Greece: Kapodistrias Coins

Started by Zantetsuken, October 28, 2009, 04:42:43 AM

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Zantetsuken

Greece freed itself from 400 years of Turkish rule after the 'Greek War of Independence' that lasted from 1821-1829. In 1827, Count: Ioannis Kapodistrias was appointed governor of the new Greek state. Even though Kapodistrias was of noble birth, he was considered a true democrat. While the war for independence was winding down, Kapodistrias was still facing alot of internal strife with local clans and other rival factions. By 1831 the Kapodistrias's government had become despised by many of the rival groups in Greece. After Kapodistrias ordered the arrest of Petros Mavromichalis, head of one of the main rival families, they seeked retribution for this act. On October 9, 1831, Petros's brother Konstantinis, and son Georgios assassinated Kapodistrias on the steps of the church of Saint Spyridon in Nafplio, which brought an end to his short administration.

Kapodistrias issued numerous coins dated 1828, 1830 and 1831. The first specimen is a 5 Lepta coin (Solid Circle) 1828. The obverse shows a phoenix rising from the flames with a cross above inside a solid circle and the national name in Greek legend along the rim. The reverse shows the denomination, date with a wreath and Kapodistrias's name and title in Greek legend. The second specimen is a 10 Lepta coin (W/O Circle) 1831. The obverse shows a phoenix rising from the flames with a cross above and the national name in Greek legend along the rim. The reverse shows the denomination, date with a wreath and Kapodistrias's name and title in Greek legend.



GREECE (STATE) 5 Lepta 1828



GREECE (STATE) 10 Lepta 1831

Figleaf

The symbolism is well done. The Phoenix is Greece, rising from its ashes under a Christian sign. Never mind that the legend is Egyptian. Or maybe Indonesian. The wreath is laurel and oak (victory - strength), referring to the Greeks having fought their independence themselves with the help of Byron.

A fun detail are the four letters below the phoenix ...  :-X

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Overlord

What is shown to the left of the cross? Sun rays?

Zantetsuken

Quote from: Overlord on October 28, 2009, 05:03:49 PM
What is shown to the left of the cross? Sun rays?

To be quite honest, I'm not sure. It's either sun rays, or maybe divine light. However, I think the overall symbolism of the seal is supposed to be about the resurrection of Greece's statehood after centuries of foreign occupation. To take a guess, it probably is sunlight., representing the dawn of a new era.

translateltd

Quote from: Figleaf on October 28, 2009, 11:41:00 AM

A fun detail are the four letters below the phoenix ...  :-X

Peter

Since no-one else has picked up on this:

http://home.planet.nl/~willi063/trivia/antw65.htm

It's a bit like our discussion on using the Hebrew alphabet to represent numbers recently.


Figleaf

For those who failed to practice their Dutch regularly: in classic Greece, numbers were written with letters, as in the modern Hebrew alphabet (something like A = 1, B = 2 etc.). This was also done on the first modern Greek coins. AOKA means 1821. This is not the year of mintage, but the year in which the Greek rebellion against the Ottoman administration started.

Another great text on this page: With the money (1.500.000 rubles) that the Russian government gave to Kapodistrias he sent Al. Kontostaulos to buy the necessary machine and tools to strike coins. Kontostaulos bought the machine that the Knights Hospitaliers of St. John who had moved from Rhodes to Malta. The machine was dates from 1530. Kontostaulos bought it for 100 English Pounds. Although that the machine was dates 1530 many parts of it were dated 1783 and 1797. May be they were some fixings from services at the machine or may be the basic unit was from 1530 and the other parts were changed. However everyone talks with impression about how old the machine was. It was moved to the Governor's house and the works started at 1829. The first coins were stuck at the 27th of June of the same year. Source: www.greekcoins.gr

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Zantetsuken

Quote from: Figleaf on October 29, 2009, 01:05:33 AM
For those who failed to practice their Dutch regularly: in classic Greece, numbers were written with letters, as in the modern Hebrew alphabet (something like A = 1, B = 2 etc.). This was also done on the first modern Greek coins. AOKA means 1821. This is not the year of mintage, but the year in which the Greek rebellion against the Ottoman administration started.

Another great text on this page: With the money (1.500.000 rubles) that the Russian government gave to Kapodistrias he sent Al. Kontostaulos to buy the necessary machine and tools to strike coins. Kontostaulos bought the machine that the Knights Hospitaliers of St. John who had moved from Rhodes to Malta. The machine was dates from 1530. Kontostaulos bought it for 100 English Pounds. Although that the machine was dates 1530 many parts of it were dated 1783 and 1797. May be they were some fixings from services at the machine or may be the basic unit was from 1530 and the other parts were changed. However everyone talks with impression about how old the machine was. It was moved to the Governor's house and the works started at 1829. The first coins were stuck at the 27th of June of the same year. Source: www.greekcoins.gr

Peter

Thanks for the info. Other countries have used letters in place of numerics to date coins as well. For example, Georgia used letters to date their coins when they were under Russian rule. The date '1821' on the Kapodistrias coins was to commemorate the year Greece won independence from the Ottoman Empire. It's a unique and interesting dating system.

Zantetsuken

#7
This next specimen is 10 Lepta (Pearl Circle Variety) dated 1830. Although Kapodistrias's administration began in 1827, Greece didn't gain official recognition as an independent state until February 3, 1830. Kapodistrias issued coins in 1828, 1830 and 1831 when he was assassinated.



GREECE (STATE)~10 Lepta <Pearl Circle> 1830

Figleaf

The coin is crudely struck, but with such ancient presses and tumultuous times that's no surprise, but the design is simply excellent. Remember that there were few republics in 1830 and even less ideas on how to represent them on coins. Avoiding a liberty figure and coming up with the Phoenix was a great thought. I imagine Kapodistrias had a hand in the design himself, as from his biography in Wikipedia he comes across as hard working, serious and honest, though maybe somewhat out of touch with the teeming Greek masses. In fact, very much like today's George Papandreou.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Zantetsuken

Quote from: Figleaf on May 04, 2010, 01:45:29 PM
The coin is crudely struck, but with such ancient presses and tumultuous times that's no surprise, but the design is simply excellent. Remember that there were few republics in 1830 and even less ideas on how to represent them on coins. Avoiding a liberty figure and coming up with the Phoenix was a great thought. I imagine Kapodistrias had a hand in the design himself, as from his biography in Wikipedia he comes across as hard working, serious and honest, though maybe somewhat out of touch with the teeming Greek masses. In fact, very much like today's George Papandreou.

Peter

Hi Peter. Most of the coins were very crude, but the design was indeed beautiful. The phoenix has always been an interesting figure symbolizing rebirth, especially in many parts of Asia. I read the article earlier about Kapodistrias, and found it very interesting. Your right, Kapodistrias seemed very hardworking and for the most part honest although a bit out of touch with the general masses. Since he was of noble and aristocratic birth, it probably would have been hard for him to relate to the general public, but he at least seemed to try. What appeared to be the biggest problem was, he was a man a bit too ahead of his time. In an age where absolutism was still pretty much a norm in Europe (especially East Europe), Kapodistrias's ideas were bound to ruffle feathers of at least a few people. This may have been what lead to his assassination in 1831, although arresting the head of a rival family didn't help matters. I'm not too familiar with George Papandreou, but he sounds like an interesting man. Maybe he'll have better luck than Kapodistrias did.

Zantetsuken

Hey Pete, it's been quite awhile. I'm sorry I've been a stranger. My dad had been ill for the last year and a half, and unfortunately he died in late September of 2011 due to congestive heart failure. Thus I haven't been collecting as much as before. If I come up with anything new or interesting on coins, I'll be happy to share. Take care and have a great new year.

~Daniel

Figleaf

Sorry to hear that, Dan'l. My condolences. Please take your time, but do come back.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

xristaras33

I think that are very nice coins!
And one and from my collection:

kapodistrias

Quote from: Zantetsuken on May 04, 2010, 06:45:40 AM
This next specimen is 10 Lepta (Pearl Circle Variety) dated 1830. Although Kapodistrias's administration began in 1827, Greece didn't gain official recognition as an independent state until February 3, 1830. Kapodistrias issued coins in 1828, 1830 and 1831 when he was assassinated.



GREECE (STATE)~10 Lepta <Pearl Circle> 1830

do you sell it?

Zantetsuken

Quote from: kapodistrias on February 10, 2013, 11:56:59 AM
do you sell it?

Hi Kapodistrias, thanks for your interest. At the moment, I'm not selling or trading any of my coins or notes. Sorry.