Coin Talk

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Even the corona virus should not stop our hobby.

I would like to present here an object whose meaning is still not quite clear today. On my coin it was called a 'beehive', which is complete nonsense, as a bee expert who is also historically familiar with beekeeping assured me. But first, the coin. It's an AE20 from Deultum in Thrace by Maximinus I:

1st Coin:
Maximinus I 235-238 AD.
AE 20, 4.79g, 20.11mm, 180
Av.: IMP MAXIMINVS AVG (Lat.)
Bust, draped and cuirassed, laurel, n.r.
Av.: P-C-F-D
so-called omphalos with point on foundation
Ref: Yurukova 204; Varbanov 2425; SNG Bulgaria 756-760
SS, nice green Patina, on rev. trace of excavation

Greek omphalos is navel, Latin umbilicus. This picture is only available from Deultum. What is this strange thing? Yurokova calls it a beehive. But that's nonsense, as we already know. It's sometimes called a shrine. And the new SNG Bulgaria calls it a well of...

STADT OBERAMMERGAU (GERMAN) 1930

Town of Oberammergau (Bavaria) - Large Porcelain Medal Depicting Christ with Angels and Crosses.

View attachment 1085429

This is a medal issued in 1930 by the German city of Oberammergau. On the obverse is a depiction of Christ supported by two angels. On the reverse is the city name, the date, three crosses and crossed swords. The swords are the trademark of Meissen porcelain works. Meissen produced a wide variety of attractive coins and medals in both earth toned and white porcelain.

Oberammergau is a small German town of just over 5,000 people located in the Ammer Valley. The town is surrounded by mountains, meadows and forests near the Ammergau Alps in Bavaria. It is best known for its production of the Passion Play every ten years. The town is also well known for its woodcarving and the traditional Bavarian and religious scenes painted on the facades of many of the buildings known as Luftmalerei (pictured below)....

The university has shut down research labs due to coronavirus fears, so I am at home for a while and can finally get around to posting all my coin acquisitions of the last few months. Journey with me now back to the distant past of November 2019, when you could bring hundreds of people to gather at a coin show bourse and nobody would panic if somebody started coughing:

Indo-Scythians, Taxila mint. AE hexachalkqn (28 mm, 14.08 g). Azes II (c.35 BC- 5 AD). Obverse: Humped bull (Nandi?) right with trident below head, mint control mark above, Greek legend around "Basileos Basileon Megalou Azou" (Of the Great King of Kings Azes). Reverse: lion right, mint control mark above, legend in Kharosthi around "Maharajasa rajadirajasa mahatasa ayasa" (same meaning as Greek legend). Mitchiner ACW 2380. This coin: Purchased from Marcos Xagoraris (Aristos Ancients) at the Baltimore coin show, November 2019.

The Indo-Scythians were originally a nomadic people...

Very excited to announce this minuscule discovery in an obscure corner of numismatics!

One of the most iconic members of the Indo-Sassanian family is the terminus of the third and easternmost "track", attributed to the Pratihara dynasty - the Adivaraha-dramma.

It is unique not only for being the least Sassanian of all Indo-sassanian coins, retaining only the vestigial fire altar shaft with highly stylized attendants, but it is also the only coin firmly attributable to both its medieval name in inscriptions and its historic issuer, Mihira Bhoja I, r. 836-885 AD.

Obv: Adivaraha, the boar avatar of Vishnu, standing right in heroic pose, stomping on a lion, flanked by Trishula and chakra wheel
Rev: Nagari: Sri Ma Madi / Va Ra Ha above vestigial fire altar, flanked by highly stylized attendants



Although this coin is a top contender for a lifetime issue, the type was extended for up to a century, becoming more crude but ultimately unchanged until...

I bought an unidentified Byzantine trachy (cup-shaped coin) on eBay. Like many late Byzantine trachy, the flan has problems. It is bent and has a small hole. But, it also has remarkably clear lettering. I have the major reference books, but did not find it with some looking through the plates of several Byzantine-coin books. However, I knew it was clear enough to identify eventually. When I did, with the help of @Voulgaroktonou, I saw it was in some of those books, but their examples were in such poor condition they were not easy to recognize as the same type.

It is Theodore I, founder of the short-lived Empire of Thessalonica.

Theodore Comnenus-Ducas Angelus, emperor of the Empire of Thessalonica,
31 mm. Originally cup-shaped, but partially squashed since then.
Struck c. 1227/8
St. Demetrius (patron saint of Thessalonica)
O AΓIOC ΔHMHTPIOC
Emperor left and Virgin with halo right holding patriarchal cross (two crossbars)
ΘЄOΔωPOC...

The city of Flaviopolis in Cilicia, also known as Flavias, is shrouded in mystery. The city was founded by Vespasian, as part of an imperial program for the urbanization of the Cilician Plain. It was located northeast of Anazarbos along a tributary of the Pyramus river (modern Ceyhan River), but its exact location is not certain. Some archaeologists identify it with the modern town of Kadirli, where mosaic floors, inscriptions, and building blocks have been found. Moreover, a 6th century church has been excavated at Kadirli, consistent with Flaviopolis being a bishopric of Cilicia Secunda in the early Christian era.



Coins of the city are typically dated according to an era beginning with the founding of the city. Hill[1] assigns a date of AD 74 for the city's founding, whereas Sear[2] assigns a date of AD 73. RPC IV.3 online[3] calculates the dates the coins issued by the city from year 1 = AD 73 as well. However, the earliest known coins are of the...

STADT BIELEFELD (GERMAN) GOLDMARK 1923

L- 40.5 City Savings Bank of Bielefeld (Westfalen) Gilded Bronze 1 Mark Coin / Post WW I Propaganda / Stab-in-the-Back / Occupation of the Ruhr.

This coin was issued in 1923 by the city savings bank of the German city of Bielefeld. This outstanding coin exhibits some of the highest levels of craftsmanship and design to be found on notgeld. It is also a wonderful and poignant example of post war propaganda illustrating many of the underlying reasons for continued discontent in Germany after what was seen as a humiliating defeat in World War I.



Obverse: "Michel unbesiegt aber betrogen" (Michel, undefeated but betrayed) / this inscription is repeating what is known as the 'stab-in-the-back' legend, in German it is called the Dolchstoß-Legende. Depicted is a bust right resembling Otto von Bismarck as 'Michel' wearing a sleeping cap inside the one denomination....

As if the title isn’t confusing enough, it’s my second choice for the title of this giveaway, giveaway. Going off of what is hot/trending on social media is a good way to get participation... but something about calling this the COIN-VID-19 giveaway made me think people might not want to participate
“So,” you might ask, “why is the giveaway a giveaway, ry to the ro?”
If I’m being honest, it’s cause i can’t trust you.
Calm down. Not you the reader of this and long time CT buddy O mine. But the Non-royal you. Everyone.
Learning from giveaways of the past, in this giveaway the winner will get to pick who the prize goes to!(and, no, you cannot pick yourself. You weisenhiemer)

Without further ado,


Here’s what’s up for grabs:

The 12 Caesars by Michael Grant, not Suetonius. It’s a fun and far less sensationalizing account of these great (ish) men. And it has TONS of excellent pictures of coins, statues etc...

I'm very happy with my new addition. This coin has been on my watch list at Ma-shops for quite a while. Every time I saw the coin I felt attracted to the portrait. Since the coin had been on sale for quite a while, I decided to make an offer. It was accepted quickly.



Domitian 81-96 AD
AR Denarius
Struck 86 AD (second issue)
IMP•CAES DOMIT AVG•GERM P M TR P V.
laureate head right
IMP•XII COS XII CENS•P•P•P•
Minerva standing right on capital
of rostral column, holding spear and shield, owl at foot right (M2)
2,88g/20,5mm
Ric 437 (R)
Ex Historische Münzen & Medaillen

Like my previous one, the coin comes from the second issue of 86 AD. It was mainly a coincidence that my second Denarius of Domitian as Augustus comes from the same issue as the first. A nice goal could be to collect all four types of this issue. However, there is a risk that the other coins will not appear fast, which is quite possible because most of the coins from 86 AD are fairly...

Sorry, can't correct the header. It is actually the 300th anniversary.



Courtesy of the Louis Bassano Collection.




Courtesy Stacks Bowers Galleries. Front and back covers of Cradle of America, History of Albany and the 1936 250th Anniversary Celebration. A booklet in my Numismatic library.


A Welcome to Albany

It is with pride in the achievements of the City of Albany that I extend a cordial invitation to American citizens everywhere to join in the observance of the Two Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the City Charter, Granted by Governor Thomas Dongan July 22, 1686.

This is the oldest place of settlement in the original thirteen states, a treasure-spot of American beginnings. It is also a progressive city, recently established as an inland seaport, whose commerce spreads around the world.

Albany not only looks back in its own records over an amazing rise of...