A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender . They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government . Coins often have images, numerals, or text on them. The faces of coins or medals are sometimes called the obverse and the reverse , referring to the front and back sides, respectively. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads , because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse is known as tails .
180-468: The first metal coins – invented in the ancient Greek world and disseminated during the Hellenistic period – were precious metal –based, and were invented in order to simplify and regularize the task of measuring and weighing bullion (bulk metal) carried around for the purpose of transactions. They carried their value within the coins themselves, but the stampings also induced manipulations, such as
360-668: A "shilling" and twenty shillings a "pound": consistent with e.g. France. Debasement of coin was widespread. There were periods of significant debasement in 1340–60 and 1417–29, when no small coins were minted, and by the 15th century the issuance of small coin was further restricted by government restrictions and even prohibitions. With the exception of the Great Debasement , England's coins were consistently minted from sterling silver (silver content of 92.5%). A lower quality of silver with more copper mixed in, used in Barcelona,
540-546: A 'strongman' was often the best solution. Athens fell under a tyranny in the second half of the 6th century BC. When this tyranny was ended, the Athenians founded the world's first democracy as a radical solution to prevent the aristocracy regaining power. A citizens' assembly (the Ecclesia ), for the discussion of city policy, had existed since the reforms of Draco in 621 BC; all citizens were permitted to attend after
720-741: A chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy. In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia. Charlemagne , in 800 AD, implemented a series of reforms upon becoming " Holy Roman Emperor ", including
900-500: A coalition of 31 Greek city states, including Athens and Sparta, determined to resist the Persian invaders. At the same time, Greek Sicily was invaded by a Carthaginian force. In 480 BC, the first major battle of the invasion was fought at Thermopylae , where a small rearguard of Greeks, led by three hundred Spartans, held a crucial pass guarding the heart of Greece for several days; at the same time Gelon , tyrant of Syracuse, defeated
1080-609: A council of elders (the Gerousia ) and magistrates specifically appointed to watch over the kings (the Ephors ). Only free, land-owning, native born men could be citizens entitled to the full protection of the law in a city-state. In most city-states, unlike the situation in Rome , social prominence did not allow special rights. Sometimes families controlled public religious functions, but this ordinarily did not give any extra power in
1260-585: A day's subsistence, would have been too valuable for buying a loaf of bread. Maybe the first coins to be used for retailing on a large-scale basis were likely small silver fractions, Hemiobol, Ancient Greek coinage minted by the Ionian Greeks in the late sixth century BC. In contrast Herodotus mentioned the innovation made by the Lydians: So far as we have any knowledge, they [the Lydians] were
1440-528: A decisive victory, and in 447 lost Boeotia again. Athens and Sparta signed the Thirty Years' Peace in the winter of 446/5, ending the conflict. Despite the treaty, Athenian relations with Sparta declined again in the 430s, and in 431 BC the Peloponnesian War began. The first phase of the war saw a series of fruitless annual invasions of Attica by Sparta, while Athens successfully fought
1620-516: A full peasant uprising erupted and was only defeated after twenty days of fighting. A destructive flooding of the Huai River in the summer of 1950 prompted large-scale construction of dams on its tributaries in central and southern Henan. Unfortunately, many of the dams were not able to withstand the extraordinarily high levels of rainfall caused by Typhoon Nina in August 1975. Sixty-two dams,
1800-518: A general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to c. 560 BC in Populonia , a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy. In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia,
1980-436: A group of city-states allied themselves to defend Greece, the vast majority of poleis remained neutral, and after the Persian defeat, the allies quickly returned to infighting. Thus, the major peculiarities of the ancient Greek political system were its fragmented nature (and that this does not particularly seem to have tribal origin), and the particular focus on urban centers within otherwise tiny states. The peculiarities of
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#17327649421872160-654: A hero in a stereotypical manner, showing a bust or the full body but never an actual portrait, on their Sigloi and Daric coinage from c. 500 BC. A slightly earlier candidate for the first portrait-coin is Themistocles the Athenian general, who became a Governor of Magnesia on the Meander , c. 465–459 BC, for the Achaemenid Empire, although there is some question as to whether his coins may have represented Zeus rather than himself. Themistocles may have been in
2340-537: A job but to become an effective citizen. Girls also learned to read, write and do simple arithmetic so they could manage the household. They almost never received education after childhood. Henan Henan is a province in Central China . Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu , the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty ( c. 1600 – c. 1050 BC ) and
2520-434: A legend. The most ancient inscribed coin known is from nearby Caria . This coin has a Greek legend reading phaenos emi sema interpreted variously as "I am the badge of Phanes", or "I am the sign of light". The Phanes coins are among the earliest of Greek coins; a hemihekte of the issue was found in the foundation deposit of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos (the oldest deposit of electrum coins discovered). One assumption
2700-401: A little tin, zinc and especially nickel for their anti-corrosive, ductile and anti-fouling properties. Most coins presently are made of a base metal , and their value comes from their status as fiat money . This means that the value of the coin is established by law, and thus is determined by the free market only in as much as national currencies are used in domestic trade and also traded in
2880-571: A population of approximately 93.6 million, Henan is the third most populous Chinese province after Guangdong and Shandong. It is also the fifth most populous sub-national division in the world. If it were a country by itself, it would be the twelfth most populous in the world, just behind Mexico and ahead of the Philippines. However, the hukou system shows Henan as the most populous province in China with over 103 million people, as it counts
3060-760: A result of Epaminondas ' liberation of Messenia from Spartan rule, the helot system there came to an end and the helots won their freedom. However, it did continue to persist in Laconia until the 2nd century BC. For most of Greek history, education was private, except in Sparta. During the Hellenistic period, some city-states established public schools . Only wealthy families could afford a teacher. Boys learned how to read, write and quote literature. They also learned to sing and play one musical instrument and were trained as athletes for military service. They studied not for
3240-553: A sect that is endogenous to Henan is the Tianxian miaodao ). According to a 2007 survey, approximately 8% of the Henanese believe in and are involved in ancestor veneration , the traditional Chinese religion of the lineages organised into lineage churches and ancestral shrines . The Government of Henan is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Henan
3420-403: A source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia. Although many of the first coins illustrated the images of various gods, the first portraiture of actual rulers appears with the coinage of Lycia in the 5th century BC. No ruler had dared illustrating his own portrait on coinage until that time. The Achaemenids had been the first to illustrate the person of their king or
3600-523: A special type of slaves called helots . Helots were Messenians enslaved en masse during the Messenian Wars by the state and assigned to families where they were forced to stay. Helots raised food and did household chores so that women could concentrate on raising strong children while men could devote their time to training as hoplites . Their masters treated them harshly, and helots revolted against their masters several times. In 370/69 BC, as
3780-513: A unique position in which he could transfer the notion of individual portraiture , already current in the Greek world, and at the same time wield the dynastic power of an Achaemenid dynasty who could issue his own coins and illustrate them as he wished. From the time of Alexander the Great , portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage. The Karshapana
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#17327649421873960-722: A war with the Roman Republic in the late 3rd century. Although the First Macedonian War was inconclusive, the Romans, in typical fashion, continued to fight Macedon until it was completely absorbed into the Roman Republic (by 149 BC). In the east, the unwieldy Seleucid Empire gradually disintegrated, although a rump survived until 64 BC, whilst the Ptolemaic Kingdom continued in Egypt until 30 BC when it too
4140-660: A while, the copper in US pennies was worth more than one cent, so people would hoard pennies and then melt them down for their metal value. It cost more than face value to manufacture pennies or nickels, so any widespread loss of the coins in circulation could be expensive for the US Treasury . This was more of a problem when coins were still made of precious metals like silver and gold, so strict laws against alteration make more sense historically. 31 CFR § 82.2(b) goes on to state that: "The prohibition contained in § 82.1 against
4320-632: A year, the Thirty had been overthrown. The first half of the fourth century saw the major Greek states attempt to dominate the mainland; none were successful, and their resulting weakness led to a power vacuum which would eventually be filled by Macedon under Philip II and then Alexander the Great. In the immediate aftermath of the Peloponnesian war, Sparta attempted to extend their own power, leading Argos, Athens, Corinth, and Thebes to join against them. Aiming to prevent any single Greek state gaining
4500-405: Is China's third-most populous province with a population of over 99 million as of 2020. It is also the world's seventh-most populous administrative division; if it were a country by itself, Henan would be the 14th-most populous in the world , ahead of Egypt and Vietnam . People from Henan often suffer from regional discrimination . Henan is the 5th-largest provincial economy of China,
4680-580: Is Laoyachanao ( 老鸦岔垴 ). The Yellow River passes through central Henan. It enters from the northwest, via the Sanmenxia Reservoir . After it passes Luoyang, the mountains gave way to plains. Excessive amount of sediments are formed due to the silt it picks up from the Loess Plateau, raising the river bed and causing frequent floods which shaped the habitat of the region. More recently however, construction of dams and levees , as well as
4860-889: Is also influenced to some extent by those factors, but is largely based on the value of their gold, silver, or platinum content. Sometimes non-monetized bullion coins such as the Canadian Maple Leaf and the American Gold Eagle are minted with nominal face values less than the value of the metal in them, but as such coins are never intended for circulation, these face values have no relevance. Collector catalogs often include information about coins to assists collectors with identifying and grading. Additional resources can be found online for collectors These are collector clubs, collection management tools, marketplaces, trading platforms, and forums, Coins can be used as creative media of expression – from fine art sculpture to
5040-522: Is another important agricultural and population center, with culture and history distinct from the rest of Henan and closer to that of Hubei's. Unlike the rest of northern China, desertification is not a problem in Henan, though sandstorms are common in cities near the Yellow River due to the large amount of sand present in the river. At 2413.8 meters above sea level, the highest point in Henan province
5220-465: Is debated. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides , Xenophon , Demosthenes , Plato and Aristotle . Most were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than of many other cities. Their scope is further limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic and social history. The archaic period, lasting from approximately 800 to 500 BC, saw
5400-484: Is evident that some were official state issues. The earliest inscribed coins are those of Phanes , dated to 625–600 BC from Ephesus in Ionia , with the legend ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ (or similar) ("I am the badge/sign/mark of Phanes/light") or just bearing the name ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ("of Phanes"). The first electrum coins issued by a monarch are those minted by king Alyattes of Lydia (died c. 560 BC ), for which reason this king
5580-421: Is hoped that the province may become an important transportation and manufacturing hub in the years to come. In July 2021, extreme flooding inflicted an estimated US$ 12.7 billion of economic damage in Henan. Henan has some of the most advanced transportation system in China due to its flat terrain and its location at the heart of central China's construction boom . The Jingguang and Longhai Railway ,
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5760-522: Is known from much more fragmentary documents such as annals, king lists, and pragmatic epigraphy . Herodotus is widely known as the "father of history": his Histories are eponymous of the entire field . Written between the 450s and 420s BC, Herodotus' work reaches about a century into the past, discussing 6th century BC historical figures such as Darius I of Persia , Cambyses II and Psamtik III , and alluding to some 8th century BC persons such as Candaules . The accuracy of Herodotus' works
5940-458: Is mountainous, and as a result, ancient Greece consisted of many smaller regions, each with its own dialect, cultural peculiarities, and identity. Regionalism and regional conflicts were prominent features of ancient Greece. Cities tended to be located in valleys between mountains, or on coastal plains, and dominated a certain area around them. In the south lay the Peloponnese , consisting of
6120-486: Is sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage. The successor of Alyattes, king Croesus (r. c. 560–546 BC), became associated with great wealth in Greek historiography. He is credited with issuing the Croeseid , the first true gold coins with a standardized purity for general circulation. and the world's first bimetallic monetary system c. 550 BC. Coins spread rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, leading to
6300-560: Is that Phanes was a mercenary mentioned by Herodotus, another that this coin is associated with the primeval god Phanes or "Phanes" might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis. Barclay V. Head found these suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus". Another candidate for the site of the earliest coins is Aegina , where Chelone ("turtle") coins were first minted c. 700 BC. Coins from Athens and Corinth appeared shortly thereafter, known to exist at least since
6480-773: Is the earliest punch-marked coin found in India, produced from at least the mid-4th century BC, and possibly as early as 575 BC, influenced by similar coins produced in Gandhara under the Achaemenid empire, such as those of the Kabul hoard , or other examples found at Pushkalavati and in Bhir Mound . In China , early round coins appeared in the 4th century BC and were adopted for all China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di at
6660-655: Is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Henan. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Henan Chinese Communist Party Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Henan CCP Party Chief ". Henan has seen rapid development in its economy over the past two decades, and its economy has expanded at an even faster rate than
6840-479: Is unclear exactly how this change occurred. For instance, in Athens, the kingship had been reduced to a hereditary, lifelong chief magistracy ( archon ) by c. 1050 BC; by 753 BC this had become a decennial, elected archonship; and finally by 683 BC an annually elected archonship. Through each stage, more power would have been transferred to the aristocracy as a whole, and away from a single individual. Inevitably,
7020-596: The 2€ commemorative coins and U.S. America the Beautiful quarters . Early metal coinage came into use about the time of the Axial Age in West Asia , in the Greek world, in northern India, and in China. Metal ingots , silver bullion or unmarked bars were probably in use for exchange among many of the civilizations that mastered metallurgy. The weight and purity of bullion would be the key determinant of value. In
7200-700: The Achaemenid Empire in the early 6th century BC, coinage was yet unknown. The barter system, as well as silver bullion were used instead for trade. The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current in Central Asia from the 6th century BC. Coins were an evolution of "currency" systems of the Late Bronze Age , when various cultures used standard-sized ingots and tokens such as knife money to store and transfer value. Phoenician metal ingots had to be stamped with
7380-710: The Archaic period , the Greek population grew beyond the capacity of the limited arable land of Greece proper, resulting in the large-scale establishment of colonies elsewhere: according to one estimate, the population of the widening area of Greek settlement increased roughly tenfold from 800 BC to 400 BC, from 800,000 to as many as 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 -10 million. This was not simply for trade, but also to found settlements. These Greek colonies were not, as Roman colonies were, dependent on their mother-city, but were independent city-states in their own right. Greeks settled outside of Greece in two distinct ways. The first
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7560-491: The Austrian occupation of Genoa in 1746. Variations in the mass of precious metals used in international trade, particularly in imports of spices and textiles into Europe, explain the numerous monetary reforms that occurred in this period. The effect of these transactions on the available reserves of gold and silver was at the origin of the various monetary reforms, which changed the price of silver compared to gold. Faced with
7740-643: The Battle of Aegospotami , and began to blockade Athens' harbour; driven by hunger, Athens sued for peace, agreeing to surrender their fleet and join the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League. Following the Athenian surrender, Sparta installed an oligarchic regime, the Thirty Tyrants , in Athens, one of a number of Spartan-backed oligarchies which rose to power after the Peloponnesian war. Spartan predominance did not last: after only
7920-884: The British sovereign minted by the United Kingdom, the American Gold Eagle minted by the United States, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf minted by Canada, and the Krugerrand , minted by South Africa. While the Eagle and Sovereign coins have nominal (purely symbolic) face values, the Krugerrand does not. Commemorative coins usually serve as collectors items only, although some countries also issue commemorative coins for regular circulation, such as
8100-622: The Chinese culture in a process known as sinification . The short-lived Sui dynasty reunified China again in 589 with its capital back in Chang'an. It collapsed due to Sui Emperor Yang's costly attempt to relocate the capital from Chang'an to Luoyang and the construction of many extravagant palaces there. The succeeding Tang dynasty (618–907) kept its capital in Chang'an , marking the beginning of China's second golden age, with Henan being one of
8280-576: The Delian League gradually transformed from a defensive alliance of Greek states into an Athenian empire, as Athens' growing naval power intimidated the other league states. Athens ended its campaigns against Persia in 450, after a disastrous defeat in Egypt in 454, and the death of Cimon in action against the Persians on Cyprus in 450. As the Athenian fight against the Persian empire waned, conflict grew between Athens and Sparta. Suspicious of
8460-534: The Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) began, extending the golden age for another two centuries. The late Eastern Han dynasty saw war and rivalry between regional warlords. Xuchang in central Henan was the power base of Cao Cao , who eventually succeeded in unifying all of northern China under the Kingdom of Wei . Wei then moved its capital to Luoyang, which remained the capital after the unification of China by
8640-587: The Greco-Persian Wars to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, and which included the Golden Age of Athens and the Peloponnesian War . The unification of Greece by Macedon under Philip II and subsequent conquest of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great spread Hellenistic civilization across the Middle East. The Hellenistic Period is considered to have ended in 30 BC, when
8820-709: The Mongol onslaught. In 1234 they succumbed to combined Mongol and Song dynasty forces. Mongols took control, and in 1279 they conquered all of China, establishing the Yuan dynasty and set up the equivalent of modern Henan, with borders very similar to the modern ones. Neither its territories nor its role in the economy changed under later dynasties. Henan remained important in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and Qing dynasty (1644–1911) that followed, though its economy slowly deteriorated due to frequent natural disasters. The Qing dynasty
9000-740: The Paeonians due north, the Thracians to the northeast, and the Illyrians , with whom the Macedonians were frequently in conflict, to the northwest. Chalcidice was settled early on by southern Greek colonists and was considered part of the Greek world, while from the late 2nd millennium BC substantial Greek settlement also occurred on the eastern shores of the Aegean , in Anatolia . During
9180-400: The Parthenon of Athens. Politically, the Classical Period was dominated by Athens and the Delian League during the 5th century, but displaced by Spartan hegemony during the early 4th century BC, before power shifted to Thebes and the Boeotian League and finally to the League of Corinth led by Macedon . This period was shaped by the Greco-Persian Wars , the Peloponnesian War , and
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#17327649421879360-403: The Rise of Macedon . Following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period (323–146 BC), during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East from the death of Alexander until the Roman conquest. Roman Greece is usually counted from the Roman victory over the Corinthians at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC to the establishment of Byzantium by Constantine as
9540-504: The Shaolin Temple . Four of the historical capitals of China , Luoyang , Anyang , Kaifeng and Zhengzhou , are in Henan. While the province's name means 'south of the river', approximately a quarter of the province lies north of the Yellow River . With an area of 167,000 km (64,000 sq mi), Henan covers a large part of the fertile and densely populated North China Plain . Its neighboring provinces are Shaanxi , Shanxi , Hebei , Shandong , Anhui , and Hubei . Henan
9720-472: The Venetian sequin , minted from 1284 to 1797, was the most prestigious gold coin in circulation in the commercial centers of the Mediterranean Sea . The Florentine florin was the first European gold coin struck in sufficient quantities since the 7th century to play a significant commercial role. The Florentine florin was used for larger transactions such as those used in dowries, international trade or for tax-related matters. Genoese coins became important in
9900-425: The Xia dynasty , the first and largely legendary Chinese dynasty that was established, roughly, in the 21st century BC. Virtually the entire kingdom existed within what is now north and central Henan. The Xia dynasty collapsed around the 16th century BC following the invasion of Shang , a neighboring vassal state centered around today's Shangqiu in eastern Henan. The Shang dynasty (16th–11th centuries BC)
10080-425: The Yellow River have caused significant damage from time to time. Kaifeng , in particular, has been buried by China's Yellow River's silt seven times due to flooding. Archaeological sites reveal that prehistoric cultures such as the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture were active in what is now northern Henan since the Neolithic Era . The more recent Erlitou culture has been controversially identified with
10260-449: The poleis grouped themselves into leagues, membership of which was in a constant state of flux. Later in the Classical period, the leagues would become fewer and larger, be dominated by one city (particularly Athens , Sparta and Thebes ); and often poleis would be compelled to join under threat of war (or as part of a peace treaty). Even after Philip II of Macedon conquered the heartlands of ancient Greece, he did not attempt to annex
10440-417: The siege of Pavia in 1524. Auxiliary coins consisted, among the Greeks and Romans as in our modern societies, of coins strongly linked to copper. In particular, the red copper alloy was used for its physical properties, suitable for objects constantly subjected to manipulation: malleability, resistance to impacts, wear and corrosion (only gold has better resistance to corrosion). This alloy was often mixed with
10620-411: The 146 BC conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. Macedonia became a Roman province while southern Greece came under the surveillance of Macedonia's prefect ; however, some Greek poleis managed to maintain a partial independence and avoid taxation. The Aegean Islands were added to this territory in 133 BC. Athens and other Greek cities revolted in 88 BC, and the peninsula was crushed by
10800-435: The 16th century during the Golden age of Genoese banking , with the Spanish Empire funnelling its massive wealth from Spanish America through the Bank of Saint George . With the decline in the fortunes of the Genoese banks and the Spanish Empire in the 17th century, however, the Genoese lira also depreciated substantially. The silver scudo's value increased to 6.5 lire in 1646, 7.4 lire in 1671, and 8.74 lire just before
10980-454: The 5th and 4th centuries BC. The deposit of the hoard is dated to the Achaemenid period, in approximately 380 BC. The hoard also contained many locally produced silver coins, minted by local authorities under Achaemenid rule. Several of these issues follow the "western designs" of the facing bull heads, a stag, or Persian column capitals on the obverse, and incuse punch on the reverse. According to numismatist Joe Cribb , these finds suggest that
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#173276494218711160-401: The Carthaginian invasion at the Battle of Himera . The Persians were decisively defeated at sea by a primarily Athenian naval force at the Battle of Salamis , and on land in 479 BC at the Battle of Plataea . The alliance against Persia continued, initially led by the Spartan Pausanias but from 477 by Athens, and by 460 Persia had been driven out of the Aegean. During this long campaign,
11340-466: The Corinthian empire in northwest Greece and defended its own empire, despite a plague which killed the leading Athenian statesman Pericles . The war turned after Athenian victories led by Cleon at Pylos and Sphakteria , and Sparta sued for peace, but the Athenians rejected the proposal. The Athenian failure to regain control of Boeotia at Delium and Brasidas ' successes in northern Greece in 424 improved Sparta's position after Sphakteria. After
11520-415: The Dark Ages was the Archaic Period , beginning around the 8th century BC, which saw early developments in Greek culture and society leading to the Classical Period from the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC until the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. The Classical Period is characterized by a "classical" style, i.e. one which was considered exemplary by later observers, most famously in
11700-533: The East Asian monsoon , and generally cool to cold, windy, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone . Temperatures average around the freezing mark in January and 27 to 28 °C in July. A great majority of the annual rainfall occurs during the summer. Henan is divided into seventeen prefecture-level divisions : all prefecture-level cities ; along with one directly administered county-level city (a sub-prefecture-level city ): ** – Directly administered county-level divisions (Jiyuan
11880-423: The Ephesian Artemision (which would later evolve into one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ). This was the site of the earliest known deposit of electrum coins. Anatolian Artemis was the Πότνια Θηρῶν ( Potnia Thêrôn , "Mistress of Animals"), whose symbol was the stag . It took some time before ancient coins were used for commerce and trade. Even the smallest-denomination electrum coins, perhaps worth about
12060-480: The GDP of Turkey of 815 billion. If it were a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy as well as the 14th most populous as of 2021. However, per capita GDP is low compared to other eastern and central provinces. Henan is a semi-industrialized economy with an underdeveloped service sector . Agriculture has traditionally been a pillar of its economy, with the nation's highest wheat and sesame output and second highest rice output, earning its reputation as
12240-434: The Greek city states of the classical period, their coins tended to be more mass-produced, as well as larger, and more frequently in gold. They often lacked the aesthetic delicacy of coins of the earlier period. Still, some of the Greco-Bactrian coins, and those of their successors in India, the Indo-Greeks , are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including
12420-416: The Greek city-states. It greatly widened the horizons of the Greeks and led to a steady emigration of the young and ambitious to the new Greek empires in the east. Many Greeks migrated to Alexandria, Antioch and the many other new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake, as far away as present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan , where the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom survived until
12600-460: The Greek colonies Syracusae ( Συράκουσαι ), Neapolis ( Νεάπολις ), Massalia ( Μασσαλία ) and Byzantion ( Βυζάντιον ). These colonies played an important role in the spread of Greek influence throughout Europe and also aided in the establishment of long-distance trading networks between the Greek city-states, boosting the economy of ancient Greece . Ancient Greece consisted of several hundred relatively independent city-states ( poleis ). This
12780-470: The Greek colony Sybaris in southern Italy, its allies, and the Serdaioi. In 499 BC, the Ionian city states under Persian rule rebelled against their Persian-supported tyrant rulers. Supported by troops sent from Athens and Eretria , they advanced as far as Sardis and burnt the city before being driven back by a Persian counterattack. The revolt continued until 494, when the rebelling Ionians were defeated. Darius did not forget that Athens had assisted
12960-483: The Greek system are further evidenced by the colonies that they set up throughout the Mediterranean , which, though they might count a certain Greek polis as their 'mother' (and remain sympathetic to her), were completely independent of the founding city. Inevitably smaller poleis might be dominated by larger neighbors, but conquest or direct rule by another city-state appears to have been quite rare. Instead
13140-419: The Greek word for rose is rhodon . The use of inscriptions on coins also began, usually the name of the issuing city. The wealthy cities of Sicily produced some especially fine coins. The large silver decadrachm (10-drachm) coin from Syracuse is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever. Syracusan issues were rather standard in their imprints, one side bearing
13320-815: The Greeks began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions. To the east, the Aegean coast of Asia Minor was colonized first, followed by Cyprus and the coasts of Thrace , the Sea of Marmara and south coast of the Black Sea . Eventually, Greek colonization reached as far northeast as present-day Ukraine and Russia ( Taganrog ). To the west the coasts of Illyria , Southern Italy (called " Magna Graecia ") were settled, followed by Southern France , Corsica , and even eastern Spain . Greek colonies were also founded in Egypt and Libya . Modern Syracuse , Naples , Marseille and Istanbul had their beginnings as
13500-423: The Greeks were very aware of their tribal origins; Herodotus was able to extensively categorise the city-states by tribe. Yet, although these higher-level relationships existed, they seem to have rarely had a major role in Greek politics. The independence of the poleis was fiercely defended; unification was something rarely contemplated by the ancient Greeks. Even when, during the second Persian invasion of Greece,
13680-535: The Ionian revolt, and in 490 he assembled an armada to retaliate. Though heavily outnumbered, the Athenians—supported by their Plataean allies—defeated the Persian hordes at the Battle of Marathon , and the Persian fleet turned tail. Ten years later, a second invasion was launched by Darius' son Xerxes . The city-states of northern and central Greece submitted to the Persian forces without resistance, but
13860-483: The League of Corinth following the death of Philip, Alexander began his campaign against Persia in 334 BC. He conquered Persia, defeating Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, and after the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC proclaimed himself king of Asia. From 329 BC he led expeditions to Bactria and then India; further plans to invade Arabia and North Africa were halted by his death in 323 BC. The period from
14040-594: The Lydian coinage as such, and continued to strike Lydia's lion-and-bull coinage. Original coins of the Achaemenid Empire were issued from 520 BC – 450 BC to 330 BC. The Persian Daric was the first truly Achaemenid gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the Siglos , represented the bimetallic monetary standard of the Achaemenid Persian Empire . The Achaemenid Empire already reached
14220-719: The Mediterranean and soon after to North Africa (including Egypt), Syria, Persia, and the Balkans. Coins came late to the Roman Republic compared with the rest of the Mediterranean , especially Greece and Asia Minor where coins were invented in the 7th century BC. The currency of central Italy was influenced by its natural resources, with bronze being abundant (the Etruscans were famous metal workers in bronze and iron) and silver ore being scarce. The coinage of
14400-523: The Mediterranean region is commonly considered to have begun in the 8th century BC (around the time of the earliest recorded poetry of Homer) and ended in the 6th century AD. Classical antiquity in Greece was preceded by the Greek Dark Ages ( c. 1200 – c. 800 BC ), archaeologically characterised by the protogeometric and geometric styles of designs on pottery. Following
14580-796: The Mexican Mint was established on May 11, 1535, by order of the Spanish king following the Spanish colonization of the Americas . Opened in April 1536, this mint had the right to mint silver Spanish real which became the basis of the monetary system of the Spanish Empire . Louis XIII had the Louis d'or minted in 1640 to compete with these coins. The first attested siege coins appeared at
14760-565: The Persian Empire after 546 BC, following his conquest of Lydia and the defeat of its king Croesus , who had put in place the first coinage in history. With his conquest of Lydia, Cyrus acquired a region in which coinage was invented, developed through advanced metallurgy, and had already been in circulation for about 50 years, making the Lydian Kingdom one of the leading trade powers of the time. It seems Cyrus initially adopted
14940-549: The Roman Republic started with a few silver coins apparently devised for trade with Celtic in northern Italy and the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, and heavy cast bronze pieces for use in Central Italy. The first Roman coins , which were crude, heavy cast bronzes, were issued c. 289 BC. Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to about 550 BC in Populonia ,
15120-737: The Roman general Sulla . The Roman civil wars devastated the land even further, until Augustus organized the peninsula as the province of Achaea in 27 BC. Greece was a key eastern province of the Roman Empire, as the Roman culture had long been in fact Greco-Roman . The Greek language served as a lingua franca in the East and in Italy , and many Greek intellectuals such as Galen would perform most of their work in Rome . The territory of Greece
15300-533: The Western Jin dynasty . During this period Luoyang became one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the world, despite being repeatedly damaged by warfare. With the fall of the Western Jin dynasty in the 4th and 5th centuries, nomadic peoples from the north invaded northern China and established many successive regimes in northern China, including Henan. These people were gradually assimilated into
15480-552: The Yangtze delta Jiangnan region (modern southern Jiangsu , northern Zhejiang , and Shanghai) made this the new center of Chinese culture and economy. Kaifeng served as the Jurchen's "southern capital" from 1157 (other sources say 1161) and was reconstructed during this time. But the Jurchen kept their main capital further north, until 1214, when they were forced to move the imperial court southwards to Kaifeng in order to flee
15660-486: The Zhou coins are divided up into categories of knives, spades, and round coins, it is apparent from archaeological finds that most of the various kinds circulated together. A hoard found in 1981, near Hebi in north Henan province, consisted of: 3,537 Gong spades, 3 Anyi arched foot spades, 8 Liang Dang Lie spades, 18 Liang square foot spades and 1,180 Yuan round coins, all contained in three clay jars. The Hellenistic period
15840-546: The amount of copper in each penny. Since mid-1982, United States pennies are made of 97.5% zinc, with the remaining 2.5% being a coating of copper. Extreme differences between face values and metal values of coins cause coins to be hoarded or removed from circulation by illicit smelters in order to realize the value of their metal content. This is an example of Gresham's law . The United States Mint , in an attempt to avoid this, implemented new interim rules on December 14, 2006, subject to public comment for 30 days, which criminalized
16020-579: The ancient Greeks did not think in terms of race . Most families owned slaves as household servants and laborers, and even poor families might have owned a few slaves. Owners were not allowed to beat or kill their slaves. Owners often promised to free slaves in the future to encourage slaves to work hard. Unlike in Rome, freedmen did not become citizens. Instead, they were mixed into the population of metics , which included people from foreign countries or other city-states who were officially allowed to live in
16200-715: The ancient city Guanzhuang in Henan province in China . The factory produced shovel-shaped bronze coins between 640 B.C. and 550 B.C., making it the oldest securely-dated minting-site. The earliest coins are mostly associated with Iron Age Anatolia of the late 7th century BC, and especially with the kingdom of Lydia . Early electrum coins (an alluvial alloy of gold and silver, varying wildly in proportion, and usually about 40–55% gold) were not standardized in weight, and in their earliest stage may have been ritual objects, such as badges or medals, issued by priests. The unpredictability of
16380-437: The breadbasket of China. Henan is also an important producer of beef, cotton, maize, pork, animal oil , and corn. Although Henan's industry has traditionally been based on light textiles and food processing , recent developments have diversified the industry sector to metallurgy , petrol, cement, chemical industry , machinery and electronics . Mining-related industries are a major part of Henan's economy. Henan has
16560-480: The capital and political and economical center was moved away from Henan for the first time. The Spring and Autumn period , a period of warfare and rivalry, began in 721 BC. What is now Henan and all of China was divided into a variety of small, independent states, constantly at war for control of the central plain. Although regarded formally as the ruler of China, the control that Zhou king in Luoyang exerted over
16740-560: The capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD. Finally, Late Antiquity refers to the period of Christianization during the later 4th to early 6th centuries AD, consummated by the closure of the Academy of Athens by Justinian I in 529. The historical period of ancient Greece is unique in world history as the first period attested directly in comprehensive, narrative historiography , while earlier ancient history or protohistory
16920-666: The center, while in the east lay Boeotia , Attica , and Megaris . Northeast lay Thessaly , while Epirus lay to the northwest. Epirus stretched from the Ambracian Gulf in the south to the Ceraunian Mountains and the Aoos river in the north, and consisted of Chaonia (north), Molossia (center), and Thesprotia (south). In the northeast corner was Macedonia , originally consisting Lower Macedonia and its regions, such as Elimeia , Pieria , and Orestis . Around
17100-414: The clipping of coins to remove some of the precious metal. Most modern coinage metals are base metal , and their value comes from their status as fiat money — the value of the coin is established by law. In the last hundred years, the face value of circulated coins has occasionally been lower than the value of the metal they contain, primarily due to inflation . If the difference becomes significant,
17280-487: The composition of naturally occurring electrum implied that it had a variable value, which greatly hampered its development. Most of the early Lydian coins include no writing ("myth" or "inscription"), only an image of a symbolic animal. Therefore, the dating of these coins relies primarily on archaeological evidence, with the most commonly cited evidence coming from excavations at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , also called
17460-575: The core of the Han Chinese homeland for the first time. The empire quickly collapsed after the death (210 BCE) of Ying Zheng and was replaced by the Han dynasty in 206 BC, with its capital at Chang'an. Thus, a golden age of Chinese culture, economy, and military power began. The capital moved east to Luoyang in 25 AD, in response to a coup in Chang'an that created the short-lived Xin dynasty . Luoyang quickly regained control of China, and
17640-482: The country. Zhengzhou East Railway Station is one of the largest high speed railway stations in China and the world. Henan's expressway system is highly developed and the total length is approximately 5,000 km (3,100 mi), the highest total for any Chinese province. The state of air transport is less stellar, the only 3 public airports are located in Xinzheng (near Zhengzhou), Luoyang , and Nanyang . Henan
17820-455: The course of the archaic period. Already in the seventh century, the right of all citizen men to attend the assembly appears to have been established. After a failed coup led by Cylon of Athens around 636 BC, Draco was appointed to establish a code of laws in 621. This failed to reduce the political tension between the poor and the elites, and in 594 Solon was given the authority to enact another set of reforms, which attempted to balance
18000-473: The course of the eighth and seventh century. According to Spartan tradition, this constitution was established by the legendary lawgiver Lycurgus . Over the course of the first and second Messenian wars , Sparta subjugated the neighbouring region of Messenia , enserfing the population. In the sixth century, Greek city-states began to develop formal relationships with one another, where previously individual rulers had relied on personal relationships with
18180-410: The cradles of Chinese civilization along with the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, Henan is known for its historical prosperity and periodic downturns. The economic prosperity resulted from its extensive fertile plains and its location at the heart of the country. However, its strategic location also means that it has suffered from nearly all of the major wars in China. In addition, the numerous floods of
18360-574: The culmination of political and social developments which had begun in the Greek dark age, with the polis (city-state) becoming the most important unit of political organisation in Greece. The absence of powerful states in Greece after the collapse of Mycenaean power, and the geography of Greece, where many settlements were separated from their neighbours by mountainous terrain, encouraged the development of small independent city-states. Several Greek states saw tyrants rise to power in this period, most famously at Corinth from 657 BC. The period also saw
18540-461: The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC until the death of Cleopatra , the last Macedonian ruler of Egypt, is known as the Hellenistic period. In the early part of this period, a new form of kingship developed based on Macedonian and Near Eastern traditions. The first Hellenistic kings were previously Alexander's generals, and took power in the period following his death, though they were not part of existing royal lineages and lacked historic claims to
18720-423: The deaths of Cleon and Brasidas, the strongest proponents of war on each side, a peace treaty was negoitiated in 421 by the Athenian general Nicias . The peace did not last, however. In 418 BC allied forces of Athens and Argos were defeated by Sparta at Mantinea . In 415 Athens launched an ambitious naval expedition to dominate Sicily; the expedition ended in disaster at the harbor of Syracuse , with almost
18900-460: The deaths of at least 13 third-grade students between nine and ten years old. In the same month also the 2024 Pingdingshan mining explosion occurred. Henan has a diverse landscape with floodplains in the east and mountains in the west. Much of the province forms part the densely populated North China Plain , an area known as the "breadbasket of China". The Taihang Mountains intrude partially into Henan's northwestern borders from Shanxi , forming
19080-413: The depletion of water resources have ended the floods. The Huai River in southern Henan is another important river, and has been recognized as part of the boundary dividing northern and southern Chinese climate and culture . Henan shares borders with six other provinces. It is bordered to the west by Shaanxi , to the south by Hubei , and to the north by Shanxi (northwest) and Hebei (northeast). To
19260-421: The development of Ancient Greek coinage and Achaemenid coinage , and further to Illyrian coinage . When Cyrus the Great (550–530 BC) came to power, coinage was unfamiliar in his realm. Barter and to some extent silver bullion was used instead for trade. The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current in Central Asia from the 6th century. Cyrus the Great introduced coins to
19440-526: The distinct monetary systems developed by Genoa , Venice or Florence , the widespread use in the 15th century of the silver thaler , of constant size and mass, allowed conversion operations to be limited and therefore exchanges facilitated. The thaler was the monetary unit of the Germanic countries until the 19th century and is considered the ancestor of the United States dollar . At the same time,
19620-674: The dominance that would allow it to challenge Persia, the Persian king initially joined the alliance against Sparta, before imposing the Peace of Antalcidas ("King's Peace") which restored Persia's control over the Anatolian Greeks. By 371 BC, Thebes was in the ascendancy, defeating Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra , killing the Spartan king Cleombrotus I , and invading Laconia. Further Theban successes against Sparta in 369 led to Messenia gaining independence; Sparta never recovered from
19800-409: The domination of politics and concomitant aggregation of wealth by small groups of families was apt to cause social unrest in many poleis . In many cities a tyrant (not in the modern sense of repressive autocracies), would at some point seize control and govern according to their own will; often a populist agenda would help sustain them in power. In a system wracked with class conflict , government by
19980-604: The doors of India during the original expansion of Cyrus the Great , and the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley is dated to c. 515 BC under Darius I . An Achaemenid administration was established in the area. The Kabul hoard , also called the Chaman Hazouri hoard, is a coin hoard discovered in the vicinity of Kabul , Afghanistan , containing numerous Achaemenid coins as well as many Greek coins from
20160-489: The early 1970s, China was one of the poorest countries in the world, and Henan was one of the poorest provinces in China. In 1978, however, when the communist leader Deng Xiaoping initiated the open door policy and embraced capitalism, China entered an economic boom that continues today. The boom did not reach inland provinces such as Henan initially, but by the 1990s Henan's economy was expanding at an even faster rate than that of China overall. In November 2004, martial law
20340-420: The east lie Shandong (northeast) and Anhui (southeast), whose borders meet at a narrow strip of land which separates Henan from Jiangsu to the east. Henan has a temperate climate that is humid subtropical ( Köppen Cwa or Cfa ) to the south of the Yellow River and bordering on humid continental (Köppen Dwa ) to the north. It has a distinct seasonal climate characterised by hot, humid summers due to
20520-726: The east to the Indian king Chandragupta Maurya in exchange for war elephants, and later lost large parts of Persia to the Parthian Empire . By the mid-third century, the kingdoms of Alexander's successors was mostly stable, though there continued to be disputes over border areas. The great capitals of Hellenistic culture were Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Antioch in the Seleucid Empire . The conquests of Alexander had numerous consequences for
20700-681: The eastern edge of Loess Plateau . To the west the Xionger and Funiu Mountains form an extensive network of mountain ranges and plateaus, supporting one of the few remaining temperate deciduous forests which once covered all of Henan. The renowned Mount Song and its Shaolin Temple is located in the far east of the region, near the capital city Zhengzhou. To the far south, the Dabie Mountains divides Hubei from Henan. The Nanyang Basin , separated from North China Plain by these mountains,
20880-552: The elites of other cities. Towards the end of the archaic period, Sparta began to build a series of alliances, the Peloponnesian League , with cities including Corinth , Elis , and Megara , isolating Messenia and reinforcing Sparta's position against Argos , the other major power in the Peloponnese. Other alliances in the sixth century included those between Elis and Heraea in the Peloponnese; and between
21060-510: The end of 3rd century BC. The round coin, the precursor of the familiar cash coin , circulated in both the spade and knife money areas in the Zhou period, from around 350 BC. Apart from two small and presumably late coins from the State of Qin, coins from the spade money area have a round hole and refer to the jin and liang units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and are denominated in hua (化). Although for discussion purposes
21240-619: The end of the first century BC. The city-states within Greece formed themselves into two leagues; the Achaean League (including Corinth and Argos) and the Aetolian League (including Sparta and Athens). For much of the period until the Roman conquest, these leagues were at war, often participating in the conflicts between the Diadochi (the successor states to Alexander's empire). The Antigonid Kingdom became involved in
21420-609: The entire army killed, and the ships destroyed. Soon after the Athenian defeat in Syracuse, Athens' Ionian allies began to rebel against the Delian league, while Persia began to once again involve itself in Greek affairs on the Spartan side. Initially the Athenian position continued relatively strong, with important victories at Cyzicus in 410 and Arginusae in 406. However, in 405 the Spartan Lysander defeated Athens in
21600-467: The epicenters of numismatic art during the classical period. Led by the engravers Kimon and Euainetos, Syracuse produced some of the finest coin designs of antiquity. Amongst the first centers to produce coins during the Greek colonization of Southern Italy (the so-called " Magna Graecia ") were Paestum , Crotone , Sybaris , Caulonia , Metapontum , and Taranto . These ancient cities started producing coins from 550 BC to 510 BC. Amisano, in
21780-666: The era of classical antiquity was immediately followed by the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine period. Three centuries after the decline of Mycenaean Greece during the Bronze Age Collapse , Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC, ushering in the Archaic period and the colonization of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the age of Classical Greece , from
21960-540: The exact borders of the Hellenistic kingdoms were not settled. Antigonus attempted to expand his territory by attacking the other successor kingdoms until they joined against him, and he was killed at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. His son Demetrius spent many years in Seleucid captivity, and his son, Antigonus II , only reclaimed the Macedonian throne around 276. Meanwhile, the Seleucid kingdom gave up territory in
22140-480: The feudal kingdoms had virtually disappeared. Despite the prolonged period of instability, prominent philosophers such as Confucius emerged in this era and offered their ideas on how a state should be run. Laozi , the founder of Taoism , was born in northern Chu , part of modern-day Henan. Later on, these states were replaced by seven large and powerful states during the Warring States period , and Henan
22320-455: The first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins, and the first who sold goods by retail. And both Aristotle (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and Pollux (Onamastikon IX.83), mention that the first issuer of coinage was Hermodike/Demodike of Cyme . Cyme was a city in Aeolia , nearby Lydia. Another example of local pride is the dispute about coinage, whether the first one to strike it
22500-469: The founding of Greek colonies around the Mediterranean, with Euboean settlements at Al-Mina in the east as early as 800 BC, and Ischia in the west by 775. Increasing contact with non-Greek peoples in this period, especially in the Near East, inspired developments in art and architecture, the adoption of coinage, and the development of the Greek alphabet. Athens developed its democratic system over
22680-426: The government. Despite these efforts the problem seems to have become far worse. Based on a 2009 British Medical Journal study, the ratio is over 140 boys for every 100 girls in the 1–4 age group; this might be a strong exaggeration, as many families with more than one child do not register their daughters to the hukou in order to escape fines. Religion in Henan (2012) According to a 2012 survey only around 13% of
22860-576: The government. In Athens, the population was divided into four social classes based on wealth. People could change classes if they made more money. In Sparta, all male citizens were called homoioi , meaning "peers". However, Spartan kings, who served as the city-state's dual military and religious leaders, came from two families. Women in Ancient Greece appear to have primarily performed domestic tasks, managed households, and borne and reared children. Slaves had no power or status. Slaves had
23040-461: The head of the nymph Arethusa and the other usually a victorious quadriga . The tyrants of Syracuse were fabulously rich, and part of their public relations policy was to fund quadrigas for the Olympic chariot race , a very expensive undertaking. As they were often able to finance more than one quadriga at a time, they were frequent victors in this highly prestigious event. Syracuse was one of
23220-473: The idea of coinage and the use of punch-marked techniques was introduced to India from the Achaemenid Empire during the 4th century BC. More Achaemenid coins were also found in Pushkalavati and in Bhir Mound . According to Aristotle (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and Pollux (Onamastikon IX.83), the first issuer of Greek coinage was Hermodike of Kyme . A small percentage of early Lydian/Greek coins have
23400-547: The increasing Athenian power funded by the Delian League, Sparta offered aid to reluctant members of the League to rebel against Athenian domination. These tensions were exacerbated in 462 BC when Athens sent a force to aid Sparta in overcoming a helot revolt, but this aid was rejected by the Spartans. In the 450s, Athens took control of Boeotia, and won victories over Aegina and Corinth. However, Athens failed to win
23580-435: The international market. Thus, these coins are monetary tokens , just as paper currency is: their value is usually not backed by metal, but rather by some form of government guarantee. Thus, there is very little economic difference between notes and coins of equivalent face value. Coins may be in circulation with face values lower than the value of their component metals, but they are never initially issued with such value, and
23760-517: The issuance of a standard coin, the silver penny. Between 794 and 1200 the penny was the only denomination of coin in Western Europe. Minted without oversight by bishops, cities, feudal lords and fiefdoms , by 1160, coins in Venice contained only 0.05g of silver, while England's coins were minted at 1.3g. Large coins were introduced in the mid-13th century. In England, a dozen pennies was called
23940-415: The issuing authority may decide to withdraw these coins from circulation, possibly issuing new equivalents with a different composition, or the public may decide to melt the coins down or hoard them (see Gresham's law ). Currently coins are used as money in everyday transactions, circulating alongside banknotes . Usually, the highest value coin in circulation (excluding bullion coins ) is worth less than
24120-705: The largest city in China and in the world. In 1127, however, the Song dynasty succumbed to Jurchen ( Jin dynasty ) invaders from the north in the Jin–Song war , and in 1142 ceded all of northern China, including Henan. The Song government moved its capital to Hangzhou in Southern China, which, under the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) continued to enjoy relative economic and culture prosperity. A prolonged period of peace and cultural and economic prosperity in
24300-591: The largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by Eucratides (reigned 171–145 BC), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king Amyntas Nikator (reigned c. 95–90 BC). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West" (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World"). Coinage followed Greek colonization and influence first around
24480-563: The largest of which was the Banqiao Dam in Biyang County collapsed; catastrophic flooding, spread over several counties throughout Zhumadian Prefecture and further downstream, killed at least 26,000 people. Unofficial human life loss estimates, including deaths from the ensuing epidemics and famine, range as high as 85,600, 171,000 or even 230 000. This is considered the most deadly dam-related disaster in human history. By
24660-528: The last Hellenistic kingdom, Ptolemaic Egypt , was annexed by the Roman Republic . Classical Greek culture , especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on ancient Rome , which carried a version of it throughout the Mediterranean and much of Europe. For this reason, Classical Greece is generally considered the cradle of Western civilization , the seminal culture from which the modern West derives many of its founding archetypes and ideas in politics, philosophy, science, and art. Classical antiquity in
24840-399: The late 6th century BC. The Classical period saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of fine silver and gold coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary hero on one side, and a symbol of the city on the other. Some coins employed a visual pun: some coins from Rhodes featured a rose , since
25020-514: The loss of Messenia's fertile land and the helot workforce it provided. The rising power of Thebes led Sparta and Athens to join forces; in 362 they were defeated by Thebes at the Battle of Mantinea . In the aftermath of Mantinea, none of the major Greek states were able to dominate. Though Thebes had won the battle, their general Epaminondas was killed, and they spent the following decades embroiled in wars with their neighbours; Athens, meanwhile, saw its second naval alliance, formed in 377, collapse in
25200-490: The lowest-value note. Coins are usually more efficient than banknotes because they last longer: banknotes last only about four years, compared with 30 years for a coin. Exceptions to the rule of face value being higher than content value currently occur for bullion coins made of copper , silver , or gold (and rarely other metals, such as platinum or palladium ), intended for collectors or investors in precious metals. Examples of modern gold collector/investor coins include
25380-436: The melting and export of pennies and nickels. Violators can be fined up to $ 10,000 and/or imprisoned for up to five years. A coin's value as a collector's item or as an investment generally depends on its condition, specific historical significance, rarity, quality, beauty of the design and general popularity with collectors. If a coin is greatly lacking in all of these, it is unlikely to be worth much. The value of bullion coins
25560-600: The mid-350s. The power vacuum in Greece after the Battle of Mantinea was filled by Macedon, under Philip II . In 338 BC, he defeated a Greek alliance at the Battle of Chaeronea , and subsequently formed the League of Corinth . Philip planned to lead the League to invade Persia, but was murdered in 336 BC. His son Alexander the Great was left to fulfil his father's ambitions. After campaigns against Macedon's western and northern enemies, and those Greek states that had broken from
25740-514: The migrant Henanese laborers as residents of Henan, instead of the province they currently reside in. On the other hand, Guangdong is shown as having only 81 million people, though the actual population is 95 million due to the influx of migrants from other provinces. The population is highly homogeneous with 98.8% of the population being Han . Small populations of Mongols and Manchus exists in scattered rural communities as well as major urban centers. Along with Jiangxi , Henan has one of
25920-439: The most unbalanced gender ratios in China. As a result of the Chinese government's one-child policy (many parents do not want the only child to be female and abort the fetus), the gender ratio was 118.46 males for 100 females in 2000. Subsequently, aborting fetuses due to their female sex was banned in Henan and heavy fines are issued for those who violate the law. In addition, daughter-only families receive an annual allowance from
26100-514: The name of a current ruler to guarantee their worth and value, which is probably how stamping busts and designs began, although political advertising – glorification of a state or of a ruler – may also play a role. In the late Chinese Bronze Age , standardized cast tokens were made, such as those discovered in a tomb near Anyang . These were replicas in bronze of earlier Chinese currency , cowrie shells, so they were named "Bronze Shell" . The world's oldest known coin factory has been excavated in
26280-448: The nation's two most important railways, run through much of the province and intersect at Zhengzhou . Other railway hubs such as Shangqiu , Xinxiang , and Luohe have also become important centers of trade and manufacturing as a result. Zhengzhou is also an important hub of China's high-speed railway network with railway lines connecting the city from 8 directions with all preferecture-level cities in Henan and other important cities in
26460-430: The national average of 10%. This rapid growth has transformed Henan from one of the poorest provinces to one that matches other central provinces. Henan is the 5th-largest provincial economy of China, the second largest in South Central China after Guangdong, the largest in Central China and the largest among inland provinces, with a nominal GDP of 5.88 trillion RMB (US$ 926 billion) as of 2021, ahead of
26640-519: The penny machines that can be found in most amusement parks. In the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in the United States there are some regulations specific to nickels and pennies that are informative on this topic. 31 CFR § 82.1 forbids unauthorized persons from exporting, melting, or treating any 5 or 1 cent coins. This has been a particular problem with nickels and dimes (and with some comparable coins in other currencies) because of their relatively low face value and unstable commodity prices. For
26820-417: The population of Henan belongs to organised religions, the largest groups being Buddhists with 6.4%, followed by Protestants with 5.6%, Muslims with 1.3% and Catholics with 0.5%. Henan has some important centres of Chinese Buddhism , the White Horse Temple and the famous Shaolin Monastery . Henan has also the largest Christian population by numbers and percentage of any province of China, 6.1% of
27000-410: The power of the rich and the poor. In the middle of the sixth century, Pisistratus established himself as a tyrant, and after his death in 527 his son Hippias inherited his position; by the end of the sixth century he had been overthrown and Cleisthenes carried out further democratising reforms. In Sparta, a political system with two kings, a council of elders , and five ephors developed over
27180-526: The province's population as of 2012 , corresponding to approximately 7 million Christians. A 2009 survey reported the share of Christians to be 9.33%. In 2019, Communist officials demolished the True Jesus Church near Zhumadian. In 2020, Communist officials demolished the Sunzhuang Church . The reports didn't give figures for other types of religion; 86% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities , Confucianism , Taoism and folk religious sects (for example,
27360-564: The reforms of Solon (early 6th century), but the poorest citizens could not address the assembly or run for office. With the establishment of the democracy, the assembly became the de jure mechanism of government; all citizens had equal privileges in the assembly. However, non-citizens, such as metics (foreigners living in Athens) or slaves , had no political rights at all. After the rise of democracy in Athens, other city-states founded democracies. However, many retained more traditional forms of government. As so often in other matters, Sparta
27540-420: The regions of Laconia (southeast), Messenia (southwest), Elis (west), Achaia (north), Korinthia (northeast), Argolis (east), and Arcadia (center). These names survive to the present day as regional units of modern Greece , though with somewhat different boundaries. Mainland Greece to the north, nowadays known as Central Greece , consisted of Aetolia and Acarnania in the west, Locris , Doris , and Phocis in
27720-518: The right to have a family and own property, subject to their master's goodwill and permission, but they had no political rights. By 600 BC, chattel slavery had spread in Greece. By the 5th century BC, slaves made up one-third of the total population in some city-states. Between 40–80% of the population of Classical Athens were slaves. Slaves outside of Sparta almost never revolted because they were made up of too many nationalities and were too scattered to organize. However, unlike later Western culture ,
27900-549: The rise of Zhengzhou, Henan's overall economy repeatedly stumbled as it was the hardest hit by the many disasters that struck China in its modern era. Henan suffered greatly during the Second Sino-Japanese War . In 1938, when the Imperial Japanese Army captured Kaifeng, the government led by Chiang Kai-shek bombed the Huayuankou dam in Zhengzhou in order to prevent Japanese forces from advancing further. However, this caused massive flooding in Henan, Anhui , and Jiangsu resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. In 1942 Henan
28080-420: The second largest molybdenum reserves in the world. Coal, aluminum, alkaline metals and tungsten are also present in large amounts in western Henan. Henan houses some of the biggest limestone reserves in China estimated over 24 billion tons. Export and processing of these materials is one of the main sources of revenues. Henan has planned its economy around the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, and it
28260-533: The second-largest in South Central China after Guangdong , and the largest among inland provinces, with a nominal GDP of CN¥5.88 trillion (US$ 926 billion) as of 2021, ahead of the nation of Turkey ($ 815 billion). If it were a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy as of 2021. However, its GDP per capita is low compared to other eastern and central provinces. The economy continues to grow based on aluminum and coal prices, as well as agriculture, heavy industry , tourism and retail. High-tech industries and
28440-417: The service sector are concentrated around Zhengzhou and Luoyang . Henan hosts more than 150 institutions of higher education, ranking first in the Central China region. As of 2023, three major cities in the province ranked in the top 200 cities in the world ( Zhengzhou 76th, Kaifeng 154th and Xinxiang 195th) by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index . Widely regarded as one of
28620-415: The shortfall only arises over time due to inflation , as market values for the metal overtake the face value of the coin. Examples are the pre-1965 US dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar (containing slightly less than a tenth, quarter, half, and full ounce of silver, respectively), US nickel , and pre-1982 US penny . As a result of the increase in the value of copper , the United States greatly reduced
28800-448: The state. City-states legally owned slaves. These public slaves had a larger measure of independence than slaves owned by families, living on their own and performing specialized tasks. In Athens, public slaves were trained to look out for counterfeit coinage , while temple slaves acted as servants of the temple's deity and Scythian slaves were employed in Athens as a police force corralling citizens to political functions. Sparta had
28980-412: The territories they controlled. The most important of these rulers in the decades after Alexander's death were Antigonus I and his son Demetrius in Macedonia and the rest of Greece, Ptolemy in Egypt, and Seleucus I in Syria and the former Persian empire; smaller Hellenistic kingdoms included the Attalids in Anatolia and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom . In the early part of the Hellenistic period,
29160-460: The territory or unify it into a new province, but compelled most of the poleis to join his own Corinthian League . Initially many Greek city-states seem to have been petty kingdoms; there was often a city official carrying some residual, ceremonial functions of the king ( basileus ), e.g., the archon basileus in Athens. However, by the Archaic period and the first historical consciousness, most had already become aristocratic oligarchies . It
29340-411: The time of Alexander I of Macedon , the Argead kings of Macedon started to expand into Upper Macedonia , lands inhabited by independent Macedonian tribes like the Lyncestae , Orestae and the Elimiotae and to the west, beyond the Axius river , into Eordaia , Bottiaea , Mygdonia , and Almopia , regions settled by Thracian tribes. To the north of Macedonia lay various non-Greek peoples such as
29520-474: The treatment of 5-cent coins and one-cent coins shall not apply to the treatment of these coins for educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes as long as the volumes treated and the nature of the treatment makes it clear that such treatment is not intended as a means by which to profit solely from the value of the metal content of the coins." Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( Ancient Greek : Ἑλλάς , romanized : Hellás )
29700-469: The wealthiest places in the empire. The Tang dynasty lasted for three centuries before it eventually succumbed to internal strife. In the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960) that followed, Kaifeng in eastern Henan became the capital of four dynasties. The Song dynasty that reunified China in 982 also had its capital at Kaifeng. Under Song rule, China entered another era of culture and prosperity, and Kaifeng overtook Luoyang and Chang'an as
29880-420: Was Pheidon of Argos, or Demodike of Kyme (who was wife of Midas the Phrygian and daughter of King Agammemnon of Kyme), or Erichthonios and Lycos of Athens, or the Lydians (as Xenophanes says) or the Naxians (as Anglosthenes thought). Many early Lydian and Greek coins were minted under the authority of private individuals and are thus more akin to tokens or badges than to modern coins, though due to their numbers it
30060-440: Was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( c. 600 AD ), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and other territories. Prior to the Roman period , most of these regions were officially unified once under the Kingdom of Macedon from 338 to 323 BC. In Western history ,
30240-426: Was a notable exception to the rest of Greece, ruled through the whole period by not one, but two hereditary monarchs. This was a form of diarchy . The Kings of Sparta belonged to the Agiads and the Eurypontids, descendants respectively of Eurysthenes and Procles . Both dynasties' founders were believed to be twin sons of Aristodemus , a Heraclid ruler. However, the powers of these kings were held in check by both
30420-460: Was a situation unlike that in most other contemporary societies, which were either tribal or kingdoms ruling over relatively large territories. Undoubtedly, the geography of Greece —divided and sub-divided by hills, mountains, and rivers—contributed to the fragmentary nature of ancient Greece. On the one hand, the ancient Greeks had no doubt that they were "one people"; they had the same religion , same basic culture, and same language. Furthermore,
30600-485: Was abolished in 1952. In 1958, Yashan in Suiping County , Henan, became the first people's commune of China, heralding the beginning of the " Great Leap Forward ". In the subsequent famines of the early 1960s popularly attributed to the Great Leap Forward, Henan was one of the hardest hit and millions of people died. Suffering under famine and economic chaos caused by the Great Leap, locals in Henan offered low-level resistance mostly through banditry. In 1959, however,
30780-410: Was called billon . The first European coin to use Arabic numerals to date the year in which the coin was minted was the St. Gall silver Plappart of 1424. Italy has been influential at a coinage point of view : the Florentine florin , one of the most used coinage types in European history and one of the most important coins in Western history, was struck in Florence in the 13th century , while
30960-429: Was characterized by the spread of Greek culture across a large part of the known world. Greek-speaking kingdoms were established in Egypt and Syria , and for a time also in Iran and as far east as what is now Afghanistan and northwestern India . Greek traders spread Greek coins across this vast area, and the new kingdoms soon began to produce their own coins. Because these kingdoms were much larger and wealthier than
31140-468: Was conquered by the Romans. The Aetolian league grew wary of Roman involvement in Greece, and sided with the Seleucids in the Roman–Seleucid War ; when the Romans were victorious, the league was effectively absorbed into the Republic. Although the Achaean league outlasted both the Aetolian league and Macedon, it was also soon defeated and absorbed by the Romans in 146 BC, bringing Greek independence to an end. The Greek peninsula came under Roman rule during
31320-436: Was declared in Zhongmou County , Henan, to quell deadly ethnic clashes between Han and Hui Chinese . The reported number of deaths ranged between 7 and 148. In July 2021, high amounts of rainfall caused flooding , killing 302 and damaging amounting to 82 billion yuan. In January 2024 there was the Yingcai Boarding School fire in the dormitory of a primary boarding school in Dushu . The fire resulted in one injury and
31500-428: Was divided into three states, the Wei to the north, the Chu to the south, and the Han in the middle. In 221 BC, state of Qin forces from Shaanxi conquered all of the other six states, ending 800 years of warfare. Ying Zheng , the leader of Qin, crowned himself (220 BCE) as the first emperor of China . He abolished the feudal system and centralized all powers, establishing the Qin dynasty and unifying
31680-481: Was formerly part of Jiaozuo ) These 17 prefecture-level cities and one directly administered county-level city of Henan are in turn subdivided into 157 county-level divisions (54 districts , 21 county-level cities , and 82 counties ; the sub-prefecture-level city of Jiyuan is counted as a county-level city here). Those are in turn divided into 2454 township-level divisions (1181 towns , 598 townships , twelve ethnic townships , and 663 subdistricts ). With
31860-441: Was hit by a great famine resulting from a mix of drought, locusts and destruction caused by the war. In 1954, the new government of the People's Republic of China moved the capital of Henan from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou , as a result of its economic importance. The PRC had earlier established a short-lived Pingyuan Province consisting of what is now northern Henan and western Shandong with Xinxiang as its capital. This province
32040-417: Was in permanent settlements founded by Greeks, which formed as independent poleis. The second form was in what historians refer to as emporia ; trading posts which were occupied by both Greeks and non-Greeks and which were primarily concerned with the manufacture and sale of goods. Examples of this latter type of settlement are found at Al Mina in the east and Pithekoussai in the west. From about 750 BC
32220-403: Was overthrown by the 1911 Revolution and then the Republic of China was established in 1912, during which a man from Henan, Yuan Shikai , played an important role and thus he became the first president of Republic of China. The construction and extension of the Pinghan Railway and Longhai Railway had turned Zhengzhou , a minor county town at the time, into a major transportation hub. Despite
32400-424: Was the first literate dynasty of China. Its many capitals are located at the modern cities of Shangqiu , Yanshi , and Zhengzhou . Their last and most important capital of Yin , located in modern Anyang , is where the first Chinese writing was created. In the 11th century BC, the Zhou dynasty of Shaanxi arrived from the west and overthrew the Shang dynasty. During the Western Zhou period (c. 1046 – 771 BC),
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