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<p>[QUOTE="Sulla80, post: 4959276, member: 99456"]I think the differentiator may be more time period than Roman v. Greek or who was ruling...the Roman's definitely perfected the "overly wordy coin" with the sestertius, but they were behind the Parthians who were already getting carried away with too much (semi-readable) text e.g.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1192170[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Parthia, Orodes II</b>, circa 57-38 BC, AR Drachm, Ekbatana mint</p><p><b>Obv:</b> Diademed and draped bust left, wearing torque ending in sea-horse or griffin, wart on forehead; eight-rayed star to left, crescent above eight-rayed star to right; all within pelleted border</p><p><b>Rev:</b> BΛΣIΛEΩΣ/BΛΣIΛEΩN ΛPΣΛKOV EVEPΓETOV/ΔIKΛIOV EΠIΦΛNOVΣ/ΦIΛEΛΛHNOΣ, archer (Arsakes I) seated right on throne, holding bow; Ekbatana monogram below bow, anchor symbol behind throne</p><p><b>Ref:</b> Sellwood 48.7 ("anchor ii" not "anchor iv" of Sellwood); Shore 259</p><p><br /></p><p>The Roman republican coins were fairly limited in text:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1192169[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>L. Procilius</b>, 80 BC, AR serrate denarius</p><p><b>Obv:</b> Head of Juno Sospita right; S C behind</p><p><b>Rev:</b> Juno Sospita, holding spear and shield, in biga right, serpent below; L PROCILI F in exergue</p><p><b>Ref:</b> Crawford 379/2; Sydenham 772; Procilia 2</p><p><br /></p><p>"Greek Imperials" aka "Roman Provincials" vary but can often be as wordy or wordier than Roman Imperial coins e.g.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1192172[/ATTACH]</p><p>Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, <b>Macrinus with Diadumenian</b> as Caesar, AD 217-218, Æ Pentassarion, Pontianus, consular legate</p><p><b>Obv:</b> AVT K ΟΠEΛ CEVH MAKPEINOC K M ΟΠE ANTΩNEINOC, confronted heads of Macrinus right, laureate, and Diadumenian left, bareheaded</p><p><b>Rev:</b> VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Hera standing facing, head left, holding phiale and scepter; E (mark of value) to left</p><p><b>Ref: </b><a href="https://archive.org/details/p1dieantikenmn01akaduoft/page/236/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/p1dieantikenmn01akaduoft/page/236/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">AMNG I 722</a> var. (E to right plus flaming altar); Varbanov 1185a var. (E to right plus altar)</p><p><b>Note:</b> <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3328499" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3328499" rel="nofollow">CNG coin</a> from same dies "currently unique variety with mark of value to left of Hera and no altar"</p><p><br /></p><p>The following is an untested timeline - pure speculation that requires more study - I suspect text on coins may have been as much design element as communication. Perhaps, over time, fashion evolved in what money should look like?</p><ul> <li>early coins and proto-money had no writing</li> <li>images appear on early coins</li> <li>over time place names, dates, mint marks were added</li> <li>then titles and people names became more common by 1st century BC</li> <li>the Romans, Parthians and others started to get wordy and by 1st century AD coins had lots of words on them - much of which was templated text</li> </ul><p>One wouldn't require a lot of literacy to appreciate the text on most coins - so I am skeptical that literacy rates would have had a big impact. I am also skeptical that many people spent much time reading text on coins or caring who was on them as long as they were accepted as currency. I rarely contemplate the figures or the words on my modern coins as long as they work at the pub, the supermarket, the restaurant, the pharmacy, the vending machine.....that said there are some latin words on my coins that might deserve some additional attention e.g. "e pluribus unum"[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Sulla80, post: 4959276, member: 99456"]I think the differentiator may be more time period than Roman v. Greek or who was ruling...the Roman's definitely perfected the "overly wordy coin" with the sestertius, but they were behind the Parthians who were already getting carried away with too much (semi-readable) text e.g. [ATTACH=full]1192170[/ATTACH] [B]Parthia, Orodes II[/B], circa 57-38 BC, AR Drachm, Ekbatana mint [B]Obv:[/B] Diademed and draped bust left, wearing torque ending in sea-horse or griffin, wart on forehead; eight-rayed star to left, crescent above eight-rayed star to right; all within pelleted border [B]Rev:[/B] BΛΣIΛEΩΣ/BΛΣIΛEΩN ΛPΣΛKOV EVEPΓETOV/ΔIKΛIOV EΠIΦΛNOVΣ/ΦIΛEΛΛHNOΣ, archer (Arsakes I) seated right on throne, holding bow; Ekbatana monogram below bow, anchor symbol behind throne [B]Ref:[/B] Sellwood 48.7 ("anchor ii" not "anchor iv" of Sellwood); Shore 259 The Roman republican coins were fairly limited in text: [ATTACH=full]1192169[/ATTACH] [B]L. Procilius[/B], 80 BC, AR serrate denarius [B]Obv:[/B] Head of Juno Sospita right; S C behind [B]Rev:[/B] Juno Sospita, holding spear and shield, in biga right, serpent below; L PROCILI F in exergue [B]Ref:[/B] Crawford 379/2; Sydenham 772; Procilia 2 "Greek Imperials" aka "Roman Provincials" vary but can often be as wordy or wordier than Roman Imperial coins e.g. [ATTACH=full]1192172[/ATTACH] Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, [B]Macrinus with Diadumenian[/B] as Caesar, AD 217-218, Æ Pentassarion, Pontianus, consular legate [B]Obv:[/B] AVT K ΟΠEΛ CEVH MAKPEINOC K M ΟΠE ANTΩNEINOC, confronted heads of Macrinus right, laureate, and Diadumenian left, bareheaded [B]Rev:[/B] VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Hera standing facing, head left, holding phiale and scepter; E (mark of value) to left [B]Ref: [/B][URL='https://archive.org/details/p1dieantikenmn01akaduoft/page/236/mode/2up']AMNG I 722[/URL] var. (E to right plus flaming altar); Varbanov 1185a var. (E to right plus altar) [B]Note:[/B] [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3328499']CNG coin[/URL] from same dies "currently unique variety with mark of value to left of Hera and no altar" The following is an untested timeline - pure speculation that requires more study - I suspect text on coins may have been as much design element as communication. Perhaps, over time, fashion evolved in what money should look like? [LIST] [*]early coins and proto-money had no writing [*]images appear on early coins [*]over time place names, dates, mint marks were added [*]then titles and people names became more common by 1st century BC [*]the Romans, Parthians and others started to get wordy and by 1st century AD coins had lots of words on them - much of which was templated text [/LIST] One wouldn't require a lot of literacy to appreciate the text on most coins - so I am skeptical that literacy rates would have had a big impact. I am also skeptical that many people spent much time reading text on coins or caring who was on them as long as they were accepted as currency. I rarely contemplate the figures or the words on my modern coins as long as they work at the pub, the supermarket, the restaurant, the pharmacy, the vending machine.....that said there are some latin words on my coins that might deserve some additional attention e.g. "e pluribus unum"[/QUOTE]
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