onpohualli pesos (Osu37r)

onpohualli pesos (Osu37r)
Simplex Hieroglyph
Compound Hieroglyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a notation and a simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph that is repeated twice. Each pair involves a peso coin (circular with a cross in the middle, washed with gray) and, standing on top of the coin, a rectangular white banner attached to a vertical brown stick. One peso with a flag on top equals 20 pesos, and when this is doubled, the result is 40 pesos, something of a math equation.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The cross drawn on the peso is what might be called a potent or moline cross, something like a plus sign where each leg has a short perpendicular line at its end. The cross on the peso distinguishes it from a tomin, which is an eighth of a peso.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

ōpohualli pos.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

onpohualli pesos

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Osuna, Codex (Osu)
Date of Manuscript: 

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
line connecting elements
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Flags, banners
Money, Coins, Prices
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Names (places)
Numbers, Math
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
gray
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
cross (+)
frontal view
Keywords: 

pesos, cruz, cruces, banderas, números, notación, matemáticas, vigésimo, contar por veintes, coins, moneda, monedas, dinero

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

onpohual(li), forty, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/onpohualli
peso, a piece of eight, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/peso

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

cuarenta pesos

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Library of Congress Online Catalog and the World Digital Library, Osuna Codex, or Painting of the Governor, Mayors, and Rulers of Mexico, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07324/. The original is located in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Image Source, Rights: 

"The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse." But please cite the Biblioteca Nacional de España and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs if you use any of these images here or refer to the content on this page, providing the URL

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

nauhtzontli pesos (Osu37r)