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By Prof. Dr. Bruno COLMANT, Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium
The word "coin" comes etymologically from the Latin verb monere, meaning to warn. Coin refers to the goddess Juno, the archetypal cosmic goddess. In Roman mythology, Juno, the sister and wife of Jupiter, was the most important goddess.
She was the queen of fertility and cattle. The adjective "pecuniary" is etymologically derived from the Latin word pecus, meaning herd of cattle, as some ancient coins were stamped with heads of cattle, which in turn served as a measure of commercial compensation. As the sacrifice of livestock is familiar to many religions, one could even imagine that a coin with a livestock effigy sublimates an animal offering made to the divinity. Furthermore,...
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