coin collectors have included “kings, princes, popes, and emperors” (p. xi).

Holt warns that numismatics, a heralded discipline from at least the Renaissance to the twenty-first century, is becoming academically orphaned, rarely taught at universities, and sometimes shunned because many practitioners are collector-scholars who have “never enjoyed much notice in modern culture” and are thought of as the “stay-at-home, stuck-in-the-mud collector[s]…” (p. 15). Alas, Hollywood has not yet provided a swashbuckling numismatist whose adventures spawn followers among youngsters.

Holt sees money as history. “Thumbing through a wallet of bills is like paging through a textbook; sorting coins seems like scrolling through tiny disks of information technology crammed with words and images. In America today, Johnny cannot pay cash for so much as a soda without connecting his present to a long and eventful past filled with important people, patriotic slogans, a profession of faith, historic events, symbols of power, and even the ‘dead’ language of ancient Rome” (p. 1).

When a perfect author connects with his perfect subject, a book like When Money Talks is born. I found something I wanted to learn (or be reminded of) on almost every page. Holt is a specialist who has written a needed book for generalists. Using popular and academic themes, he explains numismatics in a broader context than it is usually understood. Holt shows us where our money has been and reminds that we can hardly predict what it might become—e.g. bitcoin—yet he argues that “coined money in its original form of stamped metals is likely to endure this challenge” (p. 3). When Money Talks should be required reading for economists, historians, archaeologists, classicists, sociologists, and contemporary scholars, each of whose fields, among others, can benefit from better understanding money and its use.

Holt offers three “truths” about his topic: 1. Money is not simply an object of daily use, but relates to our “cultural, political, artistic, religious, social, and military lives…” (p. 16). 2. “…numismatics has revealed massive amounts of information about world civilizations that could not be obtained by any other means” (p. 17). 3. Coins have often been overlooked, and once we are able to “move beyond neglecting coins, or even collecting coins”, we may find “unexpected avenues for future research” (p. 17).

Chapter two looks at the world “From the Coin’s Point of View.” While man makes coins for his own use, there is “another side to the coin” (p. 19). In Holt’s view, that is the vantage of the coin: it “seems to have a mind of its own.” Holt cites literature that treats coins as living beings; money talks, after all. Money takes key roles in myth and tradition, and there are even nursery rhymes about coins (“Pop Goes the Weasel!”). What is the real story behind the coin tossed to start each football game? Does your money have a conscience? Does your money “work” for you? And because of its familiarity and near ubiquity “money” has accumulated a surprising number of oddly specific colloquial names: “We call it bread, cabbage, clams, bacon, biscuits, cheddar, gravy, and dough, but almost none of it could be mistaken for food” (p. 11).

Holt exposes us as hoarders, calling out our “nuisance jar” of pennies and other small change that gets too troublesome to carry around. If you are an average American, he says, your house contains around $68 in change. But beyond the full jars and heavy pockets they cause, pennies are a real nuisance: one U.S. cent is virtually worthless, yet we pay nearly two cents each to keep manufacturing them, to the tune of more than $700 million per year. In chapters seven and eight Holt discusses the discovery, recording, and understanding of coin hoards over the centuries, from ancient Greece to pirate treasure, and even the thirty million ounces of silver and thirteen tons of gold recovered from vaults beneath the World Trade Center after 9/11.

Each coin is a “memeplex” carrying multiple “memes” to help guarantee that each one survives. Roundness is one of a coin’s “memes”, he explains, which is rooted neither in ease of production nor technical need (coins were round long before vending machines required it). Being round, Holt notes, allows some coins to escape by rolling away when they fall to the ground. Only a few coins need to achieve freedom to insure the transmission of historical knowledge.

In Holt’s view, coins “rely” on humans not only to lose them (American’s lose or throw away around $60 million in coins each year) or keep them, but also to bury some of them. Coins can help narrate human history, and they can be found in museums or collections or at one of the many coin shows held throughout the world, where “old recovered coins have gathered to celebrate; they are the envy of all the workaday currency arriving at the party in pockets rather than fancy containers…” (p. 27), Holt writes.

This attitude is only partly tongue-in-cheek and helps readers understand the complexities behind what seems to be a simple concept. As societies progress they need more  money, which for most of history has been coins. A section on “How Coins Repopulate” (p. 28) even discusses each coin’s parents and relatives. Those seemingly obscure relationships between the dies (parents) and their pairings (couplings) used to create coins have helped establish key historical chronologies.

The “memes” of coins, of course, need not only be replicated by the same dies or even the original coins. Even forgeries help further the “memes,” and some modern coins carry the “memes” of ancient coins. A modern coin “inherits its memetic blueprint through reproductive imitation on modern dies” (p. 31)

Chapter three explores how things were bought and sold before the invention of coinage as well as the heralded first coins, invented in ancient Lydia and copied by the Greeks and Persians. Unlike land or cattle, metal coins were portable, durable, and had a fixed and agreed upon value, at least in the area in which they were issued. Western coins were mostly round, but some were shaped like dolphins, and early Chinese coins resembled knives and plows. Even after the invention of coins, money has also been cowrie shells, wampum, cacao, cigarettes, or even giant stone monoliths in the Yap islands that may never be moved, yet became a method of storing and transferring wealth. The first manufactured coins did not carry a date or denomination. Their value was generally agreed upon– nomos. Herodus was the earliest known writer to use nomismata to mean coins (the money of the time) and thus the study of coins has been dubbed numismatics.

Holt defines numismatics and its potential influence broadly. Many individuals who bought, sold, or studied coins were historians at heart. Seventeenth century numismatist John Evelyn “claimed that coins surpassed all other creations and memorials of ancient times” (p. 55). Evelyn opined that the Egyptian pyramids themselves lacked soul when compared to coins. And 200 years later Oxford scholar Charles Medd wrote that “antiquity could not leave to posterity any memorial of such widely instructive importance as its varied coinage” (p. 55).

At times in the past, coins or money have often been used as  metaphors for morality. On the other hand, coined money is often viewed with a suspicious eye. In Antigone by Sophocles (fifth century BC), the character Kreon says (v. 295-299), “Coinage! Nothing worse for people has ever come into our lives, wrecking nations, emptying households, teaching shameful morals, encouraging crime, and leading to sacrilege!” (p. 57).

Holt’s view of numismatists is broad. He describes Suetonius as a numismatist because he portrays Vespasian as handling a specific coin——one derived from the income of his tax on public toilets—and asking Titus if it smells bad, an exchange that has given rise to the famous adage pecunia non olet . (p. 63). Holt’s sometimes playful narrative offers us a cornucopia of references to coinage, modern and ancient. He calls Jesus the “numismatist from Nazareth” (p. 66) since he used examples of current coinage dozens of times in his stories and parables. One of the most famous involved the poor widow who donated her entire fortune of two lepta—the well-known “widow’s mites”—to charity.

Holt retells the tale of the thirty pieces of silver, not only how they were paid to Judas for betraying Jesus, but where they came from and where they went. Holt even tells us of one fourteenth-century person who “believed that he or she owned one of the thirty pieces of silver and wore it as a pendant. It is, however, the wrong kind of coin for the role, as are all the forty other alleged survivors of the original thirty pieces of silver [italics added]” (p. 69).

Over the years coin “memes” changed from the Greek to the Roman pantheons, from Alexander the Great and his successors to Roman and Byzantine emperors. Jesus began to appear on coins only at the end of the sixth century on Byzantine coins. Coins of the Middle Ages were not produced very well, but they still carried “memes”. Fourteenth-century numismatist Nicholas Oresme was commissioned by King Charles V of France to address the composition of coins, why they were invented, and whether the people or the princes owned them. Oresme sided with the people. He also articulated the theory (later called Gresham’s law after Sir Thomas Gresham) that adulterated (bad) coinage will drive pure (good) coinage out of circulation. This law was recently illustrated when the U.S. ceased minting coins from silver in 1964 and the older silver coins were  already in being removed from circulation, not by any government but by consumers who wanted to profit from the increased value of silver.

Some readers will say that Holt’s tour de force is his anecdotal history of coins and money. However, this reader sees his most valuable contribution to be his discussion of the evolution of “Renaissance antiquarianism” (which was generally recognized as a symbol of connoisseurs and culture) to the coin collector/dealer of today, who has been portrayed by some as a pillager of cultural heritage. Holt says, “Coins have no conscience…” (p. 141). True, but are coins owned by  themselves, or by the people who use them? Should coins belong to museums, collectors, or perhaps the governments of nations that never even existed at the time the coins were minted? Or all of the above? Holt asks critical questions about collecting and studying coins. He discusses the key role that collector-scholars have played, and asks whether their rights are being threatened by some governments and the views of many archaeologists. Should scholars associate with collectors or dealers of coins?

I cannot say that Holt answers these possibly unanswerable questions. In chapter nine, he creates an illuminating dialogue between a coin-collector scholar, who happens to be a retired academic marine biologist, and a group of classics students. Is the collector-scholar a looter or an academic hero? Both sides explore their arguments and each one is countered. Again, no answers, but Holt notes that “Minds may not have been changed in the dialogue, but some may have been opened. That is an important first step.”

What is the future of the coin? It is likely to be as strange to us today as the concept of crypto-currency was just a few years ago. It may involve the trillion-dollar platinum coin that Congress has debated producing at the U.S. mint to  raise the US. debt ceiling. “[Numismatics] may become the unifying language of everyone on Earth…” (p. 182).

Holt advocates for a multi-disciplinary field called cognitive numismatics. “Without abandoning all that coins can teach us as a state-sponsored media, cognitive numismatics…seeks also in coins the lower strata of society [merchants and other just plain people, per Holt] as the next step in advancing our knowledge deeper into history’s darkest chasms” (p. 141). Holt believes that subtleties of history, economics, and other fields can gain a lot from the study of material artifacts such as the coins they used. He also reminds us that our own civilization will someday be judged partly on the coins that we used. [1]

[1] A comment on production: This reviewer has seen or heard about six copies of this book with faulty bindings in which the first 20 or more pages begin to fall out after only opening the book one or two times. This reviewer’s email to Oxford University Press’s customer services department was unanswered after more than one month.

English Compositions

Write an autobiography of a One Rupee Coin [PDF Available]

In this article, I’ll show you an example of an autobiography writing of a one rupee coin.

I used to just have a big scrap of metal before I got the name Coin. I did not always look like this. I used to look like a pale, metallic sheet that does not have an appealing shape.

All my ancestors looked like this. Everyone was pale and everyone was just a piece of metal. People used to cut my ancestors, use them for various purposes but they would never value them.

After the metal rots, they would throw it away and buy a new one. We were only used but never seen, never respected, never loved. Then one day, late in the 600 B.C, we were shaped by humans and we were given certain value to us.

Ever since then, all our relatives, be it copper, gold or silver, some of us got transformed to beautiful round shapes that carried a value people longed to have in their pockets. We were transformed from mere, ugly looking metals to coins. 

Just like my ancestors, I was dug up from the ground by humans. A big, heavy, shapeless, ugly piece of rock was converted into money. Money is something that everyone loves and craves for.

When I was first taken to the minting factory, it was scary. So many people were working tirelessly to make us metal pieces look beautiful. I come from the steel family tree.

The Indians have started using us to make their coins now. Earlier, my maternal side, the nickel family, used to make coins. They ruled India for a very long time. Then in 2002, their value increased. Production of coins using Nickel became very high and they had to find an alternative.

That is when they brought us. It was a day of celebration in our family. We were so happy to have been chosen to be the main component in the production of coins in India. 

Many sheets of our stainless steel family were brought together to process. We were all waiting eagerly to increase our value. We were taken to the mint factory of eastern India, Kolkata.

Kolkata was a huge, busy city. I was born in Maharashtra that lies on the western coast of India. Travelling all the way to the east was so beautiful. I saw so many places falling in between and met so many people.

This journey showed me how each and every corner of this country is so different from one another. Every place has a language of their own, food of their own, culture of their own, dressing style of their own.

Every place looks so different from one another. The country is vast and beautiful and full of people. It has a large population and everyone is always moving. 

When I crossed the West Bengal border, I suddenly saw an absolutely different culture. Apart from a lot of people being busy, nothing was the same. Even the place smelled different.

We were taken to Kolkata. In Kolkata, there is a big minting factory that produces coins in this country. Some of my family members were sent to other parts of the country. Some of my cousins were taken to Hyderabad, my parents were taken to Noida, and I was brought here.

My grandparents decided to be minted in Mumbai only. I wish they could see vast India as I did. I wish they could have travelled with me but alas, they could not. I wish they could have seen the diversity as I did too. But then, after becoming coins, they are going to travel. I hope they like where they go. 

I was taken to the Indian Government Mint, Kolkata. It was this huge mint factory. I had never seen anything like this. I have never been to any mint factory and it was overwhelming.

I met some of my long lost relatives there. I was so excited to get converted into a coin. To look beautiful like the others, to have value to myself. Soon, I was cute, shaped, washed, pressed and finally minted into a beautiful 2 rupee coin.

I loved my new look. I felt important and special. I could not wait to go out into the pockets of people and feel them use me to buy things, feel the importance that they would give me. 

My first owner, after the bank was a 50-year old man. He did not notice me much when he got me. He just put me in a bag and forgot about me. It was dark and stinky in the bag. I waited for so many days to get out but all I could see was darkness.

One day, while I was fast asleep, I felt a human hand on my cool metal surface. I was excited that finally I will be used. The person who took me out of the bag was a 10-year-old kid, who picked me up along with some notes and left the room quietly.

Then he took me outside. I saw him using the notes to buy himself an ice cream. I was eagerly waiting for my turn to come. After ice-cream, he bought himself some candies, sweets, biscuits, chips, cola and so many other things but never bothered to use me.

Then he ran towards other kids and they were forming teams to play a certain game called cricket and they needed a coin to decide who gets to bat first. I got so excited when I heard this.  

I felt the hand of the kid on my skin again. I was going to be used, I was going to be valued. I was so excited. But suddenly, a sharp pain went across my body and lo and behold I was in the air.

Then I fell down on the ground and hit my head. It hurt a lot and I was dirty now. The boys started to fight over something and completely forgot about me. The kids were stepping on me, kicking me and no one was picking me up. I laid there motionless and bruised. The kids forgot all about me and went home.  

I had lost all hope in humans by then. But suddenly, I felt someone else picking me up. I was dirty and scratched by then. I was not beautiful anymore. I knew the person who picked me up was just going to throw me away. But a miracle happened.

The person who picked me up was a beggar who used me to buy himself a piece of bread. I saw him enjoy that bead and eat it as if he had been hungry for a very long time.

Finally, I was valued for who I was. This is when it hit me. Beauty can never contribute to your value. Being beautiful is not going to increase your value but your value can only be understood by a person who knows what it means to have something. So, this was my story. The story of a one rupee coin. 

How Was It?

How was this autobiography of a one rupee coin?

I hope you enjoyed this writing.

Now It’s your turn to practice this autobiography.

You can write it on a plain notebook for a couple of times, then you can easily remember the key points.

I hope this example helps you.

Do let me know if you have any queries by leaving a comment below.

Economics Professor—and Noted Numismatist

Coins reveal important history of Ancient India

By vijee venkatraman photos by cydney scott.

Here is how a several centuries–old coin may rewrite a key chapter in the history of ancient India: In 1851, a hoard of gold coins issued by several kings from the Gupta dynasty was unearthed near the holy city of Varanasi, in northern India. The Guptas, who ruled from the 4th to 6th centuries AD, ushered in the Golden Age of ancient India, a blossoming of the arts and sciences that produced the concept of zero, a heliocentric astronomy, and the Kama Sutra.

Gupta kings stamped their given names on the front of their coins and, on the back, an assumed name ending in “aditya,” or sun. On two of the coins in the hoard, scholars were able to read only the king’s assumed name—Prakasaditya, or splendor of the sun—but it seemed obvious that these, too, were Gupta coins. Few scholars disagreed. Without the given name, however, the mystery would remain for more than 160 years: Which Gupta king was Prakasaditya? When did he rule?

Ancient Indian coins conjure up marketplaces along the Silk Road, the trade route that connected the East and West; conquerors and their traveling mints; wars; and lost kingdoms.

Pankaj Tandon is a Boston University associate professor of economics by training and, by passion, a scholar of ancient coins—or numismatist. In 2010, Tandon, who specializes in coins of ancient India, which to numismatists includes what are today Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, set out to crack the puzzle of Prakasaditya. In 1990, an Austrian numismatist named Robert Göbl had speculated without substantive proof that Prakasaditya was a Hun, but most scholars had continued to regard the mystery king as a Gupta. Tandon began by scouring more than 60 images of the coin—additional specimens had been found over the years—but the coins had all been poorly made and not one image revealed the king’s given name.

Tandon spent the 2011–12 academic year in India on a Fulbright-Nehru fellowship , teaching microeconomics at St. Stephen’s College , his alma mater, in the capital of New Delhi. On weekends, he made road trips to several government museums in the nearby state of Uttar Pradesh to examine coins. On a visit to the Lucknow State Museum, he was given a rare, behind-the-scenes tour of an uncatalogued collection of dozens of Gupta coins. With no time for careful viewing, he hastily took pictures of the lot.

It wasn’t until he got home and sorted through the images that he realized that one of them was of the mystery coin. And here, at last, were all the letters he needed to read the king’s given name—Toramana. He was no Gupta. Toramana was a Hun, an invader whose conquests in northern India were believed to have stopped well short of Varanasi.

It was a surprising discovery . What were the coins of an archrival doing in the heart of the Gupta empire? Could the Huns have been responsible for the decline of the Guptas, in the second half of the fifth century?

Tandon returned to India in the winter of 2015–16 on another Fulbright-Nehru fellowship to pursue these and other numismatic questions. His work includes cataloging coins of the Guptas—and of their predecessors, the mighty Kushans—in the government museums in Uttar Pradesh, which have the largest collection of coins from these two dynasties after the British Museum in London, and the National Museum in New Delhi. Tandon has been invited to collect new information about the Kushan and Gupta coins for scholars in an updated print catalogue.

Numismatics plays an important role in understanding ancient Indian history, says Joe Cribb, former Keeper of Coins and Medals at the British Museum and renowned authority on ancient Indian coins. Here’s why: Surviving written texts that feature the ancient history of India were created as religious or literary texts. To reconstruct the past, says Cribb, historians look to other sources, such as archaeological finds and inscriptions on stone and metal. Coins offer another form of evidence, requiring similar care and expertise in the interpretation of engraved words, symbols, and images. “This is where a scholar like Pankaj comes in,” Cribb says, adding that the BU economist brings a rigorous scientific approach.

Hover over the coin to inspect closer

Antiochos I

Silver, c. 266 bc.

History Lesson: Alexander the Great (c. 356–323 BC) conquered vast swathes of the inhabited world, marching east with his armies from Macedonia to India. After his death, Alexander’s general, Seleucos Nikator, ruled the conquered Asian territory and established the Seleucid Empire. The general was succeeded by his first son, Antiochos. This is the only early Seleucid coin to carry a date, says Tandon. It specifies the month Xandikos (March) and the year EI (15). The coin was minted in the city of Ai-Khanoum, in Bactria, a key province in the eastern part of the empire.

On the front of this coin is the customary portrait of King Antiochos. Most of the other Seleucid mints had begun replacing the earlier image of the head of a horse, on the back, with the god Apollo years earlier. With this coin, the Bactrian mint seems to have made the switch as well.

Something must have happened to prompt the issuing of a new coin, Tandon speculates.

If the year 15 represented the 15th year of Antiochos’s reign, says Tandon, the date is March 266 BC. In 267 BC, Antiochos had his eldest son, who had been his viceroy to the east, executed on suspicion of rebellion. This coin, Tandon speculates, may commemorate the new viceroy’s arrival in Ai-Khanoum. Since it was the custom for Seleucid kings to appoint their heir apparent as viceroy to the east, scholars assume the king’s younger son, Antiochos II, replaced his brother on that date.

Gold, c. 460 AD

Unlike pennies from the US mint, ancient coins were struck by hand and so no two coins are identical. A specimen could easily be missing critical parts of the inscription—or legend—that would reveal who issued the coin and when. Numismatists often have to wait until a well-struck coin turns up before they can attempt to read what’s on it, says Tandon.

Coin scholars had studied various specimens of this coin for more than 160 years, but they were all so shoddily made that no one could read the king’s given name. On this specimen, which Tandon owns, it is hard to see that there is an inscription at all.

In 2010, Tandon began painstakingly tracking down pieces of the puzzle—an image with a missing letter here, another clue there. In 2012, on a visit to a closely guarded collection of ancient coins at a museum in northern India, he took a hasty photograph of what he realized only later was the mystery coin. It had the missing letters Tandon needed to identify the king as Toramana, a Hun.

Kanishka the Great

Gold, c. 127 ad.

The Kushans were a superpower of the ancient world, ruling a large part of India during the first and second centuries AD. Art and culture flourished under the Kushans and they were known for their beautiful gold coins.

Four and a half centuries after Alexander the Great’s arrival in India, Kushans still minted coins in the Greek style, with Greek inscriptions and icons of Greek gods. This early coin from Kanishka 1, the greatest Kushan of all, depicts the Greek lunar goddess Selene. Later, the king began putting local deities on his coins.

Tandon knows the Greek alphabet from his training in mathematics and can read the script on Kushan coins. On one coin he acquired early on, he read the legend—which includes the king’s name—and saw that an expert had ascribed the coin to the wrong king. Perhaps the expert didn’t have a specimen of the coin with a legible legend, Tandon says. His coin did. The king was Kanishka. Tandon published the correct finding.

Tandon, who earned his PhD in economics at Harvard, corroborates his numismatic findings with information he gleans from historical texts, inscriptions, and even sculpture from old temples. He has published his research extensively in peer-reviewed numismatic journals. Cribb has invited Tandon to collaborate with him on a catalogue of Kushan coins for the British Museum.

Tandon began collecting coins as an investment in the late 1990s, when India was poised for growth. “As an economist, I know that in developing countries, the price of historically important cultural memorabilia is relatively low,” he says. “As the country becomes wealthier, the value of such memorabilia skyrockets.”

Once he acquired a coin, Tandon wanted to learn everything he could about it. As he immersed himself in the study of ancient Indian coins over a decade, their value went up, just as he had predicted. What he hadn’t predicted was that he would evolve from a collector into a scholar.

“Indian coinage is perhaps the most fascinating in the world,” Tandon says. “There are all these outside influences—from ancient Greece, Rome, Persia, and China—and there is all the indigenous evolution [of the coins themselves] over 2,500 years.”

Ancient Indian coins conjure up marketplaces along the Silk Road, the trade route that connected the East and West; conquerors and their traveling mints; wars; and lost kingdoms. They depict kings and deities and animals (Prakasaditya portrayed himself astride a horse, slaying a lion) and feature one or more scripts: Greek, the now-extinct Kharoshthi, and Brahmi, the mother of most modern Indian scripts. Early on, numbers were written using letters, and the system for writing dates varied across kingdoms. The seeming inscrutability of it all appealed to Tandon, who is a devotee of the New York Times crossword puzzle. He knew the Greek alphabet, and over time he taught himself to read Kharoshthi and Brahmi.

What Coins Tell Us About a Forgotten Dynasty

His first major acquisition was from a hoard of coins found in Balochistan, in present-day Pakistan, that had been issued by kings called the Paratarajas, who ruled the all-but-unknown kingdom of Paradan. They had issued copper coins with legends in Kharoshthi, and silver coins with legends in Brahmi. By scrutinizing the images and legends, Tandon came up with the chronology of the 11 Paratarajas rulers who, in all likelihood, ruled from around 125 to 300 AD. “ Pankaj’s paper on the Paratas is an excellent example of the diligence and intelligence of his numismatic work,” says Cribb.

“Indian coinage is perhaps the most fascinating in the world. There are all these outside influences—from ancient Greece, Rome, Persia, and China—and there is all the indigenous evolution [of the coins themselves] over 2,500 years.” Pankaj Tandon

Tandon put the small kingdom back on the map. Then he dug up clues to help make it a living, breathing world. As an economist, he was curious about the source of the kingdom’s wealth. Searching through historical documents, he concluded that the secret of its prosperity was international trade. One export was a lavender-like plant called nard, which grew in abundance in arid Balochistan and fetched a high price from the Romans, who prized nard for its perfumery.

In 225 AD, the coinage of the Paratas went from silver to copper, a sign of the kingdom’s declining fortunes. Around the same time, with civil war raging at home, Rome’s trade with India suffered. The Roman economy was the biggest in the world, just like the US today, and a recession in Rome must have led to recession in India, Tandon hypothesizes. “Globalization may not be the modern phenomenon we think it is,” he adds.

Curating a Museum

Though he considers himself primarily a scholar, Tandon still collects coins. “You need to hold a coin in your hands and look at it from various angles to study it to your complete satisfaction,” he says.

Too often, though, when individual collectors acquire coins, they pass from public view and are unavailable for scholarly study. Twelve years ago, in an effort to help remedy the problem, Tandon established an online, or virtual, museum, CoinIndia , which features high-resolution images of nearly 2,000 coins from the Indian subcontinent, spanning some 2,500 years. Upinder Singh, the head of the history department at the University of Delhi , calls the website “a wonderful, unparalleled resource on the history of Indian coinage.”

One day, Tandon hopes, his own collection will be displayed in a real museum, ideally in India, where the coins were first unearthed.

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Vijee Venkatraman

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Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 19 comments on Economics Professor—and Noted Numismatist

Wonderful to hear of your work Pankaj.

Thanks, Dev!

Fascinating work. I esp. approve of housing the coin collection in a South Asian museum, While they are part of humankind’s common heritage, they deserve a permanent home in the region from whence they came, since it’s a more direct heritage there. No more Elgin Marbles Syndrome (sic)!

Wow these are true beauties.. Wished I had some of these rare Indian coins in my collection!

http://www.mintageworld.com/coin/

All you have to do is buy them :-)

What a fascinating story! Great work, Prof. Tandon!

In many cases there is always a deep relationship between the economies of several nations and their history. In fact economical remains more specifically, currency and coins tells a lot about the history of the specific geographic location from where they belong. I am currently enrolled for a bachelors program at Mount Lincoln University. I believe Pankaj has elaborated the entire idea with a huge depth. http://www.mountlincolnuniversity.com/

Great effort and investigation

I have a coin but i just don’t know about it’s history…can you read it.

If i have an ancient coin. Can you suggest where will i know the value

when was this article published? good job by the way!

Love your work. Keep making more of it.

I cannot identify few coins Can you suggest where to contact

which is first coin of India? when? if dated? or no research has been done on prevalence of coins (earlier called pann etc in jataka or panchatantra tales) in India? often we read there was use of gold or silver made coins(or any name?) in ancient India

I want to know if india had issued ek naya paisa coin in 1964 or not. Once in 1964 naya paisa was demonetized and ek paisa coin was introduced. So i want to know if government issued naya paisa coin of 1964 with naya paisa concept or not.

I HAVE ONE SPECIAL COIN WHICH ONLY FEW PEOPLE HAVE IN INDIA BUT I DONT NO ITS ORIGINAL OR NOT OF 5 RS

This looks like indian old coins of India which is far less older than indian coins.

do you have any numismatic research on Ancient india

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5 The Coinage of Athens, Sixth to First Century B.C.

Peter G. Van Alfen is Margaret Thompson Curator of Greek Coins, American Numismatic Society, New York.

• Published: 21 November 2012
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When the Athenians began to strike coins in the sixth century BC , they produced one of the earliest coinages in the Greek mainland, appearing within a generation or two of the first coins in Lydia. The trickle of silver coinage produced by the Athenians in the sixth century became, by the end of the fifth, a colossal flood, which was fed both by their indigenous “fountain of silver,” the mines at Laurion, and the flow of harbor revenues and imperial tribute. This deluge of Athenian silver effectively inundated economies in the Aegean and parts of the Near East, where the Athenians' primary coin type, the large denomination tetradrachm sporting their patron deity, Athena, on the obverse and her owl on the reverse, became one of the most influential, long-lasting, and widespread coinages in the ancient world.

Why the Athenians began to strike coins in the sixth century B.C. we do not know, but along with their sometime rivals in Aegina and Corinth, they produced one of the earliest coinages in the Greek mainland, appearing within a generation or two of the first coins in Lydia. The trickle of silver coinage produced by the Athenians in the sixth century became by the end of the fifth a colossal flood, which was fed both by their indigenous “fountain of silver” (Aesch. Per . 238), the mines at Laurion, and the flow of harbor revenues and imperial tribute. This deluge of Athenian silver effectively inundated economies in the Aegean and parts of the Near East, where the Athenians’ primary coin type, the large denomination tetradrachm sporting their patron deity, Athena, on the obverse and her owl on the reverse, became one of the most influential, long-lasting, and widespread coinages in the ancient world. In one form or another, the “owl” coinage was minted virtually without interruption from around 515 B.C. until the Athenians at last gave up their silver civic coinage in the first century B.C. No other Greek polis could claim such extreme monetary endurance. The owls, and their contemporary imitations, are found in hoards far from Attica and the Aegean, from Yemen in the south to Afghanistan in the east, also attesting to the broad reach of Athenian economic action.

Monetization began before the first coin was struck in Athens. The laws of Solon (Ruschenbusch 1966 : F 26, 30, 32, 33, 36, 65, 68, 77, 79, 81, 92, 143a) suggest that by the early sixth century the Athenians were accustomed to using silver, likely in the form of miscellaneous pieces of cut silver (“Hacksilber”), for a variety of monetary payments and collections involving the state; such use possibly extended to the private sphere as well, paralleling practices in the Near East (Kroll 1998 ; 2001 ; 2008 ). Already the terms of account known in the classical period (“drachm,” “obol”) had been adopted, although the corresponding standard weights were possibly still in flux ( Ath. Pol. 10.1–2; cf. Andoc. I.83). Once settled, the weight standard, which governed the subsequent denominations of the coinage, was pegged around a drachm of 4.32 g subdivided into six obols of 0.72 g each; this standard, called the Attic-Euboic by modern scholars, was maintained by the Athenians throughout their minting history—a rare feat, since many Greek poleis changed standards depending on the economic or political climate (Elsen 2002 ). Larger denomination coins appeared as multiples of the drachm (up to 10 drachms) while fractional coins were multiples or divisions of the obol (down to 1/8 obol).

The production of Athenian coinage started around the time Peisistratus consolidated his tyranny in 546 B.C. (Kroll and Waggoner 1984 ). Why the Athenians (or Peisistratus) felt the need for coinage at this point and what function the coins were intended to serve remain open questions. Any number of reasons, or their combination, might equally provide answers: the need to pay mercenaries; the need to pay for public projects initiated by the tyrant; the growth of markets; civic pride, or its corollary, peer group pressure among contemporary tyrants. There can be little doubt, however, that the initiative for the coinage came from either Peisistratus himself or the collaborating ruling elites, since they alone would have had the resources and the political force to generate both the coins and their acceptance. A role for Athens's elites in the production of the earliest coins is further suggested by the coins themselves: while the reverse has a simple, unadorned incuse, the obverse of the coins has changing types. Fourteen in total are known, including an amphora, triskeles, astragal, scarab, horse, horse protome, horse hindquarters, owl, bull, head of bull, and wheel (fig. 5.1–5.3 ). An earlier generation of scholars saw in these changing types the heraldic devices of the private individuals responsible for their issue, and to this day the series is known as the Wappenmünzen (heraldic coins). Nevertheless, we know nothing of the organization of coin production at this time. Whatever tension, if any, the publication of these presumed personal devices may have caused with the consuming public was resolved by the adoption of purely civic types later in the development of Athenian coinage.

From the number of known obverse dies (about 35; Kroll 1981: 22), it is clear that the output of Wappenmünzen over the two decades or so that they were in production was not tremendous, but it was nevertheless consistently maintained. Hoard finds ( IGCH 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12) show that the coins generally did not travel far from Attica; only a comparative few traveled overseas ( IGCH 1482, 1639, 1644, 1646, 1874). The largest denomination of the series was the didrachm (2 drachm) of 8.6 g, followed by single drachms and an abundance of smaller obols and hemiobols (half obols weighing 0.36 g). There is no evidence to date for sixth-century prices in Athens or elsewhere, so it is idle to speculate on the purchasing power of these coins. Even the smallest might have had more value than was useful in (nonelite) day-to-day retail trade. Nevertheless, the assortment of denominations represents a concern on the part of the Peisistratids to meet a range of possible expenses. Special, perhaps external, debts might have been met by a limited series of electrum coins—the first and only series in this metal that the Athenians were to produce—that share general features with the Wappenmünzen , namely the changing obverse types (an owl, bent human leg, facing bull's head, and wheel; see Seltman 1924 : 80–85) and incuse reverses. The coins are known in only two denominations, one of about 1.32 g, the other of about 0.64 g, which appear closer to 1/12 and 1/24 staters on the Phocaic standard than any obvious denomination on the Athenian standard. The use of the Phocaic standard would align these coins with other electrum issues in Asia Minor so again could indicate an external rather than internal orientation for the coinage.

At some point around 525 B.C., Athenian coinage underwent significant changes. For the first time, perhaps in the entire Aegean basin, a reverse type was added to a coin; it was now here where the devices of the moneyers could be found. This innovation was to accommodate a static type on the obverse: the gorgon (fig. 5.4 ). In addition, a new denomination was introduced, the tetradrachm (4 drachms) weighing around 17.28 g, a comparatively large, ingot-like coin that could be used only in high-value transactions. This denomination would serve as the cornerstone of Athenian minting for the next several centuries. Together these changes may indicate that the Athenians were reorienting their monetary policy to focus more on economic activity beyond the borders of Attica than within (Kroll 1981: 15; Nicolet-Pierre 1983 ). The gorgon was not a private symbol but represented the Athenians en masse through their patron deity, Athena, who was attired with the gorgon's head as part of her aegis. Unlike the Wappenmünzen , the gorgoneia could potentially advertise their origins to those outside of Attica, at least to those who were well enough equipped to understand the symbolism, and so would circulate as internationally known entities rather than anonymous curiosities. Indeed, hoard evidence shows that the gorgoneia circulated beyond Attica in greater numbers than the Wappenmünzen ( IGCH 1640, 1644, 1874), indicating that the coins found some success in outside markets. Any such success was by design: with their new tetradrachm, the Athenians created a value-added version of what was to become one of their primary exports, silver from the mines at Laurion (cf. Xen. Poroi III.2). Metallurgical analysis of gorgoneia and the preceding Wappenmünzen suggests that the Laurion mines were now the primary source of coining metal for the Athenians, who earlier had been procuring their silver from abroad, perhaps from Peisistratid possessions near Mount Pangaeum in the northern Aegean (Kroll 1981: 14; Nicolet-Pierre 1985 ). That the commodification of silver was an important function of the gorgon tetradrachms can arguably be seen as well in the drop in the number and range of smaller denominations that accompanied them.

Apparently the Athenians (or Peisistratids) were not completely satisfied with the design of the gorgoneia. Within only a few years it was overhauled completely, dropping all reference, if there had been any, to individual magistrates and enhancing significantly the civic character of the coinage. The oblique reference to Athena, the gorgon, was replaced on the obverse by Athena herself, helmeted and in profile. Any question regarding the identity of the deity was answered by thematic continuation onto the reverse, where we find Athena's bird, the owl at rest. Lest there still be questions of the coin's origins, it was spelled out next to the bird: AQE(NAION). One is pressed to find another archaic coin that so completely drives home the point of civic origins; and evidently the point was so well taken that the Athenians saw little need to change the basic design until they ceased minting tetradrachms completely in the first century B.C.

Because the beginning of the owl coinage can be dated by the hoard evidence to the general period of the oligarchy of 511/510 and the Cleisthenic democratic reforms in 508/507 B.C., there have been several attempts to link the coinage to the political expressions of a new government (e.g. Price and Waggoner 1975 : 64–64) and to explain the longevity of the owl coinage as a political symbol of the later Athenians’ quest to preserve freedom from tyranny (e.g. Trevett 2001 ). However, there is as yet no conclusive evidence to lock in the date of the first owls, and the arguments presented by Kroll (1981: 20–30), expanding on the earlier work of Colin Kraay and others, strongly suggest a starting date under the tyrant Hippias no later than 515 B.C.; on his dating, the owl coinage was perhaps more a symbol of Peisistratid economic foresight than the political rule of the demos. While the Athenians’ subsequent devotion to the design of the “owls” might have had a political component insofar as its longevity ultimately bred a patriotic unwillingness to toy with tradition, the immobilization of the owl type was likely based on the economic rationale of finding and maintaining an attractive means of dispersing the one valuable commodity the Athenians had in abundance, their silver. This became all the more important when new, richer veins of silver were discovered at the Laurion mines at about the time the owls were introduced (Picard 2001 ).

Charles Seltman's (1924) early work on Athenian coinage made great headway in sorting out the types of these early owls, but it was Kraay ( 1956 ) who demonstrated the error in Seltman's stylistic approach. Seltman's designations for the early owls has been retained, but the order now is that of Kraay: H, L, M, G, C, F, E, for the owls from around 515 to around 490 (fig. 5.5 and 5.6 ). Production of the archaic owls was characterized by steady, gradually increasing output, with limited numbers of smaller denominations, although the rough aspect of the owls from groups F and E toward the end of the period could indicate that the Athenians had stepped up production considerably on the eve of the Persian invasion to help fund their defense (Kroll and Waggoner 1984 : 329).

Soon after the defeat of the Persians in 480/479, the design of the owls received minor changes. On the obverse, four upright olive leaves were added to Athena's helmet (later reduced to three); a crescent moon was added to the upper left field of the reverse. There is no consensus regarding the reason for the addition of the moon—it may simply have been added to fill out the space—but Athena's olive “wreath” likely commemorates victory over the Persians (Starr 1970 : 11). Chester Starr's (1970) arrangement of the five main classes of owls that were produced over the two to three decades after 480 remains fundamental. His observations detailed the subtle variations and development in style that occurred through his Groups I–V (fig. 5.7 ), as well as the significant increase in the number of coins produced in his last Group V. Starr's dating of this last group to the 450s has been called into question by recent hoard finds and should be moved into the 460s (Kroll 1993 : 6; Kagan 1987 ). As was the case with the archaic owls, the Athenians settled down to a steady, but not huge, production of owls during the initial years of the Delian League, in marked contrast to the years following the removal of the league treasury to Athens in 454 B.C. (Starr 1982 ). In the midst of this stream of owls, two unusual denominations appeared: one was the didrachm (fig. 5.8 ), a denomination not seen since the end of the Wappenmünzen , and at the other end of the spectrum, the other was the largest coin ever produced by the Athenians, the decadrachm (10 drachms), weighing around 43 g (fig. 5.9 ). Both were comparatively short-lived denominations, which makes the purpose for these coins all the more difficult to fathom. While the need for an intermediate denomination between the large tetradrachm and smaller drachm makes a certain sense, the transactional role of the decadrachm is less clear, except in meeting especially large debts. The medallion-like character of the large coin suggested to Babelon ( Traité II, col. 770) a commemorative purpose, perhaps victory over the Persians at Salamis, although such theories are currently discounted. Fischer-Bossert's comprehensive study (2008) of the decadrachms indicates that this series was larger than previously thought, although not as large, in terms of dies used, as the didrachms (cf. Starr 1970 : 22). Dating both series with any precision is notoriously difficult, but it seems that they were roughly contemporary and were issued over a period of time lasting a decade or longer.

Around the time the Athenians removed the Delian treasury to their acropolis, and concurrently demanded imperial tribute from their allies, the character of Athenian coinage underwent changes as well. The owls became still more stylistically conventionalized, reflecting the now colossal scale of production (fig. 5.10 ). Because this massive output continued until nearly the end of the Peloponnesian War, consisting of hundreds of millions of coins on a conservative estimate, no scholar has yet had the endurance to undertake a die study of the extant issues. Flament's (2007) attempt to provide a typology of this coinage is a step in the right direction, but only with an actual die study will we have anything firm to say about the rhythms of production and its relation to Athenian finances during this important span of political and economic history (van Alfen 2011a ). What is apparent, however, is that most allied mints in the Aegean scaled back their own coin production, particularly in larger denominations, through the course of the fifth century (Figueira 1998 : ch. 2). Whether this was due to the output of Athenian coinage simply overwhelming all other coinages in regional circulation or was a calculated move on the part of the Athenians to curtail allied minting for their own benefit, as may be indicated by the “Standards (or Coinage) Decree” ( IG I 3 1453), is a matter of serious dispute (Figueira 1998 ; Kallet 2001 : 205–226). Significantly, however, only a handful of hoards containing Athenian coins of this period have been found in the Aegean outside Attica, or in the Black Sea region, from where the Athenians imported much of their grain (cf. Flament 2007 : 173–184). And while owls showed up in some numbers in the west during the archaic period, during the classical period owls are scarce in western hoards except for those that trailed the Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415 (cf. Flament 2007 : 168; 219–231). Most later fifth-(and fourth-) century owls come to light in Levantine and Egyptian hoards (Nicolet-Pierre 2000 ; Flament 2007 : 197–219; van Alfen 2011b ). One can appreciate the magnitude of the eastern flow of Athenian coinage in the classical period from two large hoards of owls, the Tel el-Maskhouta hoard found in Egypt ( IGCH 1649) and a recent discovery in South-East Anatolia (Buxton 2009 ); each find contained 7,000–10,000 owls (roughly 4 to 6 talents of silver) and can be dated to around 400 B.C.

Within Attica in the later fifth century, there was an expansion of small change denominations, no doubt facilitating the expansion of the use of coinage for a variety of purposes in and out of the marketplace (Schaps 2004 ). Many of their silver fractions were very tiny (e.g., the tetartemorion, c. 0.16 g; fig. 5.11 ), yet the Athenians stubbornly refused to adopt the larger token bronze fractional coinages that were now starting to appear elsewhere in the Greek world. Indeed, it was not until the time of Eubolus's financial reforms in the mid-fourth century that the Athenians finally bowed to the logic of token fractions—at least state-produced fractions (Kroll 1979 ). Textual evidence from the 420s (Arist. Peace 1198–1202; Eupolis Cities frag. 233) referring to the kollybon (the multiples dikollybon and trikollybon are noted in the scholia and elsewhere; cf. Tod 1945 : 108–116), as well as finds of small bronze coin-like items from the Athenian agora, suggests that the Athenians were using private small change tokens, analogous to similar tokens from later centuries, that were offered by merchants to fill gaps in small change availability and make up supplies of official coinage (Robinson 1960 : 7, Figueira 1998 : 497, 504); Kroll ( 1993 : 24), among others, has challenged this interpretation of the agora finds.

In the final corrosive years of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians minted emergency coinages. With their silver reserves near exhaustion and their ability to work their mines impeded by the Spartan occupation of Dekeleia in 413 (Thuc. VII.27–28), the Athenians could no longer strike their owls in quantity and so resorted to two series of emergency coinages in 406/405: silver-plated, bronze-cored tetradrachms and drachms (fig. 5.12 ) and an equally unusual issue of gold staters and fractions (the smallest of which was worth 1 silver drachm; fig. 5.13 ), which were made from the cladding of the Acropolis's Nike statues (Ar. Frogs 725–726; Robinson 1960 : 9–12; Kroll 1976, 1996 ). How these two coinages operated with each other and with the still circulating normal silver issues is unknown, but the fact that these three very different and basically incompatible coinages were in simultaneous use signals the degree of monetary chaos and desperation the Athenians faced in the final days of the war.

The repercussions of the situation in Athens may have stimulated an important monetary phenomenon: the imitation of owls in the Near East. Perhaps because the supply of bona fide owls from Athens was slowly being choked off while the demand for the coinage remained high, toward the end of the fifth century or at the beginning of the fourth, various entities, some perhaps private, many official, began issuing faithful copies of the owls (van Alfen 2011b ). Often these owls bore subtle marks to indicate the coin's origins, whether place or political authority (fig. 5.14 ). Imitations were initially produced in Egypt and the southern Levant, but the practice spread to the South Arabian states and eventually, after the conquests of Alexander the Great, to Babylonia and Bactria, following important eastern trade routes. In most of these places, state-produced imitation owls preceded coinages with indigenous types, indicating both the importance of the owls in Aegean–Near Eastern trade and their role in the adoption of coinage, as opposed to Hacksilber, in local economies. As might be expected with so many high-quality, yet clearly not Athenian, coins circulating alongside their prototypes, many imitations found their way to Athens, where in 375 B.C. the Athenians were compelled to institute legislation ( SEG 26.72; Rhodes and Osborne 2003 : no. 25; Ober 2008 : ch. 6) regulating the use of the owls and their imitations in their marketplaces. The imitation phenomenon has only recently received concentrated attention; it will yet be a while before all known types are documented, die studies completed, and the socioeconomic reasoning behind the coinages worked out (Figueira 1998 : ch. 20; Nicolet-Pierre 1979 , 2003 ; van Alfen 2000 , 2002 , 2005 , 2010 ; Gitler and Tal 2006 ; Fischer-Bossert 2010 ; Huth 2010 ).

How soon after the end of the Peloponnesian War the Athenians resumed the production of their silver coinage and at what scale remains one of the least understood areas of Athenian numismatics. Hoards from both Sicily ( IGCH 2117; Nicolet-Pierre and Arnold-Biucchi 2000 ) and Egypt ( IGCH 1663; Nicolet-Pierre 2004 ), as well as other finds in Attica (Kroll 2006 ), contain coins that may be examples of early fourth-century owls with subtle modernizations of the late fifth-century types (fig. 5.15 ). In any event, the Athenians in the first half of the fourth century do not appear to have minted coins on anywhere near the scale they did before 415 (Kroll 2011a ). By the 350s, their relative poverty required strong corrective measures, beyond even those proposed by Xenophon in Poroi . Under Eubolus's leadership (355–342 B.C.) the Athenians instituted major fiscal reforms, which included the belated introduction of bronze token fractions (Kroll 1979 ), new mining leases at Laurion (Langdon 1991 ), and perhaps an extensive recall and recoining of all available silver in Attica (Kroll 2011b ). Whatever the impetus may have been, the Athenians also embarked on another massive striking of owl coinage, this time with a wholly updated design, which now featured a pi-like element on Athena's helmet (fig. 5.16 ). As was the case with the later fifth-century owls, the production of pi-style owls occurred on such a vast scale that no scholar has yet ventured to undertake a die study of the series. Bingen's (1973) stylistic analysis, the only comprehensive study of the coinage to date, is a useful start but is perhaps misleading in its internal chronological implications. The concurrent bronze issues did not always share the Athena/owl types of the silver coins; in fact, some of the earliest Athenian bronze issues were related to the Eleusinian mysteries, with Triptolemos on the obverse and a piglet on a mystic staff on the reverse with the inscription ELEUSI (Kroll 1993 : 30). Third- and second-century bronze issues introduced additional new iconographic subjects, including heads of Zeus and Artemis, deity statue types, Panathenaic amphorae, and cicadas (Kroll 1993 : ch. 2; fig. 5.17 ).

Athenian silver coin production in the third century was punctuated by periods of inactivity during the occupations of Demetrius Poliocertes (294–286 B.C.) at the beginning of the century and of the Macedonians, led initially by Antigonus Gonatas (263/262–229), toward its end. The overall scale of production was seriously reduced, especially in larger denomination tetradrachms, during both occupations, perhaps less because of political injunctions than the fact that the coins of both generals found their way into circulation in Athens, precluding the need for indigenous coinage (Kroll 1993 : 10–13; Oliver 2001 ). The Athenians continued to mint the pi-style owls until the end of the fourth century and perhaps until their capitulation to Demetrius in 294. Under the tyrant Lachares, and again in desperate straits as they had been a century before, the Athenians struck a series of emergency gold coins during Demetrius's siege by raiding the gold reserves on the Acropolis (fig. 5.18 ). Not long after the expulsion of Demetrius's garrison in 286, the Athenians resumed minting tetradrachms, but this time with yet another updated owl design, the style à quadridigité (Bingen 1973 : 14–15; Nicolet-Pierre and Kroll 1990 ), so called again because of the revised helmet ornamentation (fig. 5.19 ). Likely struck from silver provided to the Athenians by Lysimachus, Ptolemy I (and II), and Antiparus as aid in the continuing struggle against Demetrius, the quadridigité types were struck, never in large quantities, until the 270s or 260s (Kroll 1993 : 10). In their struggle against the Macedonians, the Athenians also minted a cooperative coinage of

pentobols with the Ptolemies to fund their joint campaigns, and minted a second extraordinary series of tetrobols (fig. 5.20 ), which probably represented a soldier's daily wage (Kroll 1993 : 11; 2003; fig. 5.21 ). When the Macedonians left in 229, the Athenians again minted owl tetradrachms; this new series displays yet another new helmet ornamentation, along with the addition of monograms on the reverse, the first time in Athenian history such administrative marks were added to coins, presaging the wealth of administrative data found on the later New Style coinage. Indeed, the gradual spreading and thinning of the flans in this series, as well as the introduction of a new perch for the owl, an amphora, and a surrounding wreath, was also a preview of the New Style coinage to come. This transitional coinage continued into the second century (Nicolet-Pierre 1982 ). The circulation of third-century owls appears more restricted than their classical period predecessors, with finds limited primarily to the Aegean but with significant hoards being found in central or northern Greece, where they appear to have inspired local imitations, if the rougher so-called heterogenous owls are, in fact, imitative (Nicolet-Pierre and Kroll 1990 : 11–22).

It was in the second century that the Athenians recovered their minting vigor with the introduction of a type of owl so completely fresh in its presentation that numismatists refer to it as the New Style series (fig. 5.22 ); the ancients also celebrated the change in their nomenclature; the older types were “owl-bearing” ( glaukophoroi ), while the newer types were “wreath-bearing” ( stephanephoroi ), a reference to the new olive bough wreath on the reverse (Robert 1951 : 105–135). It is because of the wealth of administrative data on the coins, found in the ancillary administrative inscriptions and symbols on the reverse, that the organization of the New Style coinage has been a manageable task, despite a scale of production comparable to earlier mass strikings. In her magisterial study of the series, Margaret Thompson ( 1961 ) determined that there were 111 or 112 sequential emissions, most of which were of a year's duration. Initially, each emission was signed by two officials, their names (or abbreviations thereof) appearing on the reverse, along with a special emission symbol. Gradually, the name of the month of the issue was added, abbreviated by a letter placed on the amphora, as was the name of a third magistrate, who in some cases served only for one month. On occasion, below the amphora, a two- or three-letter abbreviation also appears, which perhaps indicated the source of the bullion used for the coinage. While useful for organizing the coinage, the administrative data found on the coins still cannot answer many fundamental questions about the oversight and arrangement of minting operations. Although Habicht ( 1991 ) has demonstrated that the magistrates were selected from Athenian elites, we do not know their individual responsibilities, or how the administration of Athenian coinage in the Hellenistic period may have differed from that in the classical or archaic periods. We do know, however, that the Athenians, like many other minters in the post-Alexander world, adopted the tendency, mostly absent from archaic and classical coinages, of recording administrative data on coins, which was meant to be read and fully understood only by those within closed governmental circles.

Thompson's internal organization of the New Style coinage has received little criticism over the years, but her dates for the coinage (196/195–88/87 B.C.) have been seriously contested, with scholars initially divided among those supporting her “high” chronology, or modifications of it, and those supporting a “low” chronology with a starting date in the 160s (Lewis 1962 ; Mørkholm 1984 ). Most today accept the low chronology (cf. Habicht 1991 ). It is clear that it took a number of years, if not decades, for the Athenians to build momentum to reach the output levels of the time around the 130s, when up to 30 obverse dies per annum were being used in coin production, an indication of a truly significant scale of minting activity in Athens not seen since the later fourth century. The scale of production no doubt reflected the Athenians’ renewed political and economic impact in the Aegean, particularly after they acquired Delos in 167/166 B.C., as well as a growing regional demand for Athenian coinage. In late Hellenistic Greece, only the Athenians and the Thessalian League were producing any silver coinage of note, so demand for the New Style coinage remained constant, particularly from traders in Delos and governors in Roman Macedonia who used the coins to meet their military expenses (Kroll 1993 : 14–15; de Callataÿ 1991 –1992); this universal role of Athenian coinage was further reinforced by the Delphic Amphictyony, which in the 120s required that all the Hellenes accept Athenian tetradrachms as currency (Lefevre 2002 : no. 127). Hoard evidence leaves little doubt that Athenian tetradrachms were again circulating in large numbers beyond Attica; significant hoards have been found in Macedonia, Thrace, Asia Minor, Delos, and the Levant (cf. Flament 2007 : 233–276).

As was the case in the classical period, the enhanced role of Athenian coinage in regional economies inspired (official) imitations, particularly in the conflicts between Mithradates VI of Pontus and Rome in the 80s B.C. Mithradates adopted the Athenian types for a run of silver tetradrachms and gold staters around 87 B.C. (fig. 5.23 ); a year or so later, his adversary, the Roman consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus, had struck Athenian-type tetradrachms bearing two monograms ascribed to his brother, Marcus Licinius Lucullus, who was his treasurer (fig. 5.24 ). Furthermore, perhaps to aid Lucius Lucullus when he passed through Crete in 86, seven Cretan cities, Polyrrhenium, Cydonia, Gortyna, Lappa, Cnossus, Priansus, and Hierapytna, struck imitation tetradrachms with inscriptions or symbols indicating their origins (Le Rider 1968 ; fig. 5.25 ). The end of the Mithradatic wars, and the sack of Athens by Cornelius Sulla in 86, did not bring an immediate end to Athenian silver coinage. The now quasi-Romanized silver continued to be struck until around 42 B.C., when in the aftermath of the Battle of Philippi the Athenians bowed to the competitive pressure of the Roman denarius and ceased silver coin production for good, by which time the flow of silver from Laurion appears to have finally dried up (Kroll 1993 : 15).

Key to Illustrations

Athens, 6th c. BC. AR didrachm. 8.16 g (ANS 1944.100.24095, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, 6th c. BC. AR didrachm. 8.62 g (ANS 1944.100.24093, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, 6th c. BC. AR obol. 0.58 g (ANS 0000.999.9879).

Athens, c. 525 BC. AR tetradrachm. 17.07 g, 7h (ANS 1944.100.24115, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, c. 515 BC. AR tetradrachm. Seltman group H. 16.97 g, 6h. (ANS 1957.172.1030, Hoyt Miller bequest).

Athens, c. 490 BC. AR tetradrachm. Seltman group E. 17.68 g, 5h. (ANS 1944.100.24140, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, c. 470 BC. AR tetradrachm. Starr group IV. 17.16 g, 9h (ANS 1923.999.95).

Athens, c. 460 BC. AR didrachm. 8.44 g, 5h (ANS 1944.100.24164, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, c. 460 BC. AR decadrachm. 42.41 g, 9h (ANS 1968.34.16, gift of B. Y. Berry).

Athens, late 5th c. BC. AR tetradrachm. 17.15 g, 9h (ANS 1997.9.196, John D. Leggett Jr. bequest).

Athens, 5th c. BC. AR tetartemorion. 0.16 g, 5h (ANS 1944.100. 24180, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, c. 406/405 BC. AR/AE (plated) drachm. 3.65 g, 9h (ANS 1966.232.1).

Athens, c. 407/406 BC. AV obol. 0.72 g, 9h (ANS 1944.100.24411, E. T. Newell bequest).

Palestine, late 5th/early 4th c. BC. AR double shekel? 16.52 g, 9h (ANS 1971.196.2).

Athens, early 4th c. BC. AR tetradrachm. 17.15 g, 9h (ANS 1959.137.1).

Athens, late 4th c. BC. AR tetradrachm. 17.21 g, 8h (ANS 1944.100.24405, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, c. 130–90 BC. AE dichalkon. 12 mm, 3.87 g, 12h (ANS 1944.100.26064, E. T. Newell bequest).

Athens, under Lachares, c. 295 BC. AV stater. 8.57 g, 8h (ANS 1967.152.274, Adra M. Newell bequest).

Athens, 3rd c. BC. AR tetradrachm. 17.19 g, 9h (ANS 1948.171.2, anonymous gift).

Athens, 3rd c. BC. AR tetrobol. 2.83 g, 9h (ANS 1944.100.24416, E.T. Newell bequest).

Athens, 3rd c. BC. AR pentobol. 3.48 g, 9h (ANS 1955.54.212, Jean B. Camman bequest).

Athens, c. 130 BC. AR tetradrachm. 16.80 g, 11h (ANS 1963.31.269).

Athens, under Mithradates VI, c. 87 BC. AV stater. 8.35 g, 12h (ANS 1967.152.278, Adra M. Newell bequest).

Athens, under Sulla (Marcus Licinius Lucullus), c. 86–84 BC. AR tetradrachm. 14.25 g, 12h (ANS 1944.100.24908, E. T. Newell bequest).

Crete, Hierpytna, 1st c. BC. AR tetradrachm. 16.26 g, 12h (ANS 1957.174.1).

Archibald, Z. , J. Davies , and V. Gabrielsen , eds. ( 2005 ). Making, moving, and managing: The new world of ancient economies, 323–31 BC. Oxford.

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Balmuth, M. , ed. ( 2001 ). Hacksilber to coinage: New insights into the monetary history of the Near East and Greece . Numismatic Studies 24. New York.

Bingen, J. ( 1973 ). “Le trésor monétaire Thorikos 1969.” Thorikos 6:7–59.

Buxton, R. ( 2009 ). “ The northern Syria 2007 hoard of Athenian owls: Behavioral aspects. ” AJN 21: 1–27.

Carradice, I. , ed. ( 1987 ). Coinage and administration in the Athenian and Persian Empires. The ninth Oxford symposium on coinage and monetary history. BAR International Series 343. Oxford.

de Callataÿ, F. ( 1991 –1992). “ Athenian new style tetradrachms in Macedonian hoards. ” AJN 3–4:11–20.

——— , ed. ( 2011 ). Quantifying monetary supplies in Greco-Roman times. Pragmateiai 19. Bari.

Elsen, J. ( 2002 ). “ La stabilité du système pondéral et monétaire attique (VIe–IIe s. avant notre ére). ” RBN 148: 1–32.

Figueira, T. ( 1998 ). The power of money: Coinage and politics in the Athenian empire. Philadelphia.

Fischer-Bossert, W. ( 2008 ). The Athenian decadrachm. ANSNM 168. New York.

——— . (2010). “Notes on the coinages of the Philistian cities.” In Huth and van Alfen: 133–196.

Flament, C. ( 2007 ). Le monnayage en argent d’Athèns: De l’époque archaïque à l’époque hellénistique (c. 550–c. 40 av. J.-C.). Louvain-la-Neuve.

Gitler, H. , and O. Tal. ( 2006 ). The coinage of Philistia of the fifth and fourth centuries BC: A study of the earliest coins of Palestine . Milan.

Habicht, C. ( 1991 ). “ Zu den Münzmagistraten der Silberprägung des Neuen Stils. ” Chiron 21: 1–23.

Harris, W. V. , ed. ( 2008 ). The monetary systems of the Greeks and Romans. Oxford.

Hurter, S. , and C. Arnold-Biucchi , eds. ( 2000 ). Pour Denyse: Divertissements numismatiques. Bern.

Huth, M. (2010). “The Athenian imitations from Arabia.” In Huth and van Alfen: 227–256.

Huth, M. , and P.G. van Alfen , eds. ( 2010 ). Coinage of the caravan kingdoms: Studies in the monetization of ancient Arabia . Numismatic Studies 25. New York.

Kagan, J. H. (1987). “The Decadrachm hoard: Chronology and consequences.” In Carradice: 21–28.

Kallet, L. ( 2001 ). Money and the corrosion of power in Thucydides: The Sicilian expedition and its aftermath. Berkeley.

Kraay, C. ( 1956 ). “ The archaic owls of Athens: Classification and chronology. ” NC 6 16: 43–68.

Kroll, J. H. (1979). “A chronology of early Athenian bronze coinage, c. 350–250 BC.” In Mørkholm and Waggoner: 139–154.

——— . ( 1993 ). The Athenian agora. Vol. 26. The Greek coins. Princeton.

——— . ( 1996 ). “The Piraeus 1902 hoard of plated drachms and tetradrachms.” In XAPAKTHP: Aphieroma ste Mando Oikonomidou. Athens: 139–146.

——— . (1998). “Silver in Solon's laws.” In Ashton and Hurter: 225–232.

——— . (2001). “Observations on monetary instruments in pre-coinage Greece.” In Balmuth: 77–91.

——— . ( 2003 ). “The evidence of Athenian coins.” In Palagia and Tracy : 206–212. Oxford.

——— . ( 2006 ). “ Athenian tetradrachms recently discovered in the Athenian Agora. ” RN 162: 57–64.

——— . (2008). “The monetary use of weighed bullion in Archaic Greece.” In Harris: 12–37.

——— . ( 2011 a). “ Athenian tetradrachm coinage of the first half of the fourth century B.C. ” RBN 157: 3–26.

——— . ( 2011 b). “ The reminting of Athenian silver coinage, 353 B.C. ” Hesperia 80: 229–259.

Kroll, J. H. , and N. M. Waggoner . ( 1984 ). “ Dating the earliest coins of Athens, Corinth and Aegina. ” AJA 88: 325–340.

Lalonde, G. V. , M. K. Langdon , and M. B. Walbank , eds. ( 1991 ). The Athenian agora XIX. Inscriptions: Horoi, poletai records, leases of public lands. Princeton.

Langdon, M. (1991). “Poletai records.” In Lalonde et al.: 76–132.

Lefevre, F. ( 2002 ). Corpus des inscriptions de Delphes, IV. Documents Amphictioniques. Paris.

Le Rider, G. ( 1968 ). “Un groupe de monnaies crétoises à type athéniens.” In Humanisme actif. Mélanges Julien Cain. Paris: 313–335.

Lewis, D. M. ( 1962 ). “ The chronology of the Athenian New Style coinage. ” NC   7 2: 275–300.

Meadows, A. , and K. Shipton , eds. ( 2001 ). Money and its uses in the ancient Greek world. Oxford.

Mørkholm, O. ( 1984 ). “ The chronology of the New Style coinage of Athens. ” ANSMN 29: 29–42.

Mørkholm, O. , and N. M. Waggoner , eds. ( 1979 ). Greek numismatics and archaeology: Essays in honor of Margaret Thompson. Wetteren, Switzerland.

Nicolet-Pierre, H. (1979). “Les monnaies des deux derniers satrapes d’Égypte avant la conquête d’Alexandre.” In Mørkholm and Waggoner: 221–230.

——— . (1982). “De l’ancien au nouveau style athénien: Une continuité?” In Scheers 1982: 105–112.

——— . ( 1983 ). “ Monnaies archaïques d’Athènes sous Pisistrate et les Pisistratides (c. 545–c. 510). I. Les tétradrachmes a la Gorgone. ” RN 25:15–33.

——— . ( 1985 ). “ Monnaies archaïques d’Athènes sous Pisistrate et les Pisistratides (c. 545–c. 510). II. Recherches sur la composition métallique des Wappenmünzen. ” RN 27: 23–44.

——— . ( 2000 ). “Tétradrachmes athéniens en Transeuphratène. ” Transeuphratène 20: 107–119.

——— . ( 2003 ). “ Les imitations égyptiennes des tétradrachmes athéniens d’époque classique (Ve–IVe s. av. J.-C.). ” Arkhaiologike ephemeris 142: 139–154.

——— . ( 2004 ). “Retour sur le trésor de Tel el-Athrib 1903 ( IGCH 1663) conservé à Athènes.” Arkhaiologike ephemeris 139: 173–187.

Nicolet-Pierre, H. , and C. Arnold-Biucchi . (2000). “Le trésor de Lentini (Sicile) 1957 ( IGCH 2117).” In Hurter and Arnold-Biucchi 2000: 165–171.

Nicolet-Pierre, H. , and J. Kroll . ( 1990 ). “ Athenian tetradrachm coinage of the third century B.C. ” AJN 2:1–35.

Ober, J. ( 2008 ). Democracy and knowledge: Innovation and learning in classical Athens . Princeton.

Oliver, G. (2001). “The politics of coinage: Athens and Antigonus Gonatas.” In Meadows and Shipton: 35–52.

Palagia, O. , and S. Tracy , eds. ( 2003 ). The Macedonians in Athens, 323–229 BC. Oxford.

Picard, O. ( 2001 ). “ La découverte des gisements du Laurion et les débuts de la chouette. ” RBN 147: 1–10.

Price, M. , and N. Waggoner . ( 1975 ). Archaic Greek coinage: The Asyut hoard. London.

Rhodes, P. J. , and R. Osborne . ( 2003 ). Greek historical inscriptions 404–323 BC. Oxford.

Robert, L. ( 1951 ). Études de numismatique grecque. Paris.

Robinson, E. S. G. ( 1960 ). “ Some problems in the later fifth century coinage of Athens. ” ANSMN 9:1–15.

Ruschenbusch, E. ( 1966 ). SOLONOS NOMOI. Wiesbaden.

Schaps, D. ( 2004 ). The invention of coinage and the monetization of ancient Greece . Ann Arbor.

Scheers, S. , ed. ( 1982 ). Studia Paulo Naster Oblata. Louvain.

Seltman, C. ( 1924 ). Athens, its history and coinage before the Persian invasion. Cambridge.

Starr, C. ( 1970 ). Athenian coinage 480–449 B.C. Oxford.

——— . ( 1982 ). “ New specimens of Athenian coinage, 480–449 B.C. ” NC 142: 129–132.

Thompson, M.   1961 . The New Style silver coinage of Athens . Numismatic Studies 10. New York.

Tod, M. N. ( 1945 ). “ Epigraphical notes on Greek coinage. ” NC   6 5: 108–116.

Trevett, J. (2001). “Coinage and democracy at Athens.” In Meadows and Shipton 2001: 23–34.

van Alfen, P. G. ( 2000 ). “ The ‘owls’ from the 1973 Iraq hoard. ” AJN 12: 9–58.

——— . ( 2002 ). “ The ‘owls’ from the 1989 Syria hoard, with a review of pre-Macedonian coinage in Egypt. ” AJN 14: 1–58.

——— . (2005). “Ancient imitative and counterfeit coinage in context.” In Archibald et al.: 322–354.

——— . (2010). “Die studies of the earliest Qatabanian and Sabaean coinages.” In Huth and van Alfen: 257–302.

——— . (2011a). “Hatching owls: Athenian public finance and the regulation of coin production.” In de Callataÿ: 127–149.

——— . ( 2011 b). “ Mechanisms for the imitation of Athenian coinage: Dekeleia and mercenaries reconsidered. ” RBN 157: 57–95.

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"New Archaeology from Old Coins: Antioch Re-Examined," in European Archaeology as Anthropology: Essays in Memory of Bernard Wailes, ed. by Peter Bogucki and Pamela Crabtree (Philadelphia, 2017), pp. 225-44.

Coins from Princeton's excavations of the 1930s in Antioch-on-the-Orontes are re-interpreted for their input to archaeological and historical knowledge.

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• Coinage Of India

Coinage of India

India has been one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world and has been known for its sheer diversity in terms of minting techniques, motifs, sizes, shapes, the metals used, etc. The Coinage of India has played a very important role in the history of economic development of the country ever since its inception. 

The motifs, symbols, stamp used on the Indian coins since ancient times depict a lot about the rulers and their reign . Many archaeologists and explorers have done a deep analysis of these ancient Indian coins. This study of coins is known as Numismatics . Aspirants preparing for the government and IAS Exam must go through this comprehensive material about the coinage system in the country and its evolution over the years. 

Coinage of India [UPSC Notes]:- Download PDF Here

Evolution of Coin System in India

• Before the introduction of coins, buying or selling of products was done through the barter system
• Coins solved the issues associated with the barter system and precious metals were shaped, printed and stamped as a legal method for trading
• The earliest known coins of India were silver punch-marked ones, bearing a design and were circulated in the Janapadas
• With time and over the centuries, different metals were being used to make coins. Each of these would be made using different methods; shaped differently with unique marks and designs
• Since the ancient era, coins in India have depicted the kings, gods, goddesses, and other motifs while medieval ones issued by kings in North India bear inscriptions in Arabic or Persian and the ones in South India depict beautiful motifs coupled with legends
• The motifs on these coins depicted a lot about the cultural, social, architectural and economic state of the different rulers and dynasties that ruled over India
• Coinage in India evolved over the years, in terms of its shapes, sizes, value, motifs and material. Initially, valuable metals were used to make coins but in the present day, post-independence coins are made out of mixed metals (in the form of token currency)

Different Eras of Coinage in India

Coins have been a very powerful medium for projecting the art of contemporary engravers to the populace in general. The motifs have varied from portraits of royalty, personalities, heroic deeds, fauna and flora motifs, to allegories, etc.

The history and evolution of coins in India have been discussed in detail below.

Ancient India Coinage of India

• The first documented coinage is deemed to start with ‘Punch Marked’ coins issued between the 7th-6th century BC and 1stcentury AD
• These coins were made out of silver and had images punched over them. The motifs found on these coins were mostly drawn from nature like the sun, various animal motifs, trees, hills etc. and some were geometrical symbols
• Taxila-Gandhara type
• Kosala type
• Avanti type
• Magadhan type
• Through the excavations held at cites from the Indus Valley Civilization (Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa), seals were found. However, there was no confirmation if these seals were used as coins or not

• These silver punch-marked coins comprised a different number of elements based on their value. The image given below describes the same:

Ancient Dynastic Coins

Many dynasties ruled over India and each of them introduced their coins which depicted their culture and beliefs. These coins are generally placed between the 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD. 

The table given below describes the coins of different ancient Indian dynasties:

Ancient Indian History Related Links:

Medieval India Coinage of India

Medieval India is the phase of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th century and 16th century. The table given below shows the coin system in India during the medieval age under different rulers and dynasties. 

Medieval Indian History related links:

Pre-Colonial, Princely States and British India Coinage

The decline of the Mughal Empire in India gave birth to pre-colonial and princely state rule in the country. Given below are the aspects and features of Coinage under these states:

Modern Indian History Related Links:

Post Independence Coinage of India

After India’s independence in 1947, India retained the monetary system and the currency and coinage of the earlier period and introduced a new distinctive series of coins on 15th August 1950.

The table given below shows the different series of coins that were introduced in India post-independence:

Presently, The Government of India has the sole right to mint coins in the country. It was declared after the Coinage Act, 1906 was introduced. The distribution of coins in the market is initiated with the help of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Other related links:

(Images and Information Source: rbi.org.in)

For any further details about the upcoming civil services exam , preparation material or tips to excel in the exam, candidates can turn to BYJU’S for expert assistance. 

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• Guide To: Penny Values
• Large Cents
• Flying Eagle Penny
• Indian Penny
• Lincoln Penny
• 2 Cent Pieces
• 3 Cent Pieces
• Guide To: Nickel Values
• Three Cent Nickel
• Shield Nickel
• Value of V Nickels
• Buffalo Nickel
• Jefferson Nickel
• Modern Jefferson Nickels
• Guide To: Dime Values
• 3-Cent Silver
• Seated Liberty Dime
• Barber Dime
• Mercury Dime
• Roosevelt Dime
• Guide To: Quarter Values
• Bust Quarter
• Seated Liberty Quarter
• Barber Quarter
• Standing Liberty Quarter
• Washington Quarter
• Guide To: Half Dollar Values
• Bust Half Dollar
• Seated Liberty Half Dollar
• Barber Half Dollar
• Walking Liberty Half Dollar
• Franklin Half Dollar
• Guide To: Dollar Values
• Bust Dollar
• Seated Liberty Dollar
• Morgan Dollar
• Peace Dollar
• Guide To: Gold Coin Values
• Liberty $2.5 Gold
• Indian $2.5 Gold
• Indian $5 Gold
• Liberty $10 Gold
• Indian $10 Gold
• Liberty $20 Gold
• Saint Gaudens $20 Gold
• US Mint Proof Set Values
• Guide To: Grading Coins

Popular Coin Series

Coin Values Moving with Precious Metals: Up-Dated 5/6/2024: Gold $2311 | Silver $26.89

Old Coin Values are Surprising

All old coin values listed; and most will surprise you. From the common to the rare. Coins have steadily climbed higher in value. Look no farther than your box of old coins for an exciting treasure hunt.

A step by step method is used to evaluate each coin in detail.

Steps Leading to Old Coin Values:

• Step 1: Recognize the Different Series of Coins - Design changes often occur during a minting year. New to old series are valued separately, each is listed.
• Step 2: Date and Mintmark Variety - Within series, dates become important to collectors, along with mintmark combination. Ranges of scarcity and demand are identified.
• Step 3: Grading Condition - Judging condition is done with a close inspection and comparing to standards for the grade. Each series has its own grading section.
• Step 4: Special Qualities - Old coins because of age, metals involved, and changing minting processes, each have qualities to identify. Awareness of a few key qualities adds to the assessment.

Follow these steps for each coin to greatly increase proper evaluation.

Step 1: | Recognize the Different Series of Coins

Coins are grouped by denomination with the major series represented in the images. Information specific to the series is found by following the tap/click image link.

Below the images - Step 2 continues: Understanding the importance of identifying date and mintmark combinations.

Step 2: | Date Plus Variety and Mintmarks are Identified

Dates of each coin is confirmed first. Collections of coins are organized primarily by date within a design series. An accurate date identity is a must. A Lincoln cent minted in 1914 is considered scarce and recognized separate of a 1944 cent, with a value difference.

Mintmarks are next considered. Philadelphia mint is the original and primary mint of the US with coinage beginning in 1793. Branch mints were added across the country overtime and each placed a mintmark on coins to indicate their production. For example, the Denver mint places a "D" mintmark on all coins it strikes. The dime represents the very popular "CC" mintmark of the Carson City mint.

Today, coins are collected by date and mintmark combination. Each mintmark variety having different original mintages, availability, and demand, depending on the series. 1914 Lincoln pennies were minted at both Philadelphia and Denver. The Denver coin is the scarce variety because of low mintage and identified by the "D" mintmark under the date.

🔎 In Step 1: Images link to pages going into detail identifying mintmarks and their locations.

Step 3: | Grading Condition | Old Coin Values are Conditional

Condition: Now begins an important part to the value of old coins. Judging and Grading the condition of the coins' surface. When first minted a coin has no wear to the surface. When used and circulated through commerce, parts of the design begin to wear down and loose detail. Different stages of wear are defined by a Grade. The grade and definition of a coin without wear is; Mint State Grade.

First penny in the image is the Mint State Grade. No wear to the surface. Key parts of the coin are examined to confirm absence of wear. On Wheat cents, Lincoln's cheek remains without any dulling or smoothing from wear.

Next, Extremely Fine Grade: Light wear only, with just slight removal of high points of the design defines a coin in Extremely Fine Grade. Look closely at Lincoln's hair, only minor wear shows.

Fine Grade: Coins with moderate wear are defined as Fine grade. Major parts of the design are well detailed, small high relief areas are smooth. The example penny show flatness on Lincoln's cheek and jaw line. Notice there remains contours separating the temple, cheek, and jaw.

Good Grade: Once heavy wear has removed most of the design, a coin is judged and defined within the Good Grade. In the example, Lincoln remains well outline, however, only small portions of hair, face, and coat show any small details.

Collectors inspect each coin very closely. Amount of wear is a major difference in values represented on the charts. Images, video, and descriptions are used to compare your coin and help narrow both the condition and value.

🔎 Each coin design has its own features to judge and determine grades. In Step 1 above, follow the image links to each coin series and in-depth grading.

Step 4: | Special Qualities Enhancing Value

Collecting coins is a visual as well as a historical pursuit. US coins date back to the beginnings of the country; its exploration and settlement. Rising and falling mintages alone reflect the changing commerce throughout history.

The coins themselves are the visual enjoyment, miniature works of art. Collectors find fascination in the different designs and symbolism as well as the different alloys of US coinage. An example is the 1833 Half Cent pictured.

Historically, the 1833 half cent is dating from a colonial way of life. Aesthetically, the coin is well preserved and very appealing. Its special quality is the state of preservation. Very old copper coins are susceptible to many problems lowering eye appeal. Half cents are all scarce today and its advanced age combined with its pleasing appearance sets it far ahead of many other copper coins. A special coin, handled with care since 1833, a rarity. Value placed on this coin is solid because of these qualities.

In the row of Lincoln cents are many of the problems that easily affect copper coins. Dark toning is the natural state of very old copper when not protected. Discoloration easily accrues because of moisture. Verdigris - the green coloration - damages the surface by pitting. Large marks are part of moving through everyday circulation.

Old US coins were minted in many alloys of metal, different sizes and denominations. Each series covers special qualities unique to the coin, metal, design complexity, and age.

🔎 Match your coin to the image links in Step 1 and visit; in-depth old coin values. Special qualities are part of judging each coin.

Coin Values | CoinStudy Articles

Coin values are influenced by denomination and design series popularity. Large numbers of collectors create demand showing in premiums paid for coins. Collecting interests are ranked on charts by denomination and series.

Grading Old Coins || Video Index

Video index of how to grade coins. Series of coins from Indian and Lincoln cents through the different nickel series, dimes, quarters, half and silver dollars. Each series is studied using grading videos, images and descriptions to judge the condition and assign a grade.

Tips for Locating Antiques and Relics with a Metal Detector

Guest Contributor Michael Bernzweig shares his expertise in metal detecting. Make it a fun outing with family and friends and increase your chances of finding old coins and artifacts using a metal detector.

How to: Selling Coins

Introduction into the selling coins process. Preparing, organizing, and planning to improve results.

Print the Coin Values Worksheet to list your coins and record their values. Should you decide to sell... use the worksheet as an invoice and packing slip when sending coins through the mail to dealers. It indicates you have done your coin values homework.

★ Coin Values Discovery finds Old Coin Values and...

All old US coin values. The home page is an excellent index, quickly leading to the major coin series. From Cents to Gold. Easily sort and value your coins. Proceed through the step by step method and identify your box of old coins.

Coin Images Courtesy DavidLawrence.com

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English Family Finds More Than a Thousand 17th-Century Coins During Home Renovation

The hoard, which collectively sold for $75,000, was likely buried during the First English Civil War

Julia Binswanger

Daily Correspondent

Anyone familiar with the trials of home renovation knows it’s a smart choice to make room in the budget for potential surprises. Oftentimes, these complications are structural or electrical issues. Yet, in an unexpected twist, one family remodeling their home in England stumbled upon a windfall—more than 1,000 17th-century gold and silver coins hidden beneath their floors.

This week,  Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester auctioned the family’s find for a total of £60,740 (about $75,900), nearly doubling the sale estimate of £35,000.

Betty and Robert Fooks originally found the coins at their cottage at South Poorton Farm in West Dorset in 2019. Betty was with her children, while her husband, Robert, was digging up their kitchen floor with a pick ax.

“It is a 400-year-old house so there was lots of work to do,” Betty tells the Guardian ’s Steven Morris. “We were taking all the floors and ceilings out and took it back to its stone walls. We decided to lower the ground floor to give us more ceiling height.”

Robert had dug through about two feet of concrete, flagstone and dirt when he saw a broken glazed pottery bowl. Inside were the 400-year-old coins.

“He called to say they’ve found something,” Betty adds. “If we hadn’t lowered the floor, they would still be hidden there. I presume the person intended to retrieve them but never got the chance.”

After the family’s discovery, Robert placed the coins into a bucket and the couple reported the event to a local finds liaison officer, per the Guardian . The officer then notified the British Museum and sent the coins to experts there, who could clean and identify them.

Experts believe that the coins were hidden during the  First English Civil War , which began in 1642 and ended in 1646. The war broke out when supporters of Parliament fought against the English monarch, King Charles I , fearing the crown had too much power. King Charles was executed at the end of the war, marking a temporary overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic led by Parliament.

Waseem Ahmed , a doctoral student of history at University College London , tells Live Science ’s Hannah Kate Simon that Dorset was a center of activity for troop movements during the English Civil War. The person who hid the coins likely buried them out of fear that someone would take them.

"If you were a royalist or suspected royalist, you could have your estates sequestrated [seized] by the Parliamentary side and vice versa," says Ahmed, who was not involved with the hoard’s discovery, per Live Science.

The coins, dubbed the  Poorton Coin Hoard , range from sixpences, to silver half crowns, to gold "unite" coins worth 20 shillings. They feature the faces of different British monarchs who ruled from 1547 to 1649, including Queen Elizabeth I , Queen Mary and King Charles I.

Duke's did not auction the coins as one big collection. Instead, they were sold individually or in smaller groups with many items fetching higher prices than expected. A gold coin with the face of Charles I generated the most money, collecting £5,000 (about $6,250).

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Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ,  Chicago magazine,  Rebellious magazine and  PC magazine. 

A hiker discovered bones, weapons, and money on a thawing glacier. They turned out to be 400 years old and still puzzle archaeologists.

• A hiker discovered the 400-year-old remains of a wealthy man on a glacier in the Swiss Alps.
• Melting ice revealed the mysterious man had traveled with many coins, weapons, and possibly mules.
• The discovery points to an ancient economy supported by dangerous routes through high mountain passes.

The Theodul Glacier was expanding when a mysterious man in thin leather shoes trekked across its surface about 400 years ago.

This field of ice high in the Alps, below the range's iconic and imposing Matterhorn, formed a treacherous pass between what's now Switzerland and Italy. It was the middle of the Little Ice Age, and more ice was forming along its edges every year.

That had changed by 1984. The glacier was retreating , and the leather-shoed man was gradually emerging from the ice into the sun when a hiker stumbled upon his remains.

Slowly, as archaeologists returned to the site through the 1980s and early '90s, the melting glacier revealed a skull with auburn hair clinging to it, several knives, nearly 200 coins, jewelry, glass buttons, bits of silk clothing, a shaving razor, a dagger, a sword, and a pistol, all scattered across the area.

These items date to about 1600 AD. The remains of two mules were also discovered nearby, though it's unclear whether they belonged to the man.

At first, archaeologists thought the well-armed man was a mercenary. Upon further inspection, though, that didn't make sense.

"They're not combat weapons. These are fencing weapons. These are ceremonial weapons that the rich had on them," said Pierre-Yves Nicod, a curator at the Valais History Museum in the Swiss Alps . Business Insider spoke with Nicod in French and translated his words into English.

"And then the clothes are not combat clothes," he added. "They are also the clothes of a wealthy person, of a gentleman."

The man's bones showed no signs of trauma, and he clearly wasn't robbed, so archaeologists believe he must have died by accident . Perhaps he fell into a crevasse or faced an unfortunate change in weather.

What was a rich man doing up there on the snow and ice in the first place?

Clues point to an answer: This man may have been part of an ancient economy that spread across the peaks of the Alps . He's a snapshot archaeologists wouldn't have if the mountains weren't changing so drastically.

You see, the mysterious man, his belongings, and the mules were frozen deep in the ice for hundreds of years. Then humans started burning coal, oil, and gas for energy.

How the climate crisis reveals ancient artifacts

For about two centuries now, our use of fossil fuels has been releasing greenhouse gases into the air, mainly carbon dioxide and methane.

As a result, the atmosphere is holding in more heat from the sun, raising the planet's average temperature and causing glaciers such as Theodul to melt away.

Receding ice across the planet has revealed mummified mammoths , ice-age squirrels, a 46,000-year-old roundworm that came back to life , and ancient human artifacts such as skis and arrows.

The new scientific field of glacial archaeology thrives in the Alps. For about four decades, archaeologists have been trekking across the glaciers of Switzerland and Italy, retrieving artifacts that are thawing into view.

The problem is that these artifacts aren't surfacing within ancient buried towns or temples.

"It's one of the difficulties of glacial archaeology that we find these objects in the ice, and therefore out of all archaeological context," Nicod said.

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In short, it's often hard to know what exactly you've found.

A clue in an old illustration

Though the wealthy traveler 's remains surfaced decades ago, archaeologists haven't really understood him until recently.

He wasn't a soldier for hire , after all, a 2015 paper found. He carried a silver pendant engraved with a cross and anointed with wax, perhaps from a religious candle.

Fragments of wool and some silk indicate the fine clothes he wore. His weapons were all manufactured in present-day Germany. His coins were mostly minted in Northern Italy.

In a 2022 report, Nicod and his colleague Philippe Curdy pointed to an illustration from 1643 showing a caravan of merchants ascending to an Alps mountain pass .

"In the background, there are the mountains and then a merchant with all these loads who has his mules, who's climbing up to the peaks," Nicod said.

The man in the illustration is just like the Theodul traveler. In fact, Nicod added, "he has the same type of clothes with the same type of buttons and the same sword."

The wealthy man in the glacier was a merchant , they believe, representing a remarkable economy that has long persisted between towns separated by 15,000-foot peaks. Throughout the Alps, from ancient times into the modern period, people have braved frozen mountain passes to hawk their wares.

"We see that the passage over the glacier was used all the time — Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman time," Romain Andenmatten, a local archaeologist, told BI. "The simplest way is to go over the glacier."

The Theodul Pass was a common route from the Valais region of modern-day Switzerland to the Aosta Valley of modern-day Italy.

Today, it's a ski slope and occasional archaeological site.

Not everything in the ice is archaeology

Carefully cushioned in custom-cut foam inside a plastic storage bin, the ancient traveler's belongings emit the faint smell of rot, of decaying wood and leather.

Organic materials such as these must be retrieved quickly once they're exposed on the ice. Lying in a melty puddle under direct sunlight, they can decompose in just a couple of years. Even dried out and stored carefully indoors, the putrid scent gives away their age.

"It smells like the past," Nicod said. "This isn't too bad."

The melting ice yields fouler-smelling findings, including the belongings of a couple who disappeared in the 1940s, Nicod said. Glacier hikers have discovered the bodies of people who went missing still more recently. Sometimes the findings themselves are dangerous. Nicod said people had found undetonated bombs on the ice.

It's not just the Alps. Across the planet, the shifting environments caused by the climate crisis are revealing other terrors that were once buried deep.

Thawing permafrost in Russia released anthrax from a once frozen reindeer carcass, causing a deadly outbreak in 2016.

Droughts are withering rivers and reservoirs so much that their receding banks have unveiled shipwrecks, human remains, Spain's very own Stonehenge , and a couple of formerly submerged villages.

Erosion from rising sea levels has exposed Indigenous burial grounds in Florida.

Searching for the next Iceman

Some tragedies melting out of the ice are such ancient history that they only evoke wonder — such as Ötzi the Iceman , one of the most significant archaeological finds ever.

Like the wealthy traveler of Theodul, Ötzi was discovered by a hiker. He had surfaced on a melting glacier on the other side of the Alps, on the border of Italy and Austria, in 1991.

The ice had kept Ötzi mummified since his death in about 3300 BC — he's older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. His impeccably preserved body offers an otherwise impossible glimpse into Neolithic life, everything from his male-pattern balding to his hand-poke tattoos and meaty diet .

Andenmatten is hopeful that the glaciers dwindling away on the Swiss side of the Alps will yield the next Ötzi.

Archaeologists have a unique window into the sheer breadth of humans' footprints on our environments — both the wonder and the terror of our capabilities over the ages. As human-caused climate change devastates mountain glaciers , archaeologists discover more high-altitude feats of ancient human history.

Andenmatten and his colleagues go searching for artifacts in August and September, when the glacier is meltiest and most likely to reveal objects. But as temperatures rise, the season of ice melt expands and so does their archaeological season.

"The good time slot is every year bigger," Andenmatten said.

Watch: Professional ice climber rates 9 ice-climbing scenes in movies and television

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After Five Centuries, Stars Rise in Istanbul

The Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, an early-Ottoman-era masterpiece, is restored to its original use as a public bathhouse.

At Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, visitors can enjoy a Turkish bath under domes pierced with star-shaped skylights. Credit... Bradley Secker for The New York Times

Supported by

By Wendy Moonan

Reporting from Istanbul

• May 10, 2024 Updated 11:24 a.m. ET

This article is part of our Design special section about water as a source of creativity.

On May 3, Zeyrek Cinili Hamam , a 500-year-old public bathhouse, reopened in Istanbul after a 13-year, $15-million-plus restoration. Named for its original cobalt-and-turquoise cladding (cinili is the Turkish word for “tiled”), the hamam is the jewel of the Zeyrek district, a historic neighborhood in Istanbul that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Visitors can enjoy a traditional Turkish bath under soaring domes pierced with star-shaped skylights that send shimmering rays into the rooms. A typical hourlong bath costs 95 euros (about $101) and includes an exfoliation scrub and a massage accompanied by the soothing sound of water splashing into marble basins.

Just as in Ottoman times, anyone who can afford the entrance fee is welcome, regardless of faith, class or profession.

Restoring the bathhouse, which was built from 1530 to 1540, was Bike Gursel’s self-described obsession. Fourteen years ago, as a board member of the Marmara Group, a privately held real estate investment firm, Ms. Gursel decided a classical Turkish hamam was just the thing to diversify the company’s offerings.

“I was looking to buy a hamam for a long time, and when I couldn’t find one, I began collecting hamam artifacts such as embroidered towels and mother-of-pearl inlaid clogs made for the bath,” she recalled. “I was already thinking about a museum.”

In 2010, at Ms. Gursel’s urging, the Marmara Group bought the Zeyrek Cinili Hamam even though it was a near ruin. “The architect said it would take three years to restore,” she recalled. “Not 13.”

The restoration specialists KA-BA Architecture in Ankara, Turkey, supervised the project and its team of archaeologists, engineers, scholars and artisans. The long and complicated process began with a survey of the bathhouse, which had been badly damaged over the centuries by earthquakes, fires and neglect.

The 30,000-square-foot building was completely unstable.

“We had to excavate 36 feet down to find solid ground,” said Cengiz Kabaoglu, KA-BA Architecture ’s founder. A subterranean structure of steel and concrete was built to reinforce the compound. This allowed the builders to repair the roof and walls, install gas furnaces to replace the former wood-burning ones, replace the wood beams and tie the domes with ribbons of steel.

Antiques surfaced during the excavations: ancient coins, fifth-century Roman glass bottles, Byzantine oil lamps, terra-cotta vessels and tile fragments. They are on view in a new museum next to the bathhouse.

What didn’t turn up were the resplendent 16th-century Iznik tiles that once covered the walls. Ms. Gursel learned that, in the 1870s, an Ottoman antiques dealer took possession of the tiles and spirited them off to Paris. Some ended up in the Louvre. Others in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Others in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. All were reassembled virtually in a display at the hamam’s museum.

Now the hamam walls are covered in pale gray Marmara marble. The rooms are minimal, elegant and serene. On the rebuilt exterior, the roofs have been resurfaced in lead, with handblown glass “elephant-eye” hats protecting the skylights. A roof terrace offers views of the magnificent domes.

When Ms. Gursel retired in 2021, she passed her Marmara Group board seat and restoration responsibilities to her daughter, Koza Gureli Yazgan, a business school graduate.

Mrs. Gureli Yazgan described the restoration project as thrilling, but not easy. “We value cultural preservation, but this project was like opening a Pandora’s box,” she said. “Every discovery led to a delay. At one point the board said, ‘Stop digging.’ But we couldn’t. It was the story that kept us going.”

The hamam’s original patron was Hayreddin Barbarossa, the grand admiral of the Ottoman Empire who was also known by the Italian translation of his name: Redbeard. Born on the island of Lesbos in the late 1400s, Barbarossa was part of a family of pirates who roamed the Mediterranean at the time of Spain’s conquest of Grenada. As privateers, they ferried Muslim immigrants forced to leave Spain to North Africa, captured Rhodes and Tunis, attacked the Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese fleets, and briefly conquered Algiers in 1516.

Barbarossa’s successful naval campaigns attracted the attention of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, who appointed him his grand admiral in 1534.

Before Barbarossa died in 1546, he commissioned the bathhouse from Mimar Sinan, a former slave who became the chief imperial architect of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its political and cultural power in 1538.

The bathhouse is a rare “double hamam” with separate areas for men and women.

“In addition to the functions of physical and spiritual purification and cleansing, hamams also provided their frequenters with the opportunity to socialize, keep up with daily events, gossip and celebrate many milestones of life together,” writes Leyla Kayhan Elbirlik, a visiting scholar at Harvard University, in a new book on the bathhouse restoration, “Barbarossa’s Cinili Hamam: A Masterpiece by Sinan.” Those milestones included circumcision baths for boys, premarriage baths for men and women and postnatal baths for mothers and their newborns.

The bathhouse was also notable for its address — the “Fifth Avenue” of an affluent Ottoman neighborhood, home to palace officials and military commanders. Barbarossa presumably picked the spot because it overlooked the Bosporus, allowing him to view the sultan’s shipyards he supervised on the opposite shore.

Now, 500 years later, the Zeyrek Cinili Hamam may again be the anchor of a fashionable area. Across the street, a large new hotel is under construction.

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