Fine Coins Showcase
Antiquities Showcase
Show Empty Categories
Shop Search
Shopping Cart
My FORVM
Contact Us
About Forum
Shopping at Forum
Our Guarantee
Payment Options
Shipping Options & Fees
Privacy & Security
Forum Staff
Selling Your Coins
Identifying Your Coin
FAQs
zoom.asp
Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |Anatolia| ▸ |Lydia||View Options:   | | | Lydia lies in east-central Anatolia (Asia Minor) between Ionia and Phrygia. The kingdom of Lydia gradually rose in power in the 7th Century B.C. and by the time of Alyattes and Croesus, it was controlling most of Anatolia after rebuking Medes (the pre-Achaemenid empire). The most important city was Sardis, today Sart, housing impressive ruins. The Lydians were viewed as a merchant people and the kings as extremely wealthy. Croesus gained mythical status and today we still use the expression, "rich as Croesus." |
This coin is published in Greek Coins from the Collection of Jonathan P. Rosen, ANS ACNAC 5, New York, 1983, by Nancy Waggoner, plate 25, no. 675.GA111447. Silver siglos, Rosen Collection pl. 25, 675 (this coin); Carradice Type IV (late) C, 46 ff.; BMC Arabia 172 ff.; SNG Kayhan 1031; Klein 763; SGCV II 4683, VF, off center, mild porosity, encrustation on edge and part of reverse, weight 5.520 g, maximum diameter 16.0 mm, Sardes (Sart, Turkey) mint, c. 375 - 340 B.C.; obverse Kneeling-running figure of the Great King right, bearded, crowned, dagger in right hand, bow in left hand; reverse irregular oblong punch; from the CEB Collection; ex Numismatic Fine Arts winter sale (New York, 12/87), lot 372; ex Rosen Collection;
Commodus, March or April 177 - 31 December 192 A.D., Gordus Julia, Lydia
Gordus (also known as Julia Gordus or Iulia Gordos) was an ancient Greek city in eastern Lydia, near the source of the River Hyllus, or Phrygius, later called Glaucus, a northern tributary of the Hermus. It was a strategically important town founded by the Seleucid Kings. The Julio-Claudian Roman emperors renamed the city Julia Gordos in the 1st century. The city achieved the status of a polis under the Flavians. It was the home to Appolophanes the physician, and there is epigraphical evidence of both pagans and Christians in the town.RP111940. Bronze AE 25, GRPC Lydia p. 67, 65 (same dies); RPC Online IV T1256; SNG Cop 160; SNG Leypold I 947 BMC Lydia p. 95, 31; Waddington 4977; Hochard 504; SNGvA -, Choice gF, well centered, nice portrait, green patina, highlighting light earthen deposits, weight 8.794 g, maximum diameter 25.3 mm, die axis 180o, Iulia Gordus (near Eski Gördes, Turkey) mint, c. 177 - 179 A.D.; obverse AV Λ AVP KOMOΔOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed youthful bust of Commodus right, seen from behind; reverse IOVΛIEΩN ΓOPΔHNΩN, Mên standing slightly left, head left, wearing Phrygian cap, short chiton, himation, and endromides, crescent behind shoulders, patera in right hand, long scepter in left hand, flanked by seated lions; Coin Archives records only one specimen of the type at auction in the last two decades; very rare;
Lydian Kingdom, Kroisos, c. 561 - 546 B.C.
King Kroisos minted the first silver and gold coins. He was famous for his extraordinary wealth, but with his defeat by Kyros in 546 B.C. Lydia became a Persian satrapy.GA111578. Silver 1/24 stater, SNG Kayhan 1022; Klein 562, SNGvA -, SNG Cop -, BMC Caria -, Traité -, Boston MFA -, F, toned, porous, rough, weight 0.317 g, maximum diameter 6.3 mm, die axis 0o, Sardes (Sart, Turkey) mint, c. 550 - 546 B.C.; obverse on the left, forepart of a lion right, confronting, on the right, the forepart of a bull left; reverse incuse square punch; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 124 (8 Jan 2023), lot 956 (part of); rare;
Bagis, Lydia, c. 193 - 268 A.D.
Inscriptions uncovered by Keppel place ancient Bagis near Sirghe on the left (south) side of the Hermos River. Modern scholars pinpoint a site at Güre, Usak Province, Turkey. The "Treasures of Croesus" findings from Lydian tumuli around the town were plundered in the 1960s but recovered by the 2000s and now in the Usak Museum.RP99127. Bronze AE 26, GRPC Lydia II pl. 29, 36; SNG Cop 45; SNG Mün 45; SNG Tüb 3667; BMC Lydia p. 33, 16; Winterthur 3702; Weber 6786; SNGvA -, VF, attractive style, well centered on a tight flan, green patina, weight 9.455 g, maximum diameter 25.7 mm, die axis 180o, Bagis (Güre, Turkey) mint, c. 193 - 268 A.D.; obverse CVNK-ΛHTOC, youthful draped bust of the Roman Senate right; reverse KAICAPEΩN BAΓHNΩN, Tyche standing sightly left, head left, kalathos on head, holding grounded rudder by tiller in right hand, cornucopia in left hand;
Faustina Junior, Augusta 146 - Winter 175/176 A.D., Wife of Marcus Aurelius, Saitta, Lydia
Saitta (or Saittai) was in eastern Lydia, in the triangle between the upper Hyllus river (modern Demirci Çayi) and the Hermus river (modern Sidaskale). Representations of the river gods are found on coins of the Imperial Period. The moon god Mên Akziottenos was honored, but Zeus, Dionysos, Aphrodite, Hygieia, Asklepios, Apollo, Kybele, and Herakles were also revered at Saitta. The town was a regional center for textile production. Hadrian probably visited in 124 A.D. In the city, In the Christian era Saittai was attached to the Archbishopric of Sardeis.RP110656. Bronze AE 18, GRPC Lydia III pl. 255, 71; RPC Online IV.2 T1392; BMC Lydia p. 218, 36; SNGvA 8247; Lindgren I A790B; Winterthur 3887; SNG Cop -, Choice aVF, well centered, dark patina, earthen deposits, scratches, weight 4.402 g, maximum diameter 18.2 mm, die axis 180o, Saitta (Sidaskale, Turkey) mint, Titianos (archon), c. 161 - 163/165 A.D.; obverse ΦAVCTEINA CEBAC (from upper right), draped bust right; reverse EΠI TITIANOV CAITTHNΩN (under authority of Titianus, Saitta), Apollo standing facing, nude, head left, legs crossed, laurel branch downward in right hand, drapery over left left forearm which is resting on a waist high column;
Geta, 209 - c. 26 December 211 A.D., Silandus, Lydia
Silandus is not mentioned by any ancient geographer or historian. Some inscriptions and coins but no ruins have been found at a site near Selendi, Turkey.RP112010. Bronze AE 23, apparently unpublished, GRPC Lydia -, BMC Lydia -, SNG Cop -, SNGvA -, aF, tight flan, porous/rough, weight 13.235 g, maximum diameter 22.8 mm, die axis 0o, Silandus (near Selendi, Turkey) mint, as Augustus, 209 - c. 26 December 211 A.D.; obverse AVK ΠO - CE ΓETAC, laureate head right; reverse CIΛANΔ-EΩN, Dionysus standing facing, head left, cantharus in right hand, filleted thyrsus in left hand, panther at feet left; legends on our specimen confirmed by a die match to the only other specimen (sold at auction) known to FORVM;
Macedonian Kingdom, Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV, 323 - 317 B.C.
This coin was struck shortly after the death of Alexander the Great in the name of his infant son, Alexander IV. Alexander IV and Philip III, Alexander's brother, were made joint kings after Alexander's death. Sardes struck coins in the names of both kings. Alexander IV was an infant and Philip was mentally disabled, neither king was capable of actual rule and both were selected only to serve as pawns. The regents held power. Philip III was actually imprisoned. In 317, Olympias had Philip murdered to ensure sole rule by her grandson Alexander IV. But Alexander IV would never rule. In 311 B.C., he and his mother Roxana were executed by the regent Kassander.GS112776. Silver drachm, Price 2601; ADM I Sardes XIII, 191; Müller Alexander -, F, toned, marks, scratches, die wear, tiny edge chips, weight 3.937 g, maximum diameter 16.3 mm, die axis 0o, Lydia, Sardes (Sart, Turkey) mint, struck under Menander, c. 323 - 322 B.C.; obverse head of Herakles right, wearing Nemean Lion skin, scalp over head, forepaws tied at neck; reverse Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on throne without back, nude to the waist, himation around hips and legs, right foot forward (Alexander the Great lifetime style), eagle in extended right hand, long scepter vertical behind in left hand, AΛΕΞANΔPOY downward on right, monogram left, torch in exergue;
Persian Empire, Lydia, Anatolia, Artaxerxes I - Darius II, c. 455 - 420 B.C.
| This type was minted in Lydia, Anatolia, while under Persian control, prior to Alexander the Great's conquest. The Persian or Achaemenid Empire (c. 550 - 330 B.C.) was the largest empire in ancient history extending across Asia, Africa and Europe, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine and Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and much of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. |  |
Daldis, Lydia, 69 - 79 A.D.
The Zeus who was worshiped at Laodicea was a Hellenized form of the old native god, Mên. Mên had been the king and father of his people. When Greeks settled in the area they continued to worship the god whose power was supreme in the district, but they identified him with their own god Zeus. Thus at Sardis and elsewhere in the region the native god became Zeus Lydios.GB96503. Bronze hemiassarion, GRPC Lydia 4; RPC Online II 1325 (12 spec.); BMC Lydia p. 70, 2; SNG Cop 110, F, green patina, tight flan cutting off much of legends, legends weak, earthen deposits, weight 3.818 g, maximum diameter 16.5 mm, die axis 0o, Daldis (near Narlïkale, Turkey) mint, time of Vespasian, 69 - 79 A.D.; obverse ΘEON CYNKΛHTON, draped bust of the Senate right; reverse EΠI TI ΦΛA YΛA ΦΛA KAICAP ΔAΛΔI (struck under Titus Flavius Hylas [at] Flaviocaesaria Daldis), Zeus Lydios standing left, wearing long chiton and himation, eagle in right hand, scepter in left hand; rare;
Commodus, March or April 177 - 31 December 192 A.D., Akrasos, Lydia
Akrasos was probably located on the upper course of the Caicus River. The site remains unknown. Even which river was once called the Caicus is uncertain. It is believed to be the modern Bakircay River in Turkey. Nothing is known of the city beyond its coinage.RP111751. Bronze AE 26, GRPC Lydia Acrasus 27, RPC Online IV.2 T2794, SNG Mun 19, BMC Lydia -, SNGvA -, Choice F, dark green patina, highlighting earthen deposits, porosity, weight 9.202 g, maximum diameter 25.9 mm, Acrasus (site unknown) mint, under Marcus Aurelius, c. 177 - 179 A.D.; obverse AV KAI Λ AVP KOMOΔ, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right; reverse EΠI CTPA BACCOV AKPACIΩTΩ (authority of strategos Bassos, Akrasos), Hygieia on left, standing half right, feeding serpent from patera held in her arms; Asclepius on right, standing facing, head left, leaning on serpent-entwined staff; ex CNG e-auction 510 (23 Feb 2022), lot 405; ex Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection ;
REFERENCES
Page created in 1.953 seconds.
