The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 7, February 18, 2007, Article 13

UGLY CLEOPATRA COIN IN THE NEWS

Newcastle University's recent discovery of a coin of Cleopatra in
their collection spawned articles around the world this week playing
up the point that the coin shows that the beauty of Hollywood films was
in fact butt-ugly.  The Guardian was one of the papers that picked up
the story:

"Two of history's most famous Valentines are gently debunked today by
analysis of an exceptionally well-preserved Roman coin, which gives the
lie to the fabled beauty of Cleopatra and the manly features of her
lover Mark Antony.

"Far from possessing the classical looks of Elizabeth Taylor, or the
many other goddesses who have played her on stage and screen, the
Egyptian queen is shown with a shrewish profile while Antony suffers
from bulging eyes, a crooked nose and a bull neck.

"'Its other distinction is that it looks as though it was minted
yesterday,' said Melanie Reed from Newcastle University, whose
archaeology museum found the 5p-sized coin while researching a
forgotten 18th century hoard left for years in a local bank. 'The
profiles in particular are in marvellously good condition. If a
Roman invader brought it over here, he or she certainly knew how
to take care of their loose change.'

"The denarius profile clearly emphasises strong characteristics including
a determined, pointed chin, thin lips which are often associated with a
sharp nature, and in particular a long, pointed nose. The last has been
famously central to discussion of what Cleopatra really looked like,
with Pascal going so far as to write in his Pensées: "Cleopatra's nose,
had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

David Menchell sent a related article published on AOL and Dick Hanscom
sent this article from the BBC news: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum