Bulletin of the Georgian Numismatic Society

Abstract

A new journal “Bulletin of the Georgian Numismatic Society” is out. The bulletin is divid - ed into two parts: information section, and scientific section. The information section opens with an article about history of the Georgian Numismatic Society written by I. Paghava. Charter and budget of the Society, as well as a guide for the authors follow. The second section contains seven papers dealing with Georgian coins, and a medal dedi - cated to the 1000th anniversary of the Georgian monastery on Mount Athos, struck abroad. In the paper written by I. Paghava, D. Bliadze and P . Chumburidze, the authors discuss several specimens of medieval Georgian copper coins struck by kings Dimitri I, Giorgi III and Tamar (the latter monarch together with certain Giorgi). All specimens were produced by striking the flans with the same pair of dies several times, leaving at least two die imprints on each coin side. The authors argue that the pair of dies were applied to the flan several times purposefully, rather than accidentally . These coins prove that the practice of applying the pair of dies to the flan several times was introduced already in the reign of King Dimitri I. A unique irregular copper coin minted in the name of King Giorgi IV Lasha, constituting a new variety, is published by I. Paghava and S. Turkia. Asomtavruli Inscription on the obverse of the coin is curved on both ends, instead of being distributed in two lines. The authors argue convincingly that the coin was produced at the official state mint, and put into general circulation. A paper by I. Paghava and B. Turkadze concerns King Giorgi IV Lasha’s irregular copper coin with the effigy of the cross on the reverse with Arabic Legend. The authors assume that such coin die was possibly produced on the initiative of a celator or mint staff in general, rather than by the authorities. I. Paghava describes a small hoard, comprising eight irregular copper coins of the 12th and early 13th centuries, minted by Georgian monarchs. The hoard was discovered in an unspecified location in Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia A paper by R. Spanderashvili and I. Paghava concerns a counterfeit Ottoman gold coin from Kakheti, Georgia. X-ray fluorescence analysis has shown that the coin was produced from silver-copper alloy by casting, and plated with gold. The authors assume that this sample could be either produced locally or imported. I. Paghava reviews numismatic and sphragistic data found in Platon Ioseliani’s work “The Life of Giorgi the Thirteenth”. The author notes a number of mistakes in the accounts left by P . Ioseliani. Seals of Iese, son of Ose are also studied. R. Spanderashvili, I. Paghava and S. Turkia first time publish and discuss a bronze medal commemorating 1000 years of Georgian monastic activities on Mount Athos. The medal was minted in 1980 in Greece. The above papers demonstrate novelty and importance to the Georgian numismatics and exonumia.