Roman coins from Egypt

[guy]

Of course, Roman coins were minted throughout the Empire.

In Egypt, these coins were primarily minted in Alexandria.** Like most Roman coins, the obverse (front) would usually have an image of the Emperor or members of his family.

Unlike coins minted in Latin Rome, however, the legends are in Greek. (See examples below.) This reflects the pervasive Hellenization of Egypt's ruling elite.

The Reverse of Egyptian coins are unique. They could be images unique to Egypt such the Egyptian god Serapis (a composite god of Hellenistic and Egyptian deities introduced by Ptolemy I) or the Egyptian eagle. They could also include images of the Greek gods of Nike, Zeus, Athena, Homonoia, or Elpis (among others), reflecting the great Hellenistic influence in Alexandria.

Uniquely, they also show the actual year of mintage. The letter L is used for the year followed by the regnal year (year of the reign) of the ruling Emperor. Knowing the years of the Emperor's rule, it was possible to determine which year the coin was minted.

According to Kenneth Harl, in his book Coinage in the Roman Economy, Egypt created the world's first successful fiduciary currency. (Fiduciary currency cannot be redeemed for a monetary reserve of a precious metal such as gold or silver. This is similar to paper currency or modern coinage.)

Roman coins in Egypt where made from billon, an alloy consisting of a majority base metal (such as copper or, in the Egyptian coins' case, bronze) mixed with a smaller percentage of a precious metal (usually silver). Since the Egyptian economy was a closed one (coins did not circulate into or out of Egypt), its coins did not compete with circulating gold and silver coins from the rest of the Empire. Coins made in Egypt were less than 25% silver, but earned the trust of Egyptians, who constituted 10 to 15 percent of the Empire's population, for more than two centuries. Harl adds, "There was little risk of an inflationary spiral set off by the dynamics of 'Gresham's law'* whereby bad money chases out good money."

These coins help to document and preserve the unique cultural identity of Egypt in Ancient Rome

All these Romano-Egyptian coins were reasonably priced and purchased from forumancientcoins.com. This is an excellent site for purchasing Ancient Roman coins. Coins from this site are well researched, thoroughly attributed, authenticated, and guaranteed. Although the images and most of the attributions are from forumancientcoins, I take full responsibilty for any incorrect information. I highly recommend this site for the purchase of Ancient coins.

(One needs to be logged in to view these coins. Go to the bottom of the link to see all the coins):

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?autoco...si&img=2960

An interesting reference on Roman coins in Egypt:

http://www.coinsofromanegypt.org/html/collection.htm


guy also known as gaius

* Symbol L
 

Quote

The date, except on the earliest dated coins of Augustus, is uniformly preceded by the symbol L for year, but ETOYC occasionally takes its place. The symbol is of uncertain origin.... Probably the symbol is a conventional form of the Egyptian sign for year in the *[D]emotic character.

 

http://www.coinsofromanegypt.org/html/library/bmc_intro/html%20files/chronology.html#symbolL



 

Quote

*Demotic (from Greek: demotik "popular") refers to either the ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of hieratic used in the Delta, or the stage of the Egyptian language following Late Egyptian and preceding Coptic

 

Gresham’s Law:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham's_law

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by guy

[guy]

With permission, I am posting a link from an excellent numismatic site about dating Romano-Egyptian coins:

 

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=greek dates

 

 

Here is an interesting coin from Alexandria and its potential significance:

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/topic/14902-human-dissection-in-ancient-medicine/

 

 

guy also known as gaius

Edited April 29, 2017 by guy

[Ludovicus]

Thanks so much for this post on monetary policy in Roman Egypt. New learning for me.