Japan’s money economy began earlier than textbooks have described when archaeologists unveiled 33 bronze coins from the late seventh century unearthed in the village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture in 1998.

Now ten years latter, Nine Fuhonsen coins, which are thought to be the nation’s oldest form of minted currency, unearthed at a former site of Fujiwarakyu, the ancient capital from 694 to 710, in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, differ slightly from previously discovered Fuhonsen coins, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties

The finding suggests there may have been another mint in addtion to one discovered at Asukaike ruin in Asukamura.

Minor differences were found in the kanji character “Fu” used on the surface of the coins and a thicker frame surrounding a square hole in the center of the coins. The materials of four of the coins included arsenic and bismuth, and very pure copper.

The coins discovered in August 1998 at the Asukaike Ruins in Asuka, are older than the Wado Kaichin coins first minted in 708, thus bumping them from the archaeological record books as the nation’s first circulated money.

The bronze coins, whose existence has been known for some time, are called Fuhonsen, the name of a charm believed used during the Nara Period (710-784). (more…)

Croesus of Lydia was responsible for one of the greatest innovations in coinage, but he did not invent coinage itself, an act with which he is often credited. If we assume that coinage was invented in 650 B.C. (of course we know it was only approximate), we take Croesus’ accession as 561 B.C., and then we relate Croesus’ times to our times in 2001, then on a relative basis, coinage would have been invented in 1907 during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt. What Croesus was responsible for was the introduction of pure gold and pure silver as coinage metals (instead of electrum) and the invention of the first bi-metallic interrelated coinage system in the Greek world with denominations going from 10.75 gram gold and silver staters to fractions weighing as little as 0.36 grams in gold and silver. Croesus’ coinage type is familiar to most of us: a bellowing lion facing a seemingly placid bull. It seems that a fair amount of experimentation was done before final types were settled on, and I would not be surprised if more prototypes than I have identified yet exist in the earth or may have existed but not survived.

The earliest prototype in the Croesus series is a heavy gold stater (#120/1) of which I have owned two examples. It is such a perfect missing link that I would have been fearful of it had I not discovered a worn example in the Ashmolean Museum collection, placed there almost 100 years ago. In a way the Ashmolean specimen has been a negative for me personally as dealers in Europe and the U.S. have plagerized this idea by quoting the Ashmolean and stating, “Like Ashmolean must be the earliest Creosus gold Stater”. The prototype is of somewhat rough, crude style with the lion in a stretched, leaping position resembling the silver staters of Caria which had been found in hoards with coins of Croesus. The bull has a head similar to that of an Uncertain Ionian silver tetrobol (Rosen 376). The crowning glory that establishes this missing link is the fact that the lion has a wart on the bridge of the nose, just like the 1/3 staters of Lydia that preceded the coinage of Croesus. It is important to note that on the prototype piece the protomes are extremely animated in lifelike poses. On the regular issues (#120/2), while the protomes are well done, they are somewhat immobile and the front leg of the lion, as well as the front leg of the bull, are rather stiff acting like pedestals. (more…)

The Parthian Empire is a period of Persian history connected to both Greece and Rome. Ruling from 247 BC to 228 AD in ancient Persia, the Parthian defeated Alexander the Great successors, the Seleucids, conquered most of the Middle East and southwest Asia and built Parthia into the Eastern superpower. The use of the bow as a weapon made the Parthian an effective military force. Their silver coins had portraits of various rulers.

Greek coins describe coins of Mediterranean city-states and kingdoms before the Roman Empire, Celtic tribes and Indo-Greek kingdoms, most bearing Greek legends though other languages appear. There are many opportunities for specialization. Some collectors focus on artistic interest. The collection of Calouste Gulbenkian is an outstanding example of the artistic appeal of the finest coins of ancient Greece. Leonidas at Thermopylae other collectors specialize in issues of a single city. Catalogues of specialized collections, such as the Tarentine collection of Michel Vlasto, often become valued standard references. There are also topical collection themes such as ships, birds, horses etc. Many collectors begin by seeking to acquire one nice example of the coinage of each city, such as Athenian owls. (more…)

Courtesy Of Harlan Berk

Since I became a professional numismatist in 1964 I have been strongly drawn to the facing heads on Greek coins. The reading of “Masterpieces of Greek Coinage” by Charles Seltman, published in 1949, was a spiritual experience for me and one I can never forget. This was when I first learned of “Kimon” and his great works. The finest die he ever created was his inspired 3/4-facing head of Arethusa. To create a work of this magnitude not only takes experience, brilliance and skill but there also must be inspiration. Kimon, at the same time, made a second obverse die which is iconographically the same but compared to the die he created, the die he made fails. The eyes are puffy, the face is round, full and has no intelligence, no electricity, no vigor.

The image is just resting helplessly on the flan. The die Kimon created has different emotion. Arethusa has a full, fresh, well-modeled, somewhat triangular face with strong lips and an almost electric nature to the flowing hair. The eyes, all knowing, intelligent and strong yet kind, are the central feature of the whole face. Let us not forget the dolphins which frolic gracefully in her hair. On her headband the name of her creator Kimon, and above the outer border over her head, her name ARETHUSA. The days it took Kimon to create his Arethusa were inspired days, days which have lasted into the centuries.
Kimon’s successful Arethusa was a great moment in human creativity.

While this amazing work inspires today, it is not nearly as influential as it was in its own era. I say that not only because it is an original creation but because it has life and created many children.

The first child is Eukleidas’ facing Athena. Done at the same time, in the same place, Syracuse, it could well even be a sister. With four dolphins, standard in Syracuse at this time, frolicking in and about her hair, the type is great but not as brilliant and electric as Kimon’s Arethusa. Another contemporary is Heracleidas’ Apollo from Catania. This work which has a lot of power is elementally the same as Kimon’s masterpiece, minus the dolphins, but is somewhat heavy-handed and the god is not nearly as insightful.