Cornucopia and Coins

 

Cornucopia is a well-known, and, on coins, often recurring symbol of abundance, fecundity, fertility and happiness. Derived from the latin ''cornu'' meaning ''horn'' and ''copiae'' meaning ''plenty'', it has long been used as a common harvest symbol. It is identified by some with the horn of Amalthea, the nurse of Jupiter, and from which horn fruits and flowers and all the riches of nature and art are represented. Others say that it is the horn which Hercules tore from the head of Archelous, in his encounter with that protean monster, and which the nymphs picked up and converted into the horn of plenty.

                        

Ptolemaic Egypt, Arsinoe II, Philadelphus, 270-268 BC, AR Decadrachm.

Cornucopia, filled with fruits, or enclosed within a wreath, formed of corn-ears and flowers, appear either as a symbol of the monetary triumvirs, denoting the abundance of all the things, to be supplied by means of money, or as the symbol of the curule aediles.

Cornucopia appears in the fifth century BC, as an attribute of the god Hades. The ruler is represented with this object many times on vases of that time. From the fourth century BC, in the reliefs of Asclepeion Athens, Tyche is represented holding a cornucopia. This type of representation develops strongly in the Hellenistic period and then in Roman times. This ornament appears on a variety of antique monuments, both sculptural and numismatics. The cornucopia became the attribute of several Greek and Roman deities.                       

Allegory of Fortune (1658) by Salvator Rosa, representing Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, with the horn of plenty     

                        

Statue of a Ptolemaic queen, perhaps Cleopatra VII, 200-30 BC, dolomitic limestone                 

                        

The cornucopia was one of the most popular religious symbols of the ancient world and was commonly used on Jewish coins. Coins of the Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt, Seleucid Kings of Syria and a number of ancient Hellenistic city-states depicted cornucopia 

                         

Statue of Fortuna, Roman copy after a Greek original from the 4th century BC

  

                     

The interior of a cup discovered in Etruria, dated from 450-400 BC

                       

In Roman coinage, many gods and personifications are represented holding the cornucopia. Abundantia, Africa, Asia, Aeternitas, Moneta, Annona, Ceres, Concordia, Fecunditas, Felicitas, Fortuna, Roma, Salus etc. It usually appears in two positions, either with the mouth or opening facing upwards or facing downwards, depending on the deity being portrayed.

In modern depictions, it is a hollow, horn shaped wicker basket filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. In Nort America it is associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest. The symbol is depicted in the flag and state seal of Idaho, the Coat of Arms of Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela and the Coat of Arms of the state of Victoria and Australia.

                     

      Coat of Arms of Columbia

                      

      Coat of Arms of Peru

                      

      Coat of arms of Kharkiv, Ukraine

Cornucopia on Coins

                      

Ptolemy VII Euegetes, 145-116 BC, gold, 27.6 gm, Obverse: Diademed and veiled head of Arsinoe II to right, Reverse: Double cornucopia filled with fruit and bound with fillets

                      

Ptolemaic Egypt, Arsinoe II, Philadelphus, 270-268 BC, AR Decadrachm, weight 35.5 gm, Obverse: veiled head of Arsinoe II right, wearing diademed stephane and horn of Ammon, scepter surmounted by lotus over left shoulder, dotted border, Reverse: Double cornucopia bounded by fillet, containing pyramid cakes, pomegranates and other fruits, with grapes cluster, dotted border

                        

Seleucid Empire, Alexander II Zabinas, 128-122 BC, AR Drachm, weight 3.7 gm, Obverse: Diademed head right, Reverse: Filleted double cornucopia

                       

Judaea, Hasmoneans, Alexander Jannaios, 103-76 BC, Prutah, weight 1.9 gm, Jerusalem mint, Obverse: legend in four lines within wreath/splayed double cornucopia with pomegranate between   

                        

Aquilia Severa, Augusta, 220-221 AD, AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck under Elagabalus, Obverse: Draped bust right, Reverse: Concordia standing left, holding double cornucopia and sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar to left, star to right

                         

Bactria, Indo Greek, Philoxenos Aniketos, 125-110 BC, weight 8.3 gm, Obverse: Tyche standing left, raising right hand and holding cornucopia, monogram to lower left, Obverse: Zebu standing right 

                     

Kushan Empire, 325-345 AD, Dinar, gold, weight 7.9 gm, Obverse: Shaka standing left, sacrificing over altar and holding staff, trident to left, ''bhri'' in Brahmi below arm, Saka in Brahmi outer right, Reverse: Ardoxsho enthroned facing, holding diadem in right hand and cradling cornucopia in left arm, tamgha,  upper left, Vasudeva II 

                       

Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom, Mattatayah, 40-37 BC, AE Prutot, weight 14.4 gm, Jerusalem, Obverse: Mattatayah and council of the Jews, double cornucopia, Reverse: Ivy wrath tied with ribbons

Cornucopia

Cornucopia on Coins