1.
Ionian obol
–
The obol was the currency of the United States of the Ionian Islands between 1819 and 1863. Until 1834,1 obol =4 lepta, after which 1 obol =5 lepta, throughout its existence, the obol was equal to a British half penny. The obol replaced a series of countermarked coins denominated in Turkish paras, the obol was issued by the British and was replaced by the Greek drachma when the Ionian Islands were given to Greece, at a rate of 1 drachma =20 oboli. The strangest denomination was the silver 30 Lepta coin, online Coin Club / Coins from Ionian Islands
2.
Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)
–
The British pre-decimal halfpenny coin, usually simply known as a halfpenny, was a unit of currency that equalled half of a penny or 1/480th of a pound sterling. Originally the halfpenny was minted in copper, but after 1860 it was minted in bronze and it ceased to be legal tender in 1969, in the run-up to decimalisation. The halfpenny featured two different designs on its reverse during its years in circulation, from 1672 until 1936 the image of Britannia appeared on the reverse, and from 1937 onwards the image of the Golden Hind appeared. Like all British coinage, it bore the portrait of the monarch on the obverse, halfpenny was colloquially written ha’penny, and 1½d was spoken as a penny ha’penny /əˈpɛniˈheɪpni/ or three hapence /θriːˈheɪpəns/. Before Decimal Day in 1971 there were 240 pence in one pound sterling, twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound. Values of less than a shilling were simply written in pence, the original reverse of the bronze version of the coin, designed by Leonard Charles Wyon, is a seated Britannia, holding a trident, with the words HALF PENNY to either side. Issues before 1895 also feature a lighthouse to Britannias left and a ship to her right, various minor adjustments to the level of the sea depicted around Britannia, and the angle of her trident were also made over the years. Some issues feature toothed edges, while others feature beading, over the years, various different obverses were used. Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II each had a single obverse for halfpennies produced during their respective reigns. Over the long reign of Queen Victoria two different obverses were used, but the reign of Edward VIII meant no halfpennies bearing his likeness were ever issued. During Victoria’s reign, the halfpenny was first issued with the so-called ‘bun head’, the inscription around the bust read VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D. This was replaced in 1895 by the ‘old head’, or ‘veiled bust’, the inscription on these coins read VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP. Coins issued during the reign of Edward VII feature his likeness, similarly, those issued during the reign of George V feature his likeness and bear the inscription GEORGIVS V DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP. The obverse shows a portrait of the king, the inscription on the obverse is EDWARDVS VIII D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP. The pattern coin of Edward VIII and regular issue halfpennies of George VI, George VI issue coins feature the inscription GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP before 1949, and GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX FIDEI DEF thereafter. Wikt, haporth, Northern British English, from British English half-penny’s worth, British Coins – information about British coins Collection of copper & bronze pennies of Great Britain
3.
Obelus
–
An obelus is a symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and below, and in other uses it is a symbol resembling a small dagger. In mathematics it is used to represent the mathematical operation of division. It is therefore called the division sign. Division may also be indicated by a line or a slash. In ISO 80000-2-9.6 it says, The symbol ÷ should not be used. In editing texts an obelus takes the form of a mark and is used as a reference mark, or to indicate that a person is deceased. In mathematics, the symbol has also been used to represent subtraction in Northern Europe. The word obelus comes from ὀβελός, the Ancient Greek word for a stick, spit. This is the root as that of the word obelisk. Originally this sign was used in ancient manuscripts to mark passages that were suspected of being corrupted or spurious, the dagger symbol, also called an obelisk, is derived from the obelus and continues to be used for this purpose. The incident of the Bloody Sweat in Gethsemane and the saying Father forgive them, although previously used for subtraction, the obelus was first used as a symbol for division in 1659 in the algebra book Teutsche Algebra by Johann Rahn. Some think that John Pell, who edited the book, may have been responsible for use of the symbol. The usage of the obelus to represent subtraction continued in parts of Europe. Other symbols for division include the slash or solidus, and the fraction bar, in Microsoft Windows, the obelus is produced with Alt+0247 on the number pad or by pressing Alt Gr+⇧ Shift++ when an appropriate keyboard layout is in use. In classic Mac OS and macOS, it is produced with ⌥ Option+/, on UNIX-based systems using Screen or X with a Compose key enabled, it can be produced by composing, and -, though this is locale- and setting-dependent. It may also be input by Unicode code-point on GTK-based applications by pressing Control+⇧ Shift+U, followed by the codepoint in hexadecimal, in the Unicode character set, the obelus is known as the division sign and has the code point U+00F7. In HTML, it can be encoded as ÷, or ÷, in LaTeX, the obelus is obtained by \div. Commercial minus sign, ⁒, which resembles a tilted obelus Jeff Miller, Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols Michael Quinion
4.
Argos
–
Argos is a city in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is also a bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. It is the biggest town in Argolis and a center for the area. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality of Argos-Mykines, the municipal unit has an area of 138.138 km2. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, a settlement of great antiquity, Argos has been continuously inhabited as at least a substantial village for the past 7,000 years. The city is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network, a resident of the city of Argos is known as an Argive. However, this term is used to refer to those ancient Greeks generally who assaulted the city of Troy during the Trojan War. Numerous ancient monuments can be found in the city today, the most famous of which is the Heraion of Argos, agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy. The name of the city is ancient and several etymological theories have been proposed as an explanation to its meaning. The most popular one maintains that the name of the city is a remainder from the Pelasgian language, i. e. the one used by the people who first settled in the area, in which Argos meant plain. Alternatively, the name is associated with Argos, the king of the city in ancient times. It is also believed that Argos is linked to the word αργός, which meant white, possibly, according to Strabo, the name could have even originated from the word αγρός by antimetathesis of the consonants. As a strategic location on the plain of Argolis, Argos was a major stronghold during the Mycenaean era. There is evidence of settlement in the area starting with a village about 7000 years ago in the late Neolithic. It was colonized in prehistoric times by the Pelasgian Greeks, since that time, Argos has been continually inhabited at the same geographical location. Its creation is attributed to Phoroneus, with its first name having been Phoronicon Asty, the city is located at a rather propitious area, among Nemea, Corinth and Arcadia. It also benefitted from its proximity to lake Lerna, which, during the Dorian invasion, c.1100 BC, Argos was divided into four neighbourhoods, each of them inhabited by a different phyle. Argos experienced its greatest period of expansion and power under the energetic 7th century BC ruler King Pheidon, under Pheidon, Argos regained sway over the cities of the Argolid and challenged Sparta’s dominance of the Peloponnese
5.
Greek drachma
–
Three modern Greek currencies, the first introduced in 1832 and the last replaced by the euro in 2001. The euro did not begin circulating until 2002 but the rate was fixed on 19 June 2000. It was also a unit of weight. The name drachma is derived from the verb δράσσομαι and it is believed that the same word with the meaning of handful or handle is found in Linear B tablets of the Mycenean Pylos. Initially a drachma was a fistful of six oboloí or obeloí used as a form of currency as early as 1100 BC and being a form of bullion, bronze, copper, a hoard of over 150 rod-shaped obeloi was uncovered at Heraion of Argos in Peloponnese. Six of them are displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens and it was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name obol was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. Similar information about Pheidons obeloi was also recorded at the Parian Chronicle, ancient Greek coins normally had distinctive names in daily use. The Athenian tetradrachm was called owl, the Aeginetic stater was called chelone, the exact exchange value of each was determined by the quantity and quality of the metal, which reflected on the reputation of each mint. The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachm coin was perhaps the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great and it featured the helmeted profile bust of Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse. In daily use they were called γλαῦκες glaukes, hence the proverb Γλαῦκ’ Ἀθήναζε, the reverse is featured on the national side of the modern Greek 1 euro coin. Drachmae were minted on different weight standards at different Greek mints, the standard that came to be most commonly used was the Athenian or Attic one, which weighed a little over 4.3 grams. The Armenian dram also derives its name from the drachma. S, modern commentators derived from Xenophon that half a drachma per day would provide a comfortable subsistence for the poor citizens. Earlier in 422 BC, we see in Aristophanes that the daily half-drachma of a juror is just enough for the daily subsistence of a family of three. Fractions and multiples of the drachma were minted by many states, most notably in Ptolemaic Egypt, notable Ptolemaic coins included the gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm. This was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size would be minted in significant quantities, for the Roman successors of the drachma, see Roman provincial coins. The weight of the drachma was approximately 4.3 grams or 0.15 ounces. It was divided into six obols of 0.72 grams, the New Testament mentions both didrachma and, by implication, tetradrachma in context of the Temple tax. Lukes Gospel includes a parable told by Jesus of a woman with 10 drachmae, the drachma was reintroduced in May 1832, shortly before the establishment of the modern state of Greece
6.
Charon's obol
–
Charons obol is an allusive term for the coin placed in or on the mouth of a dead person before burial. Archaeological examples of coins, of various denominations in practice, have been called the most famous grave goods from antiquity. The custom is associated with the ancient Greeks and Romans. Although archaeology shows that the myth reflects an actual custom, the placement of coins with the dead was neither pervasive nor confined to a coin in the deceaseds mouth. In many burials, inscribed metal-leaf tablets or exonumia take the place of the coin, the presence of coins or a coin-hoard in Germanic ship-burials suggests an analogous concept. The coin for Charon is conventionally referred to in Greek literature as an obolos, one of the denominations of ancient Greek coinage. Among the Greeks, coins in actual burials are also a danakē or other relatively small-denomination gold, silver. In Roman literary sources the coin is usually bronze or copper, the word naulon is defined by the Christian-era lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria as the coin put into the mouth of the dead, one of the meanings of danakē is given as the obol for the dead. In Latin, Charon’s obol is sometimes called a viaticum, which in everyday usage means provision for a journey, encompassing food, money and other supplies. The same word can refer to the allowance granted to those stripped of their property and condemned to exile. The earliest literary evidence of this Christian usage for viaticum appears in Paulinus’s account of the death of Saint Ambrose in 397 AD, thomas Aquinas explained the term as a prefiguration of the fruit of God, which will be in the promised land. Greek epigrams that were literary versions of epitaphs refer to the obol that pays the passage of the departed, the satirist Lucian has Charon himself, in a dialogue of the same name, declare that he collects an obol from everyone who makes the downward journey. In an elegy of consolation spoken in the person of the dead woman, several other authors mention the fee. Humor, as in Aristophanes’s comic catabasis The Frogs, makes the journey to Hades less frightening by articulating it explicitly and trivializing it. Aristophanes makes jokes about the fee, and a character complains that Theseus must have introduced it, the use of coins as grave goods shows a variety of practice that casts doubt on the accuracy of the term Charon’s obol as an interpretational category. The phrase continues to be used, however, to suggest the ritual or religious significance of coinage in a funerary context. Among the ancient Greeks, only about 5 to 10 percent of known burials contain any coins at all, in some Roman cremation cemeteries, however, many if not most of these occurrences conform to the myth of Charon’s obol in neither the number of coins nor their positioning. Variety of placement and number, including but not limited to a coin in the mouth, is characteristic of all periods
7.
Greco-Bactrian
–
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was – along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom – the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BC. It was centered on the north of present-day Afghanistan, the expansion of the Greco-Bactrians into present-day eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan from 180 BC established the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which was to last until around 10 AD. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC, the preserved ancient sources are somewhat contradictory, and the exact date of Bactrian independence has not been settled. Somewhat simplified, there is a chronology and a low chronology for Diodotos’ secession. The high chronology has the advantage of explaining why the Seleucid king Antiochus II issued very few coins in Bactria, as Diodotos would have become independent there early in Antiochus reign. On the other hand, the low chronology, from the mid-240s BC, has the advantage of connecting the secession of Diodotus I with the Third Syrian War, a catastrophic conflict for the Seleucid Empire. Diodotus, the governor of the cities of Bactria, defected and proclaimed himself king, all the other people of the Orient followed his example. Their cities were Bactra, and Darapsa, and several others, among these was Eucratidia, which was named after its ruler. In 247 BC, the Ptolemaic empire captured the Seleucid capital, in the resulting power vacuum, the satrap of Parthia proclaimed independence from the Seleucids, declaring himself king. A decade later, he was defeated and killed by Arsaces of Parthia and this cut Bactria off from contact with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed. Euthydemus, a Magnesian Greek according to Polybius and possibly satrap of Sogdiana, overthrew the dynasty of Diodotus I around 230-220 BC, and the Iaxartes forms also the boundary between the Sogdians and the nomads. Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC, although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian kingdom seems to have expanded, in the west, areas in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed, possibly as far as into Parthia, whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus the Great. These territories possibly are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria, the Greek historian Strabo too writes that, they extended their empire even as far as the Seres and the Phryni. Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China. Greek influences on Chinese art have also been suggested, designs with rosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays, suggestive of Hellenistic influences, can be found on some early Han dynasty bronze mirrors. The practice of exporting Chinese metals, in iron, for trade is attested around that period
8.
Demetrius I of Bactria
–
Demetrius I was a Greek king of Gandhara. He was never defeated in battle and was qualified as the Invincible on the pedigree coins of his successor Agathocles. Demetrius I may have been the initiator of the Yavana era, starting in 186-185 BC, Demetrius was the name of at least two and probably three Greek kings of Bactria. The much debated Demetrius II was a relative, whereas Demetrius III, is known only from numismatic evidence. Demetrius I was also known as the second Alexander, the father of Demetrius, Euthydemus, was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat and he then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra, before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler. The final negotiations were made between Antiochus III and Demetrius, polybius 11.34 The term used for young prince is neaniskos, suggesting an age around 16, which in turn gives a birth date for Demetrius around 222 BC. Demetrius started the invasion of northwestern India in 180 BC, following the destruction of the Mauryan dynasty by the general Pushyamitra Shunga, the Mauryans had diplomatic alliances with the Greeks, and they may have been considered as allies by the Greco-Bactrians. The Greco-Bactrians may also have invaded India in order to protect Greek populations in the subcontinent, in his Parthian stations, Isidorus of Charax mentions a colony named Demetrias, supposedly founded by Demetrius himself, Beyond is Arachosia. As far as this place the land is under the rule of the Parthians and it is generally considered that Demetrius ruled in Taxila. The Indian records also describes Greek attacks on Saketa, Panchala, however, the campaigns to Pataliputra are generally attested to the later king Menander I and Demetrius I probably only invaded areas in Pakistan. Other kings may have expanded the territory as well, by c.175 BC, the Indo-Greeks ruled parts of northwestern India, while the Shungas remained in the Gangetic, Central, and Eastern India. The Hathigumpha inscription of the Kalinga king Kharavela mentions that fearing him, the name of the Yavana king is not clear, but it contains three letters, and the middle letter can be read as ma or mi. Some historians, such as R. D. Banerji and K. P, jayaswal reconstructed the name of the Yavana king as Dimita, and identified him with Demetrius. However, several historians, such as Ramaprasad Chanda, Sailendra Nath Sen. At the same time coinage technology also evolved, as double-die coins started to appear, the archaeological excavations of coins have shown that these coins, as well as the new double die coins, were contemporary with those of the Indo-Greeks. According to Osmund Bopearachchi these coins, and particularly those depicting the goddess Lakshmi, were minted by Demetrius I following his invasion of Gandhara. Demetrius I died of unknown reasons, and the date 180 BC is merely a suggestion aimed to allow suitable regnal periods for subsequent kings, even if some of them were co-regents, civil wars and temporary divisions of the empire are most likely
