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Apollo
or Gorgon? (the coins of Apollonia Pontika)
Except for a few early pieces bearing the
geometric swastika symbol, the coins of Apollonia Pontika all feature the
gorgon or Apollo on one side. An anchor, a crayfish, and usually the letter "A"
is on the other side of all Apollonian coins. The "A" was key to identifying
the mint city. In Principle Coins of the Greeks (1932), Head writes (of plate
10 #3, a tetradrachm) "This coin used to be attributed to Ancore, then (on
account of the crayfish) to Astacus in Bithynia, then to Apollonia ad Rhydacum
in Mysia; but finds have now proved that it belongs to the Thracian city.".
What
was the Aegis?
In
Greek myth the hero Perseus kept the head of the gorgon Medusa in a special
bag. He used the head on many adventures. In the Apollodorus (1st century AD)
version of the myth Perseus used the head to turn king Polydectes and his
friends to stone. He gives the gorgon head to Athena, and Hermes inserts the
head in the middle of her shield. In The Iliad (750-725 BC) Homer says that the
gorgon's likeness appears on the aegis of Athena. Homer probably wasn't talking
about a shield because he also says the gorgon's likeness appears on
Agamemnon's shield. Homer also says the aegis is the thundercloud of Zeus. .
The
Gorgons of Parion
The hemidrachm from Parion has an unusual design: a
staring female face with tongue protuding, surrounded by snakes. The reverse
shows a bull standing left and looking back. The greek letters ΠΑ
appears above the bull and ΡΙ is between the legs of the bull.We know
these coins come from Parion because of the legend: ΠΑΡΙ,
the Greek letters for PARI. The face is the "gorgoneion," a mask in imitation
of the head of the gorgon. In archaic and classical Greek art gorgons were
always shown facing the viewer, protruding tongue, and teeth..
A Brief
Introduction to Celtic Potins of Gaul
By: Marc Breitsprecher - What are
potins? Most collectors of ancient coins have their particular areas of
interest: Roman denarii or sestertii, Greek silver or bronzes, perhaps Biblical
coins. Many if not most collectors of ancient coins outside of Europe have
never heard of a potin. So what are they, who issued and used them and where
and when were they minted?.
Coins
of Olympia
The
sanctuary of Olympia, dedicated primarily to Olympian Zeus, King of the Gods,
and Hera, his consort, was a complex of temples and treasuries, including the
twelve metre-high ivory and gold statue of Zeus which numbered among the
wonders of the world. At the peak of its wealth and influence in the fifth
century BC, the prestige of Olympia was demonstrated by the rich gifts laid on
the temple altars by visiting dignitaries and foreign kings. .
The
Coinage of Alexander the Great
Alexander III, son of Philip II, king of
Macedonia and Olympias, was born in Pella in 356 B.C. One of the greatest
conquerors in history, he dominated much of what was then the civilized world,
driven by an endless ambition. After Philip’s death, in 336 B.C., the
Macedonian state had reached hegemony over Greece, but yet the great enemy of
the Greeks, Persia, remained strong and dangerous in the East. .
The
Legend of Troy and the Trojan War
The story of Troy and the Trojan War is a
well-known legend. According to tradition, the conflict began after Paris, the
son of King Priam of Troy, was given Helen, the most beautiful woman in the
world, by Aphrodite. Helen, the half-mortal daughter of Zeus, was already
married to Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon and the King of Sparta..
Coinage
spans 28 centuries
It can be said that coin collecting is divided into three
major broad areas of concentration: ancient, medieval and modern.Collectors can
build various collections based on these three broad categories.The Coin World
Almanac identifies an ancient coin as "generally any coin issued before A.D.
500." The Almanac identifies a medieval coin as "a coin struck from about A.D.
500 to 1500." A modern coin is described as "a coin struck after about A.D.
1500." .
The
Complete Guide to Uncleaned Ancient Coins
One of the most common ways of becoming
tangled up in the ancient coin hobby is to buy one or two ‘uncleaned’
coins on eBay or elsewhere. From here you develop a sense of the coins and
eventually how to clean them with skill and efficiency. In this article
I’ll address many of the questions a beginner may have, as well as many
tips and hints. First I’ll address the issue of dealers selling uncleaned
ancient coins. .
East
meets West in the Siscia Mule
Have you ever heard of a “Mule”?
In the language of coins a Mule is a miss match of obverse and reverse dies,
producing a coin of not quite this type nor quite that type, but a mix, a
hybrid. I would assume this coin term came about because of the animal mule, a
match of a horse and an ass. The product is not a true horse, nor a true ass,
but a mule. .
Satyrs
and Nymphs
One of
the most interesting themes on ancient Greek coins is that of an
“ithyphallic” (sexually aroused) Satyr running off with a Nymph in
his arms. These coins were made famous by the island of Thasos, who copied them
from the issuances of several Macedonian clans. The Orreskioi, Zaielioi,
Pernaioi, Dionysioi and Laiai were all tribes that occupied the area of
northern Greece called Macedonia. .
The
Byzantine "Anonymous Follis"
On these bronze coins of the Byzantine
Empire the emperor's name and portrait are not part of the design, hence they
are anonymous. Instead of the earthly king, these coins depict Jesus Christ,
King of Kings. BEGINNINGS: The Roman Empire, which in the first century took
the lives of Peter and Paul and a few years later sacked Jerusalem, was slow to
embrace Christianity. .
THE
COINS OF PONTIUS PILATE
They are not really beautiful, or truly
rare, nor are they of very great monetary value. Yet these apparently modest
coins carry in their weight an era and an act which would have immense
consequence to the history of the world. Indeed, they are closely associated
with three basic factors which saw the foundation of Christianity : .
A Brief
History of the First Imperial Civil War
Shortly after Caesar was assassinated there
was a political vacuum in Rome. From the beginnings of Caesar’s civil war
in 49 BC to his assassination in 44 BC, he shook up the foundations of Roman
society and upon his death, there was the lingering thought of total power
being so accessible that several people found it too hard to resist. .
A Case
of Counterfeits
Professionally made counterfeit ancient coins aren't as
much of a problem as they were in previous decades, but there is no shortage of
poorly made ones; and for the beginner, unacquainted with the features that
clearly distinguish them, this can be a discouraging stumbling block,
especially if one is taken in by an unscrupulous dealer. Following are two
examples of poorly made ancient counterfeits, each with several features that
upon inspection immediately distinguish them from authentic pieces. The first
coin we shall examine is a poor counterfeit of a Philip II tetradrachm..
Wars of
Trajan: Dacia
In
late 97CE the aging Emperor Nerva appointed the governor of Germany, Marcus
Ulpius Trajanus his heir. When Nerva died on the 25th of January 98CE Trajan
smoothly succeeded him. Coming after the tyranny of the last years of the
Emperor Domitians rule, the rule of Trajan proved to be a breath of fresh air
for the Roman Empire. .
Gaius
or Augustus?
In the
year of 17 B.C. a series of silver denarii, the main denomination of coinage at
the time, was minted to commemorate the Ludi Saeculares, a famous series of
games held every few years. On the obverse of this denarius was placed a
youthful portrait with an oak wreath as a border and the inscription of CAESAR
below the bust. On the reverse was rendered a Candelabrum with ram heads
protruding from the sides of it and the inscription AVGVST(us). .
Mints
and Their Marks - Common Mint Marks
Starting around the middle of the 3rd
century A.D., Roman mints began incorporating mint marks as a form of control
over the actions of mint officials. If a problem was found on a particular
series of coins (underweight for example) , the coins could be traced to the
offending mint and the officials held liable. .
Deciphering
Roman Coin Inscriptions
Deciphering inscriptions and titles are
some of the most challenging and frustrating aspects of ancients collecting. My
best advice is patience. It takes awhile for your mind to develop an
understanding of what your eyes are trying to tell it. The following is a very
simplified technique for understanding coinage titles.
The
Tribute Penny
DOUG SMITH - One ancient coin leads all the others
in demand by Christians who otherwise do not collect coins. Several Bible
passages mention coins but none are more certainly identified than the Tribute
Penny of Matthew 22:19 and Mark 12:15. Both accounts name the coin shown to
Jesus as a denarius (usually translated into English as 'penny'). How is it
that this one type of denarius is so widely recognized as the one that played a
part in this story? .
Origins
of Greek Coinage
Coinage was invented in Lydia, on the eastern shore of the
Aegean in the late 7th century BCE and spread quickly across the Greek islands,
then across the Greek mainland and to the Greek colonies in South Italy,
Sicily, Africa, Spain and the Black Sea. The arrival of coinage greatly
facilitated trade and the bonds between scattered city-states and caused many a
Greek to mutter, "Why didn't we think of this before?" No longer did you have
to drag cows or grain bushels around to make purchases. And now it was possible
to become wealthy without necessarily having to risk your life accumulating or
plundering land, stock, slaves or other large material goods..
SELECTING
A SPECIALTY
Doug
Smith - Most collectors of ancient coins begin with a general overview
collection. Coins are purchased that have some appeal to the individual but it
is not always clear exactly what that appeal was. Later on some direction tends
to organize the collection. Commonly this is a expansion of the general
collection; an attempt to get one coin of each Greek city or each Roman
Emperor. The third step in the progression of collecting style is the
concentration on some specialty. For many of us this is a defense mechanism
used to fend off the question: 'What do you collect?' .
Ancient
Imitations of Roman Coins
If you are interested in ancient
imitations, you will find the literature somewhat unsatisfactory. The first
work you should consult is the late George Boon's long survey article,
"Counterfeit Coins in Roman Britian," in Coins and the Archaeologist, second
edition, 1988, edited by John Casey and Richards Reece and published in the
Seaby series of coin books. The article is well illustrated, heavily footnoted,
and covers almost the entire range of ancient imitations of Roman coins. .
An
Interview With David R. Sear
David Sear was born near London during
Hitler's ‘Blitz’ (not good timing!) and Educated at Downer Grammar
School in Queensbury, Middlesex. He joined the staff of B.A. Seaby Ltd. in 1958
as assistant to Lt. Col. Juliusz Kozolubski, the Seaby specialist in ancient
coins (and co-author with H.A. Seaby of the 1959 edition of “Greek Coins
& Their Values”). He authored his first book (“Roman Coins &
Their Values”) in 1964 (winner of the Lhotka Memorial Prize awarded by the
Royal Numismatic Society) and the same year became head of the Seaby Ancient
Coin Department on the death of Col. Kozolubski. .
Size
Matters: Size Scales for Ancient Coins
Doug Smith - Ancient numismatics is
a science constantly under revision. While the coins we study have not changed
in the last thousand (or two thousand) years, our understanding of them is
constantly changing in keeping with new discoveries and new theories about the
coins and the civilizations that produced them. As a modern science, the study
of ancient numismatics dates back to the Renaissance when men of position
considered it fashionable to collect the coins of the classical civilizations
they admired. By this time, no one remained that knew first hand the
identifications and names the ancient people applied to their coins. Except for
a few casual mentions in ancient writings, all this had to be deduced from the
coins themselves. .
A
dating dilemma By Alan Herbert
I’m sure all of you who are reading
this are familiar with the old saw: “Two wrongs don’t make a
right.” Applying this to A.D. and B.C. gives us a mystery. Solving it is
definitely another matter. A.D. seems to have a religious and a secular
meaning. Most Christian religions use the abbreviation to mean anno Domini or
“In the year (of our) Lord.” At least some of those not affiliated
with churches have been using A.D. to mean ante diem, again, as with anno
Domini, from the Latin, but the meaning is “before the day.” .
Gallery
Of Modern Ancient Replicas ( Counterfeits)
This gallery contains coins selected from
my own 'black museum'. The coins are for illustrating the types that are
currently on the market. They are not for sale..
Hoards
Before we get into hoards I thought it
would be useful to go over how coins are actually lost and the different
classifications that scholars put those losses into. In general, most scholars
put coin losses into 2 very broad classifications, accidental losses and
hoards. To those categories I would like to add a third, donatives.
The
Cleaning, Restoration, and Preservation
Why does ancient metal deteriorate and what
is that green and black stuff that covers artifacts? The metals from which most
artifacts are made are not naturally occurring in the ground. Instead they are
alloys, or combinations of several different refined metals melted together and
mixed up to create a new metal with certain useful properties such as low
melting temperature, resistance to corrosion, or flexibility. For Example:
Bronze is generally something like 85% copper and 15% tin melted together and
thus combined..
Collecting
Roman Provincial Coinage
The naming of names.- Originally the coins
produced in the colonies and provinces of Rome were named Greek Imperial. There
is a certain logic to this name since many of them include greek alphabet
characters in the inscription and quite a few of the peoples spoke greek as
there native tongue. This can be seen in David Sear's hugely popular 'Greek
Imperial Coins and their Values' and his following of this tradition. .
Greek
Turtles
Turtles,
the archaic currency of Aegina, are among the most sought after of all ancient
coins. Their early history is a somewhat of a mystery. At one time historians
debated whether they or the issuances of Lydia were the world's earliest coins.
The source of this idea comes indirectly from the writings of Heracleides of
Pontus, a fourth century BC Greek scholar. .
The
Record of Natural Disasters on the Coinage of Imperial Rome
Having experienced
personally the awesome power of nature's fury when the Northridge earthquake
struck the Los Angeles area in January of 1994, I became interested in the mark
left by such occurrences on the coinage of Imperial Rome. The Romans were great
chroniclers of contemporary events on their currency, a function which is now
more readily associated with the commemorative medal..
The
Legend of Troy and the Trojan War
The story of Troy and the Trojan War is a
well-known legend. According to tradition, the conflict began after Paris, the
son of King Priam of Troy, was given Helen, the most beautiful woman in the
world, by Aphrodite. Helen, the half-mortal daughter of Zeus, was already
married to Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon and the King of Sparta..
Cast
Greek AR?
he silver
units of Parion in Mysia are perhaps the cheapest Greek silver available on the
coin market. Genuine examples in low grades are easily obtained. The two coins
below sold on eBay in November 2003 for $10 and $17.Both coins are off center
in exactly the same way, have exactly the same reverse alignment, and even have
a dent in the same place (4 o'clock on the obverse)..
Gallery
Of Modern Ancient Replicas ( Counterfeits)
This gallery contains coins selected from
my own 'black museum'. The coins are for illustrating the types that are
currently on the market. They are not for sale..
Counterfeits
and Counterfeiters: The Ancient World
I won't go into the history of coinage,
that topic alone would require multiple newsletters. Perhaps some day when I'm
really ambitious. So here is the Readers digest version. Over 25 centuries ago,
some bright soul discovered that trade and the exchange of goods, services and
especially the payment of taxes could be made easier by using standardized
tokens with a fixed value. These tokens were made of precious metals such as
gold, silver and bronze that had a known and accepted value..
Gallery
Of Modern Ancient Replicas ( Counterfeits)
This gallery contains coins selected from
my own 'black museum'. The coins are for illustrating the types that are
currently on the market. They are not for sale..
The
Legend of Troy and the Trojan War
The story of Troy and the Trojan War is a
well-known legend. According to tradition, the conflict began after Paris, the
son of King Priam of Troy, was given Helen, the most beautiful woman in the
world, by Aphrodite. Helen, the half-mortal daughter of Zeus, was already
married to Menelaus, the brother of Agamemnon and the King of Sparta..
Popular
'sycee' predate coins
Coins were not first. Ingots predate the
use of coins by many centuries as a medium of exchange. Ancient civilizations
of Babylonia, Carthage, Rome and Persia used ingots in trade and for purchases.
In Russia, the modern ruble is named for the marks in old Russian silver ingot
bars called rubli. Silver and gold ingots are still made today for bullion
speculators and the collector market, usually in a flat rectangular shape.
However, when it comes to a fascinating ingot history, no country can best
China's handmade boats of silver called sycee..
Coins
of Olympia
The
sanctuary of Olympia, dedicated primarily to Olympian Zeus, King of the Gods,
and Hera, his consort, was a complex of temples and treasuries, including the
twelve metre-high ivory and gold statue of Zeus which numbered among the
wonders of the world. At the peak of its wealth and influence in the fifth
century BC, the prestige of Olympia was demonstrated by the rich gifts laid on
the temple altars by visiting dignitaries and foreign kings. .
Calligraphy
on Ancient Coins
CHARACTERS on coins are known as monetary scripts in
China. Some believe the history of monetary scripts reflects the development of
currency and the written language in China. Monetary scripts are works of art,
featuring unique calligraphy and engraving techniques. After Qinshihuang, or
First Emperor of Qin, conquered other states and established the Qin Dynasty
(221-206 BC), his first move was to reform the monetary system. Currencies that
had been used in former states such as knife and spade-shaped coins and shells
were abolished.. |
