Hello, and I hope you are well!
I wanted to discuss the creation of some new issuers for the Mexican axe/hoe money currently on Numista, as well as other types I will be adding in the meantime. These “proto-coins” were used across Mexico, but data shows how different types are rather localized, allowing researchers to assign regions to the different types of “coins”. While we cannot know the exact people or cities than made each type, having this information displayed within Numista's issuers would help simplify these axe currencies, and make them easier to understand for those who may not be familiar with them.
It is important in my mind to separate them as such for two major reasons.
-1: As of right now, they are all currently grouped under the issuer “Mexico” and its “Unspecified currency” alongside a multitude of tokens, fantasy items, and tourist souvenirs. These currencies predate the unification of Mexico, as well as European knowledge of Mesoamerica itself, and deserve to be separated from modern exonumia.
-2: The Guerrero-Michoacán types and the Oaxaca types differ, enough to justify each getting their own issuer. Oaxaca types are primarily shaped with curved, hammered edges, resembling mushrooms. According to Hosler et al., this resemblance was due to the religious significance of mushrooms to the people of the Oaxaca region during this time period. Similarly, Hosler et al. state that the Guerrero-Michoacán variants appear more axe-like due to that region's association of axes as symbols of power, alongside ritual and ceremonial functions. The stark differences in the styles and cultures of these two regions merits them to stand as two independent issuers in my opinion.
Source:
Hosler, Dorothy, Heather Lechtman, and Olaf Holm. Axe-Monies and Their Relatives. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology, Number Thirty. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1990
https://archive.org/details/hosler-lechtman-holm-axe-monies/mode/1up?q=3a
My proposal:
Mexico
----- Mexican States
----- Mexico
----- Pre-Colonial Mesoamerica (Postclassic Mesoamerica?)
---------- Guerrero-Michoacán Region (West Mexican Complex)
---------- Oaxaca Region
Name: "Guerrero-Michoacán Region (West Mexican Complex)"
Map Location: Mexico
Coins: N#283418
Successors: “Mexico”
Introduction: The Guerrero-Michoacán region, otherwise known as the West Mexican Complex in the discussion of Mesoamerican axe/hoe money, is located on the Pacific coast of western Mexico. Axe/hoe money was first introduced to the region alongside alloy-based metallurgy via maritime trade with Ecuador around A.D. 1200–1300, and trade between the regions continued up until the Spanish invasion.
Name: "Oaxaca Region"
Map Location: Mexico
Coins: N#283419 (Currently listed as Guerrero-Michoacán, but this is an example of type 2b, a Oaxaca variety)
Successors: “Mexico”
Introduction: The Oaxaca Region of Mexico is located on the Pacific coast of southwestern Mexico. Axe/hoe money was first introduced to the region alongside alloy-based metallurgy via maritime trade with Ecuador around A.D. 1200–1300, and trade between the regions continued up until the Spanish invasion.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
