Picture Tours

By Carol Schwyzer, MoneyMuseum 2011
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

"Show me how you build and I will tell you who you are," said the poet Christian Morgenstern (*1871, †1914).

The building activity of mankind is as old as the hills. Depending on the available material and the prevailing developments of technology, practically all cultures have created buildings which are still admired today. Famous buildings are part of a country's or a town's identity. Anyone who sees the Colosseum thinks of Rome. The Eiffel Tower is equated with Paris.

Architecture first and foremost originated from the human need for protection and security. Then people built dwellings for their gods, so that the latter could stay among them and have their effect on them. Buildings have also long served to represent power and the need to overcome the passing of time. And not least, good architecture satisfies man's desire for beauty and harmony.

Prestigious buildings also represent the ideas and the political and economic system of their times. And many owners were so proud of their works that they placed them on their coins, as this picture tour shows.

By Irma Götz and Christa Kaps, © MoneyMuseum 2010
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

For thousands of years gold has strongly appealed to mankind because of its manifold attractive properties and its rarity. Here we present some facts and figures on this fascinating precious metal. (Graphics by Gío Löwe, Berlin)

By Carol Schwyzer, © MoneyMuseum 2010
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

Gold is a precious metal which, because of its glowing yellow colour and its usually high quality occurrence, easily catches the eye. At first mankind came across it by chance. But soon man deployed all his talents to come into possession of the rare and therefore precious metal. Thus gold has played a part in religions, cults, arts and the goldsmith's guild since time immemorial.

But thanks to its outstanding qualities gold is extremely coveted in other areas, for example in the electrical industry, in space travel, in optical instruments, medicine – and recently also in cosmetics.

Gold has dominated the currency system as money for over 2500 years. Even today this treasure of the earth is regarded as a safe reserve in times of crisis. Here we present to you some of its qualities and possible uses.

By Carol Schwyzer, © MoneyMuseum 2010
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

Gold shines like the sun. It is found in nature, can be easily worked and does not corrode. Its beauty, weight and rarity have since time immemorial made this precious metal the symbol of divine and eternal values.

When mankind began to use gold for earthly purposes and discovered its economic dynamic it revealed its drawback: deception, theft and murder were the names given to the devilish temptations that were the starting point of the greed for gold. Even today it remains an ethical question as to how mankind should deal with gold. Here light is thrown on some of its mythical and metaphoric aspects.

By Aila de la Rive, © MoneyMuseum 2010

Investment gold coins are gold pieces minted after 1800 that contain at least 90 percent of pure gold. Such coins serve as stores of value or for speculation on the gold price. We here introduce some of the most famous of these bullion coins. There exist many more – the European Commission publish annually a list of more than 800 pieces that must be treated as investment gold coins in all EU member states.

By Carol Schwyzer, © MoneyMuseum 2010
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

"Fashion is not just a matter of clothing. Fashion has something to do with ideas, and therefore how we live," the author Oscar Wilde (*1854, †1900) believed. Fashion is part of our culture: it mirrors the social circumstances and the spirit of an epoque.

Since time immemorial clothes have been part of the history of human kind. As a second skin, they protect us from heat and cold and other environmental influences. In addition they allow the individual to draw attention to his or her appearance or to change it. Even Ötzi, the 5,300-year-old man out of the ice, wore a goatskin jacket effectively combined with light and dark stripes. Clothes are simply not just useful; thanks to them you can please, seduce, impress or document that you belong to a group.

Up into the 20th century fashion was a matter for the upper classes. It enabled the powerful and influential to present themselves as was fitting and dissociate them from the bulk of the people. Currently fashion seems – thanks to mass production – to have become more democratic. The fine differences in material and tailoring, however, still remain.

This picture tour shows how fashion changed on coins.

By Carol Schwyzer, © MoneyMuseum 2010
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

"She combs her golden hair. She combs it with a golden comb …" In Heinrich Heine's (*1797, †1856) poem of the Lorelei it magically lights up the seductive beauty of the woman who is styling her glossy hair.

The style of the hair arises from humans' natural need for beauty and the knowledge that the thickness and colour of the splendour of the hair helps to determine the impression which we make on the world around us. As long ago as 4,000 years BC, the ancient Egyptians styled their hair with combs, knives and hair needles, as we know from finds in their graves. But hairstyles make us not only beautiful and attractive, they also inform us about the customs and characteristics of an age or about the social standing and profession of a person.

This picture tour shows how the changes in hairstyles are reflected in coin designs in the course of time.

By Carol Schwyzer, © MoneyMuseum 2009
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

"A beard makes a man likeable," some people say. "Anyone who sports a beard has something to hide," say others, while there are those who "swear by the prophet's beard." But one thing is certain: a strong growth of beard is a visible sign of masculinity and potency, as it occurs after puberty has set in.

In ancient Rome the young men consecrated their first shave to the gods to gain their protection in adult life. Because of its continuous growth the beard became the symbol of vitality as well. But it also served as a physical signal with which a man can express his personality and standing.

Whether curled, growing without restriction, cut short and twisted or clean-shaven – at any rate having a beard or being shaven is tied up with the respective culture and epoque, with social circumstances and fashion trends. This is reflected in the portraits of the powerful on their coins, as this picture tour shows.

By Carol Schwyzer, © MoneyMuseum 2009
(Translated by Geoffrey P. Burwell)

Sometimes, portraits can be so lifelike that they cost the portrayed's life. In 1793 the French king Louis XVI ended up on the scaffold because in Varennes, on his way out of the country, he was recognised by a postmaster's son. The king bore far too much resemblance to his effigy on the circulating coins!

Whenever a ruler has him or herself portrayed, two components come into play: the person as an individual and as the representative of his realm, his throne and his people. Besides, regents like to be portrayed by the best artists of their time, because every subject or citizen is to know what the boss looks like. On the other hand his image is to be kept until long after his death.

This picture tour is all about such portraits, comparing the effigies of rulers on coins with those of other forms of portrayal and revealing thus different facets of their personality.

By Aila de la Rive, © MoneyMuseum 2009

In ancient times, everything was much more complicated. Goods of everyday life or precious objects were used as means of payment and exchange then. And naturally, there were different things in demand in different places and at different times.