"Money may seem hopelessly mundane and culturally meaningless, but it has dominated--and documented--world history since the time of the ancient Greeks. This heavily illustrated book provides a spirited account of the first coinages and their living descendants in our pockets and purses. It explains how people from Jesus to The Beatles have used numismatics to explore the social, political, economic, and religious history of the world"--
Like other volumes in this series, Ancient History from Coins demystifies a specialism, introducing students (from first year upwards) to the techniques, methods, problems and advantages of using coins to do ancient history. Coins are a fertile source of information for the ancient historian; yet too often historians are uneasy about using them as evidence because of the special problems attaching to their interpretation. The world of numismatics is not always easy for the non-specialist to penetrate or understand with confidence. Dr Howgego describes and anlyses the main contributions the study of coins can make to ancient history, showing shows through numerous examples how the character, patterns and behaviour of coinage bear on major historical themes. Topics range from state finance and economic policy to imperial domination and political propaganda through coins types. The period covered by the book is from the invention of coinage (ca 600BC) to AD 400.
Coins have occupied a vital role in trade and society since their very first usage in the ancient kingdoms of Turkey, China and India. This unparalleled world reference guide turns this complex history into an accessible chronicle, with coins illustrated from every coin-issuing country in the world. Through the course of these information-packed pages and 2500 color images, the reader can travel more than eight millennia, and gain inspiration on how and where to start a country or themed collection.
This is your road map to finding your way around the ancient coin fraternity. With more than 200 photographs, tables and charts and a pronunciation guide, you will acquire the knowledge needed to survive this sometimes bewildering market. Get a jump start on the incredible world of the ancients by acquiring a basic understanding of their politics, history, mythology, and astrology and how it affected the minting and designing of their coins.
Traces the history of gold throughout the world from antiquity to the early twenty-first century, describing its value to humanity, and discussing its usage in art, jewelry, palaces, temples, and tombs, along with the role it has played in historic events.
The Thirty Pieces of Silver: Coin Relics in Medieval and Modern Europe discusses many interconnected topics relating to the most perfidious monetary transaction in history: the betrayal of Jesus by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. According to medieval legend, these coins had existed since the time of Abraham’s father and had been used in many transactions recorded in the Bible. This book documents fifty specimens of coins which were venerated as holy relics in medieval and modern churches and monasteries of Europe, from Valencia to Uppsala. Most of these relics are ancient Greek silver coins in origin mounted in precious reliquaries or used for the distribution of their wax imprints believed to have healing powers. Drawing from a wide range of historical sources, from hagiography to numismatics, this book will appeal to students and academics researching Late Antique, Medieval, and Early Modern History, Theology, as well as all those interested in the function of relics throughout Christendom. The Thirty Pieces of Silver is a study that invites meditation on the highly symbolic and powerful role of money through coins which were the price, value, and measure of Christ and which, despite being the most abject objects, managed to become relics.
A Bowl for a Coin is the first book in any language to describe and analyze the history of all Japanese teas from the plant’s introduction to the archipelago around 750 to the present day. To understand the triumph of the tea plant in Japan, William Wayne Farris begins with its cultivation and goes on to describe the myriad ways in which the herb was processed into a palatable beverage, ultimately resulting in the wide variety of teas we enjoy today. Along the way, he traces in fascinating detail the shift in tea’s status from exotic gift item from China, tied to Heian (794–1185) court ritual and medicinal uses, to tax and commodity for exchange in the 1350s, to its complete nativization in Edo (1603–1868) art and literature and its eventual place on the table of every Japanese household. Farris maintains that the increasing sophistication of Japanese agriculture after 1350 is exemplified by tea farming, which became so advanced that Meiji (1868–1912) entrepreneurs were able to export significant amounts of Japanese tea to Euro-American markets. This in turn provided the much-needed foreign capital necessary to help secure Japan a place among the world’s industrialized nations. Tea also had a hand in initiating Japan’s “industrious revolution”: From 1400, tea was being drunk in larger quantities by commoners as well as elites, and the stimulating, habit-forming beverage made it possible for laborers to apply handicraft skills in a meticulous, efficient, and prolonged manner. In addition to aiding in the protoindustrialization of Japan by 1800, tea had by that time become a central commodity in the formation of a burgeoning consumer society. The demand-pull of tea consumption necessitated even greater production into the postwar period—and this despite challenges posed to the industry by consumers’ growing taste for coffee. A Bowl for a Coin makes a convincing case for how tea—an age-old drink that continues to adapt itself to changing tastes in Japan and the world—can serve as a broad lens through which to view the development of Japanese society over many centuries.
Rusty Goe's new three-volume set, The Confident Carson City Coin Collector, provides a time-capsule glimpse of all the knowledge available for discovery about the Carson City Mint's history and the coins that have survived from that place leading up to the 150th anniversary (2020) of the mint's opening in January 1870. Just about anything anyone would want to know about the mint and its coins can be found in these three volumes. Three hardback volumes, 8.5" x 11" in dimensions. The page count for all three volumes is approximately 2,500. Color images fill numerous pages; at least one zoomed image (obverse and reverse) of all 111 date-denominations with the "CC" mintmark. Historical Setting narratives are included for every year of the Carson City Mint's coinmaking years (1870 - 1893). Coin Commentary sections provide extensive studies of all Carson City silver and gold date-denominations; surviving population data, pedigrees, pricing, and auction appearances are all updated as of year-end 2018. This three-volume set provides all that everyone wants to know about the Carson City Mint and its coins. The Confident Carson City Coin Collector will serve as the definitive reference work about the Carson City Mint and its coins for decades to come.
This is the tenth entry in Whitman Publishing's popular "100 Greatest" library. Award-winning author Ron Guth has studied coins depicting women from ancient times to the modern day, building a database of more than 700 queens, princesses, empresses, actresses, political and religious leaders, goddesses, and others. These were voted on and ranked by the members of Women in Numismatics and other hobbyists to determine the 100 Greatest Women on Coins. "This book is a celebration of women's impact on numismatics," says Guth, "and a study of the relationship between them and the men who monopolize the portraiture designed for coins." Each notable woman is described with an illustrated historical, biographical, and anecdotal essay and colorful images of the coins on which she appears. Guth also discusses the long history of women featured on coins, and how anyone today can assemble a remarkable and meaningful collection. The book's scholarly value is further expanded with a checklist for the specialist, and a bibliography for further research.
