Writing, 1 Dollar, Series: Mankind’s Crucial Achievements

The Mint of Poland in the „Mankind’s Crucial Achievements” series presents the most important human discoveries which had fundamental impact upon the evolution of humankind. The series began with the largest and the most symbolic discovery of the prehistoric period, the discovery of the fire which was depicted on the first coin of the series. Than the second coin depicted the bow, while a new one shows the “Writing”. The mintage of all coins is low – up to 6,000 pieces, struck on a blanks of Ag 925, in proof quality.

The use of technology sets the human being apart from other inhabitants of the Earth as the only species to purposefully and consciously make tools and inventions. Thanks to that ability, for the last 2 million years the man has created its new, own artificial reality, next to the natural one.

An ideal gift for teachers and students.

Obverse:
In the central part of the coin the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the mint’s mark (m/w). Around it scenes showing the development of writing across the ages. In the upper part of the coin, hieroglyphic writing developed in ancient Egypt, followed by Roman scribes with writing instruments and wax tablets. At the bottom metal types, the first printing press and its inventor, Johannes Gutenberg, checking the printing. Above numerous manuscripts and books. Along the coin rim, circling inscriptions: Niue Island, ONE DOLLAR. On the left side the issue date: 2011.

Reverse:
In the central part of the coin, in  pad printing technique, an ornamental initial, a type of an ornamental letter standing out due to its shape, color, size and ornament, widely used through the Middle Ages. In the background, to the left, the original Uruk tablet, dating back to the latter half of the 4th millennium BC, being a proof of the first writing. At the bottom, metal types invented by Johannes Gutenberg. To the right, an inkwell and a feather, in the background – imitation of a handwriting.

Designer: Witold Nazarkiewicz

The appearance of the first civilizations, based on the social division of labor, created new problems associated with the management, ownership, trade, and disputes occurring in those areas. A need arose to produce documentation, which would also be used as legal proof. Initially, simple mnemotechnic techniques were used to make the record keeping of resources easier, such as the notches made on sticks. With time notations were introduced, which used simplistic images symbolizing specific objects. Those early pictograms, which became more and more schematic, led to the development of first writing. It is not accidental that the oldest samples of such writing are records of goods sent to the temple of the goddess Inanna in the Sumerian city of Uruk, dating back to the beginning of the latter half of the 4th millennium BC. The writing became the first important victory over time, and allowed the development of many various fields, including science. The ability to read writing in its pictographic or ideographic form required the remembering of numerous, up to hundreds or thousands, signs (Chinese writing, which was never alphabetized, features some 80,000 of those). This made the ability to use it a difficult challenge, available only to few. Of considerable help was the development of the alphabet, which made the ability to write and read “democratic”, and allowed the learning thereof to any more or less intelligent person. This happened along the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean Sea, towards the end of the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. Mass copying of texts and, as a result, readership were made possible through the invention of the printing press, started by the Chinese, but developed in practice by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century. Up to 1500 more books were published than over the past 1000 years, leading to a true information revolution whose effects have been used to date.