Throughout history coins and jewellery
have represented wealth and status
is most of the world's cultures and
have and important place in museum
collections. Since the minting of
coins was the prerogative of sovereign
power they are an important source
of information for historians, not
to mention their spell on collectors.
What distinguishes the coin exhibit
in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater
Archaeology from collections in other
museums, however, is the imaginative
way in which the value of ancient
money is made understandable and relevant
for every visitor today.
The purchasing power of these monetary
units is shown by indicating the amounts
of various commodities such as bread,
meat or oil that they could buy, and
even the effects of inflation on the
value of money are clearly and ingeniously
illustrated. This is further clarified
by providing information on wages
earned by unqualified workers as well
as aid given to the poor by the city-states
of the era.
The exhibit also shows the monetary
and weight systems used in Anatolia,
with particular reference to Caria
whose coins, from the smallest to
the largest, in both obverse and reverse,
are displayed in chronological order.
Genuine coins as well as their ancient
and modern counterfeits are also displayed
with appropriate clarifying narration
and graphics.
The evidence that the Hecatomnid
Dynasty which ruled Caria some 2400
years ago under the nominal suzerainty
of the Persian Empire issued its own
coinage testifies to the extent of
its wide autonomy and coins of this
period, though very rare, are included
in the exhibit. These coins bear the
head of Apollo on the obverse and
on the reverse the name of the reigning
Carian ruler inscribed next to the
figure of Zeus Labraunda carrying
the double-bladed Carian battle-axe
over his right shoulder.
Here it is important and interesting
to note that the world's first coins
were minted in Lydia, the northern
neighbor of Caria. We can hardly imagine
the truly revolutionary nature of
this innovation which rendered barter
(the exchange of one kind of goods
for another) obsolete and gave birth
to commerce much as we know it today,
i.e. the exchange of goods and services
for money.
Pieces of jewellery included in the
exhibit are displayed in the way they
were originally worn and include a
magnificent necklace crafted in granulation
and filigree technique, a prize possession
of very few distinguished families
in those ancient times. Gold dress
ornamentation found in the Mausoleum
excavations are exhibited on 4th century
BC clothing, again making the individual
pieces more meaningful to the viewer.
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