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| {{Short description|Coins of the 7th century B.C.}} | |||
| {{about|a coin issuer||Phanes (disambiguation)}} | {{about|a coin issuer||Phanes (disambiguation)}} | ||
| ] coin from ], 625–600 BC. Obverse: ] grazing right, ΦΑΝΕΩΣ (retrograde). Reverse: Two incuse punches, each with raised intersecting lines.]] | ] coin from ], 625–600 BC. Obverse: ] grazing right, ΦΑΝΕΩΣ (retrograde). Reverse: Two incuse punches, each with raised intersecting lines.]] | ||
| The '''Phanes coins''', so called for the name inscribed on them, are early ] coins from ] in ] and are the most ancient inscribed coin series at present known. | |||
| '''Phanes''' name is attested on a series of early ] coins, the most ancient inscribed coin series at present known, of ], ]. This group of coins has a Greek legend reading ''"Phaenōs eimi sēma"'' (ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣΕΜΑ) (retrograde) <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/e/electrum_stater_inscribed_with.aspx |title=Electrum stater inscribed with the name of Phanes |publisher=British Museum |date=2011-09-29 |accessdate=2012-05-21}}</ref> which can be translated either as "I am the badge of Phanes" or as "I am the sign of light" <ref>Newton (Num. Chron., 1870, p. 238</ref> or maybe "I am the tomb of light" or "I am the tomb of Phanes".<ref>For the translation of ''"sēma"'' as tomb, see ]</ref> The celebrated coins of Phanes are known to be amongst the earliest of Greek coins, a ] (a twelfth ]) of the issue was found in a jar in the foundation deposit of the ] at ] (this deposit is considered the oldest deposit of ] coins discovered). Only six specimens of this coin type are known.<ref> https://museum.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2012/whitegold/Animals.html </ref> | |||
| ==Coins== | |||
| ==Possible identifications for "Phanes"== | |||
| The Phanes coins are a series of coins issued in seven denominations: ], 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48, and 1/96 stater. The staters weigh 14.1 grams. All of the coins have the image of a stag or part of a stag on them.<ref name="Early Greek Alphabet">{{cite book|editor1-last=Parker|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Steele|editor2-first=Philippa M.|last=Meadows|first=Andrew|chapter=Local Scripts on Archaic Coins: Distribution and Function|title=The Early Greek Alphabet: Origin, Diffusion, Uses|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2021|page=191}}</ref> The coins were likely struck at ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jeffrey|first=L. H.|title=The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece|page=378|edition=Revised|year=1961|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ] coin from ], 625–600 BC. ] grazing right, |
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| No further certain information exists as to the identity of the Phanes named on these coins. One possibility is that Phanes was a wealthy merchant, another that the coins bearing the name are to be associated with Apollo-] and, due to the ], with ] (twin sister of the god of light ]-Phanes). Although only seven Phanes type coins were discovered, it is also notable that 20% of all early ] coins also have the Lion (symbol of Artemis-Potnia Theron) and the sun burst (symbol of Apollo-Phaneos). Alternatively it is stated <ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/newnumismatic18royauoft/newnumismatic18royauoft_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society" |date= |accessdate=2012-05-21}}</ref> that the inscribed Phanes maybe was the ] mercenary of ], ], mentioned by ],<ref>Herodotus third book (ch. iv.)</ref> who escaped to the court of ], and became his guide in the invasion of Egypt in the year 527 or 525 BC. According to Herodotus, this Phanes was buried alive by a sandstorm, together with 50000 Persian soldiers, while trying to conquer the temple of ]–] in Egypt <ref>Herodotus third book</ref> nearby the ancient cities of ], ] and ].<ref>]</ref> The fact that the Greek word "Phanes" also means light (or lamp), and the word "sema" also means tomb,<ref>] 2.814, 6.419</ref> makes the coins issued in the name of Phanes famous and controversial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/ionia.html#571 |title=Ancient coinage of Ionia |publisher=Snible.org |date= |accessdate=2012-05-21}}</ref> | |||
| The stater and 1/3 stater coins from this series both bear Greek inscriptions.<ref name="Early Greek Alphabet"/> The inscriptions are written right-to-left, and the letters are the mirror image of standard Greek letters.<ref>{{cite web|date=2011-09-29|title=Electrum stater inscribed with the name of Phanes|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/electrum-stater-inscribed-with-the-name-of-phanes/eQGeTjUPnu5aCA|publisher=British Museum|access-date=2021-10-26|archive-date=2021-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026133202/https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/electrum-stater-inscribed-with-the-name-of-phanes/eQGeTjUPnu5aCA|url-status=live}}</ref> The longer inscription, on the stater, survives in three versions, which read: {{lang|he|ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ}} ("Phaenos emi sema"), {{lang|he|ΦΑΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ}} ("Phanos emi sema"), and {{lang|he|ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ΕΙΜΙ}} ("Phaneos eimi").<ref name="Early Greek Alphabet"/> This may be translated as "I am the badge/mark/symbol of Phanes" or "I am the sign of the bright one".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Newton|first=Charles|url=https://archive.org/details/numismaticchron49britgoog/page/n342/mode/2up|title=The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society|date=1870|publisher=The Royal Numismatic Society|volume=10|pages=238|language=}}</ref>{{efn|"a vocabulary very close to the inscriptions on seals. A sixth century scarab had already an Archaic Greek inscription reading : "I am the sema of Thersis""<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kaplan |first1=Deniz |editor1-last=Casabonne |editor1-first=Olivier |title=Mécanismes et innovations monétaires dans l'Anatolie achéménide. Numismatique et Histoire. Actes de la Table Ronde d'Istanbul, 22-23 mai 1997. Istanbul |date=2000 |publisher=Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes |page=215 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/anatv_1013-9559_2000_act_12_1_959 |access-date=26 October 2021 |chapter=Common traits on seals and coins of the Achaemenid period in an Anatolian context |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026201129/https://www.persee.fr/doc/anatv_1013-9559_2000_act_12_1_959 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} The shorter legend, on the 1/3 stater coins, is {{lang|he|ΦΑΝΕΟΣ}} ("Phaneos", meaning "of Phanes").<ref name="Early Greek Alphabet"/> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| The coins of Phanes are amongst the earliest of Greek coins. One, a ] (a twelfth ]) of the issue, was found in a jar in the foundations of the ] at ] dated to the late seventh century BC, making that the earliest known hoard of coins.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kurke |first1=Leslie |title=Coins, Bodies, Games, and Gold: The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece |date=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0691007365 |pages=6–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFxCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |language=en |access-date=2021-10-25 |archive-date=2023-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413042837/https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFxCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |url-status=live }}</ref> Only six specimens of the stater are known.<ref>{{cite web|title=White Gold: Revealing the World's Earliest Coins at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem|url=https://museum.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2012/whitegold/Animals.html|access-date=2021-10-25|website=museum.imj.org.il|archive-date=2021-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227164749/https://museum.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2012/WhiteGold/Animals.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ==Identity of Phanes== | |||
| ⚫ | ] coin from ], 625–600 BC. ] grazing right, legend unclear, possibly ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣΕΜΑ (“I am the badge/sign/mark of Phanes/the bright one”).]] | ||
| Phanes cannot be identified with certainty. He might have been the successful mercenary ], described by ] as serving first the Egyptian pharaoh ] and then the Persian king ] in his invasion of Egypt.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gardner|first=Percy|url=https://archive.org/details/newnumismatic18royauoft/page/262/mode/2up|title=The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society|publisher=London Royal Numismatic Society|year=1878|volume=18|pages=262|access-date=2012-05-21}}</ref> The coins might be associated with the primeval god ], whose name means "light" or "shine", or that might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis. ] found those suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Head |first1=Barclay V. |title=Historia Numorum, A Manual of Greek Numismatics, New and Enlarged Edition |date=1911 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=London |url=http://snible.org/coins/hn/ionia.html#571 |access-date=25 October 2021 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123063945/http://snible.org/coins/hn/ionia.html#571 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{notelist}} | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| {{reflist|30em}} | {{reflist|30em}} | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 04:40, 1 January 2025
Coins of the 7th century B.C. This article is about a coin issuer. For other uses, see Phanes (disambiguation).
The Phanes coins, so called for the name inscribed on them, are early electrum coins from Caria in Asia Minor and are the most ancient inscribed coin series at present known.
Coins
The Phanes coins are a series of coins issued in seven denominations: stater, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48, and 1/96 stater. The staters weigh 14.1 grams. All of the coins have the image of a stag or part of a stag on them. The coins were likely struck at Ephesus.
The stater and 1/3 stater coins from this series both bear Greek inscriptions. The inscriptions are written right-to-left, and the letters are the mirror image of standard Greek letters. The longer inscription, on the stater, survives in three versions, which read: ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ ("Phaenos emi sema"), ΦΑΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ ("Phanos emi sema"), and ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ΕΙΜΙ ("Phaneos eimi"). This may be translated as "I am the badge/mark/symbol of Phanes" or "I am the sign of the bright one". The shorter legend, on the 1/3 stater coins, is ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ("Phaneos", meaning "of Phanes").
The coins of Phanes are amongst the earliest of Greek coins. One, a hemihekte (a twelfth stater) of the issue, was found in a jar in the foundations of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus dated to the late seventh century BC, making that the earliest known hoard of coins. Only six specimens of the stater are known.
Identity of Phanes
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Phanes cannot be identified with certainty. He might have been the successful mercenary Phanes of Halicarnassus, described by Herodotus as serving first the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II and then the Persian king Cambyses II in his invasion of Egypt. The coins might be associated with the primeval god Phanes, whose name means "light" or "shine", or that might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis. Barclay V. Head found those suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus".
Notes
- "a vocabulary very close to the inscriptions on seals. A sixth century scarab had already an Archaic Greek inscription reading : "I am the sema of Thersis""
References
- ^ Meadows, Andrew (2021). "Local Scripts on Archaic Coins: Distribution and Function". In Parker, Robert; Steele, Philippa M. (eds.). The Early Greek Alphabet: Origin, Diffusion, Uses. Oxford University Press. p. 191.
- Jeffrey, L. H. (1961). The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece (Revised ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 378.
- "Electrum stater inscribed with the name of Phanes". British Museum. 2011-09-29. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
- Newton, Charles (1870). The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. Vol. 10. The Royal Numismatic Society. p. 238.
- Kaplan, Deniz (2000). "Common traits on seals and coins of the Achaemenid period in an Anatolian context". In Casabonne, Olivier (ed.). Mécanismes et innovations monétaires dans l'Anatolie achéménide. Numismatique et Histoire. Actes de la Table Ronde d'Istanbul, 22-23 mai 1997. Istanbul. Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes. p. 215. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- Kurke, Leslie (1999). Coins, Bodies, Games, and Gold: The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece. Princeton University Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0691007365. Archived from the original on 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- "White Gold: Revealing the World's Earliest Coins at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem". museum.imj.org.il. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- Gardner, Percy (1878). The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. Vol. 18. London Royal Numismatic Society. p. 262. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
- Head, Barclay V. (1911). Historia Numorum, A Manual of Greek Numismatics, New and Enlarged Edition. London: Clarendon Press. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2021.