The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 50, December 12, 2004, Article 12

MORE ON ROYALTY PORTRAYED ON COINS

  William Bischoff writes: "Thanks to Michael Marotta's 
  response to my comments in the November 28, 2004
  issue, we have a new and valuable account of the 
  earliest portraits of human beings on early coins, 
  beginning with the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, ca. 
  400 BCE.  The nit I intended to pick in my submission
  was the claim that there were "2,000 gold and silver 
  coins depicting Afghan royalty as early as 500 BC" in 
  the recently recovered Kabul Museum holdings.  I still
  argue that the idea "Afghan royalty" was depicted on 
  coinage at that time doesn't hold up to scrutiny: not
  only were satraps not "royalty," but the satraps who
  were portrayed on coinage date from well after the 500
  BCE date -- and come from the western part of the 
  Persian Empire, not from Baktria!  I suppose I shouldn't
  have referred to Alexander's coinage "to clinch the
  argument" although I learned a lot from Michael's 
  response, and assume I have plenty of company in that
  respect."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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