Coin Talk

Dear Friends!

Sometimes it is worth to pay attention to Rome's enemies too. Here I share a drachm of the Sassanids, because I came across new and interesting historical stories being worth to be mentioned.

The coin:
Sassanid Empire, Hormizd II, AD 302-309.
AR - drachm, 3.8g, 27.2mm, 90°
obv. Legend in Pahlevi (abbreviated and bungled, from r. to l.):
.ly. .KLM n.KLM [ydzmrhw'] ygb nsd [y?]zm
(= The devotee of Mazdas, the devine Hormizd, the king of kings of Iran, who has descended from the gods)
Bearded bust r., crown with eagle r., carrying in beak a pearl, above korymbos (Göbl Kronentyp I)
rev. Fire altar, decorated with taenias, in the flames bearded bust of the Zoroastrian god Ahuramazda l.; at the l. side Hormizd with eagle crown and korymbos l., at the r. side bearded priest with mural crown, both wearing Turkish trousers and holding with both hands a sword (Göbl Revers 1a); on the base of the altar 3 globuli one above the other;
behind legend in...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Here is another deity of Asia minor: Zeus Kasios

The Coin:
Syria, Seleukis and Pieria, Seleukeia Pieria, Trajan, AD 98-117
AE 23, 12.65g, 0°
struck AD 100/101 (RY 4)
obv. AVTOKP KAI NEP TPAIANOC APICT CEB ΓEPM ΔAK
Laureate head r.
rev. CELEVKEΩN - ΠEIEPIAC
Perspective view of the tetrastyle temple of Zeus Kasios with canopy-like roof;
on the top of the roof a flat base, on it an eagle with open wings. Inside a conical
stone decorated with a knotted ribbon/pearl string.
in r. field Δ (= year 4)
in ex. ZEVC / KACIOC (Z mirrored)
ref. BMC 274, 39; SNG München cf. 990ff. (without Δ); Price - Trell 212, fig. 445; Sear GIC 1081
About VF/F+, brown patina with earthen highlights


Seleukeia was founded simultaneous with Antiocheia ad Orontes as its harbour 300 BC by Seleukos I. The history of Seleukeia was connected closely to that of Antiocheia, the capital of Syria. Due to the boom years in Roman times Seleukeia was a...

Carus (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Carus Augustus; c. 222 – July or August 283) was Roman Emperor from 282 to 283, and was 60 at ascension. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success.

He died while campaigning against the Sassanid Empire, probably of unnatural causes, as he was reportedly struck by lightning. He was succeeded by his sons Carinus and Numerian, creating a dynasty which, though short-lived, provided further stability to the resurgent empire.

Two traditions surround his accession to the throne in August or September of 282. According to some mostly Latin sources, he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers after the murder of Probus by a mutiny at Sirmium. Greek sources however claim that he rose against Probus in Raetia in a usurpation and had him killed. The often unreliable Historia Augusta is aware of both traditions, although it prefers the...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

I just discovered the thread on Commagene. This article about Zeus Kataibates fits well:

1st coin:
Syria, Cyrrhestica, Cyrrhus, Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-180
AE 23, 12.9g, 0°.
obv.: AVTO K M A[VPH] - ANTΩNINOC CEB
laureate bust r.
rev: [ΔIOC] KATEBATOV - KVPHCTΩN
Zeus Kataibates, in himation, std. l. on rocks, supports the right arm on his knee, holds thunderbolt in r. hand and resting with raised l. hand on long scepter; l. before him an eagle r.
Ref: SNG UK 1301, 660
Extremely rare, with attractive red, earthy patina

Kataibates (= descending) was an epiclesis of Zeus as the god of lightning (cf. Aeschyl. Prom. 358), to whom the places struck by lightning (Greek: elusia, enelusia, Latin: putealia, bidentalia) were consecrated (Poll. 9, 41). These were then surrounded by a fence or other enclosure and were considered sacred. There were cults for Zeus the...

A few years ago, one of the large coin magazines had an article on expanding your collecting interests and mentioned Wildman coins. I found the article interesting but kind of forgot about it until I ran across one on eBay. It had duel importance to me because it was also formerly part of the Eric Newman collection, a numismatist that I greatly admire. Side note: the Eric Newman biography "Truth Seeker" is well worth reading.

I grew up helping my grandfather with his collection. All of my early numismatic education came from him. His favorite coins were the "V" nickels. He talked frequently about the rare 1913 issue and told me stories about the "No Cents" issue. We would spend hours sorting coins and building Lincoln Cent sets that he gave to family members. He never purchased a coin even though it meant never finding his "No Cents" Liberty...

As an illegitimate son of Jean II, Jacques was skipped as a potential inheritor of the Kingdom of Cyprus in 1458, in favor of Charlotte, Jean's legitimate daughter.
Jacques, at that time Latin archbishop of Nicosia, refused to acknowledge her accession and in December of 1458 he left Cyprus to Egypt to secure an alliance with the Mamluks and gain the support of the Sultan of Egypt in his claim for the throne.

In September 1460, a Mamluk fleet under Jacques command reached Cyprus and most of Cyprus surrendered to him by the end of 1460. But the conflict continued between Charlotte and her husband Louis de Savoia who held Kyrenia on one hand and Jacques and the Mamluk mercenaries on the other until the autumn of 1464, when Charlotte renounced her claim and left for Italy.

During this period of de facto civil war, George Boustronios, the chronicler of Cyprus tells us that Jacques lacked funds so sorely that he had his troops scrap for copper fittings on private houses and public baths...

To my considerable regret, I've lately been too busy with personal negotium to post much — I'm never too busy to spend too much money on stuff I don't need, though. In that vein, I present my recentest acquisition, from last month's Roma auction:



Eucratides I Megas, c. 170-145BC: O: draped, cuirassed, diademed, helmeted bust right, bead-and-reel border / the Dioscuri mounted right, each holding lance and palm, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ, monogram in right field. Seller's photo.

Absolutely impeccable style on this one, I feel — the portrait lacks the charming cragginess of some specimens but it's quite perfectly rendered to my eyes.

This will be a very short post because I think one would have to be rather brave, or foolhardy, to venture much about this fellow — for all his numismatic fame his biography is (to put it mildly) fairly obscure.

He was, we can say for certain, a powerful monarch of the Bactrians. His dates, as...

This is an anonymous issue minted during the lordship of Balian Grenier as Lord of Sidon (1202/4-1241) Constable of Tyre (1229-1231) and Bailie of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1229-1240/1)

13x12mm, 0.31g silver denier, minted in the City of Sidon, cca. 1230s.





OBV: + · D · Є · N · I · Є · R · ; cross pattee

REV: + · D · Є · S · Є · Є · T · Є · ; the domed Cathedral of Sidon

REF: Malloy 4, Schlumberger V 8, Metcalf 213.

Balian was one of the leading local barons in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and a vassal and ally of Emperor Frederick II after he seized the throne of Jerusalem in 1225.

During his reign, the inlands of Seigneurie de Sidon were reconquered after they had been lost to Saladin in 1187/8. He took part as one of the representatives of the local barons in the Fifth and Sixth Crusade and fought alongside Thibaut "le Chansonnier" de Champagne, Henry II de Bar, Amaury VI de Montfort and Hugo of Burgundy during the Barons Crusade in 1239. He was...

In light of the great articles posted here about various numismatic topics, I thought I would do my part to contribute in my area of collecting: Banknotes of the Russian Empire, Russian Provisional Government, and the Soviet Union. In the span of only 5 years, Russians witnessed the deposition of the royal family that ruled the Russian Empire for 300 years, a brief post-imperial Provisional Government, a brutal civil war, the formation of a Russian Socialist Republic, and the joining of multiple socialist republics into a massive Soviet Union that would collapse 70 years later. As a collector, I’ve always been fascinated by the way that this chaotic history was captured in the country’s banknotes. The regimes and people of these times are long gone, but the banknotes they created and circulated are left behind to us as historical relics.

My first piece in a series of posts (for those who find it interesting, or for those future collectors who find this page in pursuit of knowledge)...

Sorry for the long post...

My plan this summer is to build a coin cabinet.. I was thinking a small "table top" type with slide out drawers that would nicely hold a few of the inexpensive "Lighthouse" type coin tray liners (like below).
We each have our own way of storing our coins.. I have thought about this a lot over the last year - I dislike flips very much as I like to handle my coins a lot. My plan was to number each compartment in each tray with a small "dot" sticker under the coin... this number would correspond to a binder I am building with 5X7 photos of the obverse and reverse of each coin with attributions, a paragraph or two on the history of the ruler or the coin itself (describing the god depicted or other information about the coin that makes it interesting to me.) I own about 80 coins - so this is a large undertaking - I also understand that my collection is very small compared to most here...


Then I came across this homemade coin...