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The E-Sylum:  Volume 4, Number 23, June 3, 2001, Article 8

EARTHQUAKES IN NUMISMATICS 

   In the March 4th and March 18th, 2001 issues of The 
   E-Sylum (Volume 4, Numbers 10 & 12), we reported on 
   how the recent earthquake affected numismatists in the 
   northwestern U.S.   A June, 1979 article in the New 
   Zealand Numismatic Journal (Vol 15, No.1) discusses 
   "Earthquakes in Numismatics." 

   Drawing on an article by Nicholas Ambraseys in the 
   UNESCO Courier titled "Earthquakes in History", which 
   includes several references to the value of coins and 
   coinage in earthquake studies. 

   "In these studies archaeological evidence is very important 
   where written evidence is either inconclusive or scarce. 
   Numismatics also plays a significant role in assessing the 
   destructiveness of early earthquakes.  The issue of new 
   coinage and the establishment of new mints were often 
   measures taken by the authorities to relieve regions after 
   disastrous earthquakes. 

   The earthquakes of 21 July 365 A.D. affected an area of 
   about two million square kilometres in the Eastern 
   Mediterranean. ... Hoards of coins found on the floors of 
   public buildings trapped by the tumbled-down masses of 
   masonry pre-date the disaster and testify to the 
   abandonment of sites." 

   Another instance cited was the "25 A.D. earthquake which 
   destroyed  Taxila in northern Pakistan.  This quake destroyed 
   the mint and apparently killed the engravers.  Similar cases 
   have been found for Rhodes, Cyprus, and Western Anatolia." 

   In the U.S., the major numismatic earthquake connection is 
   the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in which the mint building 
   was not destroyed, but was in fact one of the few government 
   buildings left standing and became a center for relief efforts. 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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