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Ancient Greece, Attica, Athens. 449-413 BC, AR Tetradrachm (17.16 grams) Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right; Reverse: Owl standing right S.2526paul1888
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Amyntas III, 393 - 370/369 BC. AE17 Dichalkon. Struck at an uncertain mint in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Head of Herakles, wearing lion's skin, facing right.
Reverse: AMYNTA above Eagle standing facing right, grasping snake in it's talons and attacking it with it's beak.
Diameter: 16.92mm | Weight: 3.17gms | Die Axis: 6
SNG ANS 100 - 109 | SNG Munchen 49-52 | AMNG 160, 7
Amyntas III was king of Macedonia from about 393 to 370/369 BC, he was the father of Philip II and the grandfather of Alexander the Great. His skillful diplomacy in Greek affairs prepared the way for Macedonia's emergence as a great power under his son Philip II.
Amyntas came to the throne during a period of some confusion after the sudden death of king Archelaus who was killed while out hunting in 399 BC. Archelaus was succeeded by his young son Orestes, who ruled with his guardian Aeropus for four years until his death, possibly at the hands of Aeropus. Aeropus then ruled alone as Aeropus II, until he died of an illness two years later and was succeeded by his son Pausanius.
Diodorus gives two versions of the start of Amyntas' reign but both versions agree that Amyntas came to the throne after assassinating Pausanias but was then driven out by the Illyrians. Amyntas recovered his kingdom in the following year however, with the aid of the Spartans and the Thessalians. He continued to maintain his position by the expedient of siding with the powers ascendant in Greece, securing his alliance with Athens by supporting their claim to Amphipolis, and by adopting the Athenian general Iphicrates as his son. Iphicrates later helped Amyntas' son, Perdikkas III, to secure his claim to the throne.
Several significant figures worked in Macedonia during Amyntas' reign, including Nicomachus, the father of Aristotle, who served as court physician to Amyntas, and Aristotle himself who served as the tutor to Amyntas' grandson, Alexander the Great.
Amyntas died at an advanced age in 370-369 BC, leaving his throne to the eldest of his three sons, Alexander II, who ruled from 369 to 366 BC. Amyntas' other two sons also ended up ruling Macedon, Perdikkas III from 365 to 359 BC and Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, from 359 to 336 BC.*Alex
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Kassander, 317 - 297 BC. AE18. Struck 319 - 305 BC at an uncertain mint in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Head of Herakles, wearing lion's skin, facing right.
Reverse: KAΣΣAN - ΔPOY, above and below crouching lion facing right, Λ in right field, before lion.
Diameter: 17.77mm | Weight: 3.76gms | Die Axis: 6
SNG Cop 1138 | Sear GCV 6753 | Forrer/Weber 2161
This type was issued before Kassander's assumption of the royal title in 305 BC
Kassander (Cassander) was one of the Diadochoi, a group of Macedonian generals, and the self proclaimed ruler of Macedonia during the political turmoil following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. He was the son of Antipater, who had been appointed as regent in Macedonia while Alexander was in the East.
In 319 BC and close to death, Antipater transferred the regency of Macedonia to Polyperchon. Kassander refused to acknowledge the new regent and, with the aid of Antigonus I Monopthalmus the ruler of Phrygia, he seized Macedonia and most of Greece, including Athens. In 317 BC, he declared himself regent and had Alexander's widow, Roxanna and son, Alexander IV confined in Amphipolis. Later, in 310 or 309 BC, he had them put to death by poisoning. But, even though he had murdered Alexander's heirs and had been the de facto ruler of Macedonia from 317 BC, Kassander did not take the royal titles and declare himself king until 305 BC.
Meanwhile, Antigonus was intent on reuniting Alexander's empire under his own sovereignty and so Kassander joined forces with Ptolemy I of Egypt, Seleucus in Babylon and Lysimachus ruler of Thrace to oppose him. The two sides fought several battles between 319 and 303 BC resulting in Kassander losing Athens in 307 BC and his possessions south of Thessaly between 303 and 302 BC. However, in 301 BC Antigonus was defeated and killed at the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia which allowed Kassander to secure undisputed control over Macedonia.
During his rule Kassander restored peace and prosperity to the kingdom, founding or restoring numerous cities, including Thebes which had been levelled by Alexander as punishment for rebelling against him. He also founded Thessalonica, naming the city after his wife, and Cassandreia, founded upon the ruins of Potidaea, which was named after himself.
Kassander died of dropsy in 297 BC and may have been buried in a royal tomb recently discovered at Vergina, identified as Aigai, the first Macedonian capital.
*Alex
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Kings of Macedon, Alexander III the Great, 336-323 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Amphipolis Mint under AntipaterHead of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress.
AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; janiform head vase in left field. Graffiti in upper left field - Aramaic kaph (k) and sadhe (s).
Price 6; Troxell, Studies, Issue A3; SNG Cop 660; Muller 853.
Struck at Amphipolis in the period 332-329 BC.
(29 mm, 17.15 g, 2h)
This is one of the first emissions of Alexander’s coinage struck in his homeland, albeit about three years after he departed for Asia Minor. Recent scholarship places the start of Alexander’s distinctive coinage in 333/2 BC at Tarsos, in eastern Asia Minor, shortly after which the design was transferred to Macedonia where Alexander’s coinage was struck under the authority of his regent in Greece, Antipater. Die studies indicate that this coin was from the fourth tetradrachm emission of a mint in Macedonia, most probably Amphipolis. It was most probably struck in the period 332-329 BC. The Aramaic graffiti on the reverse, plus the obverse reverse rim test cut are pointers to the likelihood that this coin travelled beyond its location of issue in Macedonia, into the eastern Mediterranean where Aramaic was the main spoken language.n.igma
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NORTHERN GREECE, Uncertain
PB Tessera (16mm, 4.01 g)
Boar at bay right
Hound standing right
Ex Classical Numismatics Group 85 (15 September 2010), lot 330a
Ardatirion
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NORTHERN GREECE, Uncertain
PB Tessera (14mm, 3.65 g)
Bull standing right
Pitchfork
Ex Classical Numismatics Group 85 (15 September 2010), lot 330cArdatirion
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NORTHERN GREECE, Uncertain
PB Tessera(15mm, 3.98 g)
Female standing left, holding two grain ears
Male(?) reclining left, holding pitchfork
Ex Classical Numismatics Group 85 (15 September 2010), lot 330dArdatirion
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NORTHERN GREECE, Uncertain
PB Tessera (16mm, 3.96 g)
Goat standing right
Bunch of grapes hanging from vine
Ex Classical Numismatics Group 85 (15 September 2010), lot 330bArdatirion
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00001 Larissa Profile Left, Jason’s Sandal RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Archaic representation of Larissa in profile to the l. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Jason’s sandal to the r., Λ - Α above. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 500 - 479 BC; Weight: .65g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 210º; References, for example: Weber 2826, pl. 109; Herrmann Group 1 Obolen; SNG Cop 90; BCD Thessaly I 1098 (this coin); HGC 4, 404.
Provenance: Ex. Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 133 Lot 53 21 Nov 2022, from the collection of “A Man In Love With Art.”; Ex. BCD Thessaly Nomos AG Auction 4 Lot 1098 May 10, 2011.
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Photo Credits: Numismatica Ars ClassicaTracy Aiello
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000011 Larissa Profile Left Double Headed Axe in Front, Jason’s Sandal RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Larissa in profile to the l., double headed ax before. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Jason’s sandal to the r., Λ - Α above. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 490 - 480 BC????; Weight: .86g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 120º; References, for example: Weber 2826, var. sandal l.; Traité p. 1011 no. 1415 pl. XLIII 6, var. legend ΛΑRΙ, sandal l., Ξ below; SNG Cop 90, var. no mention of ax; Kagan 2004, p. 85, pl. 1, 4, legend? var. sandal l.; BCD Thessaly II 140, var. sandal l., square within incuse, legend ΛΑRΙ retrograde and upside down, H on groundline; HGC 4, 403, legend retrograde and upside down var. sandal l.
Provenance: Ex. Roma Numismatics Ltd. E-Sale 177 Lot 69 February 22, 2024; Ex. Roma Numismatics Ltd. E-Sale 107 Lot 145 March 16, 2023; Ex. Roma Numismatics Ltd. E-Sale 94 Lot 61 February 24, 2022; Ex. Roma Numismatics Ltd. E-Sale 37 Lot 80 June 24, 2017; Ex. Roma Numismatics Ltd. E-Sale 12 Lot 592 November 1, 2014.
Photo Credits: Roma Numismatics Ltd.
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0001 Bull Hoof (Seen From Below) and Bridled Horse Facing LeftThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull hoof seen from below. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑ in front and down to the l., head and neck of a bridled horse l. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver hemiobol; Mint: Larissa; Date: 462 - 460 BC1; Weight: .40g; Diameter: 7.8mm: Die axis: 0º; References, for example: Liampi Corpus Group II 2 (V2/R1); Triton XIV 103; BCD Thessaly 1107.
Notes:
1This is the date provided in BCD Thessaly and Triton XIV.
Provenance: Ex Apollo Numismatics July 4, 2020.
Photo Credits: Apollo Numismatics
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Tracy Aiello
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0002 Bull Protome Facing Right and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck r., head turned to face the viewer. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΑΛ upwards, head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 462 - 460 BC1; Weight: .89g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Herrmann Group III Series A pl. I, 20 var. head and neck facing l.; Liampi Corpus 18 (V10/R11) pl. 4, 36; BCD Thessaly II 148; HGC 4, 477.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4.
Provenance: Ex Roma Numismatics E-Sale 70 Lot 433 April 7, 2020; Ex Roma Numismatics E-Sale 52 Lot 144 January 10, 2019. From a private UK collection.
Photo Credits: Roma Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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00021 Bull Protome Facing Left and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck l., head turned to face the viewer. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΑΛ upwards, head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 462/1 - 460 BC1; Weight: .93g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 70º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 24 no. 4, pl. IV no. 7; Hunterian p. 451 no. 1; Traité I ii, 1416, pl. XLIII, 7; Pozzi 1207; Weber 2828; Herrmann Group III A Obolen, pl. I, 20; McClean 4586, pl. on p. 173, 13 ; SNG Cop 96; SGCV I 2105; SNG Ashmolean 3858; Liampi Corpus 15 V7/R9 b, pl. 4, 26; BCD Thessaly I 1105; BCD Thessaly II 147; HGC 4, 476.
Notes:
1This is the date given in BCD Thessaly I.
Provenance: Ex Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger Auction 371 Lot 1082.
Photo Credits: Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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00022 Bull Protome Facing Left, Dolphin above, and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck l., head turned to face the viewer, dolphin facing l. above. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑ upwards, head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 462/1 - 460 BC1; Weight: .6g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Herrmann Group III A Obolen; Liampi 1996, p. 104 no. 16 (V8 - R10), pl. 4 no. 31, 32, and 33; SNG München 44; BCD Thessaly I 1106; BCD Thessaly II 146; HGC 4, 476.
Notes:
1This is the date given in BCD Thessaly I.
Provenance: Ex. Nomos AG Obolos 28 Lot 127 July 2, 2023
Photo Credits: Nomos AG
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0003 Hero Wrestling Bull Protome Facing Left with Lotus Flower and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck l., head turned to face the viewer, on the r. and behind half figure of the hero Thessalos1 to l., grasping the bull by the horns. Lotus flower above. All within border of dots.
Rev: Λ-ΑR-Ι in front and above (retrograde), head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 462/1 - 460 BC2; Weight: .86g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 210º; References, for example: Liampi Corpus p. 101, IA (V1-R1), pl. 4, 1 and 2 and 3; BCD Thessaly I 1103.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in BCD Thessaly I.
Provenance: Ex Leu Numismatik February 27, 2021, From a European collection formed before 2005.
Photo Credits: Leu Numismatik
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Tracy Aiello
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0004 Hero Wrestling Bull Protome Facing Right and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck r., head turned to face the viewer, on the l. and behind half figure of the hero Thessalos1 to r. with l. arm over the bull's neck and r. hand below the bull's muzzle. All within border of dots.
Rev:[Λ]Α r. and upwards, head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 460 - 440 BC2; Weight: 1.01g; Diameter: 11mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Liampi Corpus p. 102, 6 (V4-R5), Pl. 4, 13 and 14; BCD Thessaly II 353.3; HGC 4, 480.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4.
Provenance: Ex Numismatik-Naumann November 14, 2020.
Photo Credits: Numismatik-Naumann
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Tracy Aiello
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00041 Hero Wrestling Bull Protome Facing Left and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck l., head turned to face the viewer, on the r. and behind half figure of the hero Thessalos to l. with r. arm over the bull’s neck and l. hand below the bull’s muzzle. All within border of dots.
Rev: ΑΛ r. and upwards, head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 460 - 440 BC; Weight: 1.03g; Diameter: 10.5mm: Die axis: 270º; References, for example: Liampi Corpus p. 102 no. 4b (V3-R3) for weight and die axis, pl. 4, 8 for depiction; SNG München 43; BCD Thessaly II 353.2; HGC 4 479.
Provenance: Ex CGB Numismatics January 2, 2023.
Photo Credits: CGB Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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000411 Horse Prancing Right, Larissa Left Bouncing BallThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: horse prancing r. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Λ - Α (lower l. corner, upper r. corner) Larissa walking l. wearing Chiton, l. hand lowered behind her and bouncing a ball in front of her with raised r. hand. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 460 - 440 BC; Weight: .99g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Imhoof-Blumer Nymphen: p. 69 no. 186 pl. V no. 18; Herrmann Group II b 𝛃 pl. I 16; Traité IV, 654 var. legend placement, Larissa r., pl. CCXCVI, 11; BCD Thessaly I 1111 (this coin); HGC 4 486.
Provenance: Ex. Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 124 Lot 111 June 23, 2021, from the collection of “A Man In Love With Art.”; Ex. BCD Thessaly Nomos AG Auction 4 Lot 1111 May 10, 2011; Ex. Leu Numismatik 50 Lot 127 April 25, 1990.
Photo Credits: Numismatica Ars Classica
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Tracy Aiello
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0005 Horse Prancing Right, Larissa Seated Left on HydriaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Ο𐌔 above, horse prancing r. on groundline. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛA above and l., PI𐌔A in front and down (retrograde), Larissa seated l. on overturned hydria with its mouth to the r. and one side handle facing viewer, l. hand on l. knee and r. hand extended, having kicked the ball to l. on ground.1 All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 460 - 400 BC2; ; Weight: .93g; Diameter: 12mm: Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Imhoof-Blummer p. 72, 200, pl. V, 30; Herrmann Group III F/G, IIIβ Obolen Reverse VII, pl. III, 11; SNG Cop 115; Liampi 1992, 8; SNG München 59; BCD Thessaly I 1115; BCD Thessaly II 164 and 363.1; HGC 4, 491.
Notes:
1Imhoof-Blumer and Herrmann both state that Larissa is binding her sandal while Liampi 1992 notes that she is either binding or loosening her sandal. There is no mention of kicking the ball. In my description I follow BCD Thessaly I, II, and HGC because I assume that Larissa would use two hands instead of one if she were either tightening or loosening her sandal.
2This date range encompases the dates expressed in my listed references.
Provenance: Ex. CNG Triton XXV January 11 - 12, 2022 Lot 177.
Photo Credits: CNG
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Tracy Aiello
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0006 Rider and Larissa SeatedThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Rider on a horse prancing r. on groundline, holding a single spear transversally with petasos flying backwards and chlamys on his back, beneath horse's belly a lion's head facing r. Border of dots or small grains.1
Rev: The nymph Larissa2 seated r. on a chair with a back ending in a swan's head, r. hand resting on her lap or thigh and holding a phiale, l. arm raised with palm forward,3 Λ and Α above to l. and r. of head with R and Ι to r. of body turned 90º and downward, all within a shallow incuse square.
Denomination: silver trihemiobol; Mint: Larissa; Date: mid- to late 5th Century BC4; Weight: 1.28g5; Diameter: 13mm; Die axis: 60º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 25, 13; Warren 687 var. No mention of lion's head; Weber 2838; Traité IV, 651, pl. CCXCVI, 9; Herrmann Group II, pl. I, 7; Boston MFA 875 var. no lion's head and reference to two spears; Lorber 2008 pl. 41, 5; BCD Thessaly II 154; HGC 4, 466.
Notes:
1Forrer, BCD Thessaly II, and Hoover refer to the border as composed of dots; Babelon refers to the border as composed of small grains.
2Herrmann does not associate the figure on the reverse with the nymph Larissa. Instead he refers to the figure as a "sitting male" and cites two examples from Berlin and Warren 687 as having the indication of beards (p.9). He declares that the meaning [interpretation] of the sitter cannot be determined, but he invites us to think of a deity (p. 11). Brett in Boston MFA follows Herrmann's interpretation.
3Forrer and BCD Thessaly II state that Larissa is holding a mirror, Hoover mentions only that the arm is raised, Babelon indicates that the left arm is raised with palm forward, and Herrmann describes the left hand as raised in an "adoring gesture". On the coin here the left hand clearly has the thumb separated from the rest of the fingers with the palm facing forward; there is no indication that the hand is holding anything. I wonder what the intention of the gesture could have been.
4Dates in the sources cited here run the gamut of the 5th Century BC. Herrmann: c. 500 - 479 BC; Babelon: c. 470 - 430 BC; HGC: c. 440 - 420 BC; Forrer: c. 430 - 400 BC. In light of Kagen (2004) and his belief that Herrmann's Group I ended c. 460 BC it seems appropriate to choose the date range specified in BCD Thessaly II.
5Herrmann argues that Group II was struck on the Persian weight standard. (He believed that the same held true for Group I). Kagan (2004) demonstrates that Larissain coinage was not struck on the Persian weight standard.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).
Provenance: Ex Nomos AG December 8, 2019.
Photo Credits: Nomos AG
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0007 Horse Prancing Right Lion’s Head Right, Lion’s Head Spout Right Larissa Right Balancing HydriaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: horse prancing r., lion's head above facing r. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Λ-Α above l. to r., R-[I] in front and downwards, Larissa standing r. and balancing hydra on her raised l. knee, behind is a spout in the form of a lion's head from which pours water. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 440 - 420 BC1; Weight: .95g; Diameter: 11.5mm: Die axis: 0º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 25, 15; Imhoof-Blumer Nymphen: p. 69 no. 184 pl. V no. 16; Herrmann Group II pl. I 14 and 15; McClean II 4600 var. horse standing, no mention of lion's head on obv.; SNG München 54 and 55 var. lion’s head on obv. interpreted as a Lotus flower; Lorber 2008 pl. 41, 6; BCD Thessaly II 358.1; HGC 4, 482 var. horse standing and no mention of water pouring from the lion's head spout.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4
Provenance: Ex Nomos Obolos 15 Webauction Lot 169 May 24, 2020.
Photo Credits: Nomos AG
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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00071 Horse Prancing Left Lion’s Head Left, Lion’s Head Spout Right Larissa Right Balancing HydriaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: horse prancing l., lion’s head above facing l. [protruding tongue or stream of water?]. All within a border of dots.
Rev: [Λ]-Α above l. to r., R-I in front and downwards, Larissa standing r. and balancing hydra on her raised l. knee, behind is a spout in the form of a lion’s head from which pours water. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 440 - 420 BC1; Weight: .95g; Diameter: 13 mm: Die axis: 270º; References, for example: Herrmann Group II b 𝛼, pl. I 13; BCD Thessaly I 1433.5 var. no lion’s head above horse; BCD Thessaly II 160; HGC 4 483.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4
Provenance: Ex Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. December 10, 2023
Photo Credits: Dr. Busso Peus Nachf.
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0008 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Left, Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos1 to l. naked, except for chlamys and petasos both attached to his neck by a cord and flying in the air, wrestling a bull charging l., plant to l. and below between Thessalos' legs, [TO in exergue?]. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑ above, ΡΙΣΑ below (retrograde), bridled horse prancing r. with loose rein. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 440 - 420 BC2; Weight: 5.47g; Diameter: 19.5mm: Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Weber 2834 var. no mention of plant between legs or TO in obv. exergue; Herrmann Group III Series C pl. II, 1; BCD Thessaly I 1123 var. reverse legend; BCD Thessaly II 366.1; HGC 4, 416 var. no mention of plant between legs.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4. According to Lorber 2008 this coin should be placed in the revived bull wrestling drachm coinage, beginning c. 450 - 440 BC.
Provenance: Ex CNG Electronic Auction 465 Lot 74 April 8, 2020 (from the Frank M. Martin collection)
Photo Credits: CNG
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0009 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Right, Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos1 to r. naked, except for chlamys around his shoulders and petasos, flying in the air, attached to his neck by a cord, holding with both hands a band that is around the forehead of a bull leaping r. All within a border of dots (not here visible).
Rev: ΛΑΡΙ above, Σ to the r. (not here visible), ΙΑ below (not here visible), bridled horse with trailing rein prancing r., no ground line. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC2; Weight: 6.06g; Diameter: 18mm: Die axis: 270º; References, for example: Lorber 2008, pl. 43, 59 (same dies); BCD Thessaly II 372.7 (same dies); HGC 4, 423 (same obv.).
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4. According to Lorber 2008 this coin should be placed in the revived bull wrestling drachm coinage, beginning c. 450 - 440 BC.
This type is related to the Thessalian sport of bull wrestling (taurokathapsia) "...regularly showcased at the Taureia games honoring Poseidon Taureios." (HGC 4, p. 132).
Provenance: Ex Shanna Schmidt Numismatics May 28, 2019; from the BCD collection, reportedly found 8 kms west of Pharsalus, May 1997.
Photo credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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00091 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Left, Horse Galloping RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos1 to l. naked, except for chlamys around his shoulders and petasos, flying in the air, attached to his neck by a cord, holding with both hands the head of a bull leaping l. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑΡΙ above to the r., ΣΑΙΑ below to the r., bridled horse galloping r., ground line. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC2; Weight: 5.83g; Diameter: 19mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Herrmann Group III Series H Rev. I; BCD Thessaly II 174; HGC 4, 420.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4. According to Lorber 2008 this coin should be placed in the revived bull wrestling drachm coinage, beginning c. 450 - 440 BC.
Provenance: Ex Gorny and Mosch Auction 269 Lot 298
March 3, 2020; Ex Gorny & Mosch Auction 212 Lot 1461 March 5 and 6, 2013
Photo credits: Gorny and Mosch
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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00092 Horse Prancing Left, Larissa Right with Wreath and BallThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Horse prancing l. on ground line. ΟΣ above with the Σ reversed. All within border of dots.
Rev: Larissa standing on ground line facing the viewer, head turned l. [viewer’s .r], wreath in raised l. hand and ball in lowered r. hand. On r. ΛΑ upwards, on l. ΡΙΣΑ downwards and retrograde. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: 420 - 400 BC1; Weight: .98g; Diameter: 12mm: Die axis: 330º; References, for example: Imhoof-Blummer p. 71, 193/pl. V, 25; Herrmann Group III Small Denominations under E, III 𝛂 Obols rev. II, pl. II, 20; BCD Thessaly II 364.3; HCG 495.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4.
Provenance: Ex. Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 123 May 9, 2021; Ex CNG e-sale 252, March 23, 2011 lot 46.
Photo Credits: Numismatica Ars Classica
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00093 Horse Prancing Right, Larissa Left with Wreath and BallThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Horse prancing r. on ground line. Ο[𐌔] above. All within border of dots.
Rev: Larissa standing on ground line facing the viewer, head turned r. [viewer's l.], wreath in raised r. hand and ball in lowered l. hand. On l. and below an A, on r. and downward ΛΑΡΙ𐌔. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC1; Weight: 1.00g; Diameter: 13mm: Die axis: 0º; References, for example: BCD Thessaly II 363.3 and 364.1 [this coin]; HGC 4, 496.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4.
Provenance: Ex Dr. Martina Dieterle March 22, 2021; Ex BCD Thessaly, January 3, 2012.
Photo Credits: Dr. Martina Dieterle
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000931 Horse Prancing Left, Larissa Left With Hydra In Front On GroundThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv:horse prancing l. on groundline. 𐌔Ο above. All within border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑΡ r. and down, Ι𐌔Α l. and up, Larissa standing facing l., r. hand raised, l. hand lowered downward behind her and holding wreath, hydria standing on ground in front on l. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC1; Weight: .95g; Diameter: 14mm: Die axis: 160º; References, for example: Warren 694 var. legend and horse r.; Traité IV, 685 var. legend and horse r., pl. CCXCVII, 18; Boston MFA 883 var. legend and horse r., pl. 48, 883; Liampi 1992, 11 var. horse r.2; BCD Thessaly II 363.4 var. legend and horse r.; HGC 4 493 var. legend and horse r.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4.
2Liampi 1992 does not provide a legend with the reference.
Provenance: Ex. Numismatik Naumann Auction 106 Lot 148 August 1, 2021.
Photo Credits: Numismatik Naumann
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00094 Horse Prancing Left, Larissa Playing With BallThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: horse prancing l. on ground line. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Larissa standing l., tossing a ball with her r. hand and pulling up her dress with her l. hand, ΛΑΡ r. and downwards, ΙΣΑ l. and downwards. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC1; Weight: 0.86g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 270º; References, for example: Traité IV, 679, pl. CCXCVII, 12 var. horse prancing r.; Hermann Group III Small Denominations under F and G, III β Obols rev. I, pl. III, 12; SNG Cop vol 11, 114; BCD Thessaly II 161; HGC 4, 499 var. legend is Λ-Α-Ρ-Ι.
Notes:
1This is the date given in HGC 4
Provenance: Ex London Ancient Coins November 14, 2020.
Photo Credits: London Ancient Coins
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Tracy Aiello
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00095 Facing Head of Larissa - AI SignedThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing ¾ l., wearing ampyx with ΓΕΥ inscription (not visible)1, hair floating freely above head, tiny IA above top locks of hair (off of flan), prominent raised right shoulder2 (garment clasp visible?), spherical earring with bead pendant. Border of dots.
Rev: Horse crouching r., bucranium brand on haunch, forelegs spread, raised tail (off of flan), tiny AI under belly3, reign trails into exergue with exergue line sloping downward under horse's muzzle, ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙ directly below exergue line with ΣΑΙ breaking into that line.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 405/400 BC - c. 370 BC4; Weight: 6.11g; Diameter: 19mm; Die axis: 90º; References, for example: SNG Cop vol. 11, 126; Herrmann Group VII, Series I, Reverse II, pl. VI, 16 and 19; HGC 4, 434; Lorber - Shahar Group 3 Head Type 14 (O35/R2 - Sp. b, this very coin) = Florilegium Numismaticum Group One Head Type 11 with Reverse 21.2 - Sp. b (this very coin).
Notes:
1Lorber presumes that these letters are "...an abbreviated epithet of the nymph Larissa." (Lorber Early in FlorNum, p. 261).
2Lorber invites us to interpret this "distinctive gesture" as the nymph "...tossing her ball, an action regularly depicted on trihemiobols and obols of the fifth century." (Lorber Early in FlorNum, p. 262).
3Lorber understands these letters to be the signature of the mint's chief engraver, who replaced ΣΙΜΟ. See Lorber Early in FlorNum, p. 261.
4This is the date range provided in Lorber 2008, p. 126.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).
Provenance: Ex Shanna Schmidt Numismatics October 30, 2019; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 29, May 11, 2005, lot 176; Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Auction XXXIII, May 3, 1994, lot 929.
Photo credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics
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Tracy Aiello
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000961 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Forepart Left, Horse Forepart Galloping RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos to l. naked, except for chlamys and petasos both attached to his neck by a cord and flying in the air, wrestling a bull forepart charging l. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Λ above, Α in front, Ρ under horse’s belly, Ι under horse’s raised r. leg, bridled horse forepart galloping r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver hemidrachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 400 - 350 BC1; Weight: 3.01g; Diameter: 15mm: Die axis: 150º; References, for example: Herrmann Group III C, pl. II, 4; Traité IV, 646, pl. CCXCVI, 4; McClean II 4593, var. ΣΟ retrograde on obv., pl. on p. 172, no. 20; Lorber 2008 Series 3, 11.O7/R7 and 12.O8/R7 var. Ｙ𝚪 below hero’s legs, pl. 42 nos. 26 and 27 respectively; BCD Thessaly II 375.2 var. ΣΟ retrograde on obv.; HGC 4, 460.
Notes:
1This is the date provided in BCD Thessaly II.
Provenance: Ex Shanna Schmidt Numismatics February 17, 2022, Ex Myntauktion I Sverige AB Auction 12, September 19 - 20, 2014 Lot 67.
Photo Credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics
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000962 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Forepart Right, Plant, Horse Forepart Galloping RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos to r. naked, except for chlamys and petasos both attached to his neck by a cord and flying in the air, wrestling a bull forepart charging r. Plant to the r. on (and below?) groundline. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Λ above on l., Α in front on r., ΡΙΣΑ in front and down, IO[N] underneath leftward, bridled horse forepart galloping r. All within a shallow incuse square.
Denomination: silver hemidrachm; Mint: Larissa; Date:400 - 350 BC1; Weight: 2.95g; Diameter: 16mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Lorber 2008 Series 6 O15/R19, pl. 42 no. 40; BCD Thessaly II 374.2; HGC 4, 461.
Notes:
1This is the date provided in BCD Thessaly II.
Provenance: Ex. London Ancient Coins November 9, 2022.
Photo Credits: London Ancient Coins
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00097 Facing Head of LarissaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly r., wearing ampyx, pendant earring, and wire necklace. Border of dots.
Rev: reverse horse crouching l., l. foreleg raised, preparing to roll and lie down. ΛAPI above horse and ΣAIΩN in the exergue.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 380 - 365 BC1; Weight: 5.812g; Diameter: 20.8mm; Die axis: 90º; References, for example: BCD Thessaly I 1149; BCD Thessaly II 283; McClean 4623; HGC 4, 441; Lorber - Shahar, Middle Series 1 Type A (O1/R42
Notes:
1This is the date range stated in BCD Thessaly I.
2Unfortunately this website no longer functions and it will not be brought back up (Catharine Lorber, personal communication, September 7, 2018).
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).
Provenance: Ex Forum Ancient Coins November 5, 2018
Photo credits: Forum Ancient Coins
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00098 Larissa Profile Left, Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: [ΛAPlΣA in small letters l. and up], head of Larissa facing l., hair bound at top of head, triple drop earring, pearl necklace. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Bridled horse with tail in an upright curl prancing r. on ground line, ΛAP above, I in front of horse’s head, ΣAI down and in front, ΩN up and behind.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 370 - 360 BC1; Weight: 5.78g; Diameter: 19mm: Die axis: 330º; References, for example: Hermann Group V, pl. IV, 16; Liampi 1992, 25; Lorber 2008, pl. 45, 100; BCD Thessaly I 1133; BCD Thessaly II 183; HGC 4, 448.
Notes:
1This date range fits within BCD Thessaly I and II, Lorber 2008, and HGC 4.
Despite the absence of ΛAPlΣA in tiny letters in front of Larissa’s head (with 25x magnification I can detect what are perhaps very, very faint indications of parts of the legend), the shape of the mouth, the chin, and the stray lock of hair in front of Larissa’s forehead lead me to determine that this is an example of BCD Thessaly I 1133 and II 183 and not 1134 and 184 respectively. Thus, this is an example of, per BCD Thessaly I and Lorber 2008, Larissa’s profile in the style of Euainetos at Syracuse.
Provenance: Ex. CNG Electronic Auction 505 December 1, 2021 Lot 124, from the Sigmund collection.
Photo Credits: CNG
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Tracy Aiello
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000981 Bull Leaping Right, Horse and Rider Galloping RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙON above, bull leaping r., horizontal groundline. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Thessalian horseman (Thessalos?) wearing a tunic, petasos, and a chlamys fluttering to the l., holding a goad in his r. hand on a horse galloping r.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 370 - 356 BC; Weight: 6.05g; Diameter: 20mm: Die axis: 0º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 29 no. 54, pl. V, 13 var. Ω instead of O in legend; Pozzi 1229; Weber 2856, p. 110 var. Ω instead of O in legend; Hermann Group VI, pl. IV, 17 and 18 var. Ω instead of O in legend; McClean 4610, pl. on p. 173, 6; Traité IV 698, pl. CCXCVIII, 9; SNG Lockett 1566, var. Ω instead of O in legend; SNG Cop 118; SNG Ashmolean 3871; Lorber 2008, pl. 46, 101; BCD Thessaly I 1136; BCD Thessaly II 186 var. Ω instead of O in legend; HGC 4, 449.
Provenance: Ex. CNG Feature Auction 121 October 6, 2022, Lot 234, from the Weise Collection; Ex. Daniel Koppersmith Collection CNG Triton XVII January 7, 2014, Lot 195; Ex. BCD Collection Classical Numismatic Group Auction 90 May 23, 2012, Lot 94; Ex. Leu 30 April 28, 1982, Lot 100.
Photo Credits: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC.
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Tracy Aiello
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00099 Facing Head of LarissaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa 3/4 facing l., wearing ampyx flanked by two hornlike locks, round curl to the l. of the head1; earring on the r. (?), wearing wire necklace (?). Border of dots.
Rev: Horse crouching r., l. foreleg raised and bent (parallel with the lower part of the hind legs), preparing to roll, ΛAPIΣ above horse and AIΩN in the exergue.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 356 - 346 BC2; Weight: 6.05g; Diameter: 19mm; Die axis: 130º; References, for example: Lorber Hoard, Phase L-III; SNG COP 121.
Notes:
1On p. 10 of Lorber Hoard Catharine Lorber observes that on later Phase L-III head types the round curl to the left of the head "...tends to evolve into a long wavy lock scarcely different from the others above and below it." Therefore, perhaps this coin falls earlier in Phase L-III.
2This is the date range given in Lorber Hoard, p. 11. She states that the Third Sacred War must have been the historical context for the intensive Phase L-III drachm production.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).
Provenance: Ex Harlan J. Berk Ltd. June 28, 2019; Ex Pegasi Auction, A22, lot 117 April 20, 2010.
Photo credits: Harlan J. Berk Ltd.
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000991 Facing Head of LarissaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly l., round curl to the l. of the head, wearing ampyx flanked by two hornlike locks, a pendant earring, and a simple necklace.
Rev: Horse crouching r., l. foreleg raised and bent (almost parallel with belly/ground), preparing to roll. ΛAPIΣ above horse and AIΩN in the exergue.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 356 - 342 BC1; Weight: 5.920g; Diameter: 19.2mm; Die axis: 135º; References, for example: Lorber Hoard, pl. 3, 27 (same dies); BCD Thessaly I 11582; BCD Thessaly II 316; HGC 4, 4543.
Notes:
1This is the date range stated in BCD Thessaly I. This coin appears to fall within Lorber's Phase Late II or Phase Late III. See Lorber Hoard and Lorber 2008.
2The coin referenced in this auction catalogue is actually a silver stater, but in discussing the coin the catalogue states that the earliest Larissian staters "...bear the normal types of a drachm...."
3The picture of the coin in this reference does not show the foreleg raised and bent, but the entry does reference BCD Thessaly II, lots 312 - 320, which matches one of the references here.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p.. 130).
Provenance: Ex Forum Ancient Coins October 31, 2018; from the BCD collection, with his tag noting "Thz. G/ni ex Thess., Apr. 94, SFr. 100.-"
Photo credits: Forum Ancient Coins
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Tracy Aiello
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000992 Facing Head of LarissaThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly l., round curl to the l. of he head, wearing ampyx flanked by two hornlike locks, a pendant earring represented by three pellets in a vertical line, and a simple necklace.
Rev: Horse crouching r., l. foreleg raised and bent (almost parallel with belly/ground), preparing to roll, small plant (control mark) below. ΛAPIΣ above horse and AIΩN in the exergue.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 356 - 342 BC1; Weight: 5.869g; Diameter: 18.3mm; Die axis: 0º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 30, 61; BCD Thessaly I 1156; BCD Thessaly II 323 var. [same obv. die, but no trident (control mark) below the horse pointing to the left].
Notes:
1This is the date range stated in BCD Thessaly I. This coin appears to fall within Lorber's Phase Late II or Phase Late III. See Lorber Hoard and Lorber 2008.
The city of Larissa was named after the local water nymph, said to be the daughter of Pelasgos. He was said to be the ancestor of the pre-Greek Pelasgians. According to myth Larissa drowned while playing ball on the banks of the Peneios river. (HGC 4 p. 130).
Provenance: Ex Forum Ancient Coins September 6, 2018; from the David Cannon Collection, ex Beast Coins.
Photo credits: Forum Ancient Coins
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Tracy Aiello
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000993 Larissa ¾ Left, Rider on Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa 3/4 facing l., an ampyx in her hair, wearing a simple necklace and what looks like a single globule earring hanging from the bottom of the base of the last lock of hair on the r. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Thessalian cavalryman on prancing horse r., wearing chlamys and petasos. ΛAPI above l., Σ downwards in front of horse, AIΩN in exergue below the ground line.
Denomination: silver trihemiobol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. late 4th/early 3rd Century BC1; Weight: 1.38g; Diameter: 13.3mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: BMC Thessaly p. 30 nos. 69 and 70, pl. VI, no. 6; Weber 2855, pl. 110; McClean 4631, pl. on p. 173, no. 25; SNG Cop vol. 11, 134; SGCV I 2128; SNG Ashmolean 3890 and 3891; BCD Thessaly II 341; HGC 4, 515.
Notes:
1This is the date provided in BCD Thessaly II.
Provenance: Ex. Zuzim September 16, 2021.
Photo Credits: Zuzim
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Tracy Aiello
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0009931 Larissa ¾ Left, Rider on Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa 3/4 facing l., an ampyx in her hair, wearing a simple necklace, [a single globule earring hanging from the bottom of the base of the last lock of hair on the r]. All within a border of dots.
Rev: Thessalian cavalryman on prancing horse r., wearing chlamys and petasos. [Λ]API above l., [Σ] downwards in front of horse, [AIΩN] in exergue below the ground line.
Denomination: Obol (?); Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 395 - 344/3 BC1; Weight: 1.04g; Diameter: 11mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Traité VI, 724, pl. CCXCIX, 12; Herrmann Group VII 1 Series B pl. VI, 1 var. mention of a whip and different legend orientation, although he allows for variations.
Notes:
1This is the date provided in Herrmann.
Provenance: Ex. Bermondsey Coins, December 26, 2023
Photo Credits: Bermondsey Coins
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000994 Larissa ¾ Left, Horse Grazing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: Head of the nymph Larissa 3/4 facing l., ampyx in her hair, wearing a simple necklace. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑΡΙΣ above, ΑΙΩΝ in exergue below the ground line, horse with straight legs grazing r.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: late 4th - early 3rd Century BC1; Weight: .70g; Diameter: 10.4mm: Die axis: 170º; References, for example: Herrmann Group VII Series B, pl. V, 192; McClean 4630, pl. on p. 173, no. 24; SNG Cop 135; SNG Ashmolean 3889; SNG München 77; BCD Thessaly II 344 var. with monogram, 385.6; HGC 4, 516.
Notes:
1This is the date provided in BCD Thessaly II.
2BCD Thessaly II 328 corrects Herrmann’s reference from a tritetartemorion to an obol.
Provenance: Ex. Ars Coin Wien, January 26, 2022.
Photo Credits: Ars Coin Wien
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001j3. OctavianDenarius. Military mint with Octavian in Greece, autumn 42 BC. Helmeted and draped bust of young Mars right, spear over left shoulder; CAESAR III VIR•R•P•C around / Aquila between two signa, on ground line; above, trophy, holding oval shields; S-C flanking aquila. Crawford 497/3; CRI 138; RSC 248. 3.27g, 19mm, 2h. Roma Numismatics Auction 75 Lot 562.lawrence c
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002a, Aigina, Islands off Attica, Greece, c. 510 - 490 B.C.Silver stater, S 1849, SNG Cop 503, F, 12.231g, 22.3mm, Aigina (Aegina) mint, c. 510 - 490 B.C.; Obverse: sea turtle (with row of dots down the middle); Reverse: incuse square of “Union Jack” pattern; banker's mark obverse. Ex FORVM.
Greek Turtles, by Gary T. Anderson
Turtles, the archaic currency of Aegina, are among the most sought after of all ancient coins. Their early history is somewhat of a mystery. At one time historians debated whether they or the issuances of Lydia were the world's earliest coins. The source of this idea comes indirectly from the writings of Heracleides of Pontus, a fourth century BC Greek scholar. In the treatise Etymologicum, Orion quotes Heracleides as claiming that King Pheidon of Argos, who died no later than 650 BC, was the first to strike coins at Aegina. However, archeological investigations date the earliest turtles to about 550 BC, and historians now believe that this is when the first of these intriguing coins were stamped.
Aegina is a small, mountainous island in the Saronikon Gulf, about midway between Attica and the Peloponnese. In the sixth century BC it was perhaps the foremost of the Greek maritime powers, with trade routes throughout the eastern half of the Mediterranean. It is through contacts with Greeks in Asia Minor that the idea of coinage was probably introduced to Aegina. Either the Lydians or Greeks along the coast of present day Turkey were most likely the first to produce coins, back in the late seventh century. These consisted of lumps of a metal called electrum (a mixture of gold and silver) stamped with an official impression to guarantee the coin was of a certain weight. Aegina picked up on this idea and improved upon it by stamping coins of (relatively) pure silver instead electrum, which contained varying proportions of gold and silver. The image stamped on the coin of the mighty sea power was that of a sea turtle, an animal that was plentiful in the Aegean Sea. While rival cities of Athens and Corinth would soon begin limited manufacture of coins, it is the turtle that became the dominant currency of southern Greece. The reason for this is the shear number of coins produced, estimated to be ten thousand yearly for nearly seventy years. The source for the metal came from the rich silver mines of Siphnos, an island in the Aegean. Although Aegina was a formidable trading nation, the coins seemed to have meant for local use, as few have been found outside the Cyclades and Crete. So powerful was their lure, however, that an old proverb states, "Courage and wisdom are overcome by Turtles."
The Aeginean turtle bore a close likeness to that of its live counterpart, with a series of dots running down the center of its shell. The reverse of the coin bore the imprint of the punch used to force the face of the coin into the obverse turtle die. Originally this consisted of an eight-pronged punch that produced a pattern of eight triangles. Later, other variations on this were tried. In 480 BC, the coin received its first major redesign. Two extra pellets were added to the shell near the head of the turtle, a design not seen in nature. Also, the reverse punch mark was given a lopsided design.
Although turtles were produced in great quantities from 550 - 480 BC, after this time production dramatically declines. This may be due to the exhaustion of the silver mines on Siphnos, or it may be related to another historical event. In 480 BC, Aegina's archrival Athens defeated Xerxes and his Persian armies at Marathon. After this, it was Athens that became the predominant power in the region. Aegina and Athens fought a series of wars until 457 BC, when Aegina was conquered by its foe and stripped of its maritime rights. At this time the coin of Aegina changed its image from that of the sea turtle to that of the land tortoise, symbolizing its change in fortunes.
The Turtle was an object of desire in ancient times and has become so once again. It was the first coin produced in Europe, and was produced in such great quantities that thousands of Turtles still exist today. Their historical importance and ready availability make them one of the most desirable items in any ancient coin enthusiast's collection.
(Greek Turtles, by Gary T. Anderson .Cleisthenes
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1cy Gallienus253-268
Bronze antoninianus
Radiate, draped bust, right, GALLINVS AVG
Mars standing left, holding globe in right hand and spear in left hand, P in right field, VIRTVS AVG
RIC 317
Gallienus oversaw a period of disintegration of the empire and lost control over the East, Gaul, Spain, and Britain.
Zosimus observed: [When Valerian left for the East] As the Germans were the most troublesome enemies, and harrassed the Gauls in the vicinity of the Rhine, Gallienus marched against them in person, leaving his officers to repel with the forces under their command any others that should enter Italy, Illyricum, and Greece. With these designs, he possessed himself of and defended the passages of the Rhine, at one time preventing their crossing, and at another engaging them as soon as they had crossed it. But having only a small force to resist an immense number, he was at a loss how to act, and thought to secure himself by a league with one of the German princes. He thus not only prevented the other Barbarians from so frequently passing the Rhine, but obstructed the access of auxiliaries.
Eutropius recorded: Gallienus, who was made emperor when quite a young man, exercised his power at first happily, afterwards fairly, and at last mischievously. In his youth he performed many gallant acts in Gaul and Illyricum, killing Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple, at Mursa, and Regalianus. He was then for a long time quiet and gentle; afterwards, abandoning himself to all manner of licentiousness, he relaxed the reins of government with disgraceful inactivity and carelesness. The Alemanni, having laid waste Gaul, penetrated into Italy. Dacia, which had been added to the empire beyond the Danube, was lost. Greece, Macedonia, Pontus, Asia, were devastated by the Goths. Pannonia was depopulated by the Sarmatians and Quadi. The Germans made their way as far as Spain, and took the noble city of Tarraco. The Parthians, after taking possession of Mesopotamia, began to bring Syria under their power.
Zosimus resumes: Gallienus in the mean time still continued beyond the Alps, intent on the German war, while the Senate, seeing Rome in such imminent danger, armed all the soldiers that were in the city, and the strongest of the common people, and formed an army, which exceeded the Barbarians in number. This so alarmed the Barbarians, that they left Rome, but ravaged all the rest of Italy. At this period, when Illyricum groaned under the oppression of the Barbarians, and the whole Roman empire was in such a helpless state as to be on the very verge of ruin, a plague happened to break out in several of the towns, more dreadful than any that had preceded it. The miseries inflicted on them by the Barbarians were thus alleviated, even the sick esteeming themselves fortunate. The cities that had been taken by the Scythians were thus deserted.
Gallienus, being disturbed by these occurrences, was returning to Rome to relieve Italy from the war which the Scythians were thus carrying on. It was at this time, that Cecrops, a Moor, Aureolus and Antoninus, with many others, conspired against him, of whom the greater part were punished and submitted. Aureolus alone retained his animosity against the emperor.
The Scythians, who had dreadfully afflicted the whole of Greece, had now taken Athens, when Gallienus advanced against those who were already in possession of Thrace, and ordered Odonathus of Palmyra, a person whose ancestors had always been highly respected by the emperors, to assist the eastern nations which were then in a very distressed condition. . . .
While affairs were thus situated in the east, intelligence was brought to Gallienus, who was then occupied in the Scythian war, that Aurelianus, or Aureolus, who was commander of the cavalry posted in the neighbourhood of Milan to watch the motions of Posthumus, had formed some new design, and was ambitious to be emperor. Being alarmed at this he went immediately to Italy, leaving the command against the Scythians with Marcianus, a person of great experience in military affairs. . . . Gallienus, in his journey towards Italy, had a plot formed against him by Heraclianus, prefect of the court, who communicated his design to Claudius, in whom the chief management of affairs was vested. The design was to murder Gallienus. Having found a man very ready for such an undertaking, who commanded a troop of Dalmatians, he entrusted the action to him. To effect it, the party stood by Gallienus at supper and informed him that some of the spies had brought intelligence, that Aureolus and his army were close at hand. By this they considerably alarmed him. Calling immediately for his horse and arms, he mounted, ordering his men to follow him in their armour, and rode away without any attendance. Thus the captain finding him alone killed him.Blindado
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3740 SYRIA, Antioch. Pseudo-autonomous. under Hadrian. 128-29 AD Boule seatedReference.
RPC III, 3740; McAlee 126(c) (rare, same dies); Butcher 270; BMC Galatia 117; SNG Cop 117,
Obv. ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ ΤΗС ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕωС
Laureate head of Zeus, right
Rev. ΕΤ ΖΟΡ
Boule of Antioch seated, l., dropping pebble into voting urn; Γ (in field, r.)
4.18 gr
18 mm
12h
Note.
In the cities of ancient Greece, a bouleutai was a member of the boule, a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city. Originally a council of nobles advising a king, boulai evolved according to the constitution of the city; in oligarchies boule positions might be hereditary, while in democracies members were typically chosen by lot and served for one year.okidoki
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4) Antony: SosiusGAIUS SOSIUS
General to Antony
Æ 26mm (14.5 g). ~ 38 BC.
Cilicia, Uncertain Mint.
Bare head right / Fiscus, sella, quaestoria and hasta; Q below.
Coin has been attributed to multiple rulers, including Julius Caesar, Augustus and Brutus. Now believed to be Sosius, General to Antony and Governor of Syria.
RPC I 5409; Laffaille 324; Grant, FITA, pg. 13. aFine, brown patina, scratches. Rare.
0001SOS
Sosius was wily and accomplished man. A talented general, he received a triumph. However, he consistently picked the wrong side in Rome's Civil Wars (Senate vs. Caesar, then Antony vs. Octavian) yet somehow managed to keep his head.
According to Wikipedia:
Gaius Sosius was a Roman general and politician.
Gaius Sosius was elected quaestor in 66 BC and praetor in 49 BC. Upon the start of the civil war, he joined the party of the Senate and Pompey. Upon the flight of Pompey to Greece, Sosius returned to Rome and submitted to Julius Caesar.
After the assassination of Caesar, Sosius joined the party of Mark Antony, by whom in 38 BC he was appointed governor of Syria and Cilicia in the place of Publius Ventidius. As governor, Sosius was commanded by Antony to support Herod against Antigonus the Hasmonean, when the latter was in possession of Jerusalem. In 37 BC, he advanced against Jerusalem and after he became master of the city, Sosius placed Herod upon the throne. In return for this services, he was awarded a triumph in 34 BC, and he became consul along with Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus as his colleague in 32 BC.
When civil war broke out between Antony and Octavian, Sosius espoused the cause of Antony and violently attacked Octavian in the senate, for which he was forced to flee to the east. In 31 BC, Sosius commanded a squadron in Mark Antony's fleet with which he managed to defeat the squadron of Taurius Rufus – according to Dio 50.14 – and put it to flight, but when the latter was reinforced by Marcus Agrippa, Sosius's ally Tarcondimotus – the king of Cilicia – was killed and Sosius himself was forced to flee. At Actium, Sosius commanded the left wing of Antony's fleet. After the battle, from which he managed to escape, his hiding place was detected and Sosius was captured and brought before Octavian but, at the intercession of Lucius Arruntius, Octavian pardoned him. He returned to Rome and completed his building project on the temple of Apollo Medicus (begun in 34 BC), dedicating it in Octavian's name.
Unknown sons, but two daughters : Sosia and Sosia Galla, possibly by an Asinia,[1] a Nonia or an Aelia. However the name reappears with Q. Sosius Senecio, (consul in 99 and 107).[2] and Saint Sosius (275-305 AD).
Sosius attended the Ludi Saeculares in 17 according to an inscription CIL 6.32323 = ILS 5050 as a quindecimvir.
RM0002Sosius
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510. Valentinian IFlavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, (321 - November 17, 375) was a Roman Emperor (364 - 375). He was born at Cibalis, in Pannonia, the son of a successful general, Gratian the Elder.
He had been an officer of the Praetorian guard under Julian and Jovian, and had risen high in the imperial service. Of robust frame and distinguished appearance, he possessed great courage and military capacity. After the death of Jovian, he was chosen emperor in his forty-third year by the officers of the army at Nicaea in Bithynia on February 26, 364, and shortly afterwards named his brother Valens colleague with him in the empire.
The two brothers, after passing through the chief cities of the neighbouring district, arranged the partition of the empire at Naissus (Nissa) in Upper Moesia. As Western Roman Emperor, Valentinian took Italia, Illyricum, Hispania, the Gauls, Britain and Africa, leaving to Eastern Roman Emperor Valens the eastern half of the Balkan peninsula, Greece, Aegyptus, Syria and Asia Minor as far as Persia. They were immediately confronted by the revolt of Procopius, a relative of the deceased Julian. Valens managed to defeat his army at Thyatria in Lydia in 366, and Procopius was executed shortly afterwards.
During the short reign of Valentinian there were wars in Africa, in Germany and in Britain, and Rome came into collision with barbarian peoples never of heard before, specifically the Burgundians, and the Saxons.
Valentinian's chief work was guarding the frontiers and establishing military positions. Milan was at first his headquarters for settling the affairs of northern Italy. The following year (365) Valentinian was at Paris, and then at Reims, to direct the operations of his generals against the Alamanni. These people, defeated at Scarpona (Charpeigne) and Catelauni (Châlons-en-Champagne) by Jovinus, were driven back to the German bank of the Rhine, and checked for a while by a chain of military posts and fortresses. At the close of 367, however, they suddenly crossed the Rhine, attacked Moguntiacum (Mainz) and plundered the city. Valentinian attacked them at Solicinium (Sulz am Neckar, in the Neckar valley, or Schwetzingen) with a large army, and defeated them with great slaughter. But his own losses were so considerable that Valentinian abandoned the idea of following up his success.
Later, in 374, Valentinian made peace with their king, Macrianus, who from that time remained a true friend of the Romans. The next three years he spent at Trier, which he chiefly made his headquarters, organizing the defence of the Rhine frontier, and personally superintending the construction of numerous forts.
During his reign the coasts of Gaul were harassed by the Saxon pirates, with whom the Picts and Scots of northern Britain joined hands, and ravaged the island from the Antonine Wall to the shores of Kent. In 368 Count Theodosius was sent to drive back the invaders; in this he was completely successful, and established a new British province, called Valentia in honour of the emperor.
In Africa, Firmus, raised the standard of revolt, being joined by the provincials, who had been rendered desperate by the cruelty and extortions of Comes Romanus, the military governor. The services of Theodosius were again requisitioned. He landed in Africa with a small band of veterans, and Firmus, to avoid being taken prisoner, committed suicide.
In 374 the Quadi, a Germanic tribe in what is now Moravia and Slovakia, resenting the erection of Roman forts to the north of the Danube in what they considered to be their own territory, and further exasperated by the treacherous murder of their king, Gabinius, crossed the river and laid waste the province of Pannonia. The emperor in April, 375 entered Illyricum with a powerful army. But during an audience to an embassy from the Quadi at Brigetio on the Danube (near Komárom, Hungary), Valentinian suffered a burst blood vessel in the skull while angrily yelling at the people gathered. This injury resulted in his death on November 17, 375.
His general administration seems to have been thoroughly honest and able, in some respects beneficent. If Valentinian was hard and exacting in the matter of taxes, he spent them in the defence and improvement of his dominions, not in idle show or luxury. Though himself a plain and almost illiterate soldier, Valentinian was a founder of schools. He also provided medical attendance for the poor of Rome, by appointing a physician for each of the fourteen districts of the city.
Valentinian was a Christian but permitted absolute religious freedom to all his subjects. Against all abuses, both civil and ecclesiastical, Valentinian steadily set his face, even against the increasing wealth and worldliness of the clergy. His chief flaw was his temper, which at times was frightful, and showed itself in its full fierceness in the punishment of persons accused of witchcraft, fortune-telling or magical practices.
Valentinian I; RIC IX, Siscia 15(a); C.37; second period: 24 Aug. 367-17 Nov. 375; common. obv. DN VALENTINI-ANVS PF AVG, bust cuir., drap., r., rev. SECVRITAS-REI PVBLICAE, Victory advancing l., holding wreath and trophy. l. field R above R with adnex, r. field F, ex. gamma SISC rev.Z dot (type xxxv) ecoli
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Alexander IIIAlexander III AR Tetradrachm. ‘Amphipolis’ mint. Struck under Kassander, circa 316-314 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; shield in left field, pellet-in-Î below throne. 17.1 g.
Price 136; Troxell, Studies, issue L8.
Thanks for the atribution Lloyd!
Most lifetime issues of Alexander the Great were usualy bulky/thick, which did not alow for the entire design of the die to imprint on the coin. IMO looked better then the wide thin flan. (edit: though this one is Struck under Kassander)
The coin was hand stuck with a die/avil. Dies were usually made of Bronze because it was sofeter and easier to work with then iron, (though some were made of iron as well) then the was anealed to make it stronger and less brittle.
The planchets were made by pouring molten metal into a mold and saved until needed. When it was ready to be used, they heated it just below melting point and placed it between the dies and the punch die was struck with a hammer.
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"Building upon his father's success in Greece, Alexander III (Alexander the Great, reigned 336-323 BC) set about the conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. By the time of his death at the age of 31, he ruled most of the known world from Greece to Afghanistan. Initially Alexander continued to mint Philip's gold and silver coins. Soon, however, the need for a silver coinage that could be widely used in Greece caused him to begin a new coinage on the Athenian weight-standard. His new silver coins, with the head of Herakles on one side and a seated figure of Zeus on the other, also became one of the staple coinages of the Greek world. They were widely imitated within the empire he had forged."
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"......Alexander seems to have liked Amphipolis, because one of his last plans was to spend no less than 315 ton silver for a splendid new temple in the city that was to be dedicated to Artemis Tauropolus. It was never built, but after Alexander's death on 11 June 323 in Babylon, his wife queen Roxane settled in Amphipolis, which appears to have become one of the residences of the Macedonian royals. In 179, king Philip V died in the town."
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Amphipolis , ancient city of Macedonia, on the Strymon (Struma) River near the sea and NE of later Thessaloníki. The place was known as Ennea Hodoi [nine ways] before it was settled and was of interest because of the gold and silver and timber of Mt. Pangaeus (Pangaion), to which it gave access. Athenian colonists were driven out (c.464 BC) by Thracians, but a colony was established in 437 BC Amphipolis became one of the major Greek cities on the N Aegean. This colony was captured by Sparta, and Brasidas and Cleon were both killed in a battle there in 422 BC After it was returned to Athens in 421 BC, it actually had virtual independence until captured (357 BC) by Philip II of Macedon. He had promised to restore it to Athens, and his retention of Amphipolis was a major cause of the war with Athens. In 148 BC it became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. Paul, Silas, and Timothy passed through Amphipolis (Acts 17.1). Nearby is the modern Greek village of Amfípolis."
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"A quick look at the WildWinds database( http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/macedonia/kings/alexander_III/t.html ) indicates that the style and monograms are consistent with an Amphipolis issue, with perhaps a little less care than usual in the engraving of the reverse. The closest I could locate with a quick look is Price 133 (variant), although yours appears to have a shield rather than dolphin in the left field reverse."
Randygeki(h2)
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Alexander TetradrachmKassander - Antigonos II Gonatas??
Uncertain mint in Macedon or Greece, circa 310-275 BC
29mm, 16.38g.
Price 879
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Ancient Greece, EgyptAncient Greece, Egypt, Ptolemaios II Philadelphos, 285-246 BC, Tetradrachm, 14.11g, SNG Cop 90
Quality: Fine
Bought at Bruun-RasmussenSamuel G
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Ancient Greece, Seleucid EmpireAncient Greece, Seleucid Empire, Antiochus IX, 114-95 BC,
Tetradrachm, HP Monogram - Perhaps Northern Phoenicia,
Diademed head of Antiochus IX facing right with short and curly hair and curly beard.
BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ANTIOXOY / ΦΙΛΟ-ΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ
Athena standing and facing left. Spear in left arm, Nike left in right hand. HP monogram in left field, all within wreath.
HGC 9, 1228ff, 15.16g, 28mmSamuel G
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Ancient Greece, Sicily: Anonymous (415-375 BCE) Æ Hemilitron (HGC 2, 1480; SNG ANS 415 ff; SNG Cop 697 ff)Obv: Signed by Euainetos (ΣY on band); Head of Arethusa left, wearing hair band and earrings, back of hair in sphendone; olive spray behind
Rev: Dolphin swimming right above, ΣYPA arched over inverted scallop shell belowQuant.Geek
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Antigonos II Gonatas, 277 - 239 BC. AE20. Struck at an uncertain mint in MacedoniaObverse: No legend. Head of Athena, in crested Corinthian helmet, facing right.
Reverse: Pan advancing right, erecting trophy of Gallic arms. B - A across upper field; ANTI monogram of Antigonos between Pan's feet; helmet symbol in field to left.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 4.82gms | Die Axis: 12
SNG Alpha Bank 1017 | Sear GCV 6786
Antigonos II Gonatas was the son of Demetrios Poliorketes, himself the son of Antigonos I Monophthalmus, who then controlled much of Asia. The origin of the nickname Gonatas is unknown. Antigonos' mother was Phila, the daughter of Antipater, who had controlled Macedonia and the rest of Greece since 334 BC and was recognized as regent of the empire, which in theory remained united. In the year of Antigonos Gonatas' birth, however, Antipater died, leading to further struggles for dominance. After coming closer than anyone to reuniting the empire of Alexander, Antigonos Monophthalmus was defeated and killed in the great Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC and the territory he formerly controlled was divided among his enemies, which included Kassander, Ptolemy and Lysimachus.
The fate of Antigonos Gonatas was closely tied with that of his father Demetrios, who had escaped from the battle with 9,000 troops. Jealousy among the victors eventually allowed Demetrios to regain part of the power his father had lost. He conquered Athens and, in 294 BC, he seized the throne of Macedonia from Alexander, the son of Kassander. Because Antigonos Gonatas was the grandson of Antipater and the nephew of Kassander through his mother, his presence helped to reconcile the supporters of these former kings to the rule of his father.
In the winter of 279 BC, a great horde of Gauls under their leader Brennus descended on Macedonia from the north. After plundering Macedonia, the Gauls invaded further regions of Greece, moving southwards. Antigonos cooperated in the defence of Greece, but the Aetolians took the lead in defeating the Gauls. In 278 BC a Greek army with a large Aetolian contingent checked the Gauls at Thermopylae and Delphi, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them to retreat.
The next year (277 BC), Antigonos sailed to the Hellespont, landing near Lysimachia at the neck of the Thracian Chersonese. When an army of Gauls under the command of Cerethrius appeared, Antigonos laid an ambush. He abandoned his camp, beached his ships and concealed his men. The Gauls looted the camp but, when they started to attack the ships, Antigonos's army appeared, trapping them with the sea to their backs. The Gauls were utterly defeated at the Battle of Lysimachia, and, after this resounding victory, Antigonos claimed the Macedonian throne.
In 239 BC, at the age of 80, Antigonos II Gonatas died and left his kingdom to his son Demetrios II Aetolicus, who was to reign for the next 10 years. Except for a short period when he defeated the Gauls, Antigonos was not a heroic or successful military leader. His skills were mainly political and he preferred to rely on cunning, patience, and persistence to achieve his goals.*Alex
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Apollonia cow & calf: ARISTWNIllyria, Apollonia, Greece, c. 200 - 80 B.C. Silver drachm, BMC Illyria p. 56, 4, Apollonia, 3.061g, 18.2mm, 0o; obverse ARISTWN, cow left, head turned, suckling calf right; reverse APOL-AI-NE-A, double stellate pattern within double linear square with sides curved inwards; ex FORVMPodiceps
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Apollonia, ΝΙΚΑΝΔΡΟΣIllyria, Apollonia, Greece, c. 200 - 80 B.C. Silver drachm, BMC Illyria p. 56, 5, aVF, Apollonia mint, 2.989g, 20.8mm, 135o, c. 200 - 80 B.C.; obverse ΝΙΚΑΝΔΡΟΣ, cow left, head turned, suckling calf right, monogram in ex; reverse ΑΠΟΛ − ΑΝ−ΔΡΙΣ−ΚΟΥ, double stellate pattern within double linear square with sides curved inwards; ex FORVMPodiceps
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Apollonia, Cow & calf: NIKHNIllyria, Apollonia, Greece, c. 200 - 80 B.C. 27607. Silver drachm, BMC Illyria p. 57, 11; SNG Cop 380, 3.081 g, 17.1. mm, 270 o, Obverse “NIKHN”, cow left, head turned, suckling calf right; reverse “APOL – AUTO-BOU-OLOU”, double stellate pattern within double linear square with sides curved inwards. ex FORVM.Podiceps
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Apollonia, Illyria, Greece, (200 - 80 B.C.)AR Drachm
Ariston (Moneyer), Ainea (Magistrate),
O: APIΣTΩN (moneyer), cow left, head turned, suckling calf right.
R: AI/NE/A Curved, double-stellate pattern, no center device line, petal rays, seven dots, line border
3.2g
17.5mmMat
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Argolis hemidrachmGreece, Argolis, Argos AR hemidrachm (c. 330-270 BC)
15mm; 2.39g; 0h;
o/ Forepart of a wolf left;
r/ Large A, A-P across upper fields, crescent below; all within incuse square.
HGC 5, 667 - BDC Peleponnesos 1094T.MooT
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Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.Aristotle was born in Stagira in north Greece, the son of Nichomachus, the court physician to the Macedonian royal family. He was trained first in medicine, and then in 367 he was sent to Athens to study philosophy with Plato. He stayed at Plato's Academy until about 347. Though a brilliant pupil, Aristotle opposed some of Plato's teachings, and when Plato died, Aristotle was not appointed head of the Academy. After leaving Athens, Aristotle spent some time traveling, and possibly studying biology, in Asia Minor (now Turkey) and its islands. He returned to Macedonia in 338 to tutor Alexander the Great; after Alexander conquered Athens, Aristotle returned to Athens and set up a school of his own, known as the Lyceum. After Alexander's death, Athens rebelled against Macedonian rule, and Aristotle's political situation became precarious. To avoid being put to death, he fled to the island of Euboea, where he died in 322 B.C.
Aristotle is said to have written 150 philosophical treatises. The 30 that survive touch on an enormous range of philosophical problems, from biology and physics to morals to aesthetics to politics. Many, however, are thought to be "lecture notes" instead of complete, polished treatises, and a few may not be the work of Aristotle but of members of his school.
A full description of Aristotle's contributions to science and philosophy is beyond the scope of this gallgery. Suffice it to say that Aristotle became virtually lost to Western Civilization during the so-called "dark ages." In the later Middle Ages, Aristotle's work was rediscovered and enthusiastically adopted by medieval scholars. His followers called him Ille Philosophus (The Philosopher), or "the master of them that know," and many accepted every word of his writings -- or at least every word that did not contradict the Bible -- as eternal truth. Fused and reconciled with Christian doctrine into a philosophical system known as Scholasticism, Aristotelian philosophy became the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, some scientific discoveries in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were criticized simply because they were not found in Aristotle. It is one of the ironies of the history of science that Aristotle's writings, which in many cases were based on first-hand observation, were used to impede observational science.
"Mine is the first step and therefore a small one, though worked out with much thought and hard labor. You, my readers or hearers of my lectures, if you think I have done as much as can fairly be expected of an initial start. . . will acknowledge what I have achieved and will pardon what I have left for others to accomplish," Aristotle.
See: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html hosted by the University of California, Berkeley Museum of Paleontology.
Cleisthenes
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Athena, Corinthian StaterLeucas, Akarnania, Greece, 350 - 300 B.C.
Silver stater, BMC Corinth p. 133, 97 - 101 var (Λ behind neck and mast, monogram below), rough VF, Leucas mint, weight 8.132g, maximum
diameter 22.4mm, die axis 270o, 350 - 300 B.C.; obverse Pegasos with pointed wing flying left, Λ below; reverse head of Athena (or Aphrodite)
left wearing Corinthian helmet over a leather cap, mast with yard behind;
SRukke
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athensAthens, Greece,Tetradrachm, 449-413 B.C.
Obverse- Head of Athena right.
Reverse- AQE right, owl standing right.
17.gm, 21.mm.b70
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Athens, Greece, Eye-in-Profile Style Pi Type III or IV, Tetradrachm, c. 353 - 340 B.C.Silver tetradrachm, Sear GCV I 2547, (SNG München 96), (SNG Delepierre 1479), gVF, banker's mark, 16.358g, 22.8mm, 225 deg., Obv. head of Athena right with eye seen in true profile, wearing crested helmet ornamented with three olive leaves and floral scroll, no pellet above earring; Rev. owl standing right, head facing, to right AθE in large lettering, to left olive sprig and crescent; nicely centered on a very tight round flan, slight evidence that it was stuck on a demonetized folded/hammerred flan; slightly toned.
The style of Athena's face with the banker's mark have great appeal to me. I bought it for my 50th birthday!
Ex Forvm Ancient Coins
Photo by Forvm Ancient CoinsSteve E
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Athens, Greece, Old Style Tetradrachm, 449 - 413 B.C.Silver tetradrachm, SNG Cop 31 ff., SGCV I 2526, VF, near full crest, Athens mint, 16.410g, 25.1mm, 90o. Obverse: head of Athena right, almond shaped eye, crested helmet with olive leaves and floral scroll, wire necklace, round earring, hair in parallel curves; Reverse: AQE right, owl standing right, head facing, erect in posture, olive sprig and crescent left, all within incuse square.
This coin is one of the most familiar of all the coins struck throughout the ancient Mediterranean. The images of Athena and her Owl, while not static, changed undramatically, in an unhurried and deliberate way. Although its production rests firmly during the time that numismatists call the Classical era (479 BC --336 BC), this coin's "style" better reflects the earlier Archaic period.
The Athenian "Owl" (until its debasement as a result of the Peloponnesian War) was the standard of its day. Between the late 5th century BC and the late 3rd century BC, these coins were the currency against which all other coins were measured. This high esteem was due to the Athenian tetradrachms' consistent weight and quality of silver.
"The little elf-like owl dear to ancient Athens had greenish-blue-gray eyes that could see clearly where humans could not. Glaukopis -- the "shining eyed one" was often shortened to glaux, a nickname for the tetradrachm that bore the owl's likeness" (http://notes.utk.edu/bio/unistudy.nsf/0/da0222e2e80272fd85256785001683e4?OpenDocument).
It is only with the emergence of the Imperial coinage of Alexander the Great (beginning quickly after his ascension to the throne in 336 BC) that the ancient world had another coin as widely accepted. As Martin J. Price notes, "“The impressive list of twenty-three mints on Asian soil and one in Egypt, all used to strike Alexander’s imperial coinage during his lifetime, shows that there was a conscious policy of providing this form of money on an empire-wide basis" (Price, Martin J. The Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus. Zurich: The Swiss Numismatic Society in Association with British Museum Press, 1991. 72).
More than two millennia after the Athenian Tetracrachm was first struck, the 26th President of The United States, Theodore Roosevelt (b. 1858; d. 1919), is said to have carried an Athenian "Owl" in his pocket--to remind him just how beautiful a coin could be.
J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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Athens, Greece, Old Style Tetradrachm, 449 - 413 B.C.Silver tetradrachm, SNG Cop 31ff; Starr pl. xxii, 6; SGCV I 2526, VF, test cut, Athens mint, weight 16.870g, maximum diameter 24.5mm, die axis 225o, obverse head of Athena right, almond shaped eye, crested helmet with olive leaves and floral scroll, wire necklace, round earring, hair in parallel curves; reverse AQE right, owl standing right, head facing, erect in posture, olive sprig and crescent left, all within incuse square;
The old-style tetradrachm of Athens is famous for its almond shaped eye, archaic smile and charming owl reverse. Around 480 B.C. a wreath of olive leaves and a decorative scroll were added to Athena's helmet. On the reverse a crescent moon was added.
During the period 449 - 413 B.C. huge quantities of tetradrachms were minted to finance grandiose building projects such as the Parthenon and to cover the costs of the Peloponnesian War.
Ex ForumPhiloromaos
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Athens, Greece, Old Style Tetradrachm, 449 - 413 B.C.Silver tetradrachm, SNG Cop 31 ff., SGCV I 2526, EF, light scuff on cheek, 17.184g, 25.6mm, 180o, Athens mint, obverse head of Athena right, almond shaped eye, crested helmet with olive leaves and floral scroll, wire necklace, round earring, hair in parallel curves; reverse AQE right, owl standing right, head facing, erect in posture, olive sprig and crescent left, all within incuse square;
A superb beauty ex FORVM .
The old-style tetradrachm of Athens is famous for its almond shaped eye, archaic smile and charming owl reverse. Around 480 B.C. a wreath of olive leaves and a decorative scroll were added to Athena's helmet. On the reverse a crescent moon was added.
During the period 449 - 413 B.C. huge quantities of tetradrachms were minted to finance grandiose building projects such as the Parthenon and to cover the costs of the Peloponnesian War.
*With my sincere thank , Photo and Description courtesy of FORVM Ancient Coins Staff.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection.Sam
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Athens, Greece, Old Style Tetradrachm, c. 454 - 404 B.C.*In honor of Christmas and Chanukah , from FORVM , new to my collection ;
A masterpiece example of group Copenhagen 31 .
My best wishes to all of you.
Silver tetradrachm, SNG Cop 31, SNG München 49, Kroll 8, Dewing 1611, Gulbenkian 519, HGC 4 1597, SGCV I 2526, EF, fabulous owl, well centered on a tight flan, no test cuts, a little obverse die wear, contact marks, 17.168g, 25.0mm, 90o, Athens mint, c. 454 - 404 B.C.; obverse head of Athena right, almond shaped eye, crested helmet with olive leaves and floral scroll, wire necklace, round earring, hair in parallel curves; reverse AQE right, owl standing right, head facing, erect in posture, olive sprig and crescent left, all within incuse square.
The old-style tetradrachm of Athens is famous for its almond shaped eye, archaic smile and charming owl reverse. Around 480 B.C. a wreath of olive leaves and a decorative scroll were added to Athena's helmet. On the reverse a crescent moon was added.
During the period 449 - 413 B.C. huge quantities of tetradrachms were minted to finance grandiose building projects such as the Parthenon and to cover the costs of the Peloponnesian War.
EX FORVM .
The Sam Mansourati Collection.Sam
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Athens, Greece, Old Style Tetradrachm, c. 454 - 404 B.C.In honor of Christmas :
Silver tetradrachm, SNG Cop 31, SNG Munchen 49, Kroll 8, Dewing 1611, Gulbenkian 519, HGC 4 1597, SGCV I 2526, Choice EF, bold well centered strike, high relief as usual for the type, attractive surfaces, graffito on reverse, small edge cracks, 17.176g, 24.7mm, 30o, Athens mint, c. 454 - 404 B.C.; obverse head of Athena right, almond shaped eye, crested helmet with olive leaves and floral scroll, wire necklace, round earring, hair in parallel curves; reverse owl standing right, head facing, erect in posture, olive sprig and crescent left, AQE downward on right, all within incuse square.
The old-style tetradrachm of Athens is famous for its almond shaped eye, archaic smile, and charming owl reverse. Around 480 B.C. a wreath of olive leaves and a decorative scroll were added to Athena's helmet. On the reverse, a crescent moon was added.
During the period 449 - 413 B.C. huge quantities of tetradrachms were minted to finance grandiose building projects such as the Parthenon and to cover the costs of the Peloponnesian War.
FORVM Ancient Coins. / From The Sam Mansourati Collection. Sam
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Athens, Greece, Pi-Style III Tetradrachm, 353 - c. 340 B.CSilver tetradrachm, 17.1g, Athens mint, oval flan, typical of the type.
O: Head of Athena right with eye seen in true profile, wearing crested helmet ornamented with three olive leaves and pi-style floral scroll, pellet in ear.
R: Owl standing right, head facing, to right AΘE in large lettering, to left olive sprig and crescent, pellet over eyes.
- Kroll Pi-Style p. 244, fig. 8; Flament p. 126, 3; SNG Cop 63; SNG Munchen 96; SNG Delepierre 1479; Svoronos Athens pl. 20: 2
Unlike the customary flans of 5th and earlier 4th century Athenian tetradrachms that have solid, rounded edges from having been cast in a mold, these were struck on thick planchets made of flattened, folded-over, older tetradrachms. The flattened coins were not just folded in two but were folded over a second time to produce a planchet of three or four layers
There are three distinct features of this type of Athens Owl coinage. 1st, they have flans that are commonly misshapen. A number of them are so distorted that numismatists and collectors in Greece have long referred to them as “logs” (koutsoura); these are the tetradrachms in the form of long, stretched ovals with one or two nearly straight sides. 2nd, since the flans, of whatever shape, were ordinarily too small for the full relief designs of the dies, relatively few pi-style coins were minted with their entire obverse and/or reverse type showing. 3rd, just as the diameters and surface areas of the pi flans are generally smaller than those of Athenian tetradrachms of the 5th century and of the first half of the 4th century, they tend also to be exceptionally thick.
The name Pi-style refers to the floral helmet ornament on the obverse which resembles the Greek letter pi (P) bisected by a long central tendril. Nemonater
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Æ 12, owl standing right, head facingAthens, Greece, c. 120 - 140 A.D. Bronze AE 12, BMC Attica p. 101, 730, F, Athens mint, 2.543g, 15.6mm, 180o, obverse helmeted bust of Athena right; reverse “ΑΘΗ”, owl standing right, head facing, olive spray behind. Ex FORVMPodiceps
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Æ 14, Diobol; Double-bodied owl, kalathos in exAthens, Attica, Greece, 350 - 262 B.C. Bronze diobol, SGCV I 2563; BMC Attica p. 21, 220 ff., F, 3.442g, 14.3mm, 180o, obverse helmeted head of Athena right; reverse “AQE”, double-bodied owl, head facing, olive sprays above, kalathos (basket) in ex. Ex FORVMPodiceps
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BOEOTIA, ThebesIn the late 6th century BC the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians, who helped the small village of Plataea to maintain its independence against them, and in 506 repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). Though a contingent of 700 was sent to Thermopylae and remained there with Leonidas until just before the last stand when they surrendered to the Persians[1], the governing aristocracy soon after joined King Xerxes I of Persia with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the Boeotian League, and an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the Delphic amphictyony was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens.
In 457 Sparta, needing a counterpoise against Athens in central Greece, reversed her policy and reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of the country (457–447). In the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, embittered by the support which Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, which they vainly attempted to reduce in 431, were firm allies of Sparta, which in turn helped them to besiege Plataea and allowed them to destroy the town after its capture in 427 BC. In 424 at the head of the Boeotian levy they inflicted a severe defeat upon an invading force of Athenians at the Battle of Delium, and for the first time displayed the effects of that firm military organization which eventually raised them to predominant power in Greece.
After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, finding that Sparta intended to protect the states which they desired to annex, broke off the alliance. In 404 they had urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in 403 they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the battles of Haliartus (395) and Coronea (394) they again proved their rising military capacity by standing their ground against the Spartans. The result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from its political control. Its power was further curtailed in 382, when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup-de-main. Three years later the Spartan garrison was expelled, and a democratic constitution definitely set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself the best in Greece. Some years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 in a remarkable victory over the pick of the Spartans at Leuctra. The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of the oppressed. They carried their arms into Peloponnesus and at the head of a large coalition permanently crippled the power of Sparta. Similar expeditions were sent to Thessaly and Macedon to regulate the affairs of those regions.
However the predominance of Thebes was short-lived; the states which she protected refused to subject themselves permanently to her control, and the renewed rivalry of Athens, which had joined with Thebes in 395 in a common fear of Sparta, but since 387 had endeavoured to maintain the balance of power against her ally, prevented the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of Epaminondas at Mantinea in 362 the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In a war with the neighbouring state of Phocis (356–346) it could not even maintain its predominance in central Greece, and by inviting Philip II of Macedon to crush the Phocians it extended that monarch's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. A revulsion of feeling was completed in 338 by the orator Demosthenes, who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance upon Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive battle of Chaeronea and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of her dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in 335 against his son Alexander was punished by Macedon and other Greek states by the severe sacking of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar.
BOEOTIA, Thebes. Circa 395-338 BC. AR Stater (21mm, 11.98 gm). Boeotian shield / Amphora; magistrate AM-FI. Hepworth, "The 4th Century BC Magistrate Coinage of the Boiotian Confederacy," in Nomismatika Xronika (1998), 2; BMC Central Greece -. Fine.
Ex-Cng eAuction 105, Lot: 34 225/200
ecoli
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Boeotia-Thebes; 275-250 BCAR-Hemidrachm
Obv: Boeotian shield,federal coinage.
Rev: BO-IΩ around Kantharos, Thunderbolt in upper field,all within concave circle
Size: 13.5x14mm;2.57gm
Ref: BMC Central Greece,vol.8,Pg.35,No.30
SNG 172
Sear- 2396 var.Brian L
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Calabria. Tarentum. Nomos (Circa 302-280 BC)AR Nomos
21 mm, 7.78 g
Obv: Youth, holding shield, on horse rearing left; ΣΛ to right, ΦΙΛΩΝ below.
Rev: TAPAΣ.
Phalanthos, holding crowning Nike, riding dolphin left; waves below.
Vlasto 684-5; HN Italy 964.
In Greek mythology, Phalanthos (Φάλανθος) is a divine hero, the leader of the Spartan Partheniae and the founder of Taranto. In Ancient Greece, the Partheniae or Parthenians were a lower ranking Spartiate population which, according to tradition, left Laconia to go to Magna Graecia and founded Taras, modern Taranto, in the current region of Apulia, in southern Italy. In Greek mythology, Phalanthos is a divine hero, and the leader of the Spartan Partheniae.
At least three distinct traditions carry the origins of the Parthenians. The oldest is that of Antiochus of Syracuse, according to which the Spartiates, during the first Messenian war (end of the 8th century BC), had rejected like cowards those who had not fought, along with their descendants:
"Antiochus says that, during the Messenian war, those Lacedemonians which did not take part with the mission shall be declared as slaves and called Helots; as for the children born during the mission, we shall call them Parthenians and deny them of all legal rights."
The Parthenians were therefore the first tresantes ("trembling"), a category which gathers the cowards and thus excludes themselves from the community of the Homoioi, the Peers. Thereafter, Parthenians plotted against the Peers and, discovered, would have been driven out of Sparta, from which they departed for Italy and founded Taras, whose date is traditionally fixed in 706 BC - which archaeology does not deny.
In the second tradition, according to Ephorus (4th century BC), the Spartiates swore during the Messenian War, not to return home as long as they had not attained victory. The war prolonged and Sparta's demography being threatened, the Spartiates let the young Spartans who had not sworn the oath return home. These were ordered to copulate with all the girls available. The children who were born from these unions were named Parthenians. Their mothers, since they were compelled by the state to procreate, were legally considered unmolested and fit to marry once the war was over.
Lastly, a third tradition, made the Parthenians bastards who had resulted from the unions of Spartan women and their slaves, always during the Messenian war. The same tradition is told to explain the origins of Locri, also in Magna Graecia.Nathan P
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Campania, Cales (Circa 265-240 BC)AE 23, 6.52 g
Obverse: Head of Athena l., wearing Corinthian helmet. CAΛENO (CALENO)
Reverse: Cock standing r.; in l. field, star.
Sambon 916. Historia Numorum Italy 435.
Before the Romans, Cales had been the center of an earlier Italic population called the Ausones (Aurunci in Latin), a people that inhabited areas of southern Italy well beyond Campania by about 1000 BC. That people may have come from Greece, but there is also archaeological evidence of Etruscan origin or at least influence. The source of the name Cales may be the proper name Calai, mythologically said to be one of Jason’s companions aboard the Argo and to have founded Cales.
Livy (VIII.16.13-14) relates that a Latin colony, the first in Campania, was established at Cales in 334 BC. It was apparently part of the area conquered by Rome circa 313 BC after which Cales became the center of Roman rule in Campania. Similar coins were struck at Cales, Suessa Aurunca, Caiatia, Telesia, Teanum, and at least one other town, doubtless by permission of the Romans. This uniformity of types suggests a monetary alliance.Nathan P
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Constans Bronze AE 368347. Bronze AE 3, RIC VIII 120, F, corrosion, encrustation, 2.493g, 18.6mm, 180o, Thessalonica (Salonika, Greece) mint, 348 - 350 A.D.;
obverse D N CONSTA-NS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right;
reverse FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Constans standing left on galley, holding labarum and Phoenix on globe, Victory seated in stern steering ship, TES[...] in exColby S
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Corinth, Corinthia, Greece, c. 350 - 338 B.C.Silver stater, BMC Corinth p. 22, 219, VF, pitting, Greece, Corinth mint, 8.224g, 22.1mm, 270o, obverse Pegasos flying left, koppa below; reverse head of Athena (or Aphrodite) left wearing Corinthian helmet, wreath behind, A below.
ex ForvmPhiloromaos
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Corinth, Corinthia, Greece, c. 368 - 248 B.C.Bronze AE 12, SGCV I 2647; cf. BMC Corinth p. 53, 423 ff., aF, Corinth mint, weight 2.041g, maximum diameter 12.2mm, die axis 165o, c. 368 - 248 B.C.; obverse Pegasos flying left, koppa below; reverse ornate trident-head, uncertain symbols left, right or both; ex BCD Collection with his hand-written round tag, Ex ForvmRandygeki(h2)
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Corinthian Stater Corinth, Greece, 345 - 307 B.C.Silver stater, Pegasi I, p. 260, #420; Ravel 1030, VF, 8.331g, 22.9mm, 270o, Corinth mint, obverse Pegasos flying left; reverse head of Athena left wearing Corinthian helmet, Nike flying left behindb70
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Cow, Apollonia, Illyria, Greece, c. 200 - 80 B.C.Silver drachm, BMC 14, SNG Cop 382, VF, 2.947g, 18.3mm, 135o, Apollonia mint, c. 200 - 80 B.C.; obverse TIMHN, cow left, head turned, suckling calf right, monogram below; reverse APOL / DAMO-FWN-TOS, double stellate pattern within double linear square with sides curved inwards;
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Cr 462/1a AR/Æ plated Denarius M. Porcius CatoAfrica c. 47-46 b.c.e. (perhaps Sicily)
o: M CATO PRO PR Libertas (or Roma) bust rt, hair in fillet; ROMA (ligate) behind
r: VICTRIX Victoria seated rt, w/patera & palm branch
Syd. 1053 cf.; Porcia 10 cf.
None other than "Cato the Younger", acting pro pratore, either simply to strike coin or slightly earlier in Sicily where he was unsuccessful in securing either the island or its grain supply for the Pompeians.
This is a plated denarius, but highly likely from official dies. Indeed, the strike and preservation is better than typical of specimens of this issue, which is not particularly rare and must have been struck in large quantities to pay the massive numbers of troops with Pompey in Greece, or the vastly-reduced but not insubstantial number that escaped with Scipio and Cato to Africa (where they were reduced to ... none.) Was this part of a plated issue made as a desperate move to stretch out the supply of silver by the besieged remnants in Utica, or was it a few soldiers having fun with odds and ends they found under Cato's (very messy) deathbed?
PMah
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Crawford 348/4, ROMAN REPUBLIC, L. Rubrius Dossenus, AR QuinariusRome, The Republic.
L. Rubrius Dossenus. 87 BCE.
AR Quinarius (1.82g; 15mm; 7h).
Rome Mint, 87 BCE.
Obverse: DOSSEN; Laureate head of Neptune facing right, trident over shoulder.
Reverse: L•RVBRI; Victory holding wreath and palm, standing to right before garlanded alter with snake coiled around top.
References: Crawford 348/4; Sydenham 708; BMCRR 2459-60; Rubria 4.
Provenance: Ex Artemide Auction 57 (30 Apr 2022) Lot 337; Aes Rude Titano Auction 3 (23 Jun 1979) Lot 117.
L. Rubrius Dossenus is not known except for his coins. The snake-coiled alter on the reverse may allude to prayers to Aesculapius, the Roman god of medicine and healing, as a plague had broken out among the troops fighting Marius at the time. A similar snake-coiled alter is seen on the obverse (and on certain rare reverses) of AE Asses produced by the same moneyer. A snake is an attribute of Aesculapius. During an ongoing plague, a Roman temple to Aesculapius was built from 293-290 BCE, on an island in the Tiber where a sacred snake, brought from the god’s sanctuary in Greece, had slithered after arrival in Rome. Babelon and Grueber suggest that Neptune on the obverse may refer to that maritime trip to the Aesculapian sanctuary in 293 BCE, though Crawford thinks the type generally seeks favor for naval victories (and good health) in the ongoing Marian conflict.
This quinarius type is not rare, although it rarely comes as complete as this example. Carausius
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Crawford 410/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC - Musa - AR DenariusRome, The Republic.
Q. Pomponius Musa, 56-52 BCE
AR Denarius (3.76g; 20mm).
Rome Mint.
Obv: Q•POMPONI – MVSA; Head of Apollo facing right, hair tied with band.
Rev: HERCVLES – MVSARVM; Hercules facing right, wearing lion skin and playing lyre.
References: Crawford 410/1; Sydenham 810; Pomponia 8.
Provenance: Ex Collection of an English Amateur Scholar [NAC 92 (May 2016) Lot 1669]; Munzen und Medaillen XIX (Jun 1959) Lot 98; L. Hamburger 95 (1932} Lot 238; Manuel Vidal Quadras y Ramon (d. 1894) Collection [E. Bourgey (Nov 1913) Lot 526].
Q. Pomponius Musa punned his name by depicting the Muses on a series of coins. Musa’s coins have long been favorites of Roman Republican collectors both for their high-style and because they form a mini-series within the larger series of Republican moneyer coins. Basically, they're fun-to-collect tray candy.
Musa is unknown except for his coins, which, combined with scant hoard evidence, makes precise dating of the series difficult. For many years, scholars (including Crawford) dated the series to 66 BCE. However, the absence of any examples of the series in the large Mesagne hoard caused Hersh and Walker to bring down the date of the series to 56 BCE. In "Roman Moneyers and Their Coins" (2nd ed), Michael Harlan suggested a later date of 52 BCE due to the large number of moneyers attributed from 57-54.
This example of Musa's series does not depict a Muse at all, but Hercules Musarum – Hercules as patron of the Muses. In 187 BCE, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, celebrating victories in Greece, dedicated a Temple of Hercules Musarum in Rome, near the Circus Flaminius. This round temple contained statues of Hercules and the nine Muses. It is possible that the reverses of Musa’s coins depict the actual statues contained within this temple, which were likely brought back to Rome as spoils from Greece. Over 100 years after this temple was consecrated, Cicero praised Nobilior for honoring poetry and the arts in his victory over the Greeks.
Apollo is often depicted androgynously on ancient coins. The standard references consistently attribute the obverse heads on all varieties of Musa’s coins as Apollo; but the depictions are notably different between the Hercules Musarum variety and the nine Muse varieties. On the above coin, the deity’s hair is down and tied, and generally consistent with many depictions of Apollo on other Roman Republican coins (see, e.g., denarii of L. Calpurnius Piso and C. Calpurnius Piso). Comparatively, the head on the Muse varieties of this series are considerably more feminine in appearance and laureate, though lacking earrings, necklaces or other feminine accents. Admittedly, this more feminine type head has also been attributed by scholars as Apollo on other coin types (see, e.g., denarii of P. Clodius and C. Considius). However, within the same series the different styled heads appear to depict different deities. Given the Muse emblems behind each head on the nine Muse types, it’s possible that the feminine heads are not Apollo, but the Muses themselves. Michael Harlan agrees with this interpretation in both editions of "Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins." More research on this issue is needed.
Carausius
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Crawford 417/1a, Roman Republic, Rome mint, moneyers L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and L. Scribonius Libo, 62 BC., AR Denarius.Roman Republic, Rome mint, moneyers L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and L. Scribonius Libo, 62 BC.,
AR Denarius (18-20 mm / 3,72 g),
Obv.: [P]AVLLVS. LEPIDVS - CONCORD head of Concordia r., wearing veil and diadem.
Rev.: PVTEAL SCRIBON / LIBO , Puteal Scribonianum (Scribonian well, the "Puteal Scribonianum" well in the Forum Romanum near the Arch of Fabius), decorated with garland and two lyres, hammer at base.
Crawf. 417/1a ; Syd. 927 ; Bab. / Seaby Aemilia 11 ; Kestner 3422 ; BMC Rome 3383 ; CNR Aemilia 62 .
Rare
A puteal was a classical wellhead, round or sometimes square, set round a well opening to keep people from falling in. Such well heads (putealia) might be of marble, enriched with bas-reliefs. - The puteal is on the reverse of the coin adorned with garlands and two lyres. It is generally stated that there were two putealia in the Roman forum; but C. F. Hermann, who has carefully examined all the passages in the ancient writers relating to this matter (Ind. Lect. Marburg. 1840), comes to the conclusion that there was only one such puteal at Rome. It was in the forum, near the Arcus Fabianus, and was dedicated in very ancient times either on account of the whetstone of the Augur Navius (cf. Liv. I.36), or because the spot had been struck by lightning. It was subsequently repaired and re-dedicated by Scribonius Libo, who had been commanded to examine the state of the sacred places. Libo erected in its neighbourhood a tribunal for the praetor, in consequence of which the place was, of course, frequented by persons who had law-suits, such as money-lenders and the like.
The Puteal Scribonianum (Scribonian Puteal) or Puteal Libonis (Puteal of Libo), building in the Forum at Rome, dedicated or restored by a member of the Libo family, perhaps the praetor of 204 BC, or the tribune of the people in 149 BC. In its vicinity the praetor's tribunal, removed from the comitium in the 2nd century BC, held its sittings, which led to the place becoming the haunt of litigants, money-lenders and business people. According to ancient authorities, the Puteal Libonis was the name given to an erection (or enclosure) on a spot which had been struck by lightning; it was so called from its resemblance to the stone curb or low enclosure round a well (puteus) that was between the temples of Castor and Vesta, near the Porticus Julia and the Arcus Fabiorum (arch of the Fabii), but no remains have been discovered. The idea that an irregular circle of travertine blocks, found near the temple of Castor, formed part of the puteal is now abandoned. See Horace, Sat. ii.6.35, Epp. i.19.8; Cicero, Pro Sestio, 8; for the well-known coin of Lucius Scribonius Libo, representing the puteal of Libo, which rather resembles a cippus (sepulchral monument) or an altar, with laurel wreaths, two lyres and a pair of pincers or tongs below the wreaths (perhaps symbolical of Vulcan as forger of lightning), see C. Hulsen, The Roman Forum (Eng. trans. by J. B. Carter, 1906), p. 150.
L. Scribonius Libo, was the father-in-law of Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great. On the breaking out of the civil war in 49, he sided with Pompey, and was given command of Etruria. Shortly afterwards he accompanied Pompey to Greece, and was actively engaged in the war that ensued. On the death of Bibulus (48) he had the given command of the Pompeian fleet. In the civil wars following Caesar's death, he followed the fortunes of his son-in-law Sextus Pompey. In 40, Octavian married his sister Scribonia, and this marriage was followed by a peace between the triumvirs and Pompey (39). When the war was renewed in 36, Libo for a time supported Pompey, but, seeing his cause hopeless, he deserted him in the following year. In 34, he was consul with Mark Antony.
my ancient coin database
Arminius
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Crusader - John II Orsini BI denier, Frankish Greece - Epirus, 1323-1335 ADJohn II Orsini
Frankish Greece, Epirus
BI denier –
Arata, 1323-1335 AD
+ IOh’s DESPOTVS
cross patée
+DE ARTA CASTV
castle tournois
Malloy 115Ardatirion
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Crusader States: Frankish Greece, Isabelle of Villehardouin, Princess of Achaea, Billon Denier.Achaea 1297-1301 A.D. 0.83g - 19.5mm, Axis 6h.
Obv: ✠ x YSABELLA P•ACH - Cross pattee.
Rev: ✠ DE CLARENCIA - Castle Tournois.
Ref: CCS 15B.
Provenance: Ex Derek Glover. Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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Crusader States: Frankish Greece, Mahaut of Hainaut, Princess of Achaea, Principality of Achaea, Billon Denier.Clarentza 1316-1318 A.D. 0.88g - 19.7mm, Axis 3h.
Obv: ✠ mAhAVTA P Ach - Cross Pattee.
Rev: ✠ DE CLARENCIA - Castle Tournois, C left, annulet right.
Ref: Malloy Crusaders 40 (this coin); Metcalf Crusades type MA2, 997 - 998.
Rated Very Rare.
Provenance:Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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Crusader States: Frankish Greece, Maud de Hainaut, Princess of Achaea, Principality of Achaea, Billon Denier.Clarentza 1316-1321 A.D. 0.85g - 19mm, Axis 5h.
Obv:✠ mAhAVTA • P Ach - Cross pattée.
Rev: ✠ DE CLARENCIA o - Chateau tournois; annulet to left, pheon below. Annulet stop mark.
Ref: Metcalf, Crusades 999-100.
Provenance: Chris Scarlioli Collection.Christian Scarlioli
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