Deciphering the Images and Text on Coins

Course number: E5

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama

Beyond the text: 8 exercises · 4 coins · 11 readings · 3 references　How reading times are calculated

You will also understand

• From changes in imagery you can read the period when power shifted.
• Be able to explain when and where the face of a living ruler appeared on coinage, and what it signified.
• Can read coin iconography not only as a design, but as a proclamation of the ruling power of the time.

You can start this course without reading any other course.

If you want to know more about checking sources (optional)

• Is It Really True? Checking History
  We re-examine the origins of money and famous anecdotes, comparing them with historical records and actual artifacts.

Assessment

8 exercises in this course (7 check, 1 compare, 0 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.

1. First, be able to point at itObverse and reverse are a pair. Blank space is not emptiness but the trace of a choice.
2. Until the Face Appeared — From Gods to HumansIconography is not decoration but the guarantor's signature. Who appears points to who guarantees.
3. Turn what was not depicted into a question"Absent" is strong evidence, but absence has more than one cause. Do not assert; make it a question.
4. There is one more country that gave up the faceCoins without a face have at least three separate reasons. Do not explain the same form by the same cause.
5. The Faces of Living Rulers — From Persian Satraps to the TestonWhen the face of a living ruler was engraved, it was a declaration of royal authority. Who was first varies by region and historical source.
6. A Small Proclamation — Coins PropagandizeCoins are the smallest proclamations, reaching every hand in the nation. Regimes spoke and fought through their iconography and inscriptions.
7. Speaking in the Enemy's Script — Three Stages of BorrowingThe script of another is first copied only for its form, then used with meaning, and finally incorporated into one's own narrative.
8. The Lineage of the Engraving Hand — From Craftsman to EngraverEvery image has a hand that engraved it. From anonymous craftsmen to renowned engravers, the history of the hand is also a part of numismatic history.

• Hellenism　Overview: the world　297–281 BC　The Horns of Ammon
  The scene where a deified king appears on a coin. Note the single step of restraint in the horns.
• Byzantium　Overview: the world　AD 696–697　Damascus
  The source of §3. How the choice of erasing the face is explained, in the original.
• Gods and money　Overview: the world　General History　From the Face of Gods to the Face of the State
  A full circle: god → king → state → and then "In God We Trust."
• Epilogue　Overview: the world　the end of the journey　The Journey of a Promise
  What remains on a worn coin. The story of what survives even after the image is gone.
• The gold of the Valois　France　1514–1547　The mint of the kingdom
  Section 5. The paragraph where the material corrects the common theory that "Francis I was the first." It was Louis XII who began it.
• The usurper's mint　Britain　296　Londinium retaken
  Section 6. Both usurpers and legitimate rulers spoke and fought through coinage—the origin of coinage as propaganda.
• The coin that took its enemy's name　Spain　from 1174　The mint of Toledo
  Section 7. "Amir of the Catholics". The inscription on a gold coin that speaks of faith in the enemy's language, in the original text.
• The birth of the yen　Japan　1881　the Paper Money Bureau, the engraving room
  Section 8. The hand that engraved nearly 500 dies, and the Westernized face of Empress Jingū.
• What the Coin's Face Kept Saying　Russia　20th century　Moscow
  Despite having a coat of arms, grain, a factory, and a globe, a personal portrait did not become the main design of the coin. This is a passage that embodies the subtitle of this course: looking at what is not depicted.
• The Eagle on the Coin　Austria　1945　Vienna
  The eagle that returned in 1945 has broken chains on both its legs. This is an example of how a coat of arms can commemorate not only pride, but also the memory of absence.
• Mother and Son　South Korea　2009　Amidst Public Opinion
  The debate over whose face to feature can continue even after issuance. Please read about the comments made regarding the color and artistic style when a woman's portrait first appeared on the 50,000 won banknote.

• Iconclass — Henri van de Waal Foundation　A system for classifying the content of images. Started in the 1940s by art historians at Leiden University, it is now in its 4th edition. Used by many museums and libraries for subject searches.
• Silver tetradrachm of Lysimachos（05.44.430） — The Metropolitan Museum of Art　The actual specimen for the second observation assignment. 297–281 BC, public property. Obverse: Horned Alexander / Reverse: Seated Athena and Nike.
• Tetradrachm of Lysimachos（1919,0820.1） — The British Museum　Commentary on a different specimen of the same type. The dimensions and details are for this specimen and differ from the one at the Met.

The books and materials referred to in this course.