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MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Mary I is one of the most well known, romantic and tragic figures in Scottish history. She was the only surviving child of King James V of Scotland and became queen on the death of her father when she was only six or seven days old. Mary was brought up in the Catholic faith and educated in France along with the French royal children, while Scotland was ruled in her name by regents, principally the Earl of Arran. In 1558 Mary married the French Dauphin, Francis, and following his accession in 1559 she became Queen consort of France and he King consort of Scotland. However, when Francis died in 1560 Mary was devastated and in 1561 she returned to Scotland. Four years later, in 1565, she married her half-cousin, Lord Darnley and the following year she bore him a son, who would later become James I of England. When in 1567, Darnley's house in Edinburgh was destroyed by an explosion and he was found murdered in the grounds, suspicion implicated Mary and her favourite, the Earl of Bothwell. When later that same year Mary married Bothwell those suspicions were not allayed, and following an uprising against her, she was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle and forced to abdicate in favour of her one year old son. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain her throne and defeat at the battle of Langside in 1568, Mary fled south to England, only to be imprisoned by Elizabeth I who perceived her as a threat to the throne of England. For over eighteen years Elizabeth had Mary confined in various castles and manor houses throughout England until, in 1587, after being accused of numerous intrigues and plots against Elizabeth, Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.*Alex
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Caracalla, RIC 311d, Date 213-217 AD, Silver Antoninianus Rome, VENVS VICTRIX (with Helmet)
Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Caracalla
Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 213/217 AD
Material: Silver
Diameter: 23mm
Weight: 5.19g
Mint: Rome
Reference: RIC IV Caracalla 311d var. (Rare, with Helmet)
Provenance: Ex Dr. Gernot Heinrich Collection
This ist the RIC 311d Version with Helmet under the shield. An fantastic Antoninianus with many details on obverse and reverse, fantastic Caracalla bust and a clear reverse Venus. Rare RIC, and more Rare in this condition.
Obverse:
You can see the right-facing bust of Caracalla with a radiant crown. The inscription reads: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM for Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus.
Reverse:
The goddess Venus can be seen standing to the left, leaning on a shield. In her left hand she holds a Victoriola, in her right hand a spear. Standing, she leans on her shield and helmet. The inscription reads: VENVS VICTRIX for Venus Victrix (the victorious Venus).
Comments:
In ancient Rome, Venus Victrix is the form of the goddess Venus as victor or „as the one who brings victory“. Especially Pompeius Magnus celebrated his military successes in their honor. This was probably inspired by the armed Aphrodite (nikephoros carrying victory) who protected the Acropolis in certain eastern regions of ancient Greece. In Rome, the victorious Venus was mainly in the third century BC increasingly invoked in the wars against Carthage. Iulius Caesar traced the descent of his family and thus his own from Venus (Venus Genitrix). Pompey, as his adversary, identified his glorious destiny with Venus Victrix in order to claim Venus‘ protection in the secret rivalry. After his victory in the war against Mithridates in 55 BC Pompeius celebrated his triumph „de orbi universo“ (over the whole world) and had a temple built for the victorious Venus, which unfortunately has not been preserved. The sanctuary of Venus Victrix stood on the Capitol, which was probably built during the war against the Samnites. Her feast days were August 12 and October 9, with an annual sacrifice being made on the latter date. At the same time, homage was also paid to Victoria, who closely connected the Romans with Venus Victrix.
Associating this type of coin directly with a specific historical event in the reign of Caracalla is difficult. This Antoninianus is between 213 and 217 AD dated. He could therefore retrospectively refer to the victories in the Germania campaign in 213 AD relate to the battles in Dacia against the Carps in 214 AD refer to or anticipate „the-victorious“ Venus Victrix to refer to the coming eastern campaign against the Parthians.paul1888
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UR III CUNEIFORM TABLET FRAGMENT RELATING TO FOOD DISTRIBUTION
LATE 3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 5/8 in. (82 grams, 67 mm).
A fragment of a pillow-shaped ceramic tablet with neatly impressed columns of cuneiform text, accounting of Ur III food distribution,
representing wages.
LITERATURE:
Cf. Liverani, M., Antico Oriente, Storia, societa' ed economia, Roma, 1988, pp.608-609, fig.111, for type.Quant.Geek
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*SOLD* Amisos, Pontos AE 20
Attribution: cf. SNG BM Black Sea 1177 ff.; BMC Pontos p. 19, 69 ff.; SGCV II 3642, (double struck)
Date: 85-65 BC
Obverse: Aegis with facing head of Gorgon in center
Reverse: AMI-SOU, Nike advancing r., holding palm frond across shoulders behind, monograms to l. and r.
Size: 23.1 mm
Weight: 7.77 grams
ex- Beast Coins, ex- Marcantica, ex-ForvmNoah
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000c. Sextus PompeySextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey, was a Roman general from the late Republic (1st century BC). He was the last focus of opposition to the second triumvirate.
Sextus Pompeius was the youngest son of Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) by his third wife, Mucia Tertia. His older brother was Gnaeus Pompeius, from the same mother. Both boys grew up in the shadow of their father, one of Rome's best generals and originally non-conservative politician who drifted to the more traditional faction when Julius Caesar became a threat.
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, thus starting a civil war, Sextus' older brother Gnaeus followed their father in his escape to the East, as did most of the conservative senators. Sextus stayed in Rome in the care of his stepmother, Cornelia Metella. Pompey's army lost the battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and Pompey himself had to run for his life. Cornelia and Sextus met him in the island of Mytilene and together they fled to Egypt. On the arrival, Sextus watched his father being killed by treachery on September 29 of the same year. After the murder, Cornelia returned to Rome, but in the following years Sextus joined the resistance against Caesar in the African provinces. Together with Metellus Scipio, Cato the younger, his brother Gnaeus and other senators, they prepared to oppose Caesar and his army to the end.
Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC against Metellus Scipio and Cato, who committed suicide. In 45 BC, Caesar managed to defeat the Pompeius brothers in the battle of Munda. Gnaeus Pompeius was executed, but young Sextus escaped once more, this time to Sicily.
Back in Rome, Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March (March 15) 44 BC by a group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus. This incident did not lead to a return to normality, but provoked yet another civil war between Caesar's political heirs and his assassins. The second triumvirate was formed by Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus, with the intention of avenging Caesar and subduing all opposition. Sextus Pompeius in Sicily was certainly a rebellious man, but the Cassius and Brutus faction was the second triumvirate's first priority. Thus, with the whole island as his base, Sextus had the time and resources to develop an army and, even more importantly, a strong navy operated by Sicilian marines.
Brutus and Cassius lost the twin battles of Philippi and committed suicide in 42 BC. After this, the triumvirs turned their attentions to Sicily and Sextus.
But by this time, Sextus was prepared for strong resistance. In the following years, military confrontations failed to return a conclusive victory for either side and in 39 BC, Sextus and the triumvirs signed for peace in the Pact of Misenum. The reason for this peace treaty was the anticipated campaign against the Parthian Empire. Antony, the leader, needed all the legions he could get so it was useful to secure an armistice in the Sicilian front. The peace did not last for long. Octavian and Antony's frequent quarrels were a strong political motivation for resuming the war against Sextus. Octavian tried again to conquer Sicily, but he was defeated in the naval battle of Messina (37 BC) and again in August 36 BC. But by then, Octavian had Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a very talented general, on his side. Only a month afterwards, Agrippa destroyed Sextus' navy off Naulochus cape. Sextus escaped to the East and, by abandoning Sicily, lost all his base of support.
Sextus Pompeius was caught in Miletus in 35 BC and executed without trial (an illegal act since Sextus was a Roman citizen) by order of Marcus Titius, Antony's minion. His violent death would be one of the weapons used by Octavian against Antony several years later, when the situation between the two became unbearable.
Sicilian Mint
Magn above laureate Janiform head
PIVS above, IMP below, prow of galley right
Sear RCV 348, RPC 671, Sydenham 1044a, Cohen 16
43-36 BC
Check ecoli
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002p Augustus (63 B.C.-14 A.D.), Uncertain mint of Thrace, Kings, Rhoemetalces I., RPC I 1705, AE-16, Sceptre, Fasces and Capricorn right, Rare!002p Augustus (63 B.C.-14 A.D.), Uncertain mint of Thrace, Kings, Rhoemetalces I., RPC I 1705, AE-16, Sceptre, Fasces and Capricorn right, Rare!
avers: ΡOIMH/TAΛ/KOY, anticlockwise around, Sella curulis right, male head right above, monogram (RA) on the sella.
reverse: ΣEBAΣ/T/OY, anticlockwise around, Sceptre, Fasces, and Capricorn right.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 16mm, weight: 3,39g, axes: 0h,
mint: City: Uncertain mint of Thrace, Region: Thrace, Province: Thrace, Kings: Rhoemetalces I,
date: 11 B.C-12 A.D.,
ref: RPC I 1705, SHH 4362, Moushmov 5795, Jurukova (1976) 168 pl. XXI,
6 Specimens, Rare!
Q-001quadrans
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020a, CARIA, Knidos. Circa 465-449 BC. AR Drachm.CARIA, Knidos. Circa 465-449 BC. AR Drachm - 16mm (6.06 g). Obverse: forepart of roaring lion right; Reverse: archaic head of Aphrodite right, hair bound with taenia. Cahn 80 (V38/R53); SNG Helsinki 132 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 232 (same dies). Toned, near VF, good metal. Ex Barry P. Murphy.
While this coin falls within the time frame that numismatists call "Classical" Greek coinage, I have chosen to place it in both the "Archaic" (coin 020a) and "Classical" Greek sections of my collection. This specimen is one of those wonderful examples of transition--it incorporates many elements of the "Archaic" era, although it is struck during the "Classical" Greek period and anticipates characteristics of the later period.
As noted art historian Patricia Lawrence has pointed out, "[this specimen portrays] A noble-headed lion, a lovely Late Archaic Aphrodite, and [is made from]. . . beautiful metal." The Archaic Aphrodite is reminiscent of certain portraits of Arethusa found on tetradrachms produced in Syracuse in the first decade of the 5th century BC.
Knidos was a city of high antiquity and as a Hellenic city probably of Lacedaemonian colonization. Along with Halicarnassus (present day Bodrum, Turkey) and Kos, and the Rhodian cities of Lindos, Kamiros and Ialyssos it formed the Dorian Hexapolis, which held its confederate assemblies on the Triopian headland, and there celebrated games in honour of Apollo, Poseidon and the nymphs.
The city was at first governed by an oligarchic senate, composed of sixty members, and presided over by a magistrate; but, though it is proved by inscriptions that the old names continued to a very late period, the constitution underwent a popular transformation. The situation of the city was favourable for commerce, and the Knidians acquired considerable wealth, and were able to colonize the island of Lipara, and founded a city on Corcyra Nigra in the Adriatic. They ultimately submitted to Cyrus, and from the battle of Eurymedon to the latter part of the Peloponnesian War they were subject to Athens.
In their expansion into the region, the Romans easily obtained the allegiance of Knidians, and rewarded them for help given against Antiochus by leaving them the freedom of their city.
During the Byzantine period there must still have been a considerable population: for the ruins contain a large number of buildings belonging to the Byzantine style, and Christian sepulchres are common in the neighbourhood.
Eudoxus, the astronomer, Ctesias, the writer on Persian history, and Sostratus, the builder of the celebrated Pharos at Alexandria, are the most remarkable of the Knidians mentioned in history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidus
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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030a. ElagabalusAugustus 16 May 218 - 11 March 222
Actual name Varius Avitus Bassianus, then Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Nicknamed Elagabalus because he was the high priest of Elagabal, the sun god of Emesa, Syria. His grandmother claimed he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla, who remained popular with army. Elagabalus’s forces prevailed, and he was declared emperor in 218 at the age of 14 or 15. His reign became notorious due to his efforts to supplant the Roman gods and to his sexual antics. He and his mother were killed in 222, and their bodies dumped in the Tiber.lawrence c
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100 Kingdom of Bosporus, Rhescuporis II (III), AD 211–226Electrum stater, 7.84g, nearly EF
Struck AD 215/6 at Panticapaeum
BACIΛEWC PHCKOVΠOPIΔOC, diademed and draped bust right; club before / Laureate and draped bust of bearded Caracalla right, BIΦ below.
Certificate of Authenticity by David R. Sear, ACCS
Ex; Freeman & Sear
MacDonald 555/2; Frolova 200, pl. 45, 14 (same dies); Sear GIC 5482v (date) Lawrence W
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136 Constantinus I. (306-309 A.D. Caesar, 309-910 A.D. Filius Augustorum, 307-337 A.D. Augustus), Trier, RIC VII ???, AR-Argenteus, -/-//PTR, VICTORIA LAETAE PRINC PERP, Not in RIC !!!136 Constantinus I. (306-309 A.D. Caesar, 309-910 A.D. Filius Augustorum, 307-337 A.D. Augustus), Trier, RIC VII ???, AR-Argenteus, -/-//PTR, VICTORIA LAETAE PRINC PERP, Not in RIC !!!
avers:- IMP CONSTANTI NVS AVG, bust l., high-crested helmet, cuir., dr., spear across r. shoulder..
rever:- VICTORIA LAETAE PRINC PERP, two Victories stg. facing one another, together holding shield inscribed VOT/PR on altar. PTR in exergue.
"UNLISTED ISSUE. This issue is listed erroneously in RIC VII as regular follis (TRIER 208A, p. 181), but in fact it is "billon argenteus" (c. 25% of silver) and belongs to the group of TREVERI 825-826 in RIC VI. Note that only PTR mark is correct, because of only one officina working at that time at Treveri. Note also that the bust type is similar to H11 from RIC VII, but there are also a few differences: bust is usually larger, half-length, and could be described as cuirassed and draped. Coin should be listed after TREVERI 826. See: Bastien, P., "L’émission de monnaies de billon de Treves au début de 313", Quaderni Ticinesi (Numismatica e Antichità Classiche) 1982, XI, p. 271-278. See: CORRIGENDA, VOL. VII, p. 181, CORRIGENDA, VOL. VI, p. 224" by Lech Stepniewski, in "Not in RIC" , thank you Lech Stepniewski,
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/notinric/6tre-826.html
exergo: -/-//PTR, diameter: 19mm, weight: 2,73g, axis: h,
mint: Trier, date: 318-319 A.D., ref: RIC VI Trier 825-6?, RIC VI, "TREVERI [after 826], CONSTANTINE I, UNLISTED ISSUE" by Lech Stepniewski,
Q-001quadrans
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14 - 15 - NERON (54 - 68 D.C.)AR Denario 18,6 mm 3,32 g.
Anv: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P P - Cabeza laureada a derecha.
Rev: ANEPÍGRAFA - Águila legionaria entre dos estandartes.
Esta emisión se realiza para conmemorar una invasión planeada del Cáucaso que se anticipó por la muerte de Neron. Para encabezar la invasión, Neron creó una nueva legión, "La Legión de Alejandro el Grande", estaba compuesta de reclutas italianos que midieran más de 1,80 mts. de alto.
Acuñada: 67 - 68 D.C.
Ceca: Roma
Rareza: R2
Referencias: RIC I #68 pag.154 - Cohen I #356 - BMCRE I #107 - CBN #238 - DVN #4 Pag.84 - RSC II #356mdelvalle
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14-05 - NERON (54 - 68 D.C.)AR Denario 18,6 mm 3,32 g.
Anv: IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P P - Cabeza laureada a derecha.
Rev: ANEPÍGRAFA - Águila legionaria entre dos estandartes.
Esta emisión se realiza para conmemorar una invasión planeada del Cáucaso que se anticipó por la muerte de Neron. Para encabezar la invasión, Neron creó una nueva legión, "La Legión de Alejandro el Grande", estaba compuesta de reclutas italianos que midieran más de 1,80 mts. de alto.
Acuñada: 67 - 68 D.C.
Ceca: Roma
Rareza: R2
Referencias: RIC I #68 pag.154 - Cohen I #356 Pag.303 - BMCRE I #107 - CBN #238 - DVN #4 Pag.84 - RSC II #356 Pag.16 - Sear RCTV I #1947 Pag.384mdelvalle
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14. Philip I.Antoninianus, ca 245 - 247 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG / Radiate bust of Philip I.
Reverse: ROMAE AETERNAE / Roma seated, holding Victory and sceptre. Shield at her side.
4.72 gm., 20 mm.
RIC #44b; Sear #8952.
The reverse type of this coin was occasionally used by several Roman emperors before Philip's time. However, the use of it on this coin likely anticipates the 1000'th anniversary of the founding of Rome which was celebrated in the year 248.Callimachus
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161-180 AD - MARCUS AURELIUS AE sestertius - struck 170-171 ADobv: IMP M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXV
rev: : /PRIMI/DECEN/NALES/COS III/S-C (in five lines within laurel wreath)
ref: RIC III 1006 (S), Cohen 497 (12frcs)
24.22gms, 29mm,
Scarce
This issue commemorates the tenth anniversary of the sole reign of Aurelius, with vows to celebrate its completion, and in anticipation of another decade.berserker
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1701a, Saladin, 1169-1193AYYUBID: Saladin, 1169-1193, AR dirham (2.92g), Halab, AH580, A-788, lovely struck, well-centered & bold, Extremely Fine, Scarce.
His name in Arabic, in full, is SALAH AD-DIN YUSUF IBN AYYUB ("Righteousness of the Faith, Joseph, Son of Job"), also called AL-MALIK AN-NASIR SALAH AD-DIN YUSUF I (b. 1137/38, Tikrit, Mesopotamia--d. March 4, 1193, Damascus), Muslim sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and the most famous of Muslim heroes.
In wars against the Christian crusaders, he achieved final success with the disciplined capture of Jerusalem (Oct. 2, 1187), ending its 88-year occupation by the Franks. The great Christian counterattack of the Third Crusade was then stalemated by Saladin's military genius.
Saladin was born into a prominent Kurdish family. On the night of his birth, his father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub, gathered his family and moved to Aleppo, there entering the service of 'Imad ad-Din Zangi ibn Aq Sonqur, the powerful Turkish governor in northern Syria. Growing up in Ba'lbek and Damascus, Saladin was apparently an undistinguished youth, with a greater taste for religious studies than military training.
His formal career began when he joined the staff of his uncle Asad ad-Din Shirkuh, an important military commander under the amir Nureddin, son and successor of Zangi. During three military expeditions led by Shirkuh into Egypt to prevent its falling to the Latin-Christian (Frankish) rulers of the states established by the First Crusade, a complex, three-way struggle developed between Amalric I, the Latin king of Jerusalem, Shawar, the powerful vizier of the Egyptian Fatimid caliph, and Shirkuh. After Shirkuh's death and after ordering Shawar's assassination, Saladin, in 1169 at the age of 31, was appointed both commander of the Syrian troops and vizier of Egypt.
His relatively quick rise to power must be attributed not only to the clannish nepotism of his Kurdish family but also to his own emerging talents. As vizier of Egypt, he received the title king (malik), although he was generally known as the sultan. Saladin's position was further enhanced when, in 1171, he abolished the Shi'i Fatimid caliphate, proclaimed a return to Sunnah in Egypt, and consequently became its sole ruler.
Although he remained for a time theoretically a vassal of Nureddin, that relationship ended with the Syrian emir's death in 1174. Using his rich agricultural possessions in Egypt as a financial base, Saladin soon moved into Syria with a small but strictly disciplined army to claim the regency on behalf of the young son of his former suzerain.
Soon, however, he abandoned this claim, and from 1174 until 1186 he zealously pursued a goal of uniting, under his own standard, all the Muslim territories of Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt.
This he accomplished by skillful diplomacy backed when necessary by the swift and resolute use of military force. Gradually, his reputation grew as a generous and virtuous but firm ruler, devoid of pretense, licentiousness, and cruelty. In contrast to the bitter dissension and intense rivalry that had up to then hampered the Muslims in their resistance to the crusaders, Saladin's singleness of purpose induced them to rearm both physically and spiritually.
Saladin's every act was inspired by an intense and unwavering devotion to the idea of jihad ("holy war")-the Muslim equivalent of the Christian crusade. It was an essential part of his policy to encourage the growth and spread of Muslim religious institutions.
He courted its scholars and preachers, founded colleges and mosques for their use, and commissioned them to write edifying works especially on the jihad itself. Through moral regeneration, which was a genuine part of his own way of life, he tried to re-create in his own realm some of the same zeal and enthusiasm that had proved so valuable to the first generations of Muslims when, five centuries before, they had conquered half the known world.
Saladin also succeeded in turning the military balance of power in his favour-more by uniting and disciplining a great number of unruly forces than by employing new or improved military techniques. When at last, in 1187, he was able to throw his full strength into the struggle with the Latin crusader kingdoms, his armies were their equals. On July 4, 1187, aided by his own military good sense and by a phenomenal lack of it on the part of his enemy, Saladin trapped and destroyed in one blow an exhausted and thirst-crazed army of crusaders at Hattin, near Tiberias in northern Palestine.
So great were the losses in the ranks of the crusaders in this one battle that the Muslims were quickly able to overrun nearly the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem. Acre, Toron, Beirut, Sidon, Nazareth, Caesarea, Nabulus, Jaffa (Yafo), and Ascalon (Ashqelon) fell within three months.
But Saladin's crowning achievement and the most disastrous blow to the whole crusading movement came on Oct. 2, 1187, when Jerusalem, holy to both Muslim and Christian alike, surrendered to the Sultan's army after 88 years in the hands of the Franks. In stark contrast to the city's conquest by the Christians, when blood flowed freely during the barbaric slaughter of its inhabitants, the Muslim reconquest was marked by the civilized and courteous behaviour of Saladin and his troops. His sudden success, which in 1189 saw the crusaders reduced to the occupation of only three cities, was, however, marred by his failure to capture Tyre, an almost impregnable coastal fortress to which the scattered Christian survivors of the recent battles flocked. It was to be the rallying point of the Latin counterattack.
Most probably, Saladin did not anticipate the European reaction to his capture of Jerusalem, an event that deeply shocked the West and to which it responded with a new call for a crusade. In addition to many great nobles and famous knights, this crusade, the third, brought the kings of three countries into the struggle.
The magnitude of the Christian effort and the lasting impression it made on contemporaries gave the name of Saladin, as their gallant and chivalrous enemy, an added lustre that his military victories alone could never confer on him.
The Crusade itself was long and exhausting, and, despite the obvious, though at times impulsive, military genius of Richard I the Lion-Heart, it achieved almost nothing. Therein lies the greatest-but often unrecognized--achievement of Saladin. With tired and unwilling feudal levies, committed to fight only a limited season each year, his indomitable will enabled him to fight the greatest champions of Christendom to a draw. The crusaders retained little more than a precarious foothold on the Levantine coast, and when King Richard set sail from the Orient in October 1192, the battle was over.
Saladin withdrew to his capital at Damascus. Soon, the long campaigning seasons and the endless hours in the saddle caught up with him, and he died. While his relatives were already scrambling for pieces of the empire, his friends found that the most powerful and most generous ruler in the Muslim world had not left enough money to pay for his own grave.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H.A.R. Gibb, "The Arabic Sources for the Life of Saladin," Speculum, 25:58-72 (1950). C.W. Wilson's English translation of one of the most important Arabic works, The Life of Saladin (1897), was reprinted in 1971. The best biography to date is Stanley Lane-Poole, Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, new ed. (1926, reprinted 1964), although it does not take account of all the sources.Cleisthenes
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1794 AE Halfpenny, Emsworth, Hampshire.Obverse: EARL HOWE & THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE. "Youthful" bust of Earl Howe, wearing tricorn hat and with hair in long pigtail tied with a ribbon, facing left.
Reverse: RULE BRITANNIA. Britannia facing left, seated on globe, her right hand holding spear, her left arm holding laurel-branch and resting on shield at her side; in exergue, 1794.
Edge: “PAYABLE AT LONDON LIVERPOOL OR BRISTOL •.
Diameter: 29mm.
Dalton & Hamer: 13
During the 18th and 19th centuries Emsworth was a busy little port, known for shipbuilding, boat building and rope making. Grain from the area was ground into flour by tidal mills at Emsworth and the flour was then transported by ship to places like London and Portsmouth. Timber from the area was also exported from Emsworth in the 18th and 19th centuries.
This token was probably issued by John Stride, a grocer and tea dealer with a business in Emsworth, and the dies were likely engraved by Thomas Wyon. The token was probably manufactured by Peter Kempson at his mint in Birmingham.
These 18th century tokens are often generically referred to as “Conder” tokens, the name originating from James Conder, a linen draper from Tavern Street in Ipswich. Conder was an ardent collector of tokens and the author of the standard work on the subject until it was superseded by that of Atkins in 1892.
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, Knight of the Garter and Admiral of the Fleet was born on 8th March, 1726. He was a British naval officer notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. He died on the 5th of August, 1799.
The Glorious First of June, 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between Britain and the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. The British, under Admiral Lord Howe, attempted to prevent the passage of a vital grain convoy from the United States, which was protected by the French fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse. The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean, some 400 nautical miles west of the French island of Ushant, on the first of June 1794. During the battle both fleets were so severely damaged that both Howe and Villaret were compelled to return to their home ports. Both sides claimed victory and the outcome of the battle was seized upon by the press of both nations as a demonstration of the prowess and bravery of their respective navies.*Alex
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1795 AE Halfpenny, Emsworth or Portsmouth, Hampshire.Obverse: EARL HOWE & THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE. "Elderly" bust of Earl Howe, wearing tricorn hat and with hair tied with a ribbon at back, facing left.
Reverse: RULE BRITANNIA. Britannia facing left, seated on globe, her right hand holding spear, her left arm holding laurel-branch and resting on shield at her side; in exergue, 1795.
Edge: “PAYABLE IN LONDON” the remainder engrailed.
Diameter: 29mm.
Dalton & Hamer: 23b
This token was probably issued by John Stride, a grocer and tea dealer with a business in Emsworth, and the dies were likely engraved by Thomas Wyon. The token was probably manufactured by Peter Kempson at his mint in Birmingham.
These 18th century tokens are often generically referred to as “Conder” tokens, the name originating from James Conder, a linen draper from Tavern Street in Ipswich. Conder was an ardent collector of tokens and the author of the standard work on the subject until it was superseded by that of Atkins in 1892.
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, Knight of the Garter and Admiral of the Fleet was born on 8th March, 1726. He was a British naval officer notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. He died on the 5th of August, 1799.
The Glorious First of June, 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between Britain and the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. The British, under Admiral Lord Howe, attempted to prevent the passage of a vital grain convoy from the United States, which was protected by the French fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse. The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean, some 400 nautical miles west of the French island of Ushant, on the first of June 1794. During the battle, Howe defied naval convention by ordering his fleet to turn towards the French and for each of his vessels to rake and engage their immediate opponent. This unexpected order was not understood by all of his captains, and as a result his attack, though successful, was more piecemeal than he intended. In the course of the battle the two fleets were so severely damaged that both Howe and Villaret were compelled to return to their home ports.
Both sides claimed victory and the outcome of the battle was seized upon by the press of both countries as a demonstration of the prowess and bravery of their respective navies. France because, despite losing seven of his ships, Villaret had successfully bought enough time for the grain convoy to reach safety unimpeded by Howe's fleet and Britain because, since the French were forced to withdraw their battle-fleet to port, they were left free to conduct a campaign of blockade for the remainder of the war.*Alex
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1937 EDWARD VIII AE CORONATION MEDALObverse: • HIS • MAJESTY • KING • EDWARD • VIII •, Crowned bust of Edward VIII facing right, wearing ceremonial robes, the legend in raised letters on a raised border with each word separated by a rose.
Reverse: CROWNED - A. D. 1937. Britannia standing facing within a distyle arch, holding crown aloft with her right hand and union flag on pole in her left, in background to left, battleship and to right, London riverside scene in which St Paul's Cathedral can be discerned.
Diameter: 45mm
No coins were issued for Edward VIII who became King on the death of his father, George V, on 20th January 1936. Edward's coronation never took place because he abdicated the throne on 11th December that same year after a reign lasting only 326 days.
As Edward VIII was never crowned the coin types bearing the portrait of George V continued to be struck throughout 1936 and up until the coronation in 1937 of Edward's younger brother Albert, who reigned as George VI
This unsigned medal was struck in 1936 in anticipation of the proposed Coronation of Edward VIII on 12th May, 1937. The same reverse dies of this medal were subsequently reused on coronation medals for George VI. This was often the case with the coronation issues for George VI because the date of his coronation was the 12th of May, the same date as that originally proposed for Edward VIII.*Alex
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1au Otho69
Denarius
Bewigged head, right, IMP OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P
Securitas stg., SECVRITAS P R
RIC 10
Suetonius wrote: Otho was born on the 28th of April 32 AD, in the consulship of Furius Camillus Arruntius and Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero’s father. In early youth he was so profligate and insolent that he earned many a beating from his own father. . . . After his father died, he feigned love for an influential freedwoman at Court, though she was old and decrepit, in order to win her favour, and then used her to insinuate himself among the emperor’s friends, easily achieving the role of Nero’s chief favourite, not only because they were of a similar disposition, but also some say because of a sexual relationship. . . .
Otho had hoped to be adopted by Galba as his successor, and anticipated the announcement daily. But Piso was chosen, dashing Otho’s hopes, and causing him to resort to force, prompted not only by feelings of resentment but also by his mounting debts. He declared that frankly he would have to declare himself bankrupt, unless he became emperor. . . . When the moment was finally ripe, . . . his friends hoisted him on their shoulders and acclaimed him Emperor. Everyone they met joined the throng, as readily as if they were sworn accomplices and a part of the conspiracy, and that is how Otho arrived at his headquarters, amidst cheering and the brandishing of swords. He at once sent men to kill Galba and Piso. . . .
Meanwhile the army in Germany had sworn allegiance to Vitellius. When the news reached Otho he persuaded the Senate to send a deputation, advising the soldiers to maintain peace and order, since an emperor had already been chosen. However he also sent envoys with letters and personal messages, offering to share power with Vitellius, and marry his daughter. With civil war clearly inevitable, on the approach of Vitellius’s advance guard, who had marched on Rome led by their generals, . . . Otho began his campaign vigorously, and indeed too hastily. . . .
His army won three engagements, but of a minor nature, firstly in the Alps, then near Placentia, and finally at a place called Castor’s, and were ultimately defeated in a decisive and treacherous encounter at Betriacum (on the 14th April). . . . After this defeat, Otho resolved to commit suicide, more from feelings of shame, which many have thought justified, and a reluctance to continue the struggle with such high cost to life and property, than from any diffidence or fear of failure shown by his soldiers. . . . On waking at dawn (on the 16th of April, AD69), he promptly dealt himself a single knife-blow in the left side of his chest, and first concealing and then showing the wound to those who rushed in at the sound of his groaning, he breathed his last. . . . Otho was thirty-six years old when he died, on the ninety-second day of his reign. . . .
Neither his bodily form nor appearance suggested great courage. He is said to have been of medium height, bandy-legged and splay-footed, though as fastidious as a woman in personal matters. He had his body-hair plucked, and wore a toupee to cover his scanty locks, so well-made and so close-fitting that its presence was not apparent. Blindado
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1dy Maximinus II309-313
Quarter Follis
Laureate head, right, MAXIMINVS NOB C
Genius standing left, naked except for modius on head & chlamys over shoulder, holding patera & cornucopiae, SIS in ex, GENIO POPVLI ROMANI.
RIC 170b
According to Eutropius: Galerius, a man of excellent moral character, and skilful in military affairs, finding that Italy, by Constantius's permission, was put under his government, created two Caesars, MAXIMIN, whom he appointed over the east, and SEVERUS, to whom he committed Italy. He himself resided in Illyricum. . . . LICINIUS, a native of Dacia, was made emperor by Galerius, to whom he was known by old companionship, and recommended by his vigorous efforts and services in the war which he had conducted against Narseus. The death of Galerius followed immediately afterwards. The empire was then held by the four new emperors, Constantine and Maxentius, sons of emperors, Licinius and Maximian, sons of undistinguished men. Constantine, however, in the fifth year of his reign, commenced a civil war with Maxentius, routed his forces in several battles, and at last overthrew Maxentius himself (when he was spreading death among the nobility by every possible kind of cruelty,4) at the Milvian bridge, and made himself master of Italy. Not long after, too, Maximin, after commencing hostilities against Licinius in the east, anticipated the destruction that was falling upon him by an accidental death at Tarsus. Blindado
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2) The Pompeians: Quintus SiciniusROMAN REPUBLIC
Quintus Sicinius for Pompey
AR Denarius, 49 B.C. (3.6g)
Diademed head of Fortuna Populi Romani, goddess of Fortune of the Roman people. FORT before, P.R. behind / Crossed palm branch and winged caduceus (staff carried by ambassadors in wartime), wreath above. Q. SICINIVS, III VIR
The symbols of good fortune and victory on the reverse, together with Fortuna populi Romani on the obverse, anticipate victory by Pompey over Caesar.
CR 440, Sear Imperators #1, Sicinia 5
RM0043Sosius
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2016 Gibraltar For All Seafarers Silver 20 PoundsGibraltar, Elizabeth II (1952-2022), For All Seafarers Silver 20 Pounds, 2016, WWII Battle of the Atlantic - Official Merchant Navy commemorative, BU, struck in 99.9% silver recovered from the SS Gairsoppa, 'For All Seafarers' is also the title of a poem by John Edward Masefield, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, segmented reeding, weight 7.77g (ASW 0.25oz), composition 0.999 Ag, diameter 27.0mm, thickness 1.9mm, die axis 0°, Tower mint, 2016; obverse ELIZABETH II · DEI · GRA · REGINA · GIBRALTAR · 2016 (Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Gibraltar, 2016) clockwise from lower left and · 20 POUNDS · arcing below, fourth crowned head right, anchor privy mark behind nape of neck, IRB raised below truncation for engraver Ian Rank-Broadley, raised border surrounding; reverse 1939 · FOR ALL SEAFARERS · 1945 arcing above around inner linear circle, an anonymous Merchant Navy sailor, as well as scenes from a typical Battle of the Atlantic convoy with a sinking vessel in front, 4700/MBSL (Metres Below Sea Level) privy mark above left, J.J. (Joaquin Jimenez) monogram above right, raised border surrounding; from the Roger Belmar Collection; ex eBay sale (6 Nov 2023) with COA; £29.95.Serendipity
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34- INDIA (BRITISH), 1/12 ANNA, KM483, (1901-C).Size: 17.5 mm. Composition: Copper. Mintage: 21,345,000.
Grade: NGC MS62 BN (Cert. # 3260363-003).
Comments: Purchased slabbed on eBay, sold, and later bought back when I found it harder to replace than anticipated.lordmarcovan
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60. Severus Alexander.Denarius, ca 231 AD, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG / Laureate bust of Severus Alexander.
Reverse: VICTORIA AVG / Victoria standing, holding wreath and palm branch.
2.91 gm., 20 mm.
RIC #212; Sear #7928.
In 229, the Persians invaded and occupied the Roman province of Mesopotamia. Severus Alexander and his mother left Rome for the East in the spring of 231 to take charge of the campaign against the Persians. This coin, with its reverse legend of VICTORIA AVG, anticipates a Roman victory over the Persians. Callimachus
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A117-16 - MAJENCIO (306 - 312 D.C.)AE Follis 25 mm 7.1 gr.
Hijo de Maximiano, causó la crisis del sistema de la Tetrarquía, siendo proclamado “Principe”, luego César, y mas tarde Augusto, e invitando él mismo a su padre a reasumir el Imperio. Fue derrocado por las fuerzas conjuntas de Constantino I y Licinio.
Anv: "IMP C M[A]XENTIVS PF AVG " – Cabeza laureada viendo a derecha.
Rev: "AETE-RNITAS - [AVG] N” – Los Dioscuri (Castor y Pollux) desnudos de pié uno frente al otro, portando cetros largos verticales, sobre sus hombros un manto corto (Chlamys) y reteniendo a sus caballos por los frenos. "MOSTP" en exergo.
Acuñada 309 – 312 D.C.
Ceca: Ostia – (Ostia Antica, viejo puerto de Roma) -Italia
Rareza: C2
Referencias: RIC Vol.VI (Ostia) 35 Pag.404 - DVM #14 Pag.284 - Salgado MRBI Vol.III #7656.a. Pag.89 – Cohen Vol.VII #5 Pag.166mdelvalle
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A117-16 - MAJENCIO (306 - 312 D.C.)AE Follis 25 mm 7.1 gr.
Hijo de Maximiano, causó la crisis del sistema de la Tetrarquía, siendo proclamado “Principe”, luego César, y mas tarde Augusto, e invitando él mismo a su padre a reasumir el Imperio. Fue derrocado por las fuerzas conjuntas de Constantino I y Licinio.
Anv: "IMP C M[A]XENTIVS PF AVG " – Cabeza laureada viendo a derecha.
Rev: "AETE-RNITAS - [AVG] N” – Los Dioscuri (Castor y Pollux) desnudos de pié uno frente al otro, portando cetros largos verticales, sobre sus hombros un manto corto (Chlamys) y reteniendo a sus caballos por los frenos. "MOSTP" en exergo.
Acuñada 309 – 312 D.C.
Ceca: Ostia – (Ostia Antica, viejo puerto de Roma) -Italia
Rareza: C2
Referencias: RIC Vol.VI (Ostia) 35 Pag.404 - DVM #14 Pag.284 - Salgado MRBI Vol.III #7656.a. Pag.89 – Cohen Vol.VII #5 Pag.166 - Sear '88 #3776mdelvalle
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A118-01 - ROMULO (309 - 312 D.C.)AE Follis 16 mm 6,47 gr.
Hijo de Majencio y nieto de Galerio, muere a la edad de 14 años. A su muerte, fue deificado y su padre le dedicó el Templo del divo Rómulo en el Foro romano.
Anv: "DIVO ROMVLO N V BIS CONS" – Cabeza desnuda viendo a derecha.
Rev: "AETERNAE - MEMORIAE” – Águila estante a derecha, viendo a izquierda, sobre el domo de un templo con la puerta derecha abierta. "MOSTP" en exergo.
Acuñada 309 – 312 D.C.
Ceca: Ostia – (Ostia Antica, viejo puerto de Roma) -Italia
Referencias: RIC Vol.VI (Ostia) 34 Pag.404 - DVM #1 Pag.285 - Salgado MRBI Vol.III #7801.b Pag.93 – Cohen Vol.VII #6 Pag.183 - Sear RCTV IV #15050 Pag.356 - DROST #72 - Bauten S.26 f - Hill Monuments S.13 ffmdelvalle
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AE 12; Head of Satyr right/ Star and Pilei. Panticapeum Tauric Chersonese. Bronze 12 mm 2.2g. Obverse: Head of Satyr left. Reverse: Star and Pilei. Ex David Liebert
Podiceps
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AE-Antic-Object, #01AE-Antic-Object, #01
The object made of bronze, iron through the sole of a thin cylindrical object to the top of the pass. The sole is molded of lead. The three lion or eagle head decorated arms. One missing.
size: 68x65mm,
weight: 336g,
Q-001quadrans
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AE-Antic-Object, Celtic (?) hanging amulet #01AE-Antic-Object, Celtic (?) hanging amulet #01
The object made of bronze, with 10 knob in 4 row and a ring-shape form in the end part to be hung, and a conic shape form on the other side with 4 small knob.
size: 80x27x21mm,
weight: 91,85g,
date: Br-age c.800-600 B.C. (?)
ref:
Q-001quadrans
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Antic AE-Object, #01Antic AE-Object, #01
Avar tool pressing on thin sheet metal to create printed patterns.
size: 33,5x22x5mm
weight:10,0g
distribution:
date:
ref:
Q-001quadrans
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Antiochos VIII Epiphanes. Sole reign, 121-97 B.C. AE 18Obv: Radiate head of Antichos VIII right.
Rev: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings closed, transverse scepter behind shoulder.ancientone
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ANTIQUITIES, Greek, Hellenistic period terracotta statue of a monkeyA very rare, genuine ancient Greek Hellenistic period terracotta statue of a monkey, dating to approximately 300 - 250 B.C.
The charming creaure is shown seated and clutching a cylindrical vessel under its left arm.
Possibly a votive piece which would have been dedicated at a temple or sanctuary, in thanks for, or in anticipation of a favor.
A fascinating and unusual piece of ancient Greek art.
Condition: Very good, age related encrustation, as shown. Unrestored.
Height: 3 3/4 inches
Provenance:
Ex. Collection of Mr. E. Ohly, United Kingdom.
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Antoninus Pius Zeus PhilippopolisAntoninus Pius, Philippopolis, Thrace, 138 - 161 AD, 30mm, 23.5g, SEAR 1362, Varbanov III, 698
OBV: AVT AIL ADRIA ANTWNEINOC, laureate head right
REV: HGE GARGILI ANTIKOU FILIPPOPOLEITWN, Zeus seated left, holding phiale and scepter
(Signed by Gargilius Anticus)
SCARCE
SRukke
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ANTONINVS PIVSDenario Antonino Pio
Ceca: Roma 140-143 AC
Peso: 3,35gr
Diam: 18 mm
RIC 73c Comun
Good very fine
Ex Naville Numismatics sal 61, 2020
Anverso: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TR P COS III
Reverso: ITA-LIA Popular reverso que anticipa el 900 aniversario de la fundación de Roma. Jose Vicente A
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Asia Minor, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Artemis, altar, anticlockwise legendLydia, Hierokaisareia
Pseudo-autonomous issue
First half of the second century
Obv: draped bust of Artemis Persica r., with quiver at l. shoulder, bow and arrow at breast
Rev.: ΙΕΡΟΚΑΙСΑΡΕΩN, anticlockwise legend, lighted altar
AE, 3.07g, 15mm
Ref.: RPC online -shanxi
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Asia Minor, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Artemis, altar, anticlockwise legendLydia, Hierokaisareia
Pseudo-autonomous issue
First half of the second century
Obv: draped bust of Artemis Persica r., with quiver at l. shoulder, bow and arrow at breast
Rev.: ΙΕΡΟΚΑΙСΑΡΕΩN, anticlockwise legend, garlanded and lighted altar
AE, 3.61g, 14mm
Ref.: RPC online -, GRPC Lydia 47shanxi
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Asia Minor, Lydia, Hierocaesarea, Artemis, altar, anticlockwise legendLydia, Hierokaisareia
Pseudo-autonomous issue
First half of the second century
Obv: draped bust of Artemis Persica r., with quiver at l. shoulder, bow and arrow at breast
Rev.: ΙΕΡΟΚΑΙСΑΡΕΩN, anticlockwise legend, garlanded and lighted altar
AE, 3g, 13mm
Ref.: RPC online -shanxi
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Athena and her owl In Greek mythology, a Little Owl baby (Athene noctua) traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology. Because of such association, the bird often referred to as the "owl of Athena" or the "owl of Minerva" has been used as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, perspicacity and erudition throughout the Western world.
The reasons behind the association of Athena and the owl are lost in time. Some mythographers, such as David Kinsley and Martin P. Nilsson suggest that she may descend from a Minoan palace goddess associated with birds and Marija Gimbutas claim to trace Athena's origins as an Old European bird and snake goddess.
On the other hand, Cynthia Berger theorizes about the appeal of some characteristics of owls such as their ability to see in the dark to be used as symbol of wisdom while others, such as William Geoffrey Arnott, propose a simple association between founding myths of Athens and the significant number of Little Owls in the region (a fact noted since antiquity by Aristophanes in The Birds and Lysistrata).
In any case, the city of Athens seems to have adopted the owl as proof of allegiance to its patron virgin goddess, which according to a popular etiological myth reproduced on the West pediment of the Parthenon, secured the favor of its citizens by providing them with a more enticing gift than Poséidon.
Owls were commonly reproduced by Athenians in vases, weights and prize amphoras for the Panathenaic Games. The owl of Athena even became the common obverse of the Athenian tetradrachms after 510 BC and according to Philochorus, the Athenian tetradrachm was known as glaux throughout the ancient world and "owl" in present day numismatics. They were not, however, used exclusively by them to represent Athena and were even used for motivation during battles by other Greek cities, such as in the victory of Agathocles of Syracuse over the Carthaginians in 310 B.C. in which owls flying through the ranks were interpreted as Athena’s blessing or in the Battle of Salamis, chronicled in Plutarch's biography of Themistocles.
(Source: Wikipédia)
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BCC LSR28 Roman Lead Seal Isis? Bust RightRoman Lead Seal
Caesarea Maritima
Roman 1st-4th Century CE?
Obv: Unidentified bust to right, perhaps
Isis?, with traces of a crown (modius?), or
other device above. This faint image seems
to consist of two upright lines connected by
a horizontally elongated "x".
Rev: Chestnut-shaped, large. Blank.
Pb18 x 17.5 x 8mm. 9.68gm. Axis:NA
cf? I Piombe Antichi p.160, pl. XXXIII no.6
Surface find Caesarea Maritima, 1970's
J. Berlin Caesarea Collection
(click for larger pic)v-drome
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Bonaparte I° Consul - 20 francs or An 12 AAtelier de Paris (A)
BONAPARTE PREMIER CONSUL, tête nue a gauche
REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE, couronne de lauriers entourant 20 FRANCS en deux lignes. A l'exergue . coq . AN 12. . A .
Tranche inscrite DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE
6.44 gr
Ref : Le Franc VIII # 510/2
The revolution has ended, Bonaparte is soon becoming Napoleon I Empereur, as Octavian became Augustus (note the similarities on this portrait with those of Augustus on the "bull butting" denarii), but still unsure of what is going on. We see many contradictory messages for a laïque republic : a consul on obverse, a republic on reverse, a revolutionary calendar (An 12) and ... God save France on the edge...
Now you know why you find french people so romantic...
11-249Potator II
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Bosporan Kingdom, Tiberius Julius Thothorses, c. AD 278-308/9AE Stater, 20mm, 7.6g, 12h; Uncertain mint (Panticapaeum?), AD 290.
Obv.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΘΟΘΩΡΣΟΥ; Diademed, draped bust of king right.
Rev.: Laureate head of Diocletian right, tamga in right field // ΖΠΦ (587 = 290 AD).
Reference: cf. Anokhin 735, Mionnet 2, 160ff.
Notes: eBay, 10/23/15, rqJohn Anthony
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Bosporus KingdomSauromates I
90 - 124 A.D.
Bronze 48 nummia
12.84 gm, 27 mm, 0°
Wreath on curule chair, shield and spear left, scepter topped by human head on right
TI OYΛIOY BACIΛEΩC [C]AYPOMATOY
Mark of value MH (48 nummia) within wreath
BMC 13 p. 60, 25 var.; SGICV 5457 var.
Panticapaeum Mint?Jaimelai
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Bosporus Satyr LionCimmerian Bosporus Kingdom, 325 - 310 BC, 19mm, 6.42g, SNG Stancomb 553, SNG BM Black Sea 883-5, Macdonald 70, HGC 7, 114
OBV: Ivy wreathed head of young satyr left
REV: Π-Α-[N] around head of lion left
Panticapaeum (Ancient Greek: Παντικάπαιον, romanized: Padikápeon)
was an ancient Greek city on the eastern shore of Crimea,
which the Greeks called Taurica. The city was built on Mount Mithridat,
a hill on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus.
It was founded by Milesians in the late 7th or early 6th century BC.SRukke
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Bowl #4Pre-Columbian Central America
c. 500 - 1000 AD
89 mm (w) x 50 mm (h)
(3.5" x 2")
Description:
Darkened projections in three locations around body (one set chipped) perhaps representing animal faces?; bowl listed as coming from the Costa Rica Atlantic Watershed.Kamnaskires
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BULL, Panticapaeum City Issue, Old Satyr and Ox, 325 BCPanticapaeum City Issue, Old Satyr and Ox, 325 BC
Æ 18mm/5.5gm, struck c. 325 BC
Obv/ Head of bearded Satyr l.
Rev/ ΠAN; head of ox left.
Con/ VF, dark brown patina.
Ref/ MacDonald # 67Mayadigger
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C. Graffito: Marcian AV Solidus, Constantinople, 450-7 CE, cross etched in obv. fieldRoman Imperial / Byzantine. Marcian AV Solidus (4.45g, 20mm, 5h), Constantinople, c. 450-457 CE.
Obv: D N MARCIANVS P F AVG. Helmeted & cuirassed bust facing three-quarters right, holding spear & shield decorated with equestrian motif (horseman spearing fallen enemy). Graffito (cross) in r. field.
Rev: VICTORIA AVGGG Z / CONOB in exergue. Victory standing left, holding cross; star in right field.
Ref: RIC 510; DOC 481.
Prov: Ex-Auctiones Gmbh 34 (22 Feb 2015), Lot 136.
Notes: "Graffito" (pl., "graffiti") may seem to be nothing more than damage, detracting artistically. But oftentimes it contributes something as well. It may give us evidence for an additional chapter in the "object biography" of a coin, telling us how it was used and what it meant to its users in antiquity.
The reasons for scratching characters into the surfaces of their coins are often lost to us, but not always. In this case, at least the surface meaning is obvious. It is an example of the pervasive religious graffiti in the form of crosses found on "Byzantine" (i.e., late Eastern Roman) gold coins.
But questions do remain: Was it just a widespread cultural custom to inscribe crosses anywhere possible? Was it a means of showing religious affiliation and cultural membership? Was it meant as a blessing, possibly with some anticipated benefit, either for the person, for the transaction, or even for the Emperor (next to whose face it is inscribed)?
Beyond the technical ease with which it is scratched, perhaps gold money especially required purification, given its distinctly worldly character. (It is worth noting the rev. design already included a cross; perhaps this individual felt that wasn't sufficient, and that the absence of a cross on the obverse demanded remedy.)
See Also: For graffito with religious significance, but in the much older context of a small hoard of Boeotian Theban staters (interpreted as the religious dedication of a "tithe" of spoils), see Liampi (AJN 2008) "NIKA, ΛEIA: Graffiti on Sicyonian and Theban Staters in a New Hoard from Boeotia / Beginning of 2000": https://www.jstor.org/stable/43580312Curtis JJ
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CAMPANIA, NeapolisCampania, Neapolis, struck 317/310-270 BC, third unit, 1.85g. Obv : laur. head of Apollo, Mono before, Lambda behind/ Rev : [NE]OΠOΛIT[ Forepart of Achelous Sebethos as a man-faced bull to right, IS behind. REF: Taliercio IIc, 12; MSP I, 293.
Ex. MarcanticaMolinari
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Campgate: Costantino II, zecca di Heraclea II officinaConstantine II, AE4, Heraclea mint II officina
AE, 16 mm, 2.02 gr
D/ CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C; Bust type: LDC laureate, draped, cuirassed, bust right;
R/ PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS; 2 Turrets, 8 Layers, Star above. SMHB; Left field: dot
RIC VII Heraclea 96, C3
Provenienza: collezione Berardengo, Roma Italia (17 dicembre 2012, numero catalogo 171); ex David Malloy collection (Goancient, Owen Sound Ontario Canada, 2012); ex collezione privata, Israele (prima del 2012, approvazione all'esportazione dell'Autorità per le antichità n° 8244).paolo
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Charles A. Lindbergh, 1972 Aviation Hall of FameObv: CHARLES AUGUSTUS LINDBERGH, 1902 - (1974), head of Lindbergh, facing three-quarters to left, AVIATION HALL OF FAME.
Rev: A collection of aircraft, including The Spirit of St. Louis, associated with Lindbergh's career over a map of North and South America, below is a list of accomplishments: SOLO TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT - 1927 / AIR ROUTE TO THE ORIENT - 1931 / AIR ROUTES TO EUROPE - 1933 / AIRLINE CONSULTANT / BRIG. GEN. USAFR
Note: Medal was produced during C. A. Lindbergh's lifetime.
Designer: R. Beck, Mint: Medallic Art Company, Danbury, CT
Bronze, 44 mm, 0°Matt Inglima
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Chersonese AE LionThrace, Chersonese, Panticapaeum, Pan / Lion, AE 19. 300-100 BC. Obverse: Youthful head of Pan left. Reverse: PAN, Head of lion left, sturgeon below. 19 mm , 5.5 g. ex Jerome Holderman.Podiceps
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Chersonese pegasus Thrace, Chersonese, Panticapaeum, Pan / Pegasus, AE15, 300-100 BC. Obverse: Youthful head of Pan right. Reverse: PAN, Forepart of Pegasus flying right. 15 mm, 2.4 g. ex Jerome HoldermanPodiceps
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Chersonese pegasus (3)Thrace, Chersonese, Panticapaeum, Pan / Pegasus, AE15, 300-100 BC. Obverse: Youthful head of Pan right. Reverse: PAN, Forepart of Pegasus flying right. 13 mm, 2.4 g. ex, Jerome HoldermanPodiceps
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Chersonese pegasus 2Thrace, Chersonese, Panticapaeum, Pan / Pegasus, AE15, 300-100 BC. Obverse: Youthful head of Pan right. Reverse: PAN, Forepart of Pegasus flying right. 15 mm, 2.6 g. ex, Jerome HoldermanPodiceps
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Cimmerian Bosporos. Panticapaeum. (Circa 325-310 BC)AE17 (4.07 gm)
Obverse: Head of bearded satyr left
Reverse: Î -A-N, head of bull left.
MacDonald 67. Anokhin 132.
Panticapaeum (Ancient Greek: Παντικάπαιον, translit. Pantikápaion, Russian: Пантикапей, translit. Pantikapei) was an ancient Greek city on the eastern shore of Crimea, which the Greeks called Taurica. The city was built on Mount Mithridat, a hill on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. It was founded by Milesians in the late 7th or early 6th century BC.
This area eventually came to be ruled by the Spartocids, a Hellenized Thracian dynasty that ruled the Hellenistic Kingdom of Bosporus between the years 438–108 BC. They had usurped the former dynasty, the Archaeanactids, a Greek dynasty of the Bosporan Kingdom who were tyrants of Panticapaeum from 480 - 438 BC that were usurped from the Bosporan throne by Spartokos I in 438 BC, whom the dynasty is named after.
Spartokos I is often thought to have been a Thracian mercenary who was hired by the Archaeanactids, and that he usurped the Archaeanactids becoming "king" of the Bosporan Kingdom, then only a few cities, such as Panticapaeum. Spartokos was succeeded by his son, Satyros I, who would go on to conquer many cities around Panticapaeum such as Nymphaeum and Kimmerikon. Satyros's son, Leukon I, would go to conquer and expand the kingdom beyond boundaries his father ever thought of.
Ultimately, the Bosporan Kingdom entered into a decline due to numerous attacks from nomadic Scythian tribes in the subsequent centuries leading up to its fall.Nathan P
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Commodus: Augustus 177-192 ADCommodus AR Denarius (issued under Marcus Aurelius).
Denomination: AR Denarius
Year: ca. 177-178 AD
Bust: Bust of Commodus, laureate, draped, cuirassed, right.
Obverse: L COMMODVS AVG
Reverse: COS PP
Type: Salus, draped, seated left on low seat, holding branch in extended right hand and resting left arm on side of seat: in front of her, let, a snake coiling upwards from ground.
Mint: Rome
Weight & Measures: 3.32g; 18mm
RIC: RIC III, 654
Provenance: Ex. artemiscc (eBay, March 2024).
Translation: OB: Lucius Commodus Augustus.
Translation: REV: Consul, Pater Patriae. for Consul, father of the nation.
Notes: Early bare headed Commodus minted under authority of Marcus Aurelius. Ex NGC graded XF. The historical background of this silver denarius presented here and issued in 177/178 AD could be, on the one hand, the victoriously concluded first Marcomannic war, from which Marcus Aurelius and his son returned safe and sound (and through the victory also ensured the well-being of the Roman people) – or also the anticipatory wish for the well-being of the two Augusti. At the end of 177 AD there was another Marcomannic war, so that Marcus Aurelius and his son set out from Rome for the second Germanic or Sarmatian campaign on 03 August 178 AD (Comm. 12, 6) (Comm. 2, 5. Dio LXXI 33, 1. Marc. 27, 9). Here’s to Salus watching over the imperial welfare.
Justin L1
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Constantius I RIC VI, 673 var.Constantinus I Chlorus, Caesar 293 - 305, father of Constantin I
AR - Antoninianus, 4.45g, 22.4mm
Antiochia AD 293
obv. FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES
draped, cuirassed bust, seen from behind, radiate head r.
rev. IOVI ET HERCVLI CONS CAES
Jupiter standing r., holding globe and sceptre, facing Hercules standing l.,
holding victory, club and lion's skin.
field: dot above S
exergue: XXI
RIC V/2, 673 var., unlisted in RIC
R5(?); about EF
added to www.wildwinds.com
From Forum Ancient Coins, thanks!
1. These Antoniniani are very scarce in anticipation of the currency reform AD 294. Coins in circulation were withdrawn and melted down (Forum)
2. This type is known for Diocletian (A - Z) and Galerius (Gamma) and was expected for Constantius too (S), but not yet known (Curtis Clay) Jochen
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Costantino I, Eraclea 324 d.C., follisFollis di Constantino I, zecca di Eraclea 324 d.C.
AE, 4.04 gr, 18.6 mm, VF
D/ CONSTAN-TINVS AVG, testa incoronata e drappeggiata a dx
R/ D N CONSTANTINI MAX AVG. Nella corona d'alloro: VOT XX, SMHD in ex
RIC VII, 60
Provenienza: collezione Berardengo, Roma Italia (20 luglio 2007, numero catalogo 56); ex Marc De Cock collection (Marcantica, Zedelgem Belgium, fino al 2007).paolo
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Cr 57/3 Æ As [Crescent]207 b.c.e.
o: Janus head, I above
r: Prow right; Crescent above; I above
39.64 gm
This coin is a bit light, mostly from the evident wear, but I do like the gigantic crescent on reverse, large enough to displace the value mark. In the few "signed" issues that immediately pre- and post- date this one, the mark is more effectively placed before the prow. PMah
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Cr 348/4 L. Rubrius Dossenus Quinariuso: Head of Neptune right, DOSSEN & trident behind
r: Victory walking right, [serpent entwined around altar before], L RVBRI behind
This type has an ambitious design for the quinarius -- Neptune's head is detailed and intense; Victory is rather robust, half-draped, with gigantic wings and flamboyant fronds, approaching a post-altar that has busy design as well.
2.00 gms; 14.00 mm
PMah
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Crawford 464/7, ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, T. Carisius, AR SestertiusRome, The Republic.
T. Carisius, 46 BCE.
AR Sestertius (0.65g; 12mm).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: [Mask of Silenus]; [T·]CARISI[VS] below.
Reverse: Panther advancing right with thyrsus; III VIR in exergue.
References: Crawford 464/7a; Sydenham 988 (R8); RBW 1620 (this coin); BMCRR 4076; Babelon, Carisia 12 (this coin illustrated inaccurately as Carisa 13); Borghesi, Oeuvres, Vol 1, Pl. 1, Fig 7 (this coin illustrated inaccurately); Riccio, Le Monete Delle Antiche Famiglie di Roma (2nd Ed., 1843), Carisia 9 and Pl. 54, Fig 2 (this coin cited and illustrated inaccurately); B. Borghesi, “Dodici sesterzj illustrati”, Giornale numismatico, No. IV, July 1808, pp. 52-57, extracted and republished in Borghesi 1862-4, vol. 1, pp. 29-38 (this coin described inaccurately).
Provenance: Ex STR collection; RBW Collection [NAC 63 (2012) Lot 395]; bought from W. Verres in Aug 2002; Sarti Collection [Hirsch VII (1903), Lot 1606]; Bartolomeo Borghesi (d. 1860) Collection, acquired before July 1808 (when it was described in the Borghesi article in Giornale numismatico).
An extremely rare coin with only 5 obverse and 4 or 5 reverse dies known to Crawford (Richard Schaefer identified 6 obverse dies in his Roman Republican Die Project). Crawford listed two obverse varieties – the first with inscription beside and below Silenus’ head (464/7a), and the second with inscription above Silenus’ head (464/7b) for which my coin was the basis. The misinterpretation of my coin by Borghesi, a famous 19th century collector with mediocre eyesight, and the subsequent reliance by cataloguers on the numismatic artist Dardel’s line drawing of the coin which followed Borghesi’s misinterpretation, resulted in the cataloguing of the second obverse variety by Babelon, Sydenham and Crawford. In fact, Borghesi was holding the obverse upside down and thought Silenus’ beard was the top of his head – an easy mistake to make with limited, 19th century numismatic aids and resources. My comparison of this coin to known dies for the type yielded a die match to the Berlin specimen (Crawford’s plate for 464/7a) which proved that the visible obverse device is actually Silenus’ beard, and thus the inscription runs beside and below and beard as per Crawford 464/7a. Recently, an example of the type was auctioned which bore an obverse inscription running over the top of Silenus’ head, providing plausible support to the Crawford 464/7b variety.
Prior researchers have alternately identified the obverse mask as either Silenus or Pan. See, Sear HCRI, no. 75 (Silenus); Crawford 464/7a and 464/7b (Pan); Banti 1981, Carisia 36-38 (Pan); BMCRR, no. 4076 (Pan); Babelon, Carisia 12 and 13 (Pan); Cohen, Carisia 9 (Silenus); Borghesi 1862-4, vol. 1, p. 32, n. 2 (Silenus); Riccio 1843, p. 46, Carisia 9 (Silenus). Silenus is typically identifiable as an old man with pug nose and some horse characteristics (notably, ears and tail), while Pan is recognized as part goat and part man. I believe that this coin actually depicts a Silenus.
Carausius
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Crimea, Kerch, Prytaneion of PanticapaeumThe prytaneion of Panticapaeum, second century BC. Kerch's Obelisk of Glory is visible in the background. Panticapaeum was an ancient Greek city on the eastern shore of Crimea, which the Greeks called Taurica. The city was built on Mount Mithridat, a hill on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. It was founded by Milesians in the late 7th or early 6th century BC. The ruins of the site are now located in the modern city Kerch.
Joe Sermarini
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Decentius AE Barbarous Imitation (Victories/wreath) v.1MAGNUS DECENTIUS as Caesar, AD 350-3
AE Barbarous Imitation (22.14mm, 5.06g, 6h)
Likely struck AD 350-3
Imitation of the Lugdunum mint
Obverse: [D N D]ECENTI-VS CAESAR, bare-headed, draped and/or cuirassed bust of Decentius right
Reverse: VICT[? ? ? ? ?] VG ET CES, two Victories standing facing each other, holding between them wreath encircling VOT [? ?] [MVLT] X which is resting on short column; [?]PLG in exergue
These 'unofficial' issues were struck to help alleviate severe local shortages of coinage.
From the collection of Commodore Daniel Turner (1794-1850), naval veteran of the War of 1812 and later captain of the USS Constitution.
The son of a naval officer, Daniel Turner (born 1794, Staten Island, New York) began his own career in the United States Navy as a midshipman on January 1, 1808, at the age of fourteen. Following brief duty at the New York Naval Station, he served aboard the USS Constitution on the North Atlantic Station. On June 17, 1810, he transferred to the frigate President and remained there until June 1812, when he was ordered to Norwich, Connecticut to command the gunboats there. On March 12, 1813, Turner received his commission as a lieutenant.
On March 14, two days later, Turner was sent to Sackett's Harbor, New York, located on the shores of Lake Erie. There, he took command of Niagara, a brig in Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron. However, just before the Battle of Lake Erie, he relinquished command to Captain Jesse D. Elliott and assumed command of Caledonia. The little brig played an important role in the battle on September 10, 1813, because, at one point in the action, her two 24-pounder long guns were the only ones in Perry's flotilla capable of returning the distant fire of the three heaviest Royal Navy ships then in the process of pounding Perry's flagship Lawrence. For his part in the American victory at Lake Erie, Lt. Turner received the praise of Perry, a vote of thanks and a medal from Congress, and a sword from the state of New York.
In the summer of 1814, Turner succeeded to the command of schooner Scorpion, and he cruised Lakes Erie and Huron in her supporting army operations around Detroit and blockading British forces at the Nottawasaga River and Lake Simcoe. On September 6, 1814, Turner and his command were captured by the British when he brought Scorpion alongside the former American schooner Tigress which, unbeknownst to him, had been captured a few days earlier. After a period of imprisonment at Fort Mackinac, Lt. Turner returned to the United States in exchange for a British prisoner of war.
Between 1815 and 1817, Turner cruised the Mediterranean in the frigate Java commanded by his old superior on the Great Lakes, Oliver Hazard Perry. During that deployment, Java visited Algiers and Tripoli in a show of American naval strength calculated to impress the Barbary pirates and intimidate them into honoring their treaties with the United States. In 1817, Java returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to be laid up.
Between 1819 and 1824, Turner returned to sea in the schooner Nonsuch attached to a squadron commanded again by Oliver Hazard Perry. In addition to hunting West Indian pirates, his ship sailed up the Orinoco River to carry Perry on a diplomatic mission to the Venezuelan government under Simon Bolivar. During the return downriver, Perry and many of the crew contracted yellow fever. Turner was close at hand when his mentor died at Trinidad on August 23, 1819. During the remaining years of Turner's assignment to Nonsuch, his ship worked along the east coast of the United States, patrolled in the West Indies to suppress piracy, and made a brief cruise to the Mediterranean in 1824.
Following shore duty at Boston, Massachusetts, Turner returned to sea in 1827 for a three-year assignment with the West India Squadron, as the commanding officer of Erie. In 1830, he came ashore again for three years at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Promoted to captain on March 3, 1835, Turner spent a long period waiting orders before returning to sea in 1839 in command of USS Constitution. He sailed the Pacific Squadron in "Old Ironsides," until he was relieved in 1841. From 1843 to 1846, he commanded the American squadron which operated along the Brazilian coast. From that duty, he reported ashore again as Commandant, Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Captain Daniel Turner died suddenly on February 4, 1850 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he was buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Adapted and compiled from the Foster History and the USS Constitution Museum websites)
In addition to being a competent naval commander, Daniel Turner was also a keen coin collector, and during his career he accumulated a large collection of nearly three hundred ancient coins, which he stored in a wooden chest along with his own handwritten labels. In 2015, 165 years after the Commodore's death, the Turner descendants consigned this collection to Cowan’s Auction house of Cincinnati, Ohio.CPK
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Diocletian Post-Reform Radiate (CONCORDIA MILITVM, RIC VI 21) v.1DIOCLETIAN, AD 284-305
AE Post-Reform Radiate (20.65mm, 3.00g,1h)
Struck AD 295-298. Heraclea mint
Obverse: IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Diocletian right
Reverse: CONCORDIA MIL-ITVM, Diocletian, in military attire, standing right, holding short scepter and receiving Victory on globe from Jupiter standing left, holding long vertical scepter; H A in lower field
References: RIC VI 21, RCV 12833
From the collection of Commodore Daniel Turner (1794-1850), naval veteran of the War of 1812 and later captain of the USS Constitution.
The son of a naval officer, Daniel Turner (born 1794, Staten Island, New York) began his own career in the United States Navy as a midshipman on January 1, 1808, at the age of fourteen. Following brief duty at the New York Naval Station, he served aboard the USS Constitution on the North Atlantic Station. On June 17, 1810, he transferred to the frigate President and remained there until June 1812, when he was ordered to Norwich, Connecticut to command the gunboats there. On March 12, 1813, Turner received his commission as a lieutenant.
On March 14, two days later, Turner was sent to Sackett's Harbor, New York, located on the shores of Lake Erie. There, he took command of Niagara, a brig in Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron. However, just before the Battle of Lake Erie, he relinquished command to Captain Jesse D. Elliott and assumed command of Caledonia. The little brig played an important role in the battle on September 10, 1813, because, at one point in the action, her two 24-pounder long guns were the only ones in Perry's flotilla capable of returning the distant fire of the three heaviest Royal Navy ships then in the process of pounding Perry's flagship Lawrence. For his part in the American victory at Lake Erie, Lt. Turner received the praise of Perry, a vote of thanks and a medal from Congress, and a sword from the state of New York.
In the summer of 1814, Turner succeeded to the command of schooner Scorpion, and he cruised Lakes Erie and Huron in her supporting army operations around Detroit and blockading British forces at the Nottawasaga River and Lake Simcoe. On September 6, 1814, Turner and his command were captured by the British when he brought Scorpion alongside the former American schooner Tigress which, unbeknownst to him, had been captured a few days earlier. After a period of imprisonment at Fort Mackinac, Lt. Turner returned to the United States in exchange for a British prisoner of war.
Between 1815 and 1817, Turner cruised the Mediterranean in the frigate Java commanded by his old superior on the Great Lakes, Oliver Hazard Perry. During that deployment, Java visited Algiers and Tripoli in a show of American naval strength calculated to impress the Barbary pirates and intimidate them into honoring their treaties with the United States. In 1817, Java returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to be laid up.
Between 1819 and 1824, Turner returned to sea in the schooner Nonsuch attached to a squadron commanded again by Oliver Hazard Perry. In addition to hunting West Indian pirates, his ship sailed up the Orinoco River to carry Perry on a diplomatic mission to the Venezuelan government under Simon Bolivar. During the return downriver, Perry and many of the crew contracted yellow fever. Turner was close at hand when his mentor died at Trinidad on August 23, 1819. During the remaining years of Turner's assignment to Nonsuch, his ship worked along the east coast of the United States, patrolled in the West Indies to suppress piracy, and made a brief cruise to the Mediterranean in 1824.
Following shore duty at Boston, Massachusetts, Turner returned to sea in 1827 for a three-year assignment with the West India Squadron, as the commanding officer of Erie. In 1830, he came ashore again for three years at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Promoted to captain on March 3, 1835, Turner spent a long period waiting orders before returning to sea in 1839 in command of USS Constitution. He sailed the Pacific Squadron in "Old Ironsides," until he was relieved in 1841. From 1843 to 1846, he commanded the American squadron which operated along the Brazilian coast. From that duty, he reported ashore again as Commandant, Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Captain Daniel Turner died suddenly on February 4, 1850 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he was buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Adapted and compiled from the Foster History and the USS Constitution Museum websites)
In addition to being a competent naval commander, Daniel Turner was also a keen coin collector, and during his career he accumulated a large collection of nearly three hundred ancient coins, which he stored in a wooden chest along with his own handwritten labels. In 2015, 165 years after the Commodore's death, the Turner descendants consigned this collection to Cowan’s Auction house of Cincinnati, Ohio.CPK
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Divo 101. 1667, Le Canal des deux mersObv. Bust right LUDOVICUS XIIII REX CHRISTIANISSIMUS
Rev. Neptune parting land with trident MARIA JUNCTA FOSSA A GAR AD PORT SETIUM MDCLXVII
Commemorates the "Canal des deux mers", a canal linking the Atlantic with the Mediterranean ciathe city of Cette (Sete).
LordBest
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Egypt. Alexandria. Antoninus Pius AD 138-161
Antoninus Pius ,Alexandria , Drachm 24,5 g ; [Α]VΤ Κ Τ ΑΙΛ ΑΔΡ ΑΝΤⲰΝƐ[ΙΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ ƐVϹ], laureate head right / [L Η], zodiac: bust of Sarapis within inner circle of planet-gods (clockwise: Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury) and outer circle of signs of zodiac anticlockwise with Aries at top.
Exceedingly rare. Extremely fine and finest known example.
"The meaning of the coin is in general that Sarapis is the master of the celestial spheres, the seven movable spheres and the sphere of fixed stars enclosing them"
The Great Sothic Cycle was a calendrical cycle based on the heliacal rising in July of the star Sirius (known to the Greeks as Sothis) and lasting approximately 1460 years. According to ancient Egyptian mythology, in a Golden Age, the beginning of the flooding of the Nile coincided exactly with the rising of Sirius, which was reckoned as the New Year. Only once every 1460 years did Sirius rise at exactly the same time. Thus, the coincidence of this along with the concurrent beginning of the flooding of the Nile gave the event major cosmological significance by heralding not just the beginning of a new year, but the beginning of a new eon. This event also was thought to herald the appearance of the phoenix, a mythological bird which was reborn every 500 to 1000 years out of its own ashes. According to one version of the myth, each new phoenix embalmed its old ashes in an egg of myrrh, which it then deposited in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. So important was the advent of the new Great Sothic Cycle, both to the realignment of the heavens and its signaling of the annual flooding of the Nile, that the Egyptians celebrated it in a five-day festival, which emphasized the important cosmological significance.
In the third year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (AD 139/40), a new Great Sothic Cycle began. To mark this event, the mint of Alexandria struck an extensive series of coinage, especially in large bronze drachms, each related in some astrological way to the reordering of the heavens during the advent of the new Great Sothic Cycle. This celebration would continue throughout Pius’ reign, with an immense output of coinage during the eighth year of his reign in Egypt, which included this coin type, part of the Zodiac series.
Private collection of Mr. B. MazehBrahim M
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G., Thrace, Kings, Rhoemetalces I (King of Thrace), with Augustus (Circa 11 BC-AD 12), 002p Augustus (63 B.C.-14 A.D.), Uncertain mint of Thrace, Kings, Rhoemetalces I., RPC I 1705, AE-16, Sceptre, Fasces and Capricorn right, Rare!Thrace, Kings, Rhoemetalces I (King of Thrace), with Augustus (Circa 11 BC-AD 12), 002p Augustus (63 B.C.-14 A.D.), Uncertain mint of Thrace, Kings, Rhoemetalces I., RPC I 1705, AE-16, Sceptre, Fasces and Capricorn right, Rare!
avers: ΡOIMH/TAΛ/KOY, anticlockwise around, Sella curulis right, male head right above, monogram (RA) on the sella.
reverse: ΣEBAΣ/T/OY, anticlockwise around, Sceptre, Fasces, and Capricorn right.
exergue: -/-//--, diameter: 16mm, weight: 3,39g, axes: 0h,
mint: City: Uncertain mint of Thrace, Region: Thrace, Province: Thrace, Kings: Rhoemetalces I,
date: 11 B.C-12 A.D.,
ref: RPC I 1705, SHH 4362, Moushmov 5795, Jurukova (1976) 168 pl. XXI,
6 Specimens, Rare!
Q-001quadrans
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Gens Domitia, denarius (116-115 a.C.)Gens Domitia, denarius, Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, zecca di Roma ()116-115 a.C.)
AR, 3,81 gr, 21 mm
D/ ROMA; testa di Roma rivolta a destra; dietro, X
R/ CN DOMI (in ex); Giove, su quadriga, con ghirlanda e saetta.
Crawford 285/1
Provenienza: collezione Berardengo (Roma, Italia, dal 4 settembre 2016, numero catalogo 261); ex Alessandro Vanni, Tinia numismatica, Follonica Italia, fino al 4 settembre 2016. Asta pro terremotati di Amatrice e Accumoli su Nid Coins Monete antiche FBpaolo
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Gordian III As (VIRTVS AVGVSTI, RIC IV 326) v.1GORDIAN III, AD 238-244
AE As (25.10mm, 8.47g, 12h)
Struck AD 242/3. Rome mint
Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate and draped bust of Gordian III right
Reverse: VIRTVS AVGVSTI, Gordian, in military attire, seated left on cuirass, holding spear, crowned by Victory standing left
behind him and receiving branch from Mars or Virtus standing right before; two standards in background, S C in exergue
References: RIC IV 326 (R2), RCV 8809
A very rare type, possibly struck in anticipation of Gordian's successful campaign against the Sassanid empire and the defeat of Shapur I at the Battle of Resaena in 243.CPK
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Gratian AE3 (GLORIA ROMANORVM, RIC IX 21b) v.1GRATIAN, AD 367-383
AE3 (18.37mm, 2.51g, 6h)
Struck AD 375-378. Siscia mint
Obverse: D N GRATIA-NVS P F AVG, diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Gratian right
Reverse: GLORIA RO-MANORVM, emperor advancing right, dragging captive with right hand and holding labarum in left; P|S/P in fields, ΔSISCA in exergue
References: RIC IX 21b, subtype xlvb; RCV 20066
A rare subtype with pleasant brown surfaces and good detail.
From the collection of Commodore Daniel Turner (1794-1850), naval veteran of the War of 1812 and later captain of the USS Constitution.
The son of a naval officer, Daniel Turner (born 1794, Staten Island, New York) began his own career in the United States Navy as a midshipman on January 1, 1808, at the age of fourteen. Following brief duty at the New York Naval Station, he served aboard the USS Constitution on the North Atlantic Station. On June 17, 1810, he transferred to the frigate President and remained there until June 1812, when he was ordered to Norwich, Connecticut to command the gunboats there. On March 12, 1813, Turner received his commission as a lieutenant.
On March 14, two days later, Turner was sent to Sackett's Harbor, New York, located on the shores of Lake Erie. There, he took command of Niagara, a brig in Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron. However, just before the Battle of Lake Erie, he relinquished command to Captain Jesse D. Elliott and assumed command of Caledonia. The little brig played an important role in the battle on September 10, 1813, because, at one point in the action, her two 24-pounder long guns were the only ones in Perry's flotilla capable of returning the distant fire of the three heaviest Royal Navy ships then in the process of pounding Perry's flagship Lawrence. For his part in the American victory at Lake Erie, Lt. Turner received the praise of Perry, a vote of thanks and a medal from Congress, and a sword from the state of New York.
In the summer of 1814, Turner succeeded to the command of schooner Scorpion, and he cruised Lakes Erie and Huron in her supporting army operations around Detroit and blockading British forces at the Nottawasaga River and Lake Simcoe. On September 6, 1814, Turner and his command were captured by the British when he brought Scorpion alongside the former American schooner Tigress which, unbeknownst to him, had been captured a few days earlier. After a period of imprisonment at Fort Mackinac, Lt. Turner returned to the United States in exchange for a British prisoner of war.
Between 1815 and 1817, Turner cruised the Mediterranean in the frigate Java commanded by his old superior on the Great Lakes, Oliver Hazard Perry. During that deployment, Java visited Algiers and Tripoli in a show of American naval strength calculated to impress the Barbary pirates and intimidate them into honoring their treaties with the United States. In 1817, Java returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to be laid up.
Between 1819 and 1824, Turner returned to sea in the schooner Nonsuch attached to a squadron commanded again by Oliver Hazard Perry. In addition to hunting West Indian pirates, his ship sailed up the Orinoco River to carry Perry on a diplomatic mission to the Venezuelan government under Simon Bolivar. During the return downriver, Perry and many of the crew contracted yellow fever. Turner was close at hand when his mentor died at Trinidad on August 23, 1819. During the remaining years of Turner's assignment to Nonsuch, his ship worked along the east coast of the United States, patrolled in the West Indies to suppress piracy, and made a brief cruise to the Mediterranean in 1824.
Following shore duty at Boston, Massachusetts, Turner returned to sea in 1827 for a three-year assignment with the West India Squadron, as the commanding officer of Erie. In 1830, he came ashore again for three years at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Promoted to captain on March 3, 1835, Turner spent a long period waiting orders before returning to sea in 1839 in command of USS Constitution. He sailed the Pacific Squadron in "Old Ironsides," until he was relieved in 1841. From 1843 to 1846, he commanded the American squadron which operated along the Brazilian coast. From that duty, he reported ashore again as Commandant, Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Captain Daniel Turner died suddenly on February 4, 1850 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he was buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Adapted and compiled from the Foster History and the USS Constitution Museum websites)
In addition to being a competent naval commander, Daniel Turner was also a keen coin collector, and during his career he accumulated a large collection of nearly three hundred ancient coins, which he stored in a wooden chest along with his own handwritten labels. In 2015, 165 years after the Commodore's death, the Turner descendants consigned this collection to Cowan’s Auction house of Cincinnati, Ohio.CPK
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GREEK, Bosporus, Panticapaeum, Kotys II.Kotys II, AE Sestertius, 24 mm, 126 AD.
Obv.: Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust of king right, trident. Wreath surrounding legend BACILEWC KOTVOC. Rev.: Military atributes, MH below. Rare. Frolova, LIV, 12.
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Greek, Bosporus, Panticapaeum.III cent. BC
AE 17 mm, 7.24 gm.
Obv.: Head of Pan, left.
Rev.: Bull’s head left, leg. ПАN
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GREEK, Pantikapaion AE12-13; Satyr / Bow In CaseTauric Chersonesus, Panticapaeum, 4th cent. BC
1.93g.
AE 12-13
Obverse: Beardless head of Satyr facing right
Reverse: Bow in case, inscription ΠAN above, TI below
SNG BM-474, SNG Cop-50
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Greek, Seleukos I Nikator (?) on Sophytes Drachm, BaktriaThe portrait on the obverse of this coin is may be that of Seleukos I Nikator. It appears that Sophytes submitted to Seleukos I during the latter’s eastern anabasis in 306-305 BC and was appointed to the position of Satrap of Baktria. Following the incorporation of Baktria into the Seleukid Empire, the Seleukid administration appears to have sponsored Greek migration into the territory from Asia Minor. The increased demand for coinage would explain the successive emissions of owl, eagle and cock coinage, which culminated in the issue of the epigraphic Sophytes cock emission. The inspiration for the obverse was probably the Hero/Trophy issue of Susa, which commenced ca 301 BC. The frontal profile and features of the portrait on the obverse of Sophytes issues bear a resemblance to the portrait of Seleukos on the later coinage of Philetairos of Pergamon. On allying himself with Seleukos, Philetairos issued coinage bearing the portrait of Seleukos on the obverse the name of Philetairos on a distinctive non-Seleukid reverse. The parallels between the documented circumstances and coinage of Philetairos with the earlier undocumented history and coinage of Sopytes are apparent and suggestive of the circumstances under which Sophytes came to issue coinage bearing his name in Seleukid Baktria.
With growing power and provincial wealth following a decade of Greek immigration to the province, it is possible that Sophytes determined to move on a more independent path and issued coinage in his name, but bearing the image of Seleukos, in anticipation that the latter would pacify any concern that Seleukos may have with the approach. However, the latter strategy appears to have failed and Sophytes rapidly disappears from the scene and numismatic record. This action of Sophytes may have been the trigger for Seleukos to declare Antiochos co-regent and satrap of the eastern provinces. With this appointment, Antiochos was dispatched to Baktria and set about expanding the Seleukid administration and development of the province, including the establishment of Seleukid royal mints at Baktra and Ai Khanoum, commencing around 294 BC.
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GREEK, Thrace, Tauric Chersonesos, Pantikapaion, 2nd - 1st Century B.CBronze AE 14, SNG Stancomb 579, SNG Cop 55, BMC Thrace p. 9, 41, VF, weight 2.6 g, maximum diameter 13 mm, die axis 90o, Pantikapaion mint, obverse head of Pan right; reverse ΠΑΝΤ, pilei (caps) of the Dioscuri, each with a star above
Panticapaeum (Kerch, Ukraine) was an important city and port in Tauric Chersonesos on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. In the 5th century B.C. it became the capital of the Thracian kings of Bosporus. The last of the kings of Bosporus left it to Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus. He commited suicide at Panticapaeum in 63 B.C. after his defeat to Rome. In that same year, the city was partly destroyed by an earthquake.
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GREEK, Thrace, Tauric Chersonesos,, c. 2nd - 1st Century B.CBronze AE 14, aVF, weight 2.4 g, maximum diameter 13 mm, Pantikapaion mint.
Panticapaeum (Kerch, Ukraine) was an important city and port in Taurica (Tauric Chersonesos) on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. In the 5th - 4th centuries B.C., the city was the residence of the Thracian kings of Bosporus. The last of these kings, left his realm to Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus. He commited suicide at Panticapaeum in 63 B.C. after his defeat to Rome. In that same year, the city was partly destroyed by an earthquake.
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Hadrian (Augustus) Coin: Brass SestertiusIMP CAES DIVI TRA PARTH F DIVI NER NEP TRAIANO HADRIANO AVG - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
PONT MAX TR POT COS S C FORT RED - Fortuna, draped, seated left on low seat, holding rudder on ground in right hand and cornucopiae in left
Exergue: FORTRED SC
Mint: Rome (117 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 24.86g / 33mm / 6h
References:
RIC II Hadrian 541a
Cohen 756
Provenances:
Marcantica
Acquisition/Sale: Marcantica VCoins $0.00 05/19
Notes: May 19, 19 - The Gary R. Wilson CollectionGRWilson
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House of Hanover, King George II, Silver 1 Shilling.Royal Mint London 1745 A.D. 5.94g - 25.9mm, Axis 6h.
Obv: GEORGIVS·II· - DEI·GRATIA· - LIMA - Old laureate and draped bust left.
Rev: M·B·F·ET· - H·REX·F·D·B· - ET·L·D·S·R·I· - A·T·ET·E· 17-45 - Four crowned shields arranged to form a cross, Star of the Garter at the centre.
Spink 3703.
In 1745 a great treasure of silver coins had been seized in the North Atlantic by two British privateers, the Duke and the Prince Frederick, from two French treasure ships that had come from Peru. This booty was transported in forty-five wagon loads from the port of Bristol to the mint in London. As the booty principally consisted of 'piece of eight' bearing the Lima mintmark it was requested that coins taken from these prizes might bear the name 'Lima' to celebrate the exploit.Christian Scarlioli
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ISLAMIC, Delhi Sultanate, Muhammed Bin Tughlaq, AV DinarDelhi Sultanate, Muhammed Bin Tughlaq, AV Dinar, 10.9g, In the name of Caliph al-Mustakfi, Daulatabad mint, AH 745 / 1345 AD, Ref: GG D-425
Obv: fi zaman al-imam al-mustakfi billah amir al-mu'minin abu' rabi sulaiman khallada allah khilafatahu
(In the time/reign of the Caliph al-Mustakfi billah, Commander of the Faithful, Father of the Victorious, May God Perpetuate his Kingdom)
Rev: duriba hadha al-dinar al-khalifati fi daulatabad shahr sana kham'sa wa arba'oun wa sa'bamia
(was struck this Dinar of the Caliphate in the city of Daulatabad in the year five and forty and seven hundred)
The coins Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (MBT) struck in the name of Abbasid caliphs of Egypt instead of his own name are called the Khilafat or Caliphate issues. Just as the Prophet is the viceregent of God and the Caliph is the viceregent of the Prophet, the monarch is viceregent of the Caliph. No Muslim king could hold the title of Sultan unless there be a covenant between him and the Caliph. The recognition of the supremacy of the Caliph was therefore paramount.
In AH 740 / 1339 AD ie the later part of his rule, MBTs reign was faltering with the Delhi Sultanate facing multiple rebellions across the country. In the south, MBT had lost control of the Deccan with both Vijayanagar Kingdom and Bahamani Sultanate established independent of Delhi Sultanate's control. Besides loss of territory and the fragmentation of the Sultanate, MBT was also struck with doubt about the legitimacy of his reign. MBT therefore sought out the whereabouts of the Caliph and did not rest content until he had made the discovery of the presence of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustakfi in exile at Cairo, and applied to him for royal investiture. However, unknown to MBT, the Caliph al-Mustakfi had died in that very same year ie AH 740. Meanwhile, anticipating such investiture and to reflect his subservience to the Caliph, MBT struck Gold Dinars in the name of Caliph al-Mustakfi Billah in AH 741. Four years after Caliph al-Mustakfi's death, when the new Caliph al-Hakim II’s envoy reached MBT conveying him with the Caliphal edict, robe of honour and conferring him the title of nasir amir al-mu'minin, MBT at once struck coins in the name of al-Hakim.
MBTs religious devotion to the Caliph and emotional behaviour towards the Caliph's envoys were so ludicurous as to call forth a contemptuous comment from the contemporary chronicler Ziyauddin Barani. So great was the faith of the Sultan in the Abbasid Khalifas, says he, that he would have sent all his treasures in Delhi to Egypt, had it not been for the fear of robbers. But the Sultan must have sent a substantial amount, because when Ghiyasuddin, who was only a descendant of the extinct Caliphal house of Baghdad, visited India, Muhammad's bounty knew no bounds. He gave him a million tanka's (400,000 dinars), the fief of Kanauj, and the fort of Siri, besides such valuable articles as gold and silver wares, pages and slave girls. One thousand dinars were given for head-wash, a bath-tub of gold, and three robes on which in place of knots or buttons there were pearls as large as big hazel nuts. If this was given to a scion of a house which had become defunct, how much more was sent to the living Caliph at Cairo can only be surmised.
As can be expected on Caliphate issues, great care and attention was taken in the style and design of these coins as these reflected the high reverence, esteem and devotion of MBT towards the Caliph. The calligraphy on the coin is exquisite and breath takingly beautiful. The date on the coin (AH 745) indicates this was the last year when Gold Dinar's were struck in the name of Caliph al-Mustakfi Billah as soon thereafter, following the arrival of Caliph's envoy and confirmation of death of Caliph al-Mustakfi, coins were struck in the name of the new Caliph, al-Hakim. Although the coin legend states the coin as a dinar, the weight standard is that of a tanka. The Gold Dinar's in the name of Caliph al-Mustakfi Billah were struck from only 2 mints - Daulatabad and Dehli, with Daulatabad issue classified as Rare by Goron & Goenka.
mitresh
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Islands off Thrace, Thasos, ca. 412-404 BC, AR Drachm Jolly Satyr carrying a nymph, striding forward in anticipation.
Granulated quadripartite incuse square.
Le Rider, Thasiennes 8; HGC 6, 336; SNG Cop 1018; Dewing 1325; BMC 35; Pozzi 2382; SNG Lockett 1223.
(14 mm, 3.5 g)
Harlan J. Berk.
Of exceptional late style.
n.igma
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the temple of Venus and RomaThe Temple of Venus and Roma (Templum Veneris et Romae in Latin) was the largest temple in Ancient Rome. It was located at the far east side of the Forum Romanum, near the Colosseum. It was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix (Venus the Happy) and Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome). The designer was emperor Hadrian. Construction works on the temple started in 121 AD and though it was inaugurated by Hadrian in 135 AD, the building was finished in 141 AD under Antonius Pius.
The building measured 110 meters in length and 53 meters in width. It was placed on a stage measuring 145 meters in length and 100 meters in width. The temple itself consisted of 2 main chambers (cellae), where the cult statue of the god was, in this case the statues of Venus, the goddess of love, and Roma, the goddess of Rome, both of them seated on a throne. The cellae were placed symmetrically back-to-back. Roma's cella was faced west, looking out over the Forum Romanum, Venus' cella was faced east, looking out over the Colosseum. Each cella had its own line of 4 columns at the entrance. At the west and east sides of the temple (the short sides), 10 white columns were placed and at the south and north sides of the temple (the long sides) 18 white columns were placed. All of these columns measured 1.8 meters in width, making the temple very imposing to see.
Within Venus' cella, there was another altar where newly wed couples could make sacrifices. Right next to this altar stood gigantic, silver statues of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina.
In order to build the temple, which is placed on the remains of Nero's Domus Aurea, the statue of Nero, the Colossus, had to be moved. They placed it near the amphitheatre, which became known as the Colosseum shortly afterwards.
Hadrian's most brilliant architect, Apollodorus, wasn't impressed by his emperor's architectural skills. He made a scornful remark on the size of the statues within the cellae. He said that they'd surely hurt their heads if they tried to stand up from their thrones. He was banned and executed not long after this.
A serious fire in 307 AD caused major damage to the temple. It was restored by emperor Maxentius. Unfortunately, a gigantic earthquake at the beginning of the 9th century destroyed the temple once again. Around 850 though, Pope Leo IV ordered the building of a new church, the Santa Maria Nova, on the ruins of the temple. After a major rebuilding in 1612 this church was renamed the Santa Francesca Romana. This church has incorporated Roma's cella as the belltower.
Over the years, most of the columns around the temple have disappeared. Nowadays, only a few are still standing where they used to be, others that have gone missing have been replaced by buxus trees.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Venus_and_Roma"
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- The Arch of Constantine The GreatArch of Constantine
The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312 AD. Dedicated in 315 AD, it is the latest of the extant triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings.
General Description
The arch is 21 m high, 25.7 m wide and 7.4 m deep. It has three archways, the central one being 11.5 m high and 6.5 m wide, the lateral archways 7.4 m by 3.4 m each. The lower part of the monument is built of marble blocks, the top (called attic) is brickwork revetted with marble. A staircase formed in the thickness of the arch is entered from a door at some height from the ground, in the end towards the Palatine Hill. The general design with a main part structured by detached columns and an attic with the main inscription above is modelled after the example of the Arch of Septimius Severus on the Forum Romanum. It has been suggested that the lower part of the arch is re-used from an older monument, probably from the times of the emperor Hadrian (Conforto et al., 2001; for a defence of the view that the whole arch was constructed in the 4th century, see Pensabene & Panella). The arch spans the Via Triumphalis, the way taken by the emperors when they entered the city in triumph. This route started at the Campus Martius, led through the Circus Maximus and around the Palatine Hill; immediately after the Arch of Constantine, the procession would turn left and march along the Via Sacra to the Forum Romanum and on to the Capitoline Hill, passing both the Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus. During the Middle Ages, the Arch of Constantine was incorporated into one of the family strongholds of ancient Rome. Works of restoration were first carried out in the 18th century; the last excavations have taken place in the late 1990s, just before the Great Jubilee of 2000.
Decoration
The decoration of the arch heavily uses parts of older monuments, which are given a new meaning in the context of the Constantinian building. As it celebrates the victory of Constantine, the new "historic" friezes illustrating his campaign in Italy convey the central meaning: the praise of the emperor, both in battle and in his civilian duties. The other imagery supports this purpose: decoration taken from the "golden times" of the Empire under Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius places Constantine next to these "good emperors", and the content of the pieces evokes images of the victorious and pious ruler. Another explanation given for the re-use is the short time between the start of construction (late 312 at the earliest) and the dedication (summer 315), so the architects used existing artwork to make up for the lack of time to create new one. As yet another possible reason, it has often been suggested that the Romans of the 4th century lacked the artistic skill to produce acceptable artwork and therefore plundered the ancient buildings to adorn their contemporary monuments. This interpretation has become less prominent in more recent times, as the art of Late Antiquity has been appreciated in its own right. It is, of course, possible that a combination of two or all three of those explanations are correct, as they are not mutually exclusive.
Attic
Above the middle archway, the main inscription (see below) takes the most prominent place of the attic. It is identical on both sides of the arch. Flanking the inscription on both sides, there are pairs of relief panels above the minor archways, 8 in total. They were taken from an unknown monument erected in honour of Marcus Aurelius, and show (north side, left to right) the emperor's return to Rome after the campaign (adventus), the emperor leaving the city and saluted by a personification of the Via Flaminia, the emperor distributing money among the people (largitio), the emperor interrogating a German prisoner, (south side, left to right) a captured enemy chieftain led before the emperor, a similar scene with other prisoners, the emperor speaking to the troops (adlocutio), and the emperor sacrificing pig, sheep and bull. Together with three panels now in the Capitoline Museum, the reliefs were probably taken from a triumphal monument commemorating Marcus Aurelius' war against the Sarmatians from 169 - 175, which ended with his triumphant return in 176. On the largitio panel, the figure of Marcus Aurelius' son Commodus has been eradicated after the latter's damnatio memoriae. On top of each of the columns stand marble statues of Dacian prisoners from the times of Trajan, probably taken from the Forum of Trajan. From the same time date the two large (3 m high) panels decorating the attic on the small sides of the arch, showing scenes from the emperor's Dacian Wars. Together with the two reliefs on the inside of the central archway, they came from a large frieze celebrating the Dacian victory. The original place of this frieze was either the Forum of Trajan, as well, or the barracks of the emperor's horse guard on the Caelius.
Main Section
The general layout of the main facade is identical on both sides of the arch. It is divided by four columns of Corinthian order made of Numidian yellow marble (giallo antico), one of which has been transferred into the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano and was replaced by a white marble column. The columns stand on bases showing victory figures on front, and captured barbarians and Roman soldiers on the sides. The spandrels of the main archway are decorated with reliefs depicting victory figures with trophies, those of the smaller archways show river gods. Column bases and spandrel reliefs are from the times of Constantine. Above each lateral archway are pairs of round reliefs dated to the times of emperor Hadrian. They display scenes of hunting and sacrificing: (north side, left to right) hunt of a boar, sacrifice to Apollo, hunt of a lion, sacrifice to Hercules, (south side, left to right) departure for the hunt, sacrifice to Silvanus, hunt of a bear, sacrifice to Diana. The head of the emperor (originally Hadrian) has been reworked in all medaillons: on the north side, into Constantine in the hunting scenes and into Licinius or Constantius I in the sacrifice scenes; on the south side, vice versa. The reliefs, c. 2 m in diameter, were framed in porphyry; this framing is only extant on the right side of the northern facade. Similar medaillons, this time of Constantinian origin, are placed on the small sides of the arch; on the eastern side, showing the Sun rising, and on the western side, the Moon, both on chariots. The main piece from the time of Constantine is the "historical" relief frieze running around the monument under the round panels, one strip above each lateral archway and at the small sides of the arch. These reliefs depict scenes from the Italian campaign of Constantine against Maxentius which was the reason for the construction of the monument. The frieze starts at the western side with the "Departure from Milan". It continues on the southern, "outward" looking face, with the siege of a city, probably Verona, which was of great importance to the war in Northern Italy; also on that face, the Battle of Milvian Bridge with Constantine's army victorious and the enemy drowning in the river Tiber. On the eastern side, Constantine and his army enter Rome; the artist here has avoided to use the imagery of the triumph, as Constantine probably did not want to be shown triumphant over the Eternal City. On the northern face, looking "towards" the city, two strips with the emperor's actions after taking possession of Rome: Constantine speaking to the citizens on the Forum Romanum, and distributing money to the people.
Inner Sides of the Archways
In the central archway, there is one of the large panels of Trajan's Dacian War on either wall. Inside the lateral archways, eight portraits busts (two on each wall), destroyed to such an extent that it is not possible to identify them any more.
Inscriptions
The main inscription reads:
IMP · CAES · FL · CONSTANTINO · MAXIMO · P · F · AVGUSTO · S · P · Q · R · QVOD · INSTINCTV · DIVINITATIS · MENTIS · MAGNITVDINE · CVM · EXERCITV · SVO · TAM · DE · TYRANNO · QVAM · DE · OMNI · EIVS · FACTIONE · VNO · TEMPORE · IVSTIS · REM-PUBLICAM · VLTVS · EST · ARMIS · ARCVM · TRIVMPHIS · INSIGNEM · DICAVIT
Which means in English:
To the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantinus, the greatest, pious, and blessed Augustus: because he, inspired by the divine, and by the greatness of his mind, has delivered the state from the tyrant and all of his followers at the same time, with his army and just force of arms, the Senate and People of Rome have dedicated this arch, decorated with triumphs.
The words instinctu divinitatis ("inspired by the divine") have been much commented. They are usually read as sign of Constantine's shifting religious affiliation: The Christian tradition, most notably Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea, relate the story of a vision of the Christian god to Constantine during the campaign, and that he was victorious in the sign of the cross at the Milvian Bridge. The official documents (esp. coins) still prominently display the Sun God until 324 AD, while Constantine started to support the Christian church from 312 on. In this situation, the vague wording of the inscription can be seen as the attempt to please all possible readers, being deliberately ambiguous, and acceptable to both pagans and Christians. As was customary, the vanquished enemy is not mentioned by name, but only referred to as "the tyrant", drawing on the notion of the rightful killing of a tyrannical ruler; together with the image of the "just war", it serves as justification of Constantine's civil war against his co-emperor Maxentius.
Two short inscriptions on the inside of the central archway transport a similar message: Constantine came not as conqueror, but freed Rome from occupation:
LIBERATORI VRBIS (liberator of the city) - FUNDATORI QVIETIS (founder of peace)
Over each of the small archways, inscriptions read:
VOTIS X - VOTIS XX SIC X - SIC XX
They give a hint on the date of the arch: "Solemn vows for the 10th anniversary - for the 20th anniversary" and "as for the 10th, so for the 20th anniversary". Both refer to Constantine's decennalia, i.e. the 10th anniversary of his reign (counted from 306), which he celebrated in Rome in the summer of 315 AD. It can be assumed that the arch honouring his victory was inaugurated during his stay in the city.
Peter Wissing
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Julian II "The Philosopher" (as Augustus)361-363 AD
AE3 (18mm, 2.32g)
O: Helmeted and cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield; D N FL CL IVLI ANVS P F AVG.
R: VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath; palm branch ANTB [palm branch] below.
Antioch mint
RIC VIII Antioch 219; Sear 4074v
ex Andre Cichos
Julian anticipated a successful trip to Antioch, but his experience there was a disappointment to him. The people chided him for his appearance, causing him to write ‘The Misopogon’ (or ‘Beard Hater’), a satire on himself but also a scathing indictment of the people of Antioch, whom he considered soft and degenerate, and wrote mockingly… “I say that you are liars and dancers, well skilled to dance in a chorus".
The relationship declined even more after the locals burned the temple of Apollo at Daphne, and further still after Julian’s efforts to make economic reforms designed to end government corruption and ease famine in the city caused by years of drought.
Julian finally left Antioch to march east and fulfill his plan to conquer Persia, but met his death in the attempt. Some say that the spearhead removed from his liver was actually Roman, but we will probably never know for certain.Enodia
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Klazomenai, Ionia480-400 B.C.
Silver Diobol
1.02 gm, 11 mm
Obv.: Forepart of winged boar right
Rev.: Quadripartite incuse square with K in upper right quarter
Sear 3503; BMC 14;
SNG Kayhan 336; SNG Keckman 237–8 corr. (K not noted);
[SNG Copenhagen 10–1]
THE HUS KLAZOMENAIOS was a gigantic winged sow which terrorized the Greek town of Klazomenai in Ionia, Asia MinorJaimelai
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Knidos, Caria, c. 465 - 449 B.CSilver drachm, Cahn 80 (V38/R53), SNG Keckman 132 (same dies), SNG Cop 232 (same dies), aVF, toned, Knidos mint, weight 6.057g, maximum diameter 16.5mm, die axis 270o, c. 465 - 449 B.C.; obverse forepart of roaring lion right; reverse archaic head of Aphrodite right, hair bound with taenia, within incuse square; ex Barry P. Murphy
CARIA, Knidos. Circa 465-449 BC. AR Drachm - 16mm (6.06 g). Obverse: forepart of roaring lion right; Reverse: archaic head of Aphrodite right, hair bound with taenia. Cahn 80 (V38/R53); SNG Helsinki 132 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 232 (same dies). Toned, near VF, good metal. Ex Barry P. Murphy.
While this coin falls within the time frame that numismatists call "Classical" Greek coinage, I have chosen to place it in both the "Archaic" (coin 020a) and "Classical" Greek sections of my collection. This specimen is one of those wonderful examples of transition--it incorporates many elements of the "Archaic" era, although it is struck during the "Classical" Greek period and anticipates characteristics of the later period.
As noted art historian Patricia Lawrence has pointed out, "[this specimen portrays] A noble-headed lion, a lovely Late Archaic Aphrodite, and [is made from]. . . beautiful metal." The Archaic Aphrodite is reminiscent of certain portraits of Arethusa found on tetradrachms produced in Syracuse in the first decade of the 5th century BC.
Knidos was a city of high antiquity and as a Hellenic city probably of Lacedaemonian colonization. Along with Halicarnassus (present day Bodrum, Turkey) and Kos, and the Rhodian cities of Lindos, Kamiros and Ialyssos it formed the Dorian Hexapolis, which held its confederate assemblies on the Triopian headland, and there celebrated games in honour of Apollo, Poseidon and the nymphs.
The city was at first governed by an oligarchic senate, composed of sixty members, and presided over by a magistrate; but, though it is proved by inscriptions that the old names continued to a very late period, the constitution underwent a popular transformation. The situation of the city was favourable for commerce, and the Knidians acquired considerable wealth, and were able to colonize the island of Lipara, and founded a city on Corcyra Nigra in the Adriatic. They ultimately submitted to Cyrus, and from the battle of Eurymedon to the latter part of the Peloponnesian War they were subject to Athens.
In their expansion into the region, the Romans easily obtained the allegiance of Knidians, and rewarded them for help given against Antiochus by leaving them the freedom of their city.
During the Byzantine period there must still have been a considerable population: for the ruins contain a large number of buildings belonging to the Byzantine style, and Christian sepulchres are common in the neighbourhood.
Eudoxus, the astronomer, Ctesias, the writer on Persian history, and Sostratus, the builder of the celebrated Pharos at Alexandria, are the most remarkable of the Knidians mentioned in history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidus
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.Cleisthenes
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Macedonian Kings, Philip V. Bronze AE17. Aegis with head of medusa"It's a rendering of the Classical (not the traditional Archaic) more romantic Medusa. For the type see the Rondanini Medusa in the Glyptothek in Munich. Considering that it's a detail of a 15mm coin, it's remarkably good, even suggesting the foreshortened knotted snakes that frame her chin. All other things being equal, a Medusa gorgoneion is Athena's most usual episematic device, since it belongs to the aegis. Actually, it needn't be specifically the Medusa of the Perseus myth, but a lot of books call any gorgon 'Medusa'."
Pat L.ancientone
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Maximian Post-Reform Radiate (CONCORDIA MILITVM, RIC VI 15b) v.1MAXIMIAN, AD 286-305
AE Post-Reform Radiate (22.17mm, 2.91g, 12h)
Struck AD 295-299. Cyzicus mint
Obverse: IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust of Maximian right
Reverse: CONCORDIA MI-LITVM, Maximian, in military attire, standing right holding short scepter and receiving Victory on globe from Jupiter standing left, holding long vertical scepter; KS in center field
References: RIC VI 15b, RCV 13315
From the collection of Commodore Daniel Turner (1794-1850), naval veteran of the War of 1812 and later captain of the USS Constitution.
The son of a naval officer, Daniel Turner (born 1794, Staten Island, New York) began his own career in the United States Navy as a midshipman on January 1, 1808, at the age of fourteen. Following brief duty at the New York Naval Station, he served aboard the USS Constitution on the North Atlantic Station. On June 17, 1810, he transferred to the frigate President and remained there until June 1812, when he was ordered to Norwich, Connecticut to command the gunboats there. On March 12, 1813, Turner received his commission as a lieutenant.
On March 14, two days later, Turner was sent to Sackett's Harbor, New York, located on the shores of Lake Erie. There, he took command of Niagara, a brig in Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron. However, just before the Battle of Lake Erie, he relinquished command to Captain Jesse D. Elliott and assumed command of Caledonia. The little brig played an important role in the battle on September 10, 1813, because, at one point in the action, her two 24-pounder long guns were the only ones in Perry's flotilla capable of returning the distant fire of the three heaviest Royal Navy ships then in the process of pounding Perry's flagship Lawrence. For his part in the American victory at Lake Erie, Lt. Turner received the praise of Perry, a vote of thanks and a medal from Congress, and a sword from the state of New York.
In the summer of 1814, Turner succeeded to the command of schooner Scorpion, and he cruised Lakes Erie and Huron in her supporting army operations around Detroit and blockading British forces at the Nottawasaga River and Lake Simcoe. On September 6, 1814, Turner and his command were captured by the British when he brought Scorpion alongside the former American schooner Tigress which, unbeknownst to him, had been captured a few days earlier. After a period of imprisonment at Fort Mackinac, Lt. Turner returned to the United States in exchange for a British prisoner of war.
Between 1815 and 1817, Turner cruised the Mediterranean in the frigate Java commanded by his old superior on the Great Lakes, Oliver Hazard Perry. During that deployment, Java visited Algiers and Tripoli in a show of American naval strength calculated to impress the Barbary pirates and intimidate them into honoring their treaties with the United States. In 1817, Java returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to be laid up.
Between 1819 and 1824, Turner returned to sea in the schooner Nonsuch attached to a squadron commanded again by Oliver Hazard Perry. In addition to hunting West Indian pirates, his ship sailed up the Orinoco River to carry Perry on a diplomatic mission to the Venezuelan government under Simon Bolivar. During the return downriver, Perry and many of the crew contracted yellow fever. Turner was close at hand when his mentor died at Trinidad on August 23, 1819. During the remaining years of Turner's assignment to Nonsuch, his ship worked along the east coast of the United States, patrolled in the West Indies to suppress piracy, and made a brief cruise to the Mediterranean in 1824.
Following shore duty at Boston, Massachusetts, Turner returned to sea in 1827 for a three-year assignment with the West India Squadron, as the commanding officer of Erie. In 1830, he came ashore again for three years at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Promoted to captain on March 3, 1835, Turner spent a long period waiting orders before returning to sea in 1839 in command of USS Constitution. He sailed the Pacific Squadron in "Old Ironsides," until he was relieved in 1841. From 1843 to 1846, he commanded the American squadron which operated along the Brazilian coast. From that duty, he reported ashore again as Commandant, Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Captain Daniel Turner died suddenly on February 4, 1850 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he was buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Adapted and compiled from the Foster History and the USS Constitution Museum websites)
In addition to being a competent naval commander, Daniel Turner was also a keen coin collector, and during his career he accumulated a large collection of nearly three hundred ancient coins, which he stored in a wooden chest along with his own handwritten labels. In 2015, 165 years after the Commodore's death, the Turner descendants consigned this collection to Cowan’s Auction house of Cincinnati, Ohio.CPK
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