118 JANUARY 2016 http://www.stampandcoin.co.ukCoin update
Roman Tesserae
TALKING TOKENS
Turn the pages of a Roman coin catalogue and you will find gold,
silver and bronze money discussed and illustrated in profusion.
The Roman world, it seems, overflowed with aurei, denarii,
sestertii (and other bronze denominations) in more than enough
numbers to satisfy every market trader, banker, even hoarder,
especially in the confident 1st and 2nd centuries AD when the
Empire stood at the pinnacle of its power.
The term ‘panis et cirsenses’ (bread and circuses), attributed
to the Roman satirist Juvenal, described the free distribution, in
those prosperous times, of corn for bread-making and tickets for
entertainments at the Circus Maximus, which emperors and the
heads of leading families ostentatiously paid for to divert Rome’s
huge numbers of poor folk from thoughts of protest and rebellion.
Doling out of corn took place in city squares and open
spaces to which the needy flocked. To prevent cheating and
queue jumping, qualifying recipients were previously issued
with lead tokens (tesserae) which they had to hand over
before they received a measure of corn. Donors rarely missed
an opportunity to promote themselves, or some cause/deity/
project, by having an emblem of it depicted on the moulds in
which the lead tesserae were cast.
In the province of Aegyptus (modern Egypt), which was a
personal possession of the Emperor, the labouring poor who
worked the province’s vast corn farms, were denied the use of
Roman money. They received their wages as leaden tesseraewhich could only be spent at local shops. Much of the harvested
corn was shipped to Rome to fill the corn measures mentioned
above. Larger cities throughout the Empire took advantage of
this fourth tier of money to control their poor and unemployed.
City rulers issued the lead money to win political support from
shop and tavern keepers where the lead tesserae could be spent
and later redeemed by the shop and tavern keepers. The scheme
was taken up throughout Europe in medieval times. Across the
former Roman world metal detectorists have by now recovered
enough lost lead tesserae to make collecting them an interesting
branch of numismatics.A mint year for coin collectors
Quick links
Page 122 Britannia on coins
Page 126 Celtic exhibition
Page 128 Poetic pieceThe coming year sees a wide variety of topics and anniversaries marked
by coins from The Royal Mint, including the birthday of the Queen and
the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
The Royal Mint has announced its coin programme for 2016, with
several major anniversaries, including the Battle of Hastings and the
birth of Shakespeare, commemorated on special coins. 2016 is also a
notable year for collectors as this is the final year that the round £1
coin will appear in The Royal Mint’s annual sets; from 2017 a new
twelve-sided £1 coin incorporating the latest security features will go
into circulation.
Anne Jessopp, Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal
Mint, said: ‘It is always exciting to see the new years’ designs revealed,
commemorating the moments that matter, and revisiting some of the
great events and stories from our history.’
The Mint, whose existence has been tied in with that of the
country’s history for over 1,000 years, will celebrate both its own
heritage and that of Britain through its 2016 coins which include a
tribute to William Shakespeare (who made numerous references to
coins in his plays) and also to the good fortune of The Royal Mint
being saved during the 1666 Great Fire of London. Each coin bears the
fifth definitive portrait of the Queen by Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark
which was introduced in 2015.The Queen’s ninetieth
birthday 2016 – £5 coin
On 21 April, the Queen will celebrate
her ninetieth birthday – the first British
monarch ever to do so. A £5 coin has
been created by artist Christopher Hobbs
to mark the occasion, inspired by the
heraldic rose of England and the Queen’s
love of flowers. This is the Queen’s
second major landmark in a year – on
9 September, 2015 she became Britain’s longest reigning monarch,
overtaking the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.The Army 2016 – £2 coin
This year’s Royal Mint First World
War centenary coin pays tribute to the
Pals’ Battalions. Team mates, friends,
neighbours and colleagues served side by
side in ‘Pals’ Battalions to defend their
country – a spirit of camaraderie that
is remembered on a £2 coin by graphic
designer Tim Sharp.p118 Coin Update.indd 118 23/11/2015 14:48