On May 9, 2025, the Monaco Post issued a postage stamp "National Archaeological Discoveries" as part of the "Europe 2025" project.

The issue was prepared with the active participation of the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology of Monaco. The stamp depicts the famous "Observatory" cave, where traces of primitive people were discovered, dating back to 250,000 and 20,000 BC, as well as various archaeological artifacts found on the territory of Monaco.

The author of the postage stamp is the French artist and engraver André Lavergne. His brush, or rather graver, belongs to many stamps of Monaco, France and its overseas territories. In his characteristic laconic manner, Andre Lavergne depicted interesting archaeological finds on the stamp, which are exhibits of the anthropological museum: a biface (a prehistoric stone knife, sharpened on both sides), an amphora, a lynx skull, a gold antique coin and a bracelet.

Naturally, the image of an ancient coin with a chariot is of interest to horse collectors. Judging by the drawing, this is a gold stater from the era of Philip II of Macedon, which was in circulation in the 4th century BC. The reverse of the coin depicts a two-wheeled chariot (biga), harnessed by a pair of horses and driven by a driver. In ancient times, these coins were widely distributed, so they are found in various regions of Europe from the Balkans and Greece to Italy and France, as well as in Egypt and Syria.

Biga chariots were often depicted on ancient coins, because of this, the coins themselves were sometimes even called bigatus. Two-wheeled chariots were used in war, as well as at sporting events and ceremonial processions. The biga was often identified with the divine chariot, but different gods had different animals harnessed to their chariots. For example, Apollo had horses, Poseidon had tritons, and Artemis had deer.

The presentation of the new postage stamp took place on May 9, 2025, at the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology of Monaco with the participation of representatives of the post office and the director of the museum, Elena Rossoni-Notter. During the ceremony, everyone could see the original artifacts that became the prototypes for the creation of the postage stamp. This minimalist museum exhibition nevertheless helped to give the plot of the stamp extraordinary depth and authenticity, bringing history to life through drawing and symbols. Even just from a photograph, such close proximity of modern postage stamps and ancient objects, whose history goes back thousands of years, makes a strong impression.

Sources: www.oetp-monaco.com