LOOSE CHANGE: NOVEMBER 28, 2021

 

... a dollar-sized Byzantine bronze of Emperor Tiberius Constantine (578-82 AD). The big M signifies the denomination (follis); the u the regnal year (fifth). CON is the mint, Constantinople; the Gamma after it, the officina or division in the mint. It was $200, actually the most I ever paid for a Byzantine bronze; but the quality is great. I was very glad to get it.

Quality is the name of the game.

To read the complete article, see:
Baltimore Coin Show Fun (https://rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/2021/11/22/baltimore-coin-show-fun/)

The origins of money and the formulation of coherent weight and measurement systems are amongst the most significant prehistoric developments of the human intellect. We present a method for detecting perceptible standardization of weights and apply this to 5028 Early Bronze Age rings, ribs, and axe blades from Central Europe.

We calculate the degree of uniformity on the basis of psychophysics, and quantify this using similarity indexes. The analysis shows that 70.3% of all rings could not be perceptibly distinguished from a ring weighing 195.5 grams, indicating their suitability as commodity money. Perceptive weight equivalence is demonstrated between rings, and a selection of ribs and axe blades. Co-occurrence of these objects evidences their interchangeability. We further suggest that producing copies of rings led to recognition of weight similarities and the independent emergence of a system of weighing in Central Europe at the end of the Early Bronze Age.

To read the complete article, see:
The origins of money: Calculation of similarity indexes demonstrates the earliest development of commodity money in prehistoric Central Europe (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348642887_The_origins
_of_money_Calculation_of_similarity_indexes_demonstrates_the_earliest_
development_of_commodity_money_in_prehistoric_Central_Europe)

 

Of all the mythical beasts to appear on coins from the ancient world, the man-headed bull must rank among the most bizarre. These strange beasts were usually river-gods, the power of a raging bull equating to the relentless power of a fast-flowing river.

Achelous was the chief river-god of the Greek pantheon. Son of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, he appears in various forms throughout ancient material culture, including a bearded man and a bull, and sometimes a combination of the two. The Achelous river, which formed the border between Akarnania and Aetolia, was the largest river in Greece, thus making the river god the most important in Greek mythology.

Coins from Akarnania depict the god in his man-headed bull form, including coin #23 from our Christmas Fixed Price List. This silver stater, minted in Leukas, which was a part of the Akarnanian Confederacy, features a close-up of Achelous' head, clean-shaven and with horns. Behind his head is the name of the magistrate in ancient Greek – ?YKOYPGOS, or Lykourgos. This coin was minted around 250-200 BC. Its reverse depicts the god, Apollo, seated left on an ornately decorated throne, along with the name of the confederacy.

To read the complete article, see:
THE MAN-HEADED BULL (https://www.baldwin.co.uk/news/the-man-headed-bull/)

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