#NationalCoinWeek

[harvardfineartslib]

Here’s your good luck coin for National Coin Week! We all need a good luck coin, don’t we?

Raoyi Shenbao' good luck coin Transliteration (Pinyin) Title: Rao yi shen bao tong qian Dimensions: 1.8 cm. Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China Five Dynasties (907-960) Creation Date: 907-978 (Five Dynasties) HOLLIS number: 8001343869

This image is part of FAL’s Digital Images and Slides Collection (DISC), a collection of images digitized from secondary sources for use in teaching and learning. FAL does not own the original artworks represented in this collection, but you can find more information at HOLLIS Images.

[instapicsil1]

🐉 This fierce dragon coin from Szechuan, China, was minted around 1901. Dragons were a powerful symbol on coinage, as they represented strength and power—just ask the House of Targaryen. In Chinese legends, the dragon was a symbol of imperial authority. Image #2: This gold 20 won coin from Korea was minted in 1906 and offers another mythical dragon image. European dragons often have stocky bodies and large wings (cue mental image of Drogon from Game of Thrones), while dragons from eastern Asia are more serpentine. Eastern dragons also have smaller wings, which render them flightless. Image #3: The other side of the 20 won coin from Korea. We hope the fantastic beasts on these coins give you the oomph you need to get through #HumpDay! 🐲 #GameOfThrones #Dragons #MotherOfDragons #YouKnowNothingJonSnow #Season6 #GoTseason6 #CoinWeek #NationalCoinWeek #numismatics http://ift.tt/2oLF3wB

[harvardfineartslib]

In searching for some images for National Coin Week, we came across with this photograph by Josephine Powell (1919-2007) in our Special Collections. She was an American photographer, ethnographic collector, and traveler.

Born in New York City, she earned a BA from Cornell University in 1941 and received an MA in social work from Columbia University in 1945. After teaching herself how to use a camera, she moved to Rome in 1953 and began working as a freelance photographer specializing in art, architecture, and ethnography. In 1974 she moved to Istanbul and remained there until her death.

She traveled afar including countries in the Middle East and North Africa; Central, South, and Southeast Asia; Italy, Greece, and the Balkans. This photograph shows a coin from the

3rd - 2nd cent. BC with perhaps the photographer’s fingers on the upper right corner holding a piece of paper or plastic with a label written number 17.

Approximately 20,000 other photographs from her travels (with the exception of her material related to the culture of nomads in Anatolia) were gifted to the Fine Arts Library at Harvard University in 2002. We have 267 photographs of various coins by Josephine Powell and this is one of the rare incidents where we have a glimpse of perhaps the photographer’s hand.

Coin, tetradrachmas. Agathocles. Obverse Powell, Josephine, 1919-2007, American [photographer] Kunduz Hoard. Silver Provenance: Josephine Powell Collection Place: Kunduz, Kunduz, Kunduz, Afghanistan Greco-Bactrian Greek Bactrian Creation Date: 3rd - 2nd cent. BC Repository: National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul, Afghanistan HOLLIS number: olvwork278451

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This is coin sword. It's an art unique to south China. Swords like this one are believed to hold power that can drive away evil spirits. Coin swords are made by fashioning threaded coins around one or two iron rods. Traditionally, the coins used in a sword's construction must all be from a single emperor's reign, and the cord or wire which binds them together must be red. It takes at least 100 cash coins to create these swords, as they span about two feet in length. These swords are hung on the walls of houses as a warning to evil spirits. The older the coins, the more effective the sword! It's #NationalCoinWeek, so stay tuned for more cool currency. #CoinWeek #Numismatics #OldMoney #Coins #CoinSword #Sword #MilitaryHistory #NationalCoinWeek http://ift.tt/2ooIyFH

[instapicsil1]

This big-eyed owl is a symbol of the goddess Athena. The coin is a silver Tetradrachm from Athens, dating from 454–404 BCE. 🦉💰 Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare. Her fantastic birth describes her springing fully grown and clothed in armor from her father Zeus's head. On currency, she is often shown wearing a full helmet or headdress, as if she is preparing for war, and is often accompanied by the image of an owl. Athena lent her patronage to the ancient cities of Athens. 💪 It's #NationalCoinWeek so count on us to help make cents of #numismatics! 💸 #Athena #AncientGreece #OldCoin #Money http://ift.tt/2oDoFfF