I suppose by now that nearly everyone realizes that the symbol for love, the so-called heart, which will be in abundance in a week, has nothing to do with the human heart or for that matter any mammalian heart. Various anthropologists had sometimes said it was the male genitalia upside down or the female buttocks. It is in fact the form of the seed of the silphium plant which for hundreds of years was the economic mainstay for certain parts of northern Africa. It is in fact a birth control drug and now thought to be extinct. The seed and the plant were immortalized on their coins the ones with the plant in silver being quite expensive. Here is a small fraction from my collection showing a leaf and the seed. Note the shape. This is Sear 6250, Cyrene, circa early 5th century B.C., silver. It is quite rare.
Nice @Gary Waddingham ... I have a Silphium... KYRENAICA Kyrene Æ25 9.6g 250 BCE Diademed Zeus-Ammon r - K-O-I-N-O-N; Silphium plant; monogram SNG Cop 1278 BMC 16-19 EX: the guy who grows Silphium in his basement... @John Anthony
I'd love to get a silphium plant coin coin! Several ancients have ivy leaves which are look quite a bit like hearts.
You'll be interested in the article by W.S. Wright, "Silphium Rediscovered," which appears in Celator 15 (2): 23-24. Now, the author's conclusion was false--he didn't find living examples of this extinct plant--but the numismatic information is of interest.
While my big plant is far nicer, the AE16 with triple plants attached at the base is much more scarce. If you like the triple reverse, it is available in silver and more common in gold. The obverse of the bronze is supposedly Karneios. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=117475
I have to say I'm in the ivy camp when it comes to what inspired the heart shape. How else to interpret this coin... MACEDON, Eion AR Obol. 0.367, 10.9mm. MACEDON, Eion, circa 460-400 BC. SNG Cop 181. O: Two geese in love standing right; ivy leaf and H to left. R: Quadripartite incuse square. Ex x6 Collection Still want one of those coins with the silphium plant, though!
Nice coin! I like silphium seed on coins. I would like one like the one in Wikipedia, but all I have is one that I call a silphium seed and most books call an ivy leaf or unknown symbol on the reverse. The obverse symbol is not in question.... it is a Roman level! I like the silphium stories. According to Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger in "The Classical Cookbook", Nero was reported to have eaten the last one. (sorry for the bad pic, I ordered the book and copied the paragraph below from it)
..i read about that plant many years ago. isn't there supposed to be a similar plant that still growing but doesn't have the exact properties?..i can't recall exactly where i read it, but i do remember seeing it. interesting!...(addition)Ah, i didn't read down far enough..i think rrdenarius answered my question.
KYRENAIKA, Barke 480-450 BC AR hemidrachm, 13 mm, 1.57 gm Obv: silphium plant Rev: head of Zeus Ammon right within linear frame, B A P K around Ref: (which I have not checked) Müller MAA 301. Very rare. More on the silphium plant here, although the gist of known information has already been stated in this thread: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-kyrenaikas-silphium-plant.245537/ KYRENAIKA, Kyrene modern copy by electrotypist Robert Ready host coin, c. 410-400 BCE, acquired by the British Museum in 1872 AR "tetradrachm", 27 mm, 16.64 gm Obv: Bearded head of Zeus-Ammon, wearing tainia with uraeus-like ornament at forehead, facing slightly left within laurel wreath Rev: silphium plant; K V P A N A (split between fields, retrograde K) Edge: initials R R Ref: BMC 77 (host coin); B.V. Head. A guide to the principal coins of the Greeks, from circ. 700 B.C. to A.D. 270. London. 1965 pl. 20, 61 (host coin); host coin BM accession number 1872,0709.361; B.V. Head. A Guide to the Select Greek and Roman Coins Exhibited in Electrotype, London. 1880. Period III C #44. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/sometimes-a-copy-will-have-to-suffice.272376/
I took a picture of this ancient Greek pottery boar head in the British Museum because of all of the “hearts” on it. I guess I will post it now since it is relevant.