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Temple souvenir coins?

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rjohara:
I've added a page to my website on the bronze coins issued at the temple of Apollo of Didyma, just a few miles from Miletus. These are thought to date from the first century B.C., although there is some technical discussion relating to their dates that I am still working through.

I have read that these coins might have functioned as a sort of temple souvenir: "I visited the famous oracle of Apollo Didymaios." (Or maybe, "My parents visited the oracle and all I got was this lousy coin.") Are there other temples or famous locations where coins are known from documentary evidence to have been issued over an extended period of time as souvenirs? Perhaps as a sort of admission ticket, or in payment for admission? Pointers are most welcome.

A sample image is attached. I'm afraid none of my own specimens are in great condition.

slokind:
I, too, have a couple of those delightful Hellenistic bronzes of the famous Apollo Didymaeus by the Archaic sculptor Kanachos; only the Ephesian Artemis seems to have been more famous, and Kanachos is a very rare example of an Archaic artist's name actually preserved.  I think these are the regular bronze of the period (though I'm sure folks took some home, as a US American might bring back a Maple Leaf coin from Canada).  Under the Empire there are some larger and more elaborate issues with the Apollo; some of these may have been special, to be sure, especially if a neokorate or an alliance were involved.  Cf. also the coins of Alexandria Troas, which had an Archaic Apollo of its own as the cult statue.  It is almost as common as their regular badge, the horse, on Imperial/Provincial coins.  There was also a Late Classical statue of Apollo resting with one leg raised (like a Hermes or a Poseidon), presumably one of the bronze statues that adorned the sanctuary (it was said to have been made by Skopas).  Are the Horse and Tyche coins the regular ones, with the cult reference put on coins to please visitors?  It was, in fact, one of the popular stops on the equivalent of Canterbury Tales trips.  I don't know.  On the other hand, we are making States Quarters for ourselves...
Patricia Lawrence

rjohara:
I think you are probably correct, Patricia, that these were the standard issue bronzes of the period.  I've now done a bit more reading and I find that it's been proposed by Philip Kinns that there were actually two distinct series featuring Kanachos' Apollo, one with a magistrate's name and another with the city ethnic MILESION. Kinns suggests that the ones with a magistrate's name may in fact be more than a century earlier that the established first-century BC issues with the city name. I've added a section quoting his reasoning on the page above. For a bit of history on the oracle of Didyma, second in fame only to the Delphic oracle, I've also added a sidebar page with an account from the early British antiquarian John Potter:

Oracle| of Apollo| at |Didyma

slokind:
That is the most wonderful web site!  And I shall refer my students to Abp. Potter: that will make them remember Didyma!  Of course, the best way to remember Didyma and Miletos is to go there.
Pat Lawrence

Tiathena:
   What a wonderfully informative and enjoyable thread.
  Thank you both for a great read…

  Particularly for the link & pointer to the - Oracle of Apollo at Didyma

  Just outstanding!

  Best –
  Tia
 
 

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