The professor of the University of Ioannina, Katerina Liampi, brings to life in the most vivid way the content of the catalogue of the exhibition of the Numismatic Museum, Fruits and Symbols, in her preface:

“The image on a coin functions in a form of a magnetic field, attracting the coin’s user into decoding and grasping its signification; at the same time, this minimalistic work of art induces an aesthetic euphoria. 

A variety of plants and fruits, integral part of the flora of Greece and the Mediterrenean, are utilized by the engravers and transfigured into exquisite creations on coins, on lead or clay tokens, and the finely-made gems. The images, the result of the engraver’s artistic experience and skillfulness, austere at first, almost abstract, will evolve into more complex and naturalistic descriptions, closely reproducing the natural environemnt and obeying the artistic laws and styles of the time, from the Late Archaic period to the end of the Graeco-Roman era. 

[…]

Dr.George Kakavas, the Director of the Numismatic Museum at Athens, and his worthy colleagues have offered the public an original exhibition of high aesthetic standards, their primary concern being to reveal the multidimensional thematic nature of ancient Greek coins, tokens and gemstones. They have brought out of the cabinets our our magnificent Muceum a plethora of these objects (323), which went through a process of conservation at the hands of the museum’s highly experienced specialist staff before they could be part of the exhibition, including the 13 items from the Private Collection of Theodoros Aravanis. In order to give the exhibition a diachronic dimension, modern coins depicting the fruits of the earth have also been included. 

The well-degined Catalogue that accompanies the exhibition, edited by the organisers with an infinite amount of love, lists each exhibit by type, with analysis and commentary, thus constituting an excellent corpus of knowledge for the researcher and any interested party alike.

[…]”

(σελ. 16-19)