Northern India experienced a period of prosperity around 400 under the Gupta dynasty. King Chandragupta II not only promoted arts and culture, he was also called the “world conqueror”. With bow and arrow, Chandragupta shows his martial side on this golden dinar.
Well-shaved or with beard? It’s always a statement – and it even was in ancient Rome. Hadrian was the first emperor with beard. Why? Scholars are still trying to figure out the answer. The beard certainly added a whole new “touch” to his coins as this aureus shows.
Vespasianus had to balance the budget – and created a tax for using public urinals. Smelling at the coins, the pragmatist stated: “It does not stink!“ Neither does this denarius. But you can look directly into the face of the cunning politician that Vespasianus was!
Today you will deal with a Roman denarius and put the head of Roma together. The personification of the Roman people on this 141 BC silver coin has a proud glare, but the special feature of this specimen is something completely different.
Today’s coin from Metapontum in southern Italy is a masterpiece of incuse minting. The ear was the trademark of the Greek settlement on the Gulf of Taranto.
Incuse coinage was characteristic for the Greek colonies in southern Italy. Thus, the depiction on the obverse of coins of the city of Sybaris was always elevated, while the reverse featured the negative, deepened motif. The image is bursting with power: a mighty bull!
This tetradrachm from Syracuse (around 500 BC) features an important innovation: an actual depiction on the reverse! In the incuse square you can see the head of Arethusa, which was later to occupy the entire reverse.
In this puzzle, you will find a treasure. Once you’ve solved it, you can marvel at a shiny part of the treasure hoards of Visby on the island of Gotland!
This time you will deal with San Francisco’s Old Mint, which was built as a symbol of San Francisco’s wealth after the California Gold Rush.
Today you can try your hand at the federal mint of Switzerland. The reward is the façade of Swissmint in Bern!
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