step two money talks exercise
Since the introduction of coinage in Lydia in the seventh century BC, coins and banknotes bear some type of legend and/or symbol to legitimize their value and to authorize their status as legal tender. Moreover, money is equated with power, and so physical currencies (coins and banknotes) depict words and images which express their (sources of) power. The words may be a city ethnic (e.g. AΘE [of the Athenians] on the Athena/owl tetradrachms of the late 6th-early 1st centuries BC), or the titles of a Roman emperor (e.g. AVGVSTVS DIVI F(ilivs) – Augustus, son of a god), or a country’s name (e.g. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the U.S. dollar bills). The image may be a civic symbol (e.g. the depiction of Athena and her owl on the tetradrachms of Athens), a figure of political authority (e.g. the obverse portrait of an emperor on a Roman coin, a president on a U.S. coin or dollar bill), or an important national figure (e.g. Dante on the Italian €2 coin).
To build on your ability to analyze all that goes on on a coin complete these exercises on Roman numismatic typology.
Refer to this link for some answers.
Why do you think it is important for coins and banknotes to have some kind of legend and/or symbol of authority?
Recommended Time: 00:45
FURTHER READINGWallace-Hadrill, A. (1986) ‘Image and authority in the coinage of Augustus”, JRS 76:66-87.