November 29, 2012 – The exhibition Words and Coins: from Ancient Greece to Byzantium is organized by the Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cologny, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum, Athens, and is enriched with material from the KIKPE Numismatic Collection (on loan to the Benaki Museum).
Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra. Revers of a bronze coin, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Macrinus (217-218 CE). KIKPE Collection.
The main goal of the exhibition is to correlate and showcase stories and messages through texts and coins. These are examined in an interactive and intertwined understanding of the role of each medium; both written and numismatic material formed means of communication in the societies of the past: words articulating formulation of equivalent concepts, coins materializing assessment of equivalent goods.
Christogram. Reverse of a bronze coin, Magnentius, Amiens (350-353 CE). KIKPE Collection.
Both words and coins are exchanged, the former enhancing the intellectual abilities of human mind, the latter facilitating the economic activities of human ingenuity. Moreover, coins can be employed to illustrate a written narrative regardless the time frame in which it was produced. From hand to hand, coins, manuscripts and books are valuable vehicles that carry and preserve memory through the ages.
More information on the exhibition offers the website of the Fondation Martin Bodmer.