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EXHIBITION: Museum of Cycladic Art “Money, Tangible symbols in ancient Greece”
Presenting to the general public extraordinary samples of the ancient coinage, mainly from the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection.
2 November 2017 - 15 April 2018
Monday - Wednesday - Friday - Saturday: 10:00 to 17:00 Thursday: 10:00 to 20:00 Sunday: 11:00 to 17:00 Tuesday: Closed
Museum of Cycladic Art, Neophytou Douka 4, Athens

The Museum of Cycladic Art and the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection are collaborating for the first time, on the organisation of the Exhibition ‘MONEY. Tangible symbols in ancient Greece’.  The Exhibition theme relates to the diverse references and readings of the symbols depicted on coins, from the late seventh century BC into Roman times. The coin is, first and foremost, man’s basic medium of transaction, the means by which people cover their everyday needs and the State makes payments and honours its monetary obligations.

 

37D 58' 33.25", 23D 44' 24.15"

Silver stater of Aegina depicting a turtle, 470/440 BC, Athens, Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection, photo by P. Magoulas

37D 58' 33.25", 23D 44' 24.15"

Athenian silver tedrachm depicting an owl, 440-420 BC, Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection, photo by P. Magoulas

Ancient coins, however, are not merely media of transaction; they are of themselves tangible symbols, symbols that are literally handled, that are read, that are comprehended. That is why the representations they carry provide important information –historical and other– which is linked with the place and the authority that issued the coins.  In the eight thematic units of the Exhibition, alongside the exquisite specimens of numismatic art a selection of other objects (statues, reliefs, vases, figurines, inscriptions) from museums in Greece and abroad will be displayed, the iconography and the references of which document scientifically the images imprinted on the coin flans.  

 

Credits

Curated By:
Professor Dr Nicholas Chr. Stampolidis
Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art

Yorgos Tassoulas
Archaeologist MPhil., Curator of the Museum of Cycladic Art

Dr Dimitra Tsangari
Curator of the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection

Idea-Coordination
Nicholas Chr. Stampolidis
Dimitra Tsangari



Author

Polis Ioannou


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