"History is truely the witness of times past, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity," said the Roman scholar Marcus Tullius Cicero. The history of mankind, from prehistory through antiquity and the Middle Ages to modern times, never ceases to fascinate us. We devour it in the pages of books and through television documentaries. A less common, but all the more interesting picture of days long past is provided by coins. They reflect the various triumphs and tragedies of mankind – the achievements of culture and the failures of society…