Why is it that for centuries – or rather thousands of years – the head has served as the motif for the side of a coin? And why has this changed in the last 200 years? In this part of the series all is about Alexander the Great.
Why is it that for centuries – or rather thousands of years – the head has served as the motif for the side of a coin? And why has this changed in the last 200 years? Ursula Kampmann poses these questions in her book ‘MenschenGesichter,’ from which the texts for our new series are taken.
A rare Macedonian tetradrachm, minted around 147 B. C., tells a story from the beginnings of the Roman province of Macedonia. The rarity is to be auctioned off in the upcoming Künker autumn auction sale to be conducted between the 7th and the 11th October 2013.
Why is it that for centuries – or rather thousands of years – the head has served as the motif for the side of a coin? And why has this changed in the last 200 years? This chapter of the series ‘Human Faces’ looks at the battle between Macedonia and Rome.
On 10 March 2014, an octodrachm of the Edones tribe will be auctioned off at Gorny & Mosch featuring on its obverse Hermes who, after just being born, stole the cattle from Apollo. One wonders why King Getas chose that scene to be depicted on his coins.
Most of us react uncomprehendingly while reading the Greek myths. We can’t imagine that once rational human beings were able to believe in gods who behaved like characters invented for a soap opera on TV. Legends tell us about adultery, violation, theft, intrigue and fraud.
Ainos, today called Enez and located on the border of the Aegean Sea in the European part of Turkey, didn’t have any important resources. As far as we know, there also didn’t exist any remarkable industry. Ainos reached incredible wealth during the 5th century B.C. despite these facts.
Philipp II ranges amongst the most important rulers of Antiquity. He transformed the small and endangered Macedonia into one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Ancient world. His coins circulated in all of Greece and bought him what he needed – loyalty, politicians, mercenary soldiers…
Beyond his name, there’s very little known about Teutamados. What we do have, however, is a splendid tetradrachm minted for him. Based on this, he was evidently a Paionian ruler.
