Coin Talk

Today is Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In England, the monarch gives money, in the form of silver coins to elderly people who are selected based upon their poverty and their service to their churches or community. Recipients may also be selected by clergyman of the various Christian denominations. Once selected a recipient remains one for life. New recipients are selected each year.

The gifts are given in two purses. The white one holds Maundy money in the one, two, three and four pence denominations. There one pence for each year of the monarch's life. A red purse contains £5 and a 50 p coin.

The modern Maundy coins do not circulate because their silver value exceeds their face value. Each coin has the portrait of the monarch on the obverse. and the value 1, 2, 3 or 4 partially surrounded by a wreath, the date and a crown on the reverse. These coins are highly prized by many collectors.

I have only two sets of Maundy coins which are...

Gold and bronze coins bearing the reverse inscription IVNONI LVCINAE and depicting a female figure standing, holding an infant in her arm, with two older children at her feet were issued during the final years of the reign of Antoninus Pius, AD 158-161.[1] During this period, the empress' obverse titulature read FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, her reverses no longer bore the filiation AVGVSTI PII FIL, and she wore an unassuming hairstyle described by Fittschen as "Main hair combed back in waves, strand of hair twisted into a bun relatively high at the nape of the neck."[2] She typically does not wear strands of pearls or the stephane in her hair on coins of this period.



Two bronze specimens from my collection:

Think back to when you were a child. Perhaps around the age of 6 or 7. The world was a very different place, righ? Times were simpler, you had no cares in the world, lifelong friends were made – and lost. What memories still stick with you after ALL THOSE YEARS . . . . . . ?

Maybe you have fond memories of your parents, uncles, or aunts taking you fishing, hunting, or to a theme park? Maybe as a young child you attended a county fair, a state fair, or a festival of some kind?

I know my parents took my sisters and myself to many of these. Living in central Wisconsin on the Mississippi River during the early 1960’s, there was always SOMETHING, some event to attend. Octoberfest, Fishing Contests, County and State Fairs, we did them all . . . . or at least it seemed that way.

One festival that really stuck out in my 7 year old mind was the Steam Engine Days Festival held in Strum Wisconsin. I mean, what’s not to like? Big steel tractors and engines, polyphonic steam whistles,...

Since antiquity, men and boys have been portrayed as riding dolphins. I highly doubt this actually happened in real life, but there's certainly plenty of representations of such. I suppose a dolphin would probably let you ride if, but perhaps not straddled like a horse.



Eros is the most common figure shown riding a dolphin, and representations exist in mosaic, bronze, marble, vase painting, and fesco paintings (though no paintings are extant far as I can tell).

Representations are found in pretty much every Mediterranean culture, including Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Minoan (though Minoans didn't seem to ride the dolphins).

The fascination with dolphins may arise from the fact that dolphins are very helpful to fishermen, with reports of them leading fishers to where the large schools are. In addition, dolphins will often protect stranded humans and keep sharks away until the human can be rescued.
Sometimes, though, they are a bit mean and...

MICHAEL VIII PALAEOLOGOS (1261-1282). Stamenon/Trachy. Thessalonica.
Obv: MP - ΘV / Half-length facing bust of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) orans.
Rev: ΔΠT ΠT - *OAΓ ΓANMC / Half-length busts of Michael and St. Demetrios, who holds a spear, holding patriarchal cross between them; above, star in center of firmament.
Sear 2310. Weight: 2.59 g. Diameter: 27 mm.



This Stamenon, although already pretty rare, really stuck out to me due to the near complete reverse legend surviving on the coin (much more complete than the examples in DOC, LBC and the Billon Trachea of Michael VIII)! The first part of the reverse legend, ΔΠT ΠT, appears to be the result of an overstrike. The would leave ΔΠT on the legend, most likely the fragmentary remains of some form of XMIΔECΔΠTI. This would Translate to Michael and some form of Family name or titles.

The rest of the reverse...

Michael VIII Paleologus and Andronicus II:
1272-1282 AD, AE Trachy, Thessalonica mint.
OAΓIT ΘE-OΔOΡ / St. Theodore, half-length facing figure, in military dress, holding spear and round shield decorated with eight-rayed star

AΔΡ X..M // Michael and Andronikos, half-length figures, each wearing loros and holding labarum and sword between them; half-length bust of the Archangel Michael above. DOC 212-215; SB 2323.
This trachy is one of my favorites, possessing a fun and charming style. It was minted at some point during the 10 year interlude of Andronikos II's elevation to co-emperor with Michael VIII until the eventual death of Michael VIII. The reverse is highly interesting in design, showing Michael VIII and Andronikos II each holding the Labarum over their respective shoulders and together holding up a sword, over all of which the half bust of Archangel Michael...

How many of you have read Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville?

I first read it while enjoying a lazy summer between semesters. At the time my coin collection was Lincoln Wheat Cents and Jefferson Nickels from circulation. So, not surprisingly, these passages were unremarkable and went relatively unnoticed. 35+ years later, I am now slowly re-reading Moby Dick and these same passages stood out like, well, like a White Whale!

from Chapter 36...

One year ago @Jochen1 posted a wonderful thread of the same examining the mythological figure of Ganymede—the lover of Zeus and cupbearer to the gods—and his depictions on coinage. I too have been gathering a collection of coins, medals, tesserae, and jetons featuring Ganymede, which cover a span of over 1700 years.



Here is my complete collection, presented chronologically, with relevant contextual and art-historical information. Some I have posted before, but many are recent acquisitions that I have never posted on cointalk.



TROAS. Ilium. Commodus , 177-192. Diassarion (?) (Bronze, 27 mm, 9.35 g, 7 h). ΑY ΚΑΙ Μ ΑYΡΗ ΚΟΜΟΔΟϹ Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Commodus to right, seen from behind. Rev. ΙΛΙΕΩΝ Ganymede advancing left, holding pedum in his left hand and being carried away by Zeus,...

Long before the computer age collectors used to shop for coins at coin & hobby shops, shows that usually included stamp dealers, & through periodicals like the Coin World newspaper. Digital or E-auctions didn't exist back then & neither did slabbing companies like PCGS & NGC. Throughout the 1970s I was a serious collector of ancient & world coins, & medals & antiques. In the late 1970s the precious metals began to skyrocket in price, & having grown weary of doing factory labor (I was a machinist for Gleason Works in Rochester, NY) I decided to get in on the action of precious metals . Combining this with my love of coins & antiques provided me with the excuse of quitting my job in 1980 & getting my feet wet. I rented a two room store from my parents on East Main St., Rochester, NY & the adventure began. I had an agreement with my father & a large precious metal smelter in Buffalo, NY to dispose of any gold & silver that came into the store. My father agreed to be the courier...

These were not entirely impulse purchases, unlike the two new Provincial coins I recently posted. In a recent thread, I mentioned that I had only two sestertii (one each for Marcus Aurelius and Philip I), and realized that I had purchased both almost a year ago. So I had my eye out for a couple more that looked good but weren't very expensive -- not necessarily so easy to find, I've discovered -- and decided on these, the first of them purchased from our own @Victor_Clark.

Neither is in what I'd call superb condition, but I still like both a lot -- especially the reverse on the first, from Faustina II (both for its "children" theme and its wonderful appearance, as well as the fact that it's unlisted in RIC), and the obverse portrait on the second, which conveys an impression to me of the enormous power and strength of Maximinus I. And his chin!

First: Faustina II, appropriate for a Friday even though I'm not putting it in @Roman Collector's...