Coin Talk

PAMPHYLIA, Aspendos
AR Stater, Aspendos mint, struck ca. 380-325 BC
Dia.: 22.1 mm
Wt.: 10.62 g
Obv.: Two wrestlers; the left one holds the left arm of his opponent with both hands, the opponent grasping with right hand his right wrist; no control in between legs.
Rev.: Slinger, wearing short chiton, discharging sling to right; Π in between legs; on right, triskeles to right, EΣTFEΔIIVΣ behind, all within incuse square; c/m: wolf running left in rectangular incuse.
Ref.: BMC 52; SNG Copenhagen 214; Tekin Series 4
Ex Harlan J. Berk; Ex Minotaur Coins


Aspendos
Apsendos was an ancient city located on the west side of the Eurymedon River in Pamphylia (modern southwestern Turkey). It was an important economic center in antiquity but played a much more modest role in political history.

As a Tekin Series 4 stater this coin is dated within a range of 380-325 BC...

Now when we use Roman numerals we write 9 with "IX". That uses a subtraction principle that is not frequently used on ancient Roman coins. Romans usually (not always) wrote 9 with addition "VIIII." The Greek numeral for 9 is theta, Θ. When the Romans used Greek numerals (they did, quite a bit) Θ was often avoided because it was regarded as bad luck, being the first letter of Thanatos, a word and letter used for "death" or "deceased" on military roles. When an late Roman issue had officina numbers in Greek with 9 or more officina, they usually wrote the officina number 9 with "ЄΔ" (5+4 = 9) and not with "Θ".



Diocletian, 284-305,
CONCORDIA MILITVM
emperor standing right, holding short scepter in left, receiving victory on globe from Hercules left, holding vertical long scepter in left with bow (hanging from his shoulder?)
ЄΔ, for 9, low in the middle field
•XXI
IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIANVS AVG
RIC V.II Diocletian 322 Antioch, p. 256...

In recent years one of my favorite collecting interests has been collecting notes from the states and cities that I've lived in previously. As such, growing up in a military family, I've never had the chance to set down long-term roots due to frequent moves before my father's retirement. Of the places I've lived at in the past, Pensacola was arguably one of my favorites due to my involvement with the Boy Scouts of America and the rekindling of my interest in numismatics that occurred while living there. Now recently, an opportunity presented itself courtesy of eBay that I couldn't pass up in the form of a National Bank Note from one of Pensacola's now-defunct banks. I couldn't be happier despite spending slightly more than I had planned originally.

Here is the note in question. These are the Seller's images:

Face:

Head of Hugh McCulloch, Comptroller of the Currency from 1863-1865; Secretary of the Treasury from 1865-1869 and 1884-1885....

I bought a very very large collection of world coins and this piece was in there. It's pretty darn cool but I'm having a difficult time deciphering the meaning of the lettering before and after the date. If you have any thoughts or opinions on the meaning, I'd love to hear input. It was engraved on a late 1700s silver piece from Denmark I believe. The current weight is 9.17 grams, but I imagine it weighed somewhat more before the wear and filing, maybe in the 12 gram range? Its about the diameter of a US half dollar. Let me know your thoughts!

A new addition to my Greek island collection: A bronze coin from Mytilene on Lesbos island. However, this is not just a coin, but an interesting one.


Lesbos, Mytilene. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. AE Tetrachalkon.
Obverse: Head of Zeus-Ammon to right.
Reverse: M-Y/T-I Terminal figure of Dionysos facing on prow; grapes to left.
Reference: BMC 134. HGC 6, 1048.
7.8g; 18mm
Very rare.

On the reverse we see a cult figure of Dionysos, but this is actually a mask of Dionysos mounted on a crude triangular block representing his 'body'.
What is this mask? Pausanias relates a story of Methymnaean fishermen dragging up in their nets a xoanon (Archaic wooden cult image) of olive wood which was pronounced by the Delphic oracle to be Dionysos Κεφαλλήν (head). The people of Methymna started to offer sacrifices to it and sent a bronze copy to Delphi. This led to a cult on the island and Dionysos was worshipped as an...

I recently noticed that I have accumulated quite a few coins that are interesting enough to warrant their own thread but that I have been too busy to post a write up for. As such I thought it might be fun for me to group some of these coins together by category and give short explanations for why I think they are interesting.

This write up will cover Greek coins. Next I will post a thread covering a few Roman coins and then finish with a thread that includes Byzantine and Medieval coins. Hopefully the board will enjoy these vignette style threads.

A special thank you to @Ryro , whose generosity in a holiday exchange a few months ago gave me the opportunity to own two of the below coins.

A Obscure Satrap who Almost Changed History

Achaemenid Empire
Spithridates as Satrap
AE10, mint in Ionia or Lydia, struck 334 BC
Dia.: 10 mm
Wt.: 1.5 g
Obv.: Head of Spithridates right,...

All I am doing since April 1st is work/ however I always have coins/ auctions on my mind. Today, I was thinking about all the drab/ kitch most mints are turning out for circulation/ with the exception of the UK which kept older classic designs

I then thought, how neat it would have been to have been a "collector" in the Baroque period, living in Salzburg for example. They struck gold from the Quarter Dukat to the massive 24/ 36/ 44 Dukaten/ nice AR Thalers too.

Please post your Baroque coins....
AV Quarter Dukat ND (1712)
Transylvania
HRE Karl VI 1711-42

Hello everyone,

Some of yall might have realized that I haven't been very active lately. That's mainly because about 2 months ago I was accepted for a program called Witter U.

The program was put together by Seth Chandler and his team of employees and interns. It took place over the last week in San Francisco, CA. It was intended for YN's ages 13-21 and was attended by young numismatists from all over the country. Luckily I was accepted and got to go to San Francisco.

It was truly incredible. Not only did I get to meet the team of instructors (Steve Feltner, David McCarthy, Devin Hipp, Jim Stoutjesydk, John Brush, and Kevin Kaufmann). But I also got to spend a week with my best friends from the internet (some of them I have known since I began collecting almost 6 years ago!).



We were given what was basically an ANA Grading seminar with the PCGS grading set plus some super nice coins owned by the instructors. We started out doing individual...

Dwight Eisenhower was a child of the 20th Century and the Father of the American Century, which crystallized at the end of World War II. Born in Denison, Texas, on October 14th 1890, and raised in the agricultural hubs of Abilene, Kansas. His father labored in a creamery that was owned by his family, and the Eisenhower boys followed their father into the business as they tried to establish their futures. Eisenhower was swept up in the new trend of healthy living that focused on community sports and was a prominent athlete playing Football, well into his West Point career. His sporting life was slowed by a career altering knee injury in 1915, at the age of 25. His appointment to West Point assured a quality education, free of charge, and his career promotion in the rising US military. Born into a world of horse and buggies, and the Iron Horse rail, he ushered in and promoted the coming space age,...

I've always found this type very intriguing and when I found one whilst leisurely browsing biddr I just knew I had to get it. Lucky for me it was being offered in a budget auction and wasn't fully catalogued. I was thus able to get it relatively cheap. Couldn't be happier. Since it arrived, I've done a lot of reading and learning, having a blast while doing so! Hopefully this little write-up of mine does the type justice and can possibly ignite the interest of others. Enjoy!



Provincial coins of the Republic. Gaius Sosius or Augustus (?) Æ (25 mm, 17.48 g). Uncertain mint in Asia Minor. Bust of a man right / Miscellaneous array of Roman political items. From left to right: Hasta, sella questoria, fiscus. Q below. RPC I 5409; AMNG II 29. (My example)


This enigmatic bronze dates to the late Republic. We're not entirely sure where it was minted or for whom, leaving us to speculate on its origins. It belongs to a sequence of coins with shared...