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V4 2001 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 23, June 3, 2001, Article 8 EARTHQUAKES IN NUMISMATICS In the March 4th and March 18th, 2001 issues of The E-Sylum (Volume 4, Numbers 10 & 12), we reported on how the recent earthquake affected numismatists in the northwestern U.S. A June, 1979 article in the New Zealand Numismatic Journal (Vol 15, No.1) discusses "Earthquakes in Numismatics." Drawing on an article by Nicholas Ambraseys in the UNESCO Courier titled "Earthquakes in History", which includes several references to the value of coins and coinage in earthquake studies. "In these studies archaeological evidence is very important where written evidence is either inconclusive or scarce. Numismatics also plays a significant role in assessing the destructiveness of early earthquakes. The issue of new coinage and the establishment of new mints were often measures taken by the authorities to relieve regions after disastrous earthquakes. The earthquakes of 21 July 365 A.D. affected an area of about two million square kilometres in the Eastern Mediterranean. ... Hoards of coins found on the floors of public buildings trapped by the tumbled-down masses of masonry pre-date the disaster and testify to the abandonment of sites." Another instance cited was the "25 A.D. earthquake which destroyed Taxila in northern Pakistan. This quake destroyed the mint and apparently killed the engravers. Similar cases have been found for Rhodes, Cyprus, and Western Anatolia." In the U.S., the major numismatic earthquake connection is the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in which the mint building was not destroyed, but was in fact one of the few government buildings left standing and became a center for relief efforts.

Wayne Homren, Editor

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