Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (7.2012)

PROBLEMS IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ARCHAIC GREEK COINAGE

as Martin,31 George Le Rider,32 Ritter,33 and Le Rider and Franęois de Callatay
(2006),34 which focus on particular problems or eras, rather than individual mints,
are rare. Rare too is the use of theoretical approaches that lie beyond the realms
neo-classical economics and positivist classical studies.
Because of the short comings in both methodologies, there is elear need for
“middle rangę” approaches that integrate the wealth of empirical evidence, i.e.,
the highly detailed numismatic studies, with appropriate theoretical approaches.
In the field of Roman numismatics this has already begun, partly because the ico-
nography of Roman-period coins is morę explicitly political than Greek coinage,
thus easing theoretical studies of Bildsprache (“picture language”),35 partly be-
cause the sheer abundance of coinage makes die studies for some series all but
impossible, thus necessitating different approaches, and partly because the large
number of Roman coins found in excavations throughout Europę has encouraged
the study of this coinage through the lens of post-processual archaeological theory.
This is most readily apparent in the recent Coins in Context volume, which aims
at the deliberate use of social and archaeological theory to frame ąuestions regard-
ing coins found in archaeological contexts.36 While this volume is important for
demonstrating how coins and theory can be integrated, it is centered on deposi-
tional (and post-depositional) problems, i.e., the distribution and consumption of
the object, rather than with production. Coins out of context might better describe
the situation with Greek numismatics, not only because information regarding the
findspot of a coin is often long lost by the time the coin becomes known, but also
because archaeological context, when it is known, generally has little to say about
the political and economic factors of production; here the coins must speak for
themselves. Distribution is also a concern of Greek numismatics, but from the eco-
nomic perspective of (state) payout rather than that of, for example, a non-Greek
receiying an Athenian tetradrachm and how he might view this coin and monetary

31 MARTIN, Sovereignty and coinage in classical Greece...
32 LE RIDER, La naissance de la monnaie...', IDEM, Alexandre le Grand: monnaie, finances et politiąne,
Paris 2003 (English edition 2008).
33 S. RITTER, BUdkontakte: Gótter und Heroen in der Bildsprache griechischer Miinzen des 4. Jahrhun-
derts v. Chr, Berlin 2002.
34 G. LE RIDER, F. DE CALLATAY, Les Seleucides et les Ptolemees: L'heritage monetaire etfinancier
d’Alexandre le grand, Monaco 2006.
35 RITTER, BUdkontakte... look at Bildsprache in fourth century Greek coinage, while an admirable at-
tempt, stays firmly within the traditional numismatic interpretative modę without venturing into, for example, art
historical theories of iconography and symbolism.
36 The papers in C. HOWGEGO, V. HEUCHERT, A. BRUNETT (eds.), Coinage and identity in the Roman
provinces, Oxford 2005, deal with the problems of identity and coinage in the Roman provinces with theoretical
sophistication, for example, but not at the same level of theoretical awareness found in H.-M. VON KAENEL,
F. KEMMERS (eds.), Coins in Context I: New Perspectives for the Interpretation of Coin Finds, Studien zu
Fundmiinzen der Antike 23, Mainz 2009.