Speaking Coins: The Pomegranate of Side and Other "Canting" Emblems

Ancient coins are often adorned with the majestic portraits of gods or the powerful profiles of kings. But sometimes, a mint master decides to set seriousness aside and engage in a clever pun.

In the numismatic world, these designs, known as "canting emblems" or "speaking emblems," are symbols that represent a city's name through a visual riddle or pun. The most brilliant and enduring example of this clever branding strategy is found on the coins of Side, the wealthy port city of Pamphylia in southern Anatolia. From the 5th century BCE onwards, Side declared its identity to the entire Mediterranean by placing a pomegranate, a fruit whose name is synonymous with the city's, on its coinage.

The cornerstone of Side's numismatic identity is the word 'Side,' which means 'pomegranate' in the local Sidetan language. This direct phonetic link made the pomegranate symbol a perfect "canting emblem" for the city. From the first silver staters minted around the 470s BCE, a pomegranate fruit appears on the most prominent side of the coin. This was an ingenious method that, in a world with low literacy rates and dozens of different city-issued currencies circulating together, instantly and unmistakably revealed the origin of the money. A merchant, upon seeing a pomegranate on the silver coin in hand, would immediately understand that it came from Side and was thus guaranteed by the city's commercial reputation.  

However, the meaning of the pomegranate extends far beyond this simple pun. The pomegranate was universally a symbol of fertility, fecundity, life, and prosperity in the ancient world and many cultures. Side's adoption of this symbol also underscored the agricultural richness of the Pamphylian plain and the prosperity the city gained from trade in products like olive oil. Furthermore, according to mythology, the hero Side, from whom the city took its name, was believed to have transformed herself into a pomegranate tree. Thus, this symbol combined the city's name, economy, and founding legend into a single powerful image.  

The "canting emblem" tradition was not unique to Side in the ancient world, but Side offers one of the most consistent and famous examples. Another striking example from Anatolia is the maritime city of Phokaia in Ionia (modern Foça). Phokaia placed a seal (Greek phōkē), which bears a phonetic resemblance to its name, on its coinage. This small seal emblem particularly ensured the instant recognition of the city's widely circulated electrum hectae (one-sixth staters).

Another famous example from outside Anatolia is the city of Selinus in southern Italy (Sicily). The city took its name from the wild celery (Greek selinon) that grew abundantly there, and created its own "canting emblem" by placing a celery leaf on its coinage. Similarly, the island of Rhodes off the coast of Caria also adopted a rose (rhodon), bearing a phonetic resemblance to its name (Rhodos), as its iconic symbol.

These clever puns demonstrate how creative ancient cities could be, not just as economic entities, but also in crafting their own brands and narratives. "Canting emblems" served as visual signatures, guaranteeing a coin's value and origin, while simultaneously spreading the city's name and identity throughout the world via trade routes. Side's pomegranate, as the most delightful and enduring example of this tradition, tells us the story of how a fruit could become the symbol of a metropolis.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_of_Side
https://coinweek.com/coins-of-ancient-greek-pamphylia/