Helios of the Day

[Enodia]

i've had this coin for years, but only just got a fairly decent picture of it. so i thought i'd post it here and see what all of you think...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-80986

~ Peter

[Randygeki(h2)]

Very cool coin Enodia!

[Enodia]

thanks Randy, it has always been one of my favorites.    

~ Peter

[slokind]

This particular Helios obverse is in my opinion one of the very best: it has, so to speak, a soul.  The best compliment a Greek artist of this period can pay a deity is to truly humanize him or her.
I was just writing about how ancient masterpieces are in no way diminished by anonymity.
How sellers use made-up 'names' to help them sell unnamed artists is a mockery of humanity.
I just indulged in a blog post on this subject:
http://teegeeessays.blogspot.com/2012/05/gombrich-popper-and-eric-kandels-book-2.html
Pat L.

[Enodia]

stepping outside of my usual collecting area (Magna Graecia), i picked this coin up right here at Forvm.
it is not rare, nor is it a masterpiece of Hellenistic art. however there was something about this Helios that reached out and grabbed me, and while i tried to ignore that and keep waiting for something Italian i found myself coming back to this one over and over, so i figured it was time to pull the trigger.
i hope you like it as much as i do.

Philip V
AE27 (26.3mm, 10.175g)
221-179 BC
Helios right. / Thunderbolt within oak wreath.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-82306

~ Peter

[rover1.3]

The iconography of Helios gradually merged with that of Alexander.
Maybe what we really have here is an idealized Alexander as Helios.
Nice and interesting coin.

[Enodia]

The iconography of Helios gradually merged with that of Alexander.
Maybe what we really have here is an idealized Alexander as Helios.
Nice and interesting coin.

thanks rover.
i admit i hadn't thought of it being Alexander, although i did consider the possibility of it being Philip. but as you said it does have a striking similarity to the typical image of Alexander.

either way it does show the local influence of the cult of Helios, and influence which would show itself even more dramatically decades later when Perseus minted the first coin in this thread.

~ Peter

[David Atherton]

I'm about a month late to the party...but I would like to say that is a spectacular coin. Just amazing.