If you could solve one mystery about ancient coins...

If you could somehow solve one mystery about ancient coins, what would it be?

 

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What names were applied to which coins by the people who used them? This may be a hundred mysteries rather than one but it seems more coins as known today were named by numismatists than recorded by history.

 

Good one Doug, it would be on my list as well.

 

I like to know the distribution of the number of coins struck by a die, or at least the mean, at various places and times. Was it 20,000 coins per die on average? Did the distribution vary a lot from place to place and time to time?

The answer to this would allow us to determine the sizes of many ancient coin issues, because many (mostly Greek, but some Roman) issues have been die-studied and for them we know rather closely how many dies were used.

 

who put that X on my coin?



but seriously, i'd love to know.

 

It was me ;-;

 

"Mint records" would be very nice to have (a big massive ancient red-book!!)

 

Some good replies here so far. Names of coins and mintages are two excellent mysteries to have solved. I honestly can't think of a better one. One that I have always wondered about is if ancient coins were round when minted like today's coins.

 

What Doug said.

 

The purpose of serrations on Roman Republican denarii.

 

Who determined what types were struck? I'm sure it changed depending on the emperor and the time period, still it would be nice to know.

 

Which LRBs were indented for general circulation and which were merely ceremonial or donatives.

Also, which coins of the Romano-Gallic Empire (e.g., Tetricus I) and/or Divo Claudio coins were official and which were imitations.

 

I have a few Greek coins that are so small my large fingers have a hard time handling. What was the purpose of such small coins? I know the change aspect, but 4-5mm?

 

Yes, we also see miniscule bronze coins between 5-9mm, in the 5th century, particularly from the Vandalic regions. I've wondered the same thing.

 

Many of our questions require us to realize that the answer in one time and place will not be valid a few years one way or the other or a few miles away. Many early die studies benefited greatly from a system where every die was used to failure when it was replaced with a new one to be used with the still servicable opposing die. This makes figuring the sequence of dies relatively easy compared to a system that threw out dies in pairs or had half a dozen teams working sid by side but that made no effort to strike on Tuesday with the dies they used on Monday.

New parents often mention a baby looking at a hand with a 'what is that thing' expression. We are amazed at wht they have to learn in the first few weeks. Similarly, early adopters of coinage had to learn what was best for their needs. If we decide we need several denominations, do we make the large ones huge or the small ones tiny? Saaaay, What if we used more than one metal and make the small ones out of cheaper metal???? It works the same way in the other direction like when the Romans decided the ten as bronze was a bad idea and opted for the denarius. Study of such questions is part of the fun we have that are rarely important to collectors of dates and mintmarks in modern coins but it still happens as our mint tries to decide how to make a dollar coin that is reasonable in size but not confused with a quarter. Numismatics!

 

Who was the first person to say: "Wow! This coin is really old/valuable. I think I'll save it because I like the design or as an investment..."

(instead of spending it or just regular "savings")

 

What was it about the 5th and 4th centuries in Greek cities that resulted in such incredibly artistic coins, which in many people's opinions have never been surpassed?

John

 

I think questions like this will vary depending on ones collecting interests. I have many (and none will ever be answered) but for the moment I ponder about the literacy rates in the ancient world. If illiteracy was high, why the need for monumental inscriptions (and coin legends) which nobody could read? If literacy was high, why is it never mentioned in the histories that survive?

 

#1
Who decided to switch from these -

to these -

The decision should have been relatively late in the Roman Republic, after 300 BC.

#2
Rome first paid their soldiers about 400 BC during fighting at Veii. They did not start making coins until 300 BC. How were the soldiers paid?