Historia

Coins and Comparative History

Introduction
It's a cliché, I know: You take an ancient coin in your hand and say "Just think of all that history in the palm of my hand". But do we know what that history is? O.K., perhaps we can read on the coin that it was issued by Julius Caesar. But what do we actually know about him, apart from the fact that he crossed the Rubicon and shouted "Veni Vedi Vici". Come to that, what was happening in Greece, Persia, China, India, Britain at the same time? The object of this web-site is present a selection of coins dating from 600 BC to 1600 AD from around the world, with, as well as details of the coins, a potted history of the ruler, dynasty or geographical area of each coin. You might think this is just ruse to display my coin collection. You may be right, but ... links are provided to connected historical events and also to coins issued in the same period in other parts of the world for comparison. Histories are deliberately kept short to avoid overwhelming the reader with too much detail. Rather, it tries to allow an overview of everything that was going on in the world at any particular time. Of course, some places and times allow for a blow by blow description of the period, whereas others are necessarily are somewhat vague. The Roman, Byzantine and English periods are well documented in the west, but Islamic, Chinese and Indian histories are not so well known.

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