<— Last coin ----------     What I Like About Ancient Coins     ---------- Next coin —>
Last coin thumbnail   Next coin thumbnail

A bronze coin of the Seleucid Antiochos VII with a bust of Eros and Isis's headdress. Coin Type: Bronze AE19 of the Seleucid Antiochos VII, 138-129 BCE
Mint and Date: ?, 133-132 BCE
Size and Weight: 17mm x 18mm, 4.94g
Obverse: Diademed and winged bust of Eros right.
Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOΧOY EYEPΓETOY
Head-dress of Isis on two ears of corn and a crescent; date ΠP (= Seleucid year 180) below. ΔI monogram above bunch of grapes in left field.
Provenance: Gert Boersema (Vcoins), November 2007
Ref: GCV 7098 var; SNG Spaer 1939
BW Ref: 003 035 118
Click on the picture for a larger scale view of the coin

Note: The obverse of this coin shows an unusual amount of detail. You can see that Eros has a braid of hair running from his forelock to a topknot, and then downwards into a loop from which three ornamental objects hang.

Pat Lawrence says of this: "Eros, I am assuming as a starting point (and because there are instances of this) wears a more elaborate version of a toddler's hair. The way that Greeks kept forehead hair neat and out of their eyes was to gather it up and plait it and fasten the plait to the back hair. Here something seems to be added to make a loop at the back; or it could be that Eros has long forehair, and his divinely long plait is itself looped up."


The content of this page was last updated on 17 January 2008.