Coins as Evidence: Some Phantom Temples
Duncan Fishwick · 2023
The accuracy with which coins portray the architectural details of ancient monuments is a familiar problem. In general he concluded that the dissimilarities between coin pictures and architectural reality can on occasion be far greater than the resemblances and that representations of temples should be treated cautiously until confirmed by results of actual excavation. The instances given are not intended to be exhaustive and readers will doubtless add to the stock from their own 3 experience. The relevance of this list to the evaluation of numismatic evidence is apparent. The prudent course is to judge each case on its merits and to beware of far-reaching inferences from pictures on coins, unless corroborated by evidence of other kinds. The anonymous referee of this paper makes the interesting suggestion that the aedicula might be used simply as a frame for the image indicating “cult” rather than as an architectural element.