Coins carried through time a legacy that revealed many secrets about the history of peoples, but these coins are about to disappear in our world today, and with it a great cultural heritage.
In his report published by the Australian "The Conversion" website, the writer Michael Theophilus said that the coins of today are considered heavy, costly, and disease-transmitting, but for more than 2,600 years, they reflected different images of human societies, policies, and ideas that rulers and politicians promoted among their subjects. .
Coins have always conveyed various messages that historians have addressed from the perspective of time and space. The historian Harold Mattingly described Roman coins as like newspapers in our contemporary world, revealing the names of the new emperors and their heirs of thrones, and documenting victories, celebrations, and important events.
The author mentioned that coins can provide historical details that literary sources lack. For example, the Sestretius bronze coin minted by Emperor Titus between 80 and 81 AD, clearly shows the exterior of the Colosseum, and also provides an accurate picture of the runways and the building from the inside.
compete
The ancient coins also show the intensity of competition between the Roman cities, where each city was looking to obtain the title of "Newkoros" or temple guard, when it was honored to build a temple for the emperor and his family, and the city of Ephesus was the first to obtain this title during the reign of Emperor Nero (between 54 and 68 AD), and the phrase "Newkoros" is inscribed on its currency.
The emperors also used coins to perpetuate their military victories, and Emperor Vespasian issued several coins depicting his repression of the Jewish revolution and the destruction of their temple, and his son Titus did the same when he documented the siege and control of Jerusalem.
Ancient inscriptions exist to this day
The author emphasized that some of the images engraved on coins since ancient times are still in circulation to this day, including the owl Athena, which was engraved on the "Tetradrakha" coin since the fifth century BC, and appeared on the currency from the category of 1 euro.
The writer indicated that the money took various forms and patterns throughout human history, including what was made in the form of a feather, a shell, a boat or a knife, but only the simple shape, that is, the circular metal discs, survived.
The author concluded that metal coins have maintained over time accurate details of peoples ’history, identities and cultural, political and religious life, and that future historians and archaeologists may also find innovative ways to track our antiquities by understanding our digital financial transactions.