Featured Their Plagues, and Maybe Ours

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by kevin McGonigal, Feb 25, 2020.

  1. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    It must be obvious to all of us that we seem to be in danger of a serious epidemic. World markets are reacting adversely to news of an incipient plague and the accompanying economic, not to say human damage that may arise. Most of us on this site know, of course, that world wide epidemics, pandemics, are not a new phenomenon. The Ancient World of Classical Greece and Rome suffered through several which are well documented by both contemporary writings and recent DNA evidence from skeletal remains. The question I would like to raise is, is it possible to see the havoc caused by such pandemics in the coinage of the periods involved.

    Well, let's take a look at what we know about four ancient epidemics or plagues( loimos to the Greeks, pestilentia or pestis to Latin speakers). First a bit about that of the Plague of Athens, well known to readers of Thucydides and his History of the Peloponnesian War. The plague broke out, or at least most manifested itself, in the second year of the war with Sparta, 430 BC. With much of the population confined within the walls of war time Athens, whatever the illness was, it spread quickly, killing off a large enough percentage of the population (including their leader, Pericles) to bring about social dislocation as well as economic retrenchment and a weakening of their armed forces. The second of these great ancient plagues was the Antonine Plague which hit Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in 165 AD. Thought there is no good time for an epidemic to hit the planet, this already was a hard time for Rome as the Empire was under attack from Germanic barbarians and the Parthians and the Roman Army was already under great stress handling them. Lucius Verus was probably a victim of this illness. The great medico, Galen, was able to give us a physician's impression of the illness, that is, until he left the city of Rome for a more remote location to wait it out. The third great epidemic was the Cyprian Plague, named for the Christian Bishop Cyprian of Carthage, in 250 AD. The last thing the Roman World needed in 250 AD was another calamity with internecine civil war and more barbarians driving Rome to the edge. Claudius Gothicus is believed to have been killed by Cyprian's Plague, a great loss as he was a most capable emperor at a time when Rome most needed one. Lastly was the Plague of Justinian breaking out in 541 AD and well attested and documented by court historian, Procopius. His descriptions of the unburied dead being stuffed into towers along the walls still brings the creeps to modern readers.

    Naturally we all want to know just exactly what these epidemics were caused by, that is what were these diseases that killed, on average, 25-35 % of the populations when they hit. We cannot be sure, but the descriptions of the symptoms have suggested typhus, small pox, measles (which can be deadly to adults as soldiers in the American Civil War would discover), dysentery, bubonic plagues,even Ebola. Whatever these illnesses were, they caused terrible suffering and weakened the Classical world to the point where other dangers which they could have shrugged off in good times now became lethal destroyers of civilized life.

    What I have been wondering is, can we, as numismatists, see evidence of these plagues in the coinage of the period. Perhaps these diseases affected the fabric of the coinage. There is evidence that the denarius saw a significant reduction in the fineness of silver in the mid 160's AD as the Antonine Plague spread about the empire. Some collectors know that in the latter stages of the Peloponnesian War Athens issued fourees, plated coins, to make up for a lack of silver but, considering how frequently their tetradrachmas are banker marked, or just chiseled to check for purity of silver, maybe the practice was employed during the plague years early in the war. The great debasement of Roman silver was probably first detectable to the eye about 250 AD and as Cyprian's Plague continued the bottom dropped out of the silver content of the coinage. In Byzantine coinage the damage from Justinian's Plague may be evident in their bronze coinage. Anastasias had recently restored the integrity of the Eastern Roman Empire's bronze coinage with large, heavy and well struck folles. Justinian continued that fine coinage until the latter part of his reign, post plague, and following his death, the follis became a much smaller, lighter coin with a noticeable decline in artistry.

    Perhaps readers of this site could check their own coins for other tell tale clues to these epidemics affecting the coinage. Maybe a noticeable increase in coinage dedicated to Hygeia, Salus, Apollo, Aesculapius during those years. I admit I don't know how much the coinage was affected, if at all, by these periodic plagues just as I don't know how the current epidemic might affect the social and economic fabric of our lives in the near future, but I think it more than just a curiosity that they were. Below are some images of some ancient coins from those four great plagues of Antiquity, an Athenian tetradrachma, a dupondius of Marcus Aurelius, an Antioch tetradrachma of Trajan Decius and a follis of Justinian.
    IMG_1318[4747]Justinian Obv..jpg IMG_1319[4745]Justinian rev..jpg IMG_1320[4753]Marc Aurl Raj Decius obv.jpg IMG_1321[4757]Marc Aurl rev.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2020
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  3. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    My first thought when I started reading your post was Justinian. As bad as Corona virus is, at least it isn't nearly as awful as bubonic plague.

    I don't have a coin of Justinian but here is a Trajan Decius that was struck 249-250 AD, during the Plague of Cyprian.
    Trajan Decius Antoninianus.jpg
     
  4. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    The "Corona" virus is not a plague or epidemic. Its being overhyped by the media as usual. The ordinary flu killed 80K Americans in 2017. The "Black Death" from 1347-51 killed one third of European population. The Spanish Flu pandemic killed 50/100 million in 1918.
     
    Volodya, octavius, David Hill and 8 others like this.
  5. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Yes, the silver content of the silver by this time as seen in your coin was so obviously reduced that it was becoming impossible for the Roman Government to hide its debasing of the silver coinage, which accelerated so rapidly in the 250's that by the end of the decade the blind could have determined the coinage was very base alloy. How much Cyprians' Plague accelerated the debasement process in that decade is hard to determine, but losing maybe 30% of the population to an epidemic could not have helped the Roman economy.
     
  6. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I can tell you a great deal about the "Spanish" flu of 1918, which, by the way seems to have first been diagnosed here in the US. It killed my paternal grandparents and an uncle and left my father an orphan at the age of nine. They lived in Philadelphia which was probably the hardest hit US city. My father had a photograph of a mass burial in a trench in a Philadelphia cemetery. It may have been of his family's burial. My father, and untold millions, may have physically survived that epidemic, but the psychic scars lasted to the day they too died.
     
  7. ToughCOINS

    ToughCOINS Dealer Member Moderator

    I personally think the jury is out on this one. It is amazing to me that this virus has taken such a terrible toll in so little time, despite the swift and widespread media coverage and the rapid mobilization of modern treatments and research.

    My single biggest concern is the latency of the coronavirus, which mimics that of smallpox.
     
  8. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    What concerns me is the mystery of its sudden appearance, either something jumping from a species of animal to humans or perhaps something released from a biotech/biowarfare lab unintentionally. I'll share a coin of Lucius Verus, almost certainly a victim of the plague brought back from the East by the roman army.

    lverus1.jpg

    lverus2.jpg
     
  9. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Is your coin a Roman provincial?
     
    ancient coin hunter likes this.
  10. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    No it's an As.

    L VERVS AVG ARMENIACVS
     
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  11. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    The CDC site says today:
    Screen Shot 2020-02-25 at 5.23.22 PM.png

    So, the death rate is about 1 in a thousand for what we call "flu". The death rate for covid-19 is uncertain, but the numbers quoted from China, etc. suggest more like 20 in a thousand. If it turns out to be as contagious as the flu, numbers like that suggest 20 times the deaths.

    Another thing not mentioned in the news so far is that the virus might mutate. The Black Death had more than one form. Wikipedia notes:

    "It is said that the plague takes three forms. In the first people suffer an infection of the lungs, which leads to breathing difficulties. Whoever has this corruption or contamination to any extent cannot escape but will die within two days. Another form ... in which boils erupt under the armpits, ... a third form in which people of both sexes are attacked in the groin."

    Any disease that is only a few months old is still evolving to find its own best way to propagate. Even if we understood the current form of the virus perfectly, it might not be the same in another few months.

    Here is a coin of Trebonianus Gallus, 251-253, that has been said to invoke
    APOLL[O] SALVTARI because of the plague. Foss, Roman Historical Coins, page 214, #7.


    TrebGallus1APOLLOSALVTARI8590.jpg
     
  12. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the example of that coin. The Plague of Cyprian is the least documented of the four great plagues of Antiquity. Also, thanks for the citation. I think I want that book.
     
  13. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Regarding the different types of plague, it sounds like 2 different types: pneumonic plague (in the lungs) and bubonic plague (aka Yersinia Pestis), from which “boils” aka buboes came from the lymph nodes, both in the armpits and groin.
     
    octavius likes this.
  14. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    The beginning of the reign of Trebonianus Gallus coincided with the arrival of the Cyprian plague in the city of Rome in AD 251. At least four of his coins were likely issued in response to the epidemic.

    Gallus appealed to the gods through coins honoring Salus, the goddess of health:

    [​IMG]
    Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
    Roman AR Antoninianus, 3.78 g, 24 mm, 7 h.
    Rome, AD 253.
    Obv: IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right, seen from behind.
    Rev: SALVS AVGG, Salus standing left, feeding serpent, rising from altar, out of patera with her right hand and holding scepter in her left.
    Refs: RIC 46a; Cohen 117; RCV 9649; Hunter, p. cvi.

    [​IMG]
    Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
    Roman orichalcum sestertius, 19.25 g, 27.4 mm, 1 h.
    Rome mint, 3rd officina, 1st emission, AD 251.
    Obv: IMP CAES C VIBIVS TREBONIANVS GALLVS AVG, Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.
    Rev: SALVS AVGG S C, Salus standing right, feeding serpent which she holds in both arms.
    Refs: RIC 121a; Cohen 115; RCV 9678; Banti 31; Hunter p. cvi.

    Another with the inscription APOLL SALVTARI refers to Apollo as "the healer," an inscription unique in Roman numismatics.

    [​IMG]
    Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
    Roman AR antoninianus, 3.60 g, 19.2 mm, 6 h.
    Rome, 2nd emission, late AD 251.
    Obv: IMP CAE C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
    Rev: APOLL SALVTARI, Apollo standing left, holding branch with right hand and resting left hand on lyre set on rock.
    Refs: RIC 32; Cohen/RSC 20; RCV 9627; Hunter 21.

    A third and fourth type, minted exclusively by Gallus, were two different issues with the legend IVNONI MARTIALI, "to the warlike Juno," one depicting her temple and the other depicting the goddess herself, enthroned. Juno was often invoked for the blessing of health and fertility, and some numismatists believe that this unique combination of her name with Mars, the god of war, was a call for Juno to make war on the plague. This coin type was issued by all three mints active during Gallus' reign. I have examples of all three, but I shall show only one.

    [​IMG]
    Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
    Roman AR antoninianus, 3.14 g, 23.5 mm, 5 h.
    Branch mint (traditionally attributed to Mediolanum), AD 252.
    Obv: IMP C C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
    Rev: IVNO MARTIALIS, Juno seated left, holding corn-ears (?) and scepter.
    Refs: RIC 69; Cohen 46; RCV 9631; Hunter 49.
     
  15. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Great coinage examples. I have that one of Gallus with Juno on the reverse but did not know it was connected to the Plague of Cyprian. Thanks for that info.
     
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  16. Roerbakmix

    Roerbakmix Well-Known Member

    A bit off-topic, but while you are correct that influenza annually kills a small subset of populations (usually ~1%, depending on the severity of the strain, and the effect of the vaccination), the main difference with influenza and COVID-19 is that there is zero immunity. With other words: there may be a new 'influenza', on top of the existing (so, instead of the 1% dying on influenza annually, we may have a new status quo with ~3% dying on influenza and COVID-19 annually, i.e. the virus may become a new 'normal occurence').

    Another notable difference is the virulence (i.e. how effective the virus is to infect others), which is way higher in COVID-19 than the common influenza. Also, as a medical doctor working in an academic hospital, I'm impressed with the mortality rates. Sure, common influenza in a critical ill patient, or in elderly patients can be devastating. But the mortality rates are impressive, and worrisome in my opinion.
     
  17. oldfinecollector

    oldfinecollector Well-Known Member

    What is really impressive too is how it affect quickly the economy and particularly luxury market and antics numismatic and modern too is luxury market.

    How will react collectors and investors in their biding in March ? Many interesting coins are too pricey for us collectors or of numismatic and it is a shame that even the hoard of 45 000 Athenas haven’t down a bit the price at least for VF Athena coins.

    I am fed up of the strategy of CNG or Heritage to bring investor and to push up the most interesting Greek and Roman coins that push down true numismatic lovers with limited budget. Hope the richest investor in Asia, Arabic countries, Europe that are interested only on investing not loving coins and history will stop bidding and resale.

    The same for big dealers that not anymore love coins but want only act like bankers. Perhaps they will respect more and some will discount their stock to have cash.

    I cannot predict future but will at home if crazy price and estimate eve for denarius VF XF will carryon at CNG and all auctions.

    Japanese use the same ideogram to say crisis and opportunity.
     
  18. AussieCollector

    AussieCollector Moderator Moderator

    The common flu has a mortality rate of around 4 in 10,000, or 0.04%. COVID-19 has a currently estimated fatality rate of 2 to 3%. It is likely much lower, due to underreporting of the virus itself. But even if it's 0.5%, that makes it 10x more deadly than the flu. It is also AT LEAST as contagious. This is not media hype.
     
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  19. Xodus

    Xodus Well-Known Member

    Didn't it originate in Kansas?
     
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  20. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I believe it was Fort Hays which was receiving recruits from all over the country and then sending them overseas. What was strange about the "Spanish" flu was that it abated at Fort Hays and went dormant for several months and then reemerged with a vengeance as a pandemic coming back to the US just as the War was ending. No doubt about the statistics. That influenza killed more people in less than one year than were killed in all of the Great War. It was estimated to have a 2% mortality rate. It was most lethal among the demographic of health young adults, not the very young or elderly. Apparently the virus triggered an over response of the victims' immune systems and that over response caused massive tissue damage in the lungs. As bad as that was think of how much worse it was for those of the Ancient world who knew almost nothing about contagion, which was understood by the early 20th Century although the state of medicine circa 1918 was such that appealing to Salus or Aesculapius might have been as effective as whatever else they tried. The media did not cover the epidemic that much as the big news was the ending of the Great War and then the Paris Peace Conference.
     
  21. oldfinecollector

    oldfinecollector Well-Known Member

    The problem with this coronavirus is

    1) People can have it and be contagious without any symptoms and don’t know they are contagious

    2) 1 person can make bill 3,8 person around him when for the flue it is 1,2.

    I had planned a trip to Venice northern Italy in 12 days but I prefer to cancel it I will loose just the airline ticket few hundred euros as as book an hotel with free cancellation on Bookings and that I need to pay the hotel only once I am here.

    I prefer to keep safe and all museums , church are closed no much interest and anyway it is not my first stay in Venice.
     
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