When coins first carried expressly political messages may not be clear, but the roots are ancient, certainly the taproots are. Were the coins of Croesus - Lion and Bull confronting - not his announcement of divine purpose? The "Eagle killing Snake" image is known from ancient Elia and I have one from Cyrene from the time of Magas in revolt against Ptolemy. If not them, then certainly the Romans. No one can deny that the "Ides of March" coins of Brutus were expressly political messages. But there is more to speech than politics. Politics is public. The most important words are the ones in your own head. We learn speech socially, but need it individually. Alone on his island, Robinson Crusoe would not have lived long could he not have verbalized his perceptions. Antoine de Saint Exupery is best known for his Little Prince. He also wrote about flying as a mail pilot in Nightflight and in Wind, Sand, and Stars, among other titles. Living in the United States he became a friend of the Lindberghs. Returning to France to fly for the Free French, he was shot down over the Mediterranean in 1940. Hristo Gruev Danov (27 August 1828–11 December 1911) was a Bulgarian enlightener, teacher and book publisher of the Bulgarian National Revival who is regarded as the father of organized book publishing in the Bulgarian lands and hailed as the "Bulgarian Gutenberg" After the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, he was also a politician and mayor of Plovdiv. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_G._Danov
There's certainly a great deal of artistry on numismatic items, but I haven't seen anything that qualifies as poetry. I'd love to, though.
"Sándor Petőfi 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1848 was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary's national poet, and was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. He is the author of the Nemzeti dal (National Song), which is said to have inspired the revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary that grew into a war for independence from the Austrian Empire. It is most likely that he died in the Battle of Segesvár, one of the last battles of the war." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sándor_Petőfi Mihai Eminescu (15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet.Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul ("The Time"), the official newspaper of the Conservative Party (1880–1918).His poetry was first published when he was 16 and he went to Vienna to study when he was 19. The poet's Manuscripts, containing 46 volumes and approximately 14,000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on 25 January 1902. Notable works include Luceafărul (The Vesper/The Evening Star/The Lucifer/The Daystar), Odă în metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the five Letters (Epistles/Satires). In his poems he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical subjects. In general his work was influenced by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihai_Eminescu
Carlos Drummond de Andrade (October 31, 1902 – August 17, 1987) was perhaps the most influential Brazilianpoet of the 20th century. He has become something of a national poet; his poem "Canção Amiga" ("Friendly Song") was printed on the 50 cruzados bill. He is considered to be among the greatest Brazilian poets of all time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Drummond_de_Andrade
Guess he was not exactly happy about the views of the Lindberghs regarding fascism, Jews and the war then ... Saint-Exupéry died in 1944, and that 50 fr note sure was nicely designed and a good reminder. Today it is only worth whatever a collector is willing to pay. Christian
Thanks! I don't usually slip a date like that. I must have been comfortable with my ignorance. He returned to the war in 1943 and went missing in 1944, as you say. Wikipedia is our common memory. I believe that the reactionary political opinions came from Charles, while Anton was more interested in Anne. A lot about the Lindberghs remains unseen. She was the more literary of the two, though Charles had a couple of books to his credit. The Saint Exupery note shown is actually an error: it has an unneeded accent over the capital-E. I understand what you mean, in that this is no longer 50 Francs, but, really, everything is worth only what someone else is willing to pay for it.
Primož Trubar (1508 – 28 June 1586) was the Protestant reformer, most known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book. ... In 1527 the bishop Pietro Bonomo assigned Trubar a priest position in Loka pri Zidanem Mostu. ... In 1530 he returned to the Slovene Lands and became a preacher. He gradually leaned towards Protestantism and was in 1547 expelled from Ljubljana. While a Protestant preacher in Rothenburg, Germany, he wrote first two books in Slovene, Catechismus and Abecedarium, which were published in 1550 in Tübingen, Germany. Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primož_Trubar (An "Abecedarium" is an "A B C D" booklet to help people learn the alphabet.) Jan Amos Komenský or Comenius (28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670)was ... one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. He is considered the father of modern education.Comenius was the innovator who first introduced pictorial textbooks, written in native language instead of Latin, applied effective teaching based on the natural gradual growth from simple to more comprehensive concepts, supported lifelong learning and development of logical thinking by moving from dull memorization, presented and supported the idea of equal opportunity for impoverished children, opened doors to education for women, made instruction universal and practical. He lived and worked in many different countries in Europe, including Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands and Royal Hungary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amos_Comenius
Really appreciating this thread. A few contributions from my collection.... Canada $5, Author Roch Carrier; "The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places -- the school, the church and the skating-rink--but our real life was on the skating-rink." Few have written more evocatively of the Canadian winter experience ...... ...and James Joyce's words on the Ireland 10 pound note ....
Now that you mentioned it, I spotted it. Cool! Since you showed the Primož Trubar note too, let me add that the €1 circulation coin also features a quote from his Catechismus: "stati inu obstati" - "to stand and withstand". Not paper money though ... Christian
Well, see Bob White above. Also, the Drummond note from Brazil has his "Friendly Song" on it. Sometimes "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" is non-fiction; and sometimes it is fiction.
