Visual Currencies

The previous section, "Establishing Identities," in the exhibition Expressions of Identity in Ancient Greek Coins on display at the CU Art Museum, examined the ways in which symbols and minting techniques were used to distinguish powerful and wealthy individuals, local civic identity, and shared regional identity. 

The next section of the exhibition, "Visual Currencies," continues to explore how images, style, and technique were used to distinguish local identities and simultaneously to represent shared regional identities. “Powerful Art in a Tiny Format” shows how the skilled artistic technique is associated with the regional coinage of Sicily. “Shared Visual Expressions” examines a shared style of a portrait in three-quarter view that was used as the obverse images on coins across places, but whose figures were individually identified based on the issuing authority's local civic identity. The final section, “Complex Ideas on Small Objects,” shows the complex interactions of multiple images and identity and the skillful execution of such messages pictured on the coins of Ephesus and Pantikapaion. 

Continue scrolling to read more about the Visual Currencies of the coins on display in Bay 2 of the physical installation located in the gallery at the CU Art Museum. 

Powerful Art in a Tiny Format

The coins of the island Sicily demonstrate the expert work of skilled artisans who combined strong imagery with fine details. Syracuse celebrated a water nymph called Arethusa on most of its coins. The obverse of the Silver Tetradrachm of Syracuse shows the broken rein and wheel of the chariot wreck, and the reverse shows the fine embroidery on Arethusa’s hair net, highlighting the die carver’s skill. The Silver Tetradrachm of Leontini shows a lion with a dramatic wrinkled muzzle and flame-like hair and the Silver Tetradrachm of Naxos shows the god Dionysus on the obverse, who the Naxians chose for the emblem of the city. Experts consider this Naxian coin one of the finest examples of ancient Greek coin artistry. 

Map of the Ancient Mediterranean
Silver Tetradrachm, Syracuse, 405-400 BCE; Obverse: Four-horse chariot, fallen chariot wheel, broken rein, Nike overhead.

Silver Tetradrachm, Syracuse, 405-400 BCE

Obverse: chariot wreck.

Silver Tetradrachm, Syracuse, 405-400 BCE; Reverse: Head of Arethusa with dolphins surrounding. Signed K = artist’s name, perhaps Kimon. Inscription ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ (“SYRAKOSION” = “of the Syracusans”).

Silver Tetradrachm, Syracuse, 405-400 BCE

Reverse: Head of Arethusa with dolphins swimming around. 

Silver Tetradrachm, Leontini, 460 BCE; Reverse: Lion’s head, barley grains, laurel leaf. Inscription ΛΕΟΝΤΙΝΟΝ (LEONTINON = “of Leontini”).

Silver Tetradrachm, Leontini, 460 BCE

Reverse: Head of lion. 

Silver Tetradrachm, Naxos, 461 BCE; Obverse: Head of Dionysus wearing an ivy wreath.

Silver Tetradrachm, Naxos, 461 BCE

Obverse: Dionysus. 

Shared Visual Expressions

There are four coins on display featuring closely related imagery, demonstrating how visual motifs resonated across regions in the ancient world. The Silver Didrachm from the island Rhodes shows the sun god Helios, the city’s patron deity who was also represented by the famous Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Two silver coins show Larissa, the water nymph after whom the city was named. The Silver Tetradrachm of Catane in Sicily portrays Apollo, executed with the fine detail characteristic of Sicilian craftsmanship. All coins center on the faces of the nymph and god rendered in three-quarter profile views and with flowing locks of hair, demonstrating how images circulated across geographies, cities, and religious beliefs. 

Silver Didrachm, Rhodes, 305-275 BCE; Obverse: Head of Helios.

Silver Didrachm, Rhodes, 305-275 BCE

Obverse: Head of Helios.

Silver Didrachm, Larissa, 350-340 BCE; Obverse: Head of Larissa.

Silver Didrachm, Larissa, 350-340 BCE

Obverse: Head of Larissa. 

Silver Drachma, Larissa, 356-342 BCE; Obverse: Head of Larissa.

Silver Drachma, Larissa, 356-342 BCE (CUAM 2014.06.43)

Obverse: Head of Larissa.

Silver Tetradrachm, Catane, 405-403/2 BCE; Obverse: Head of Apollo. Inscription ΗΡΑKΛΕΙΔΑΣ (HERAKLEIDAS = artist’s signature).

Silver Tetradrachm, Catane, 405-403/2 BCE, signed by Herakleidas

Obverse: Head of Apollo

Silver Tetradrachm, Ephesus, 387-295 BCE; Reverse: Kneeling stag, palm tree. Inscription ΑΡΤΕΜΩΝ (“ARTEMON” = magistrate’s name).

Silver Tetradrachm, Ephesus, 387-295 BCE, Artemon

Gold Stater, Pantikapaion, 340-325 BCE; Reverse: Griffin with javelin in mouth, standing on wheat ear. Inscription ΠΑΝ (“PAN” = abbreviation of Pantikapaion).

Gold Stater, Pantikapaion, 340-325 BCE

Complex Ideas on Small Objects

Ephesus and Pantikapaion used coins to express multiple identities at once.

Ephesus was the home of the goddess Artemis, whose priestesses were called “melissae” or honeybees. The bee and the deer on the obverse and reverse of the Silver Tetradrachm on display represent the goddess and her cult. When this coin was made, Ephesus was part of the Persian Empire—the palm tree represents the Persian Great King. The writing on the obverse names the city, while that on the reverse names the magistrate in power when the coin was made. Coins of Ephesus have been found from Albania to Iraq and from Egypt to Ukraine, showing people carried them far from their origin and conveyed their message across distance. 

Pantikapaion, on the Crimean Peninsula, had a ruler named Satyrus, so the satyr may be a pun on his name. Griffins, like the one on the Gold Stater on display, were thought to protect gold, a rich local natural resource and the material of this coin. Perhaps the “gold” is also represented by the wheat shown under the griffin, a valuable crop of the region. 

This online exhibition was designed, implemented, and published by Phoebe Mock (PhD student, University of Michigan; MA in Classics, University of Colorado Boulder).