The value of cold, hard cash
Opinions differ on the issue of the coin: some find small change annoying, others collect coins. Rahel C. Ackermann deals with coins in her research. In this interview, the archaeologist and numismatist explains why they are worth a closer look, and how closely coins and customs are intertwined.
26 November 2024 | Noëmi Kern
Ms Ackermann, many people now pay almost exclusively by card or the Twint app. You dedicate your research to coinage. What fascinates you about coins?
I do archaeological numismatics, which means that the coins I deal with are usually archaeological finds. Coins are incredibly dense sources of information – politically, socially, but also in terms of understanding art. If you know the context in which they were found, you can add a lot of information. It is an interplay between the dating, whether they are freshly minted or worn, and the distance between the minting site and the place where they were found. I’m fascinated by the way money is handled, which is reflected in the coins themselves. In relation to the individual object, it is the concentrated communication, which is reduced down to a little picture and a very brief inscription.
So coins are also a means of communication?
In ancient times, the coin was the mass medium par excellence. If a Roman emperor celebrated a triumph, there would be a triumphal procession in Rome and perhaps a triumphal arch might be erected to commemorate it.
But only those who were there would have known about it. But if this triumphal arch was depicted, with a corresponding inscription, on a coin that was distributed throughout the Roman Empire, everyone saw: “Our emperor has won.” It was also a way of making a new ruler known throughout the kingdom. Incidentally, depictions of the head of state came about very early on.
And they are still used today: King Charles has been depicted on Britain’s money since the summer. Is this purely symbolic, or is it politically motivated?
Originally, it was clearly political: the head of state was the owner of the mint and guaranteed the authenticity and value of the coins. Today it is more symbolic; a tradition that is being carried on.
Swiss coins, on the other hand, have looked the same for 140 years…
This fact reflects an incredible tradition and value retention as well as trust in the money, or in this case in the coin designs. A German twenty-pfennig piece from 1880 is scrap metal, unless it is well preserved and is interesting to a collector or has emotional value. We can still use our 1880 coins.
You mention the coin designs. What do you see on Swiss coins?
The Swiss coin designs are full of symbolism. At first, Helvetia was shown seated on the fifty-centime pieces, as well as on the one- and two-franc ones, until it was decided that she looked too passive. So she has been standing heroically since the 1870s. She’s calm within herself, but she’s armed and ready to defend herself at any time. This is a strong representation of Switzerland’s political attitude: “We may be neutral, but we’re not passive.” The female head on the five-, ten- and twenty-centime pieces bears the inscription “Libertas” on the headband: this is the representation of freedom. This is also a strong picture for Switzerland: “Our freedom is important to us and we want to keep it.” Seen in this way, both coin designs are still very fitting today.
The five-franc piece, on the other hand, shows a man…
After all, Switzerland isn’t just female. This man’s face may be heroically exaggerated, but you could find this person at a Schwingfest (Swiss wrestling festival). He represents the original Swiss spirit.
You mentioned trust and value retention. From your expert perspective, what is “good money”?
Good money reliably meets the requirements. For a very long time – until the end of the 18th century or even into the 19th century – the paradigm was that the nominal value corresponded to the material value, i.e. that a precious metal coin had the value of the gold or silver it contained.
We are still familiar with this stability of value today when it comes to bars, but it no longer applies to coins. Bad coins, on the other hand, contain too little precious metal (see also box below). From the point of view of archaeological numismatics, good coins are those that provide a lot of information that can be deciphered. In fact, every object tells a story if you ask the right questions.
What makes a good coin from today’s perspective?
From a practical point of view, these are coins that are easy to spend – a fifty-centime piece rather than ten five-centime pieces or, in the eurozone, the one- and two-cent coins. These eventually end up in the collection tins at the airport for the benefit of a charity, because you can’t get rid of them when you go shopping. A good coin is also one that appeals to you on an emotional level. Especially when abroad, many people look at the pictures and keep coins as souvenirs. Coins are also emotional triggers in archaeology: finding a coin is something special, and a whole group of coins is a real jackpot. For some, the Holy Grail is a Celtic gold coin that they would like to find once in their lifetime.
So coins are linked to emotions…
Absolutely! Even today, many children receive a Goldvreneli – a Swiss gold coin worth 20 Swiss francs – as a gift at least once during their childhood. The idea is that this is something lasting. There are also many customs that only work with coins, such as Talerschwingen (rolling a coin around the inside of an earthenware bowl to create a musical sound).
It is also a well-known tradition to throw a coin into a fountain such as the Trevi Fountain in Rome: If you throw in a coin and make a wish, that wish comes true. Coins are often good luck too: one-centime pieces were used for marzipan lucky pigs and New Year’s Eve decorations after they had been withdrawn from circulation as a means of payment. Of course, you can say that this is all superstition, but such ancient customs have existed for as long as coins have been around – that is, for two and a half thousand years.
How do you deal with coinage in your day-to-day life?
I carry it in my pocket and try to pay with it when I can. I manage well in Switzerland, but I find it harder abroad because I don’t recognize the different coins so quickly and end up paying with a banknote after all. When I notice people to examining their change with interest for special coins, that makes me happy.
Mint production: prestige and good source of income
In her recently completed dissertation, Rahel C. Ackermann investigated the coins of the Lords of Haldenstein, Lichtenstein and Grottenstein. The finds testify to a production method that was designed to fill their own coffers.
What is so exciting about the Haldenstein coins?
For me, these finds are particularly exciting because they reflect a two-part production: on the one hand, representative large coins came from the Haldenstein mint near Chur. The silver guilders from around 1790 were money for export – they are found almost exclusively in Germany, Poland and scattered widely throughout the Holy Roman Empire. On the other hand, there are the Bluzger, which were small coins that circulated locally in the Three Leagues and were mass produced in Haldenstein.
Why was it desirable for such a small regime to mint its own coins?
It really wouldn’t have been necessary: the area was dominated by the city and diocese of Chur and economically fully integrated into the Three Leagues and their money circulation. But producing money was both a question of prestige and a good source of income, if you optimized costs. In the case of Haldenstein, Thomas I of Schauenstein received his title of baron from the emperor in 1611 and at the same time the right of coinage, i.e. a license to mint his own coins.
Minting money and earning money with it – how does that work?
The Haldenstein family employed craftsmen and medal-makers who were not particularly good to stamp their coins, which meant they were cheap. They also used only just as much silver as was needed for the face value, or even less. This created a profit margin once the money was put into circulation. When the coins were examined for silver content, they were said to be too poor. They were banned and had to be confiscated and melted down. That's why only a few of these coins remain today.
