Reconstructing the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World with Coins

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a list of seven notable structures present during Classical Antiquity (between 8th century BC and the 5th Century AD). The first known list of the seven wonders dates back to the 2nd -1st century BC. They include, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

                       

Claudius and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, 41-54 AD.                      

There are countless avenues in collecting ancient coins. These are as per the collector's interests. A collection can be built around the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This list was compiled in the 2nd century BC. Six of these seven original wonders no longer exist, which makes a coin collector focused on them even more intriguing. In fact, coins have been instrumental in the pursuit of reconstructing the Seven Wonders. They help us better understand what they looked like and appreciate why they were so meaningful to these ancient cultures.  

                       

Timeline, and the map of the Seven Wonders, Dates in bold green and dark red are of their construction and destruction, respectively.

                      

The Statue of Olympian Zeus, sculpted by Phidias in the 5th century BC, the statue of Zeus was the Ivory and gold talisman of the sanctuary at Olympia about 12.4 m (41 feet) tall made by sculptor Phidias around 435 BC. The statue was a chryselephantine sculpture of ivory plates and gold panels on a wooden framework Olympia was a major religious center, the proverbial ''hub of Hellas'' which hosted the Olympic Games every four years. The statue was lost and destroyed before the end of the 6th century AD.  At the center of this city was a massive Doric temple, which boasted within its walls a wonder of the world. Olympia was a bustling and wealthy center at which two mints struck silver coins bearing the images of Zeus. The original statue of Phidias is no longer extant, its portrait is believed to be preserved on silver staters of 416 BC. 

                         

Reconstruction of Phidias' statue of Zeus, engraving by Philippe Galle in 1572, from a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck.

                       

Stater of Olympia showing Zeus and an eagle, 276-260 BC. weight 11.9 gm, Obverse: Head of Zeus right, wearing laurel wreath, Reverse: Eagle standing right on rock, FA flanking head, thunderbolt to left to right wreath. 

                       

The Stater shows the head of Phidias's Zeus.

                      

Alexander III, Drachm, silver, weight 4.2 gm, Obverse: Head of Herakles, wearing lion skin, Reverse: Zeus seated left, in left field, monogram above torch, Coin struck immediately after the death of Alexander the Great.

              

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Olympia was to Zeus as Ephesus was to the goddess Artemis. Ephesus, located in western Anatolia, remained an important site for religious pilgrimage for close to 1,000 years during the eras of the Greek and Romans. The ancient sanctuary played host to the kings Croesus and Alexander the Great, as well as to the Roman Emperors. The 4th century BC temple to Artemis was one of the most spectacular buildings in the Hellenistic sphere. The sanctuary's significance to the Greeks and the Romans is frequently reflected on Roman coins. Its image on coins has proven useful for understanding the structure, which today exists only in a few fragments It appears on the reverse of a medallic bronze, minted at Ephesus for Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) on which the temple has eight frontal columns and the statue inside. The small, round roof and details is believed to be an image of Medusa.  By AD 401 it had been ruined or destroyed. Only foundation and fragments of the temple remain at the site.

                        

Model of the Temple of Artemis, at Miniaturk Park, Istanbul, Turkey.

                         

The site of the Temple in 2017.
           

                       

Hadrian and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.            

                        

Claudius and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Claudius, 41-54 AD, silver, weight 11.0 gm, Obverse: Bare head of Claudius to left, Reverse: Temple on podium of four steps with cult statue of Diana of Ephesus.  

However, on the silver cistophorus minted nearly a century earlier under Emperor Claudius (AD 41-54), the temple is shown with four Ionic columns with scroll capitals. Square shapes that appear are believed to be windows. 

The Colossus of Rhodes. Not far from the Ephesus, just off the southwest coast of Asia Minor, was the island of Rhodes, home to the giant Colossus. Construction of this bronze statue, which depicted the Sun God Helios, perhaps began in 280 BC to commemorate the defeat of the Greek King Antigonus Monophthalmos. It stood at the entrance of the city's harbour as a reminder of victory and freedom from tyranny. The Colossus stood approximately 33 meters (108 feet) high, it collapsed during the earthquake of 226 BC. In 653 AD, the Arab force conquered Rhodes, and the statue was completely destroyed and remains sold. Many coins from Rhodes feature the image of Helios, as he was a patron of God on the Island. However, some scholars believe that silver didrachms attributed around 280 BC represent the head of the statue. 

                         

The Colossus as imagined in a 16th century engraving by Martin Heemskerck,  

                        

Head of Helios resembles the Colossus of Rhodes.

                        

Head of Helios from Rhodes. Carian Island, Rhodes, AD tetradrachm, weight 15.1 gm, Obverse: Head of Helios facing slightly right, hair parted in the center, Reverse: Rose with single bud on tendril to right, E to left bottom.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built at the mouth of the River Nile on the Mediterranean, perhaps as early as 280 BC, during the reign of Ptolemy II (280-247 BC). It has been estimated to have been at least 100 meters (330 feet) in height. For many centuries, it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world. A 16-foot statue, most likely of Ptolemy II or Alexander the Great stood on the top.  As a valuable navigational aid, it stood for more than a millennium, until it was toppled by a series of earthquakes from 956 to1323 AD. Roman coins document the image of the Pharos with great refinement. These coins often use the Pharos to symbolize a powerful navy and a growing empire. It features prominently on a copper coin of 133 AD for Emperor Hadrian. The Pharos is depicted with Isis, patron goddess and keeper of the lighthouse. The coin reveals the design of the tower, with an entrance at the base, small windows on sides, a lantern room on top adorned with three statues. 

                       

Lighthouse of Alexandria by Philip Galle, 1572 AD, Rijksmuseum.

                         

The Pharos appears before the figure of the goddess Isis, who holds a billowed sail. AE Drachm, Hadrian, 133-134 AD, Alexandria mint, Obverse: Laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder, Reverse: Isis Pharia sailing right, holding sistrum, the Pharos Lighthouse to right with three figures on its summit.

                         

Bi-metallic medallion of Commodus shows the Pharos within a maritime composition.   

A more elaborate medallion issued by Emperor Commodus (AD 177-192), weight 60. gm, depicts several ships advancing towards the four-tiered lighthouse. 

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, a tomb named for the Carian Satrap Maussollius, was a tomb built between 353 and 359 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey). The Mausoleum was 45 meters (148 feet) in height, and four sides were adorned with reliefs. It contained 400 freestanding sculptures. It was destroyed by successive earthquakes from 12th to 15th century. The word mausoleum has now come to be used generically for an above-ground tomb. and can be represented by silver coins of the 4th century BC, minted in the name of that famous ruler. 

                         

Model of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, at Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.

                        

The word mausoleum is derived from the name of the Carian ruler, Maussollus, who issued this silver tetradrachm.

The coin depicts the crowned head of God Apollo on the Obverse and a figure of Zeus on the Reverse, with the inscription bearing the name of the Satrap to his side. 377-353 BC, weight 15.1 gm, Tetradrachm.

The Great Pyramid of Giza are the oldest of the Seven Wonders, and the only ones standing. Built 2600 BC, over a period of about 27 years, it is situated at the northeastern end of the three main pyramids at Giza. It was the tallest in the world from 2600 BC to 1311 AD, standing at 146 meters (481 feet). The earliest coins of Egypt were not minted until about 2,000 years after the construction of the Pyramids. So, a coin minted under the Persians, Greeks or Romans who ruled Egypt could stand in for the pyramids in a collection. One such silver tetradrachm, is depicting Ptolemy, Egypt, one of the first Greeks to rule over Egypt.

                          

The Great Pyramid in March 2005.

                     

The silver tetradrachm was issued for one of the first Greeks who ruled Egypt, Ptolemy I, 305-282 BC, Alexandria mint, Obverse: Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis around neck, Reverse: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings closed, monogram to left.

  

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the only one of the Seven Wonders for which the location has not been definitively established.  There are no extant Babylonian texts that mention the gardens, and no definitive archaeological evidence has been found in Babylon. Three theories have been suggested. First, that they were purely mythical, second that they existed in Babylon, but were destroyed in the 1st century AD, and third, that the legend refers to a well-documented garden that the Assyrian King Sennacherib (704-681 BC) built in his capital city of Nineveh, near Mosul.  Some numismatics believe that the Hanging Gardens were located south and southeast of Babylon, at Susa, in the ancient kingdom of Elam. Archaeological evidence suggests that Elam was once a matriarchy, and its kings appeared to have had to descend from a favoured mother in order to inherit her throne. 

                        

The hand coloured engraving, made in the 19th century after the first excavations in the Assyrian capitals, depicts the Hanging Gardens.                

                               

Then there is the matter of the ''pellets'', the strange dash like markings on the reverse of these coins. The new theory suggests that the ''pellets'' are artistic renderings of the plants in the Hanging Gardens. 

Drachm, Phraates, Kingdom of Elymais, 100-150 AD, weight 3.7 gm, Dia 16 mm, Obverse: Long bearded bust of king facing left, wearing tiara decorated with pellets in crescent, diadem and earring, pellets in crescent and anchor behind bust, Reverse: Parallel dashes.

Roman Republic Voting (2nd Century BC) and Coins

The concept of voting is always related to a modern thought process, but history conveys a different tale. The Roman Republic provides many examples of many implementations in their governing process that can be related to modernization. This Empire was governed by the council of People called ''Senate''. The Senate consists of members from the influential and rich noble class.

                                      

Roman Denarius, 113-112 BC, depicting three citizens voting on a comitium, one voter receives the ballot from attendant below, another voter places ballot in a cista.

The Roman administration contained two Assemblies during the 2nd Century BC. The two Assemblies were called Assembly of the Centuries (soldiers), who elected magistrates who had imperium powers (consuls and praetors) and Assembly of the Tribes (nonmilitary civilian assembly), who elected magistrates, who did not exercise imperium. It did most of the legislating and sat as a court for serious public offences. The members consisted of adult male Roman citizens. They voted for a candidate and for the proposed legislation.

                     

Roman, AR Denarius, 113-112 BC, weight 3.8 gm, Obverse: Helmeted bust of Roma left, spear over shoulder, shield decorated with rider on horse, Reverse: Three citizens voting on a comitium.

 

This coin depicts the voting scene issued by the moneyer P. Licinius Nerva in 113-112 BC. The reverse depicts the voting scene where an attendant is handing over a small wooden tablet covered with wax on which the voter inscribed his vote eg: V for Uti Rogad: As you Propose (to support) A for Antiquo: I vote against (to oppose) or a candidate's name in an election. Later on, the voter drops the tablet into a tall ''Cista''. This process was time consuming, so voting was conducted in a large space of Campus Martius.

This concept of voting depicted on the coin explains the influence of this system on commoners at large. Women didn't hold any kind of political influence over the Roman administration.

                       

Ancient Greece, L. Cassius Longinus, 63 BC, AR Denarius, Rome, weight 4.0 gm, Obverse: Veiled head of Vesta facing left, calix to right, Reverse: LONGIN III V, voter standing left, dropping tablet inscribed V into cista (Crawford 413/1 Sydenham 935)  

                        

L.Cassius Longinus AR Denarius, Rome 63 BC, weight 3.9 gm Obverse: Head of Vesta to left, wearing veil and diadem, kylix behind, control mark in front, Reverse: Voter standing to left dropping tablet into Cista on right

The entire concept of voting we follow today is influenced and practiced since the bygone era.   

Penny Black

 

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 01 May 1840 but was not valid for use until 06 May 1840. The stamp featured a profile of Queen Victoria.

                       

           One Penny Black, 1841
 

68,808,000 number of stamps were printed and about 1,300,000 exist today. This 2% survival rate is probably higher than expected because the use of envelopes was unusual in 1840s. The Penny Black lasted less than a year. A red cancellation was difficult to see on the black design, and the red ink was easy to remove, both made it possible to re-use cancelled stamps.

                           

The Jacob Perkin's press which printed the Penny Black and the 2c Blue, in the British Library Philatelic Collections.

In February 1841, the treasury switched to Penny Red.

                       

   Large mint block of the Penny Black.

The Penny Black is renowned undoubtedly as the most famous stamp and one which every collector aspires to own.

Admiral Gardner Shipwreck Coins

 

The 1808 East India Company Copper Cash coins were amongst the first coins in the world to be minted by steam power, at the Soho Mint in Bringham, England. The Soho was created by the great Industrialist Mathew Bolton, and his partner, James Watt of steam power fame. Watt developed the concept of ''horsepower'' and the International System of Units (SI) units of watt or ''wattage''.

                         

East India Company, 1808, Ten Cash.

They were meant to be used at the East India Company (EIC) trading posts in India. Packed in wax, they were loaded on board the British East Indiaman, Admiral Gardner, to make the journey. Admiral Gardner was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman (was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter to any of the East India Trading companies).

The Admiral Gardner was an 813-ton English East Indiaman built on the river Thames and launched in 1797. At 415 feet long and 36 feet, she had three decks, 23-gun ports, three masts and was built from oak and teak. 

                       

Illustration from the painting by F J H Gardiner for the book ''Lords of the East'' by Jean Sutton.

She made five voyages for the EIC, during the fourth of which she participated in a single-ship action with a Frech privateer. She was named after Admiral Alan Gardner. But on 24 January, 1809.she was caught in a storm in the English Channel when a gale tore her from her moorings. Three (of five) crew drowned as she sank on Goodwin Sands, never to be seen again until 1985. Lost was her cargo, 46 tons of EIC X and XX copper cash coins. The EIC put the value of its cargo at 21,579 Pounds.

                         

The wreck of Admiral Gardner on 24 Jan 1809.  

                     

                         

                                            

If this copper coin looks almost perfect, it is because it is carefully minted with the all-new steam presses. On 24 January 1809 Admiral Gardner, having set sail shortly before, was to become a footnote in history. Her Master, Captain William Eastfield, takes up the narrative. ''We sailed out of the Downes, with Carnatic and the Britannia, the wind from the eastward. On getting a little to the westward of the South Foreland, the wind drew to the south-east, and about dusk fell calm. It being flood tide, let go the anchor in fourteen fathom waters. At 7 pm, while giving the ship cable, the wind sprung up from the west-northwest. People were sent to hand sails immediately, but the wind speed increased, and they could not do what was required. They continued till 10 pm. The pilot then feeling the lead, called out the anchor was coming home, the people were then called off to give the ship cable, and when I was below seeing a little more service clapped on, a little before 11 pm, I heard the pilot exclaim'' cut away the sheet, the ships on shore''.

                        

Gone to the bottom were King's ransom in trade goods, and the shinning copper Cash Coins to be used.in trading posts in India.

The wreck was found in 1984 about 175 years after the ship sank, by a local fisherman who reported while he was snagging his nets. In 1985, the wreck was listed as being of historical importance and a license to dive was given to Richard Lam of Cornwall, the original discoverers of the wreck having formed a syndicate known as The East India Company Divers. They found a few coins. Subsequently, divers from a company called SAR Diving group salvaged an intact barrel which underwent preservation treatment at Portsmouth was estimated to contain 28,000 coins. The wreck was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act in 1985.                         

Admiral Gardner Shipwreck Treasure mini album.

 

And if not for modern treasure salvors, the story would end here. But in 1985, the adventurous spirit of those East India Company ancestors emerged in a new generation, who recovered the lost treasure of Admiral Gardner.

                        

Coin with Certificate of Authenticity.

                       

Admiral Gardner Shipwreck Treasure Coin.

                       

EIC, 1808 Ten cash, pendant made from the Admiral Gardner Treasure Coin.

                       

1808, 10 Cash, Madras Presidency, weight 4.7 gm, NGC Certified Admiral Gardner Shipwreck coin.

   

  

Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure Coins

In 1702, AD, an Indian trader sailed from India bound for the Far East on the ''spice route,'' on a ship from the fleet of the Dutch East India Company. She carried a treasure to satiate desire. Bag after bag, containing 1,000 coins each of exquisitely minted silver rupees. The rupees had been minted on orders of Aurangzeb (1618-1707 AD), the sixth Mughal emperor of India.                         

Aurangzeb, One Rupee coin AH 1113, or AD 1701/1702.

On the way to the East, the trader probably anchored at the Portuguese trading post on the island of Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), but disaster struck as it continued on its voyage around the southern tip of the Island with no storm warnings. The typhoon swept them on to the rocks off the Indian Ocean's Great Basses Reef off the southern coast of Ceylon. The Great Basses Reef is a treacherous stretch of turbulent water that masks a deceptively shallow depth of only around 10 to 15 feet.

                        

Location of the Great Basses Reef, on the coast of Ceylon.

                        

 

              Great Basses Reef.

Few records were recovered relating to the loss of life or the thousands of silver rupees that were part of the merchant ship's cargo.

In 1961, film makers Mark Smith and Bobby Kriegel spotted the silhouette of a small cannon while they were photographing large groupers that congregated off a picturesque fishing village along the palm -fringed coast. Returning the next day, they recovered the cannon along with several buckets of silver rupees.

Smith and Kriegel contacted their friend and fellow diver, Arthur C. Clarke, an Englishman who had made the Island his home since 1956. He was an avid scuba diver and often wrote about underwater exploration.  In 1963, Clarke and his dive associates recovered the treasure on the treacherous Great Basses Reef. Buried among the debris were concrete masses of silver rupees. Most people know Clarke as the Nobel- nominated ''Father of satellite communications'' and author of the bestseller, 2001: A Space Odyssey. He helped them claim salvage rights and identify the coins.

                           

     Arthur C, Clarke. (1917-2008)

Clarke made several dives on the wreck and retrieved some coins that he sent for display to Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC. They called it the Taj Mahal Treasure. More than 5,000 coins were retrieved in single denominations and clumps weighing 30 pounds (13.6 kg) each. The Arabic script stamped on them translated as a mint mark from 1702 AD. All were newly minted. They had all been minted in Surat in the year AH 1113, or AD 1701 and 1702 during the 45th and 46th regnal years of Aurangzeb.   

                       

       Sunken Treasure retrieved.
 

                        

After being underwater for over 250 years, the silver rupees were concreated together by coral and calcium deposits in the water.

The two salvage sleuths became diving buddies and good friends until Clarke's death in 2008 at age 90. 

The silver rupees in what is now known as the Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure collection are exclusive to ''Cannon Beach Treasure Company''. They are from Clarke's personal collection. 

                         

Taj Mahal Shipwreck Sunken Treasure Rupee coin AD 1702, Grade 3 Clump.

                        

Taj Mahal Shipwreck Sunken Treasure Rupee coin AD 1702, Grade 3 Clump.

                           

Arthur C. Clarke's Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure silver rupee coin Pendant

                       

A retrieved silver rupee, AH 1113, AD 1702.
 

                       

A Taj Mahal Treasure, with a certificate of authenticity of 1963, with Sir Arthur C. Clark's signatures.                    

                         

Translation of the Arabic written on the coins