The Ancient world remains a mystery.

Modern scholars will continue to dedicate years to furthering our current understanding of classical civilizations, but there will always be a slight separation simply because there is no one still alive who could directly comment on life at this time.

If there was someone still around from the Ancient world, then there would be a couple other questions that would be a touch more important to ask. Such as: immortality, is it real? Or better yet: how do I personally become immortal?

Nonetheless, we have to rely on material that has been preserved in order to grasp any type of meaning when contemplating Ancient existence.

I feel as though when someone pictures Greek or Roman artifacts, their minds immediately jump to images of perfectly preserved marble statues. Perhaps an arm is missing, or the very end of the statue’s nose, but in the grand scheme of things, the viewer can clearly see a human figure that must be based somewhat in reality.

This is a safe image to picture in your mind.

I won’t judge at all because that is an aspect that is most notably recognized in the contemporary world.

Plus, these statues are just insanely cool.

But there are so many more artifacts that have stood the test of time, remaining understandable enough that contemporary scholars can grasp onto a sliver of context in order to better comprehend societal life in classical civilizations.

One of the most widely overlooked items from the Ancient world that we can still study are coins.

Yes. Coins.

In the age of credit cards and digital payment apps, I’m sure you haven’t thought of physical coins in years. Or maybe I’m just being condescending. Equally possible.

But yes. Coins are some of the most helpful artifacts that modern academics are able to study in order to better understand how society itself functioned in the Ancient world.

And the work that went into creating these coins is nothing to scoff at.

“CNG: Greek and Roman Coins.” Classical Numismatic Group, LLC, www.cngcoins.com Greek+and+Roman+Coins.aspx. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.

Throughout most of history, coins were made entirely by hand. The design would be carved into a block, most often made from bronze or iron, referred to as a die and then from there a disk would be placed between the dies and hammered until the design is imprinted onto both sides of the disk.

Making a coin!

Numismatics allows modern archaeologists a better understanding of how these coins were created, but the dies that were so necessary for this process are few and far between nowadays.

However, we do still have enough coins that we can study in order to fill in the blanks regarding the process of making coins with dies even without having the original materials directly on hand.

Occasionally coins are recovered that appear to be practically the exact same design, but there is still a necessary extra step to see whether they were actually imprinted by the same die, or if one was etched from a later recut of a similar design.

There has since been the creation of a computer program, called CADS, that can be used to cut down on the sheer amount of human labor needed to document the similarities and differences between designs.

This process has been especially beneficial in numismatic studies of the late 5th century Athenian owls, of which there are about 60,000 coins remaining.

CADS can detect the exact similarities between two coins to see if they were made from the same die, and beyond that can group the coins into sections based on the minuscule differences.

This process can help to further understand how the construction of coins potentially changed over time, especially with regard to the longevity of dies and how much time was dedicated to one specific design at a time.

“The Computer Aided Die Studies Program.” American Numismatic Society, 14 June 2023, numismatics.org/pocketchange/cads/.

Studying the designs of Ancient Greek and Roman coinage goes far beyond just an interest in iconography. Or even just an interest in the actual technical process of making a coin sturdy enough to survive until the modern world.

The specific designs that are imprinted onto these coins are largely reflective of the societal, cultural, or political details that made up Ancient life at the time of creation.

Basically, modern scholars are given an inner look into the lives of Ancient people through the intentional designs they choose to display. Coins just serve as another form of physical media.

Some of the earliest Greek city-states had coins minted with iconographic depictions of each city or local deities. These specific images would be intentional as a representation of what was most important to the local communities.

However, as time progressed coinage became more attuned with civic symbols.

There was a certain kind of power displayed through the imagery of political figures on coinage, and this shifting portrayal also tended to work in the favor of those studying these coins.

Emperors were most likely to be depicted on coins during their specific reign, allowing the modern world a deeper sense of context in regard to empirical rule.

In the grand scheme of things, coins may seem rather insignificant.

They are just little pieces of metal with small imprints on them. Sometimes you leave them in the cupholder of your car or better yet the tip jar at the tea shop you like to frequent.

Either way, you don’t really think about what exactly a coin is meant to symbolize.

But maybe you should.

Coins will likely still be around long after civilization has ceased to exist. Maybe future archaeologists will end up analyzing our current coin usage in an attempt to better understand the socio-political atmosphere of life in the twenty-first century.

Or maybe we’ll still be searching for a clear understanding of the Ancient world.

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