SILPHIUM ON ANCIENT COINS

Roman leader Julius Caesar is said to have kept a stock of it in the treasury. Ancient writer Pliny the Elder says Rome's Emperor Nero owned the last stalk of it.

And some have suggested rampant extramarital sex in elite Roman circles led to demand outstripping supply, and it dying out altogether.

What is it?

Silphium: an extinct plant that once grew wild in modern-day Libya.

Used for contraception and abortion, medicine, food seasoning, perfume and as a livestock improver, its special properties made this herb one of the most precious commodities in Graeco-Roman antiquity.

Then, one day, it went extinct.

Silphium is often described these days as an aphrodisiac, despite no ancient source confirming this.

Some of the earliest depictions of silphium are of the plant's heart-shaped seedpod, which may be the source of this association.

Resin was extracted from the plant's stems and roots and preserved in flour, which allowed it to make the journey from Libya to further shores.

The Romans called this resin laser or laserpicium. The best laserpicium was extracted from the root, but an inferior type could also come from the stem.

And before the Romans, the Greeks also used silphium; it was so central to some regional economies that it was a frequently depicted motif on coins.

To read the complete article, see:
Ancient Romans were obsessed with a plant said to be contraception and aphrodisiac. Then one day, it went extinct (https://theconversation.com/ancient-romans-were-obsessed-with-a-plant-said-to-be-contraception-and-aphrodisiac-then-one-day-it-went-extinct-260506)

To read a Mike Markowitz article on the topic, see:
Coinage of Kyrene: A Greek City in Libya (https://coinweek.com/coinage-kyrene-greek-city-libya/)

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