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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Themes & Provenance| ▸ |Types| ▸ |Astrology||View Options:   | | | |
Although Philip is portrayed as a young man on this coin, he was a boy, only about 10 or 11 years old, when this coin was struck.RP94245. Bronze 8 assaria, McAlee 1084 (extremely rare - no plate coin); Butcher CRS 498d; BMC Galatia p. 220, 577; RPC Online VIII - (unassigned; ID 7513, 1 specimen), F, well centered, porous, scratches, light earthen deposits, weight 12.751 g, maximum diameter 28.4 mm, die axis 180o, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, 2nd issue, 247 - 249 A.D.; obverse AYTOK K M IOYΛI ΦIΛIΠΠOC CEB, laureate and cuirassed bust left, seen from front, wearing balteus, spear in right hand resting on right shoulder, shield on left arm; reverse ANTIOXEΩN MHTPO KOΛΩN, towered, veiled, and draped bust of Tyche right, ∆ - E / S - C across fields, ram leaping right with head turned back above, star below; only one sale of this type recorded on Coin Archives for the last two decades, one of only three specimens known to Forum; extremely rare;
Kingdom of Pontus, Mithradates VI, c. 120 - 63 B.C.
The star almost certainly depicts one of Mithridates comets. According to Justin's epitome of the Historiae Philippicae of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus (Justin 37.2.1-2): "The future greatness of this man [Mithridates Eupator] had been foretold by heavenly portents. For both in the year in which he was born [134/133 B.C.] and in the year in which he first began to rule [120/119 B.C.], a comet gleamed so brightly for 70 days throughout each period that the whole sky seemed to be on fire. In its extent, each of these comets filled one quarter of the sky and surpassed the sun in brilliance. They took four hours to rise and four hours to set."GB92048. Bronze AE 18, cf. SNG BM Black Sea 980; SNG Stancomb 645; SNG Cop 230, HGC 7 314 (S), VF, green patina, weight 4.930 g, maximum diameter 17.9 mm, Amisos(?) mint, c. 120 - 100 B.C.; obverse bashlyk (Persian satrap's leather cap with flat top and ear flaps), bow on left pointed right, monogram(?) on right, facing horned bust of Pan below; reverse comet or star of eight rays, bow on right facing inward; scarce;
Islamic, Seljuqs Sultanate of Rum, Ghiyath al-Din Kay Khusraw II bin Kay Qubadh, 1237 - 1246 A.D.
The source and meaning of this sun and lion design is uncertain but there is a popular (although unlikely) explanation. The sultan was madly in love with his beautiful Georgian wife and wanted to put her portrait on his coins. His advisors disapproved, however, so he put his wife's horoscope on his coins instead - the Sun in Leo. The Ilkhan descendants of the Mongols copied this design on a copper fals nearly a hundred years later. After that it became a popular device with which to ornament the copper coins of eastern Anatolia, and particularly Iran where it eventually became the country’s national symbol.IS95340. Silver dirhem, cf. Mitchiner 983, Izmirlier 464, Album 1218 (none with these controls, date on our coin uncertain), VF, toned, weight 2.987 g, maximum diameter 22.6 mm, die axis 270o, Siwas (Sivas, Turkey) mint, AH 637 - 641; obverse al-imam al-mustansir billah amir al-mu'minin (the Imam al-Mustansir, Commander of the Faithful), sun in radiance above lion passant right (the sun in Leo), pellets between rays of sun, no stars or crescents (controls), pellet (control) below lion; reverse in central square: al-sultan / al-a'zam / kaykhusraw / ibn kayqubad (the Supreme Sultan Kaykhusraw ibn Kayqubad); around: mint & dates (struck in Siwas, in the year [639?]) ; ex Specialty Stamp and Coin, Champagne, IL (2002); scarce variety;
Septimius Severus, 9 April 193 - 4 February 211 A.D., Nikopolis ad Istrum
There are peculiarities about these Roman crescent and star reverse types that are difficult to understand. First, the crescents are almost always depicted with the horns up. The moon is never seen this way in the sky. Also, in the sky stars are never visible within the horns of the crescent moon because there they would be behind the shadowed yet solid and opaque orb. The crescent with horns up may represent a solar eclipse.RP92881. Bronze assarion, H-H-J Nikopolis 8.14.48.37 (R2), Varbanov I 2474 var. (obv. leg.), AMNG I/I 1432, Moushmov 986, gVF, green patina, slightly off center, scratches, spot of corrosion on reverse, weight 2.928 g, maximum diameter 16.6 mm, die axis 180o, Nicopolis ad Istrum (Nikyup, Bulgaria) mint, 9 Apr 193 - 4 Feb 211 A.D.; obverse AY K Λ CEVHPOC, laureate head right; reverse NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC IC, five stars above and within crescent with horns upward;
Philip I the Arab, February 244 - End of September 249 A.D., Antioch, Syria
When Philip visited Antioch, Saint Babylas refused to let him enter the gathering of Christians at the Easter vigil (Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica, VI, 34). Later legend elaborates, stating that Babylas demanded that he do penance for his part in the murder of the young Gordian III before he would allow Philip to celebrate Easter. Saint Babylas died in prison in 253 during the Decian persecution. He asked to be buried in his chains.RP94244. Bronze 8 assaria, McAlee 970; BMC Galatia p. 215, 524; SNG Cop 270; Butcher CRS 494a; McClean 9405; RPC Online VIII - (unassigned, ID 7514, 17 spec.), aF, broad flan, porous, scratches, weight 18.211 g, maximum diameter 30.7 mm, die axis 0o, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, 244 - 247 A.D.; obverse AVTOK K MA IOVAI ΦIΛIΠΠOC CEB, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind; reverse ANTIOXEΩN MHTPO KΛ, veiled turreted bust of Tyche right, ∆ - E over S - C across field in two divided lines, ram leaping right with head turned back above; from an American collector;
Pontos (Uncertain City), c. 119 - 100 B.C.
The comets depicted are almost certainly the comets described in Justin's epitome of the Historiae Philippicae of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus (Justin 37.2.1-2): "The future greatness of this man [Mithridates Eupator] had been foretold by heavenly portents. For both in the year in which he was born [134/133 B.C.] and in the year in which he first began to rule [120/119 B.C.], a comet gleamed so brightly for 70 days throughout each period that the whole sky seemed to be on fire. In its extent, each of these comets filled one quarter of the sky and surpassed the sun in brilliance. They took four hours to rise and four hours to set."GB94425. Bronze AE 11, SNG BM 984; SNG Stancomb 653; Lindgren III 154; HGC 7 317, aVF, earthen encrustation in fields, typical tight flan, weight 1.403 g, maximum diameter 10.6 mm, Pontos, uncertain mint, c. 119 - 100 B.C.; obverse horse-head right, with star (comet) of eight points and central pellet on and below neck; reverse comet star of seven points, central pellet, and tail to right; rare;
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