Coin Talk

Nathaniel Greene

The Battle of Eutaw Springs

September 8, 1781

Nathanael Greene was George Washington’s most trusted subordinate. Whenever Washington was away from the Continental Army, he left Greene in charge.

After Horatio Gates suffered his humiliating defeat at Camden, Washington appointed Greene to take responsibility of the Continental Army’s southern operations. Greene faced a formidable challenge which went well beyond the military situation. Greene had to negotiate with the individual southern states to obtain horses, supplies and troops. He also had to deal with independent irregular units lead by Francis Marian (a.k.a. “The Swamp Fox”) and Thomas Sumter who would later have a famous fort named after him. Greene had to maneuver his forces over five states and keep the local Tories (British sympathizer irregular militias) in check. All of this required...

The word labyrs (also known as double headed axe or bipennis) comes from the word labyrinth (oh, how I WISH I had a labyrinth coin to share with you).



(Bronze Age axe from the tholos tombs of Messara in Crete.)

Wikipedia says, "Labrys (Greek: λάβρυς, lábrus) is, according to Plutarch (Quaestiones Graecae 2.302a), the Lydian word for the double-bitted axe called in Greek a πέλεκυς (pélekus). The relation with the...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Recently (actually it was some years before!) I got this nice tetradrachm of Tigranes II. This should be the cause to write an article about the so-called Tyche of Antioch. I hope something will be new for you!

1st coin:
Kingdom of Armenia, Tigranes II, 95-56 BC
AR - tetradrachm, 16.68g, 27.18mm, 345°
struck in Antiochia ad Orontem
obv. Bust of Tigranes II, wearing Armenian tiara, r.; tiara ornamented with eight-pointed star between two eagles, decorated with 5 beaded pyramidal points
rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - TIΓPANOV
Tyche of Antioch in long garment and with veil, wearing mural crown, std. r. on rock,
resting with r. ellbow on r. knee and holding in r. hand long Palm branch; stg. with r. foot on shoulder of rivergod Orontes, who swims below her r; beneath waves
in r. field and left below on rock a monogram
all within laurel-wreath
ref. Bedoukian 17

This is one of the first depictions of this famous statue.

2nd...

Benjamin Franklin

American Ambassador to France

The Franklin medal was Augustin Dupré’s personal tribute to his American friend, Benjamin Franklin. The piece honored Franklin’s contributions to science and his support of freedom against monarchal tyranny during the Revolutionary War. An example of the Franklin medal was included in the set of medals that Thomas Jefferson brought to America in 1790.

There are two versions of the Franklin medal. The 1784 medal features a bust of Franklin on the obverse surrounded by the legend, “BENJ. FRANKLIN BOSTON, XVII JAN. MDCCVI.” The translation is “Benjamin Franklin born in Boston January 12, 1706.” The reverse featured a winged genius, symbol of Franklin. The genius as a lighting bolt in his right hand. His left hand points to a crown and scepter dashed to the ground. There is a temple is in the background with a lighting rod on its roof....

I recently bought a rare and potentially extremely-valuable knife coin where the dealer was uncertain about its authenticity. It was marketed as a contemporary counterfeit because the consignor (a friend) had XRF data showing the coin to be majority lead. I liked contemporary counterfeits, the coin looked ancient enough, and the price was right, so I bought it. I know the collection, so I knew this coin had a pre-1990 provenance.

About a year and a half ago, I posted a thread where I worked through a logical analysis of exceedingly rare coins in an effort to authenticate them.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/authenticating-exceedingly-rare-chinese-coins.321153/

I think it would be interesting, as well as helpful to those interested in ancient Chinese coins, to repeat the same exercise for this coin.

My Process

I always start from “what do I see on the coin” and compare the observations to to what I would expect from a counterfeit or genuine coin. To...

Here is 10,000 mark note that made a subtle political statement, a German inflation era Vampire note. After the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles called for the German state to pay reparations for the war. The payments crippled the German Weimar Republic and sowed the seeds for World War II. It is truly amazing how stupid the diplomats of that era were.

Wartime inflation had already disrupted the German economy and had sent the Germans into an inflationary mind set. Between the end of the war in 1918 and 1919, the inflation rate was running at 20% per year. Between 1919 and 1921 prices for food and other basic essentials went up eight times for an average inflation rate of 400% per year.

In January 1922 the German Government introduced a 10,000 mark note which was the largest denomination at the time. This note featured a scowling portrait of German artist Albrecht Durer (1471 to 1528) with a thick neck. If...

Hello! Here is a piece I wanted to share with everyone. I'd also appreciate any opinions, feedback, or other examples of these small gold coins! It appears to have a lot of varying details and information online and I just wanted to try to compile everything here and see what looked right.

I posted this coin in a FB group looking for ID and authentication help. Several people weighed in and thought it looked good and one person shared the below portion of Mitchiner's Oriental Coins and Their Values: Non-Islamic States & Western Colonies.

From Mitchiner's portion it appears to be a 1586 type; the gold fanam struck by the indigenous kingdoms of Kalicut...

Yet again we find ourselves in the midst of the Ghouls, Witches and Undead ready to slit each others bloodless throats at a moments notice. Though, enough about US politics it's the season of the WITCH, BABY!!! Time to celebrate all things spooky, ooky, cooky and macabre...ooky
In last years edition of CTGBITN we had plenty of blood curdling scares and terrors! If you would like to catch some serious fun and nightmare fodder check it out:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/coins-that-go-bump-in-the-night.324528/
This year I will save you the history lesson on "all ghouls day" and get right to what you are all here for, THE VIOLENCE...I mean, the coins. Yes, of course, the coins
I started last years Creepshow off with one of Vlad "The Impaler" Tsepish (That is the real life Dracula for those with virgin necks) Grandpappys. So why not start this year off with his...

As always, post anything you feel is relevant!

Though Nero is credited with introducing the radiate crown -- representing the rays of the sun -- on his dupondii to indicate they were a double denomination (two asses), dupondii issued for empresses continued to be issued for well over a century with a draped bust, without any features apart from metallic composition to distinguish them from the as denomination. When patinated, it can be impossible to distinguish between an as and a dupondius of coins issued for an empress through the beginning of the third century.

When Caracalla introduced the double denarius (antoninianus), he adopted the convention of the radiate crown to indicate a double denomination, analogous to the relationship of the dupondius to the as. He also issued antoniniani for his mother, Julia Domna. Because the moon is the feminine equivalent of the sun, a crescent on the shoulders -- as depicted in the iconography of Juno Lucina -- was adopted to...

Dear Friends of Greek mythology!

Today I want to present one of the most mysterious gods of the Greek mythology, Darzalas the Great God of Odessos. Actually he is more a Thracian god. But very few is known about him. Here is what I could find out. But first three related coins:

1st coin
Thracia, Odessos, Septimius Severus, AD 193-211
AE 26, 9.98g, 26.34mm, 225°
obv. AV K Λ CEΠ - CEVHP[O]C Π
bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r.
rev. O - ΔHCCE - ITΩN
The Great God of Odessos, in himation, stg. l., holding cornucopiae and sacrifying
from phiale over altar l.
Die break on rev.
ref. AMNG I/1, cf. 2260 (here gorgoneion on breastplate); SNG Copenhagen 672 var.


2nd coin:
Thracia, Odessos, Gordian III & the Great God, AD 238-244
AE 27, 11.31g, 27.37mm, 180°
obv. AVT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC / AVΓ
Confronted busts of Gordian III, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r., and the Great
God, in himation and with kalathos, l., with cornucopiae over l....