coin
- Museum number
- 1929,1107.3
- Description
-
Copper alloy coin.
- Dimensions
-
Weight: 5.080 grammes
- Curator's comments
- Bowers catalogue entry
Series with monograms
Himyar
Local coinage of the late 3rd - 4th centuries AD
Copper, 5.04-7.08 g weight
CM 1929-11-7,2; 1929-11-7,3; 1929-11-7,4
The lack of “federal” Himyarite issues of the late 3rd and 4th centuries AD, that is, the period of the Himyarite Empire, is rather striking. Probably belonging to this period are three copper coins in The British Museum with the portrait of a ruler and Himyarite monograms and royal sign on the obverse and reverse respectively, but it is not clear who struck these coins. We cannot exclude the possibility that they represented a coinage of a local tribe or tribal federation. Archaeological contexts of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD have produced a huge number of coins registered as small crude copper fraction of series with “Bucranium”. Apparently, the Himyarites borrowed the late Sabaean type for internal use, while Aksumite gold coins probably provided the currency for international trade.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
Exhibition: "Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality", Bowers Museum, California, 17 Oct 2004-13 Mar 2005.
- Acquisition date
- 1929
- Department
- Money and Medals
- Registration number
- 1929,1107.3