Coin Talk

This coin is one of my favorite denarii. Even though I bought it at the end of last year I have only recently gotten around to taking my own photos of it. As such, I hope the board will not begrudge me the opportunity to give it its own thread and post some general information about it.


Roman Republic
Mn. Aemelius Lepidus
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck ca. 114-113 BC
Dia.: 18 mm
Wt.: 3.83 g
Obv.: ROMA, ligate MA; Laureate, diademed and draped bust of Roma, right. * behind.
Rev.: MN AEMILIO; Equestrian statue right on three arches, L E P between arches.
Ref.: Crawford 291/1
Ex zumbly Collection (AMCC Auction 1, lot 112; December 1, 2018), Ex Demetrios Armounta Collection (CNG E-Auction 325, lot 490; April 23, 2014), Purchased from Colosseum Coin Exchange (with tag)

Obverse: A Beautiful Portrait of Roma
When I think of Roma on Republican era coins I tend to think...

Just picked up this 4th century coin minted at one of my favorite places on my recent visit to South Italy.
Sicily, Eryx, c. 4th century BC. Æ (15mm, 4.86g, 9h). Female head r. R/ Horse stepping r. Horse standing r., with raised foreleg. Campana 49; CNS I, 18; SNG ANS -; HGC 2, 326. Brown patina, VF - Good VF


Eryx, (Erice) Sicily high on a mountain top reached by cable car, would take 45 min compared to 10 via cable car, but even when you reach the old city their was still an up hill walk through this ancient arch.

Well worth the walk to the top first impression of the 11th century Norman castle was awe inspiring with great views of the landscape below.

After entry (pic below) I walked out into the uppermost courtyard, mainly ruins with not much evidence of the Roman temple that once stood in the area, except for an area where diggings have uncovered a...

General Horatio Gates

The Battle of Saratoga

October 17, 1777

The American victory at Saratoga was the turning point of the American Revolutionary War. It not only blunted a major British offensive but more importantly, convinced the French to join the Americans in the war effort. Ultimately French assistance in the form of funds, war materials and naval support would be one of the deciding factors in the French-American victory.

The Saratoga campaign was to have been a three-pronged British attack that was intended to separate New England from the rest of the colonies. Troops, under British General John Burgoyne, moved south from Lake Champlain. A second British contingent marched east from Lake Ontario, and third attack group was scheduled to move north from New York City. Unfortunately for the British, General William Howe decided to take his army south and...

A Chronicle of the Revolutionary War in Medals ...

The Comitia Americana (American Congress) Series is a group of 13 medals that honored heroes and marked major events of the American Revolutionary War. The American Continental Congress authorized eleven medals that were awarded to military heroes. Two other pieces, the Libertas Americana medal and a Benjamin Franklin medal, were financed privately.

The French initially made all but one of the medals. During the late 18th century the French artists produced the finest medals in the world. Proof of their preeminence is showcased by the beauty and superb execution that marks all of these pieces. It would be many years before the United States Mint would be able to rival the artistic merits of the French medallists.

Those who collect the Comitia Americana series have several options and face great challenges if they decide to acquire the earliest mintages of these pieces. The original gold or silver medals that were awarded to...

WARNING: A long, rambling, artistic treatise on a couple of old coins follows.

My last coin purchase of 2018 was this stater of Kelenderis. There have been a number of these on the market over the last year and I like the type, so I have been looking for the right one. Many of these have very ragged flans that lose part of the design. Many are poorly struck with flat spots in the high points. They vary between an archaic style and a more classical style. I picked this one because of its good classical style. Even though it is somewhat corroded, it is still very attractive in hand. In person you don’t notice the rough surfaces as much that the photo highlights. I am very pleased with this as my last coin of 2018.


Cilicia, Kelenderis.
Circa 420-410 BC, Stater (Silver, 21 mm, 10.34 g, 9 h).
Obverse: Youthful nude rider seated sideways on horse prancing to right, preparing to jump off and run alongside the horse.
Reverse: ΚΕΛEN Goat kneeling right,...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Once again a typical Roman legend: The story of the pious brothers of Catania. And an introduction into the meaning of Roman pietas.

The coin:
AR - Denarius, 3.91g, 19.22mm, 0°
Rome, ca. 108-107 B.C.
Obv.: Head of Pietas, diademed and with necklace, n.r.
under the chin .X (control mark)
behind PIETAS (AT ligated)
Rev.: One of the Catanian brothers (Anapias or Amphinomus), naked, walking r., wearing his father on his shoulders; he, in himation, has raised his right hand and looks back.
in ex. M.HERENNI (HE ligated)
Ref.: Crawford 308/1a; Sydenham 567; Herennia 1; RCTV 185
About EF

Note:
The Herennia were an Oscan family. Herennius is the Latinized form of the Oscan first name heirens. For example, the Samnite commander who defeated the Roman army at Caudium in 321 BC was called Heirens. In 121 B.C. the Haruspex Herennius Siculus was imprisoned for his friendship with Gaius Sempronius Gracchus and...

Anthony Wayne, Francois de Fleury and John Stewart

The Battle of Stoney Point

July 15, 1779

Stony Point was the site of a fort on the Hudson River 30 miles north of New York City. A large marshy area to its rear and imposing cliffs 150 feet high made it seem like an impregnable position. In 1779 the British were looking to capture the American fort at West Point. The fall of West Point would have given the British control of the Hudson River and would have isolated New England from the rest of the colonies. To relieve the British pressure on West Point and open the transportation lines from New England, George Washington ordered Anthony Wayne to take the British held forts at Stony Point and Verplanck’s Point.

After a long, forced march, a select group of 1,300 American troops, penetrated the marshes behind the fort and scaled the cliffs in front of it. They surprised the British and captured the fort using only bayonets....

A couple of years ago, on an April 1st morn, I posted some silly mash-up’s of coins that included the following:





This morning there was a thread over at CCF concerning a rather manly looking rendition of Tyche on a Provincial AE. It reminded me of an actual mash-up on a coin from Parthia. Thought I’d repost my contribution to that thread here:

On the Parthian tets of Phraates II (138-127 BC), die engravers referenced the Tyche reverses of Demetrios I Soter and the Zeus reverses of Alexander I Balas, both of the Seleukid Empire. The Parthians had supplanted the Seleukids in that part of Western Asia but, at least early on, tried to copy the regional Greek archetypes for the coinage. The models for the reverse are:




Well, note what happened on the unique reverse of Phraates II's tetradrachms:





As Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis points...

I recently purchased this coin from Forum:

Parthian Empire. Fourree drachm (3.35 g, 21 mm). Orodes II (57-38 BC). "Kangavar" mint. Obverse: Diademed bust left. Reverse: Seated archer, K below, surrounded by standard seven-line Greek legend. Sellwood 45.21v., Shore 230v. This coin: Purchased from Forum Ancient Coins, September 2019; ex. Maxwell Hunt Collection.

(Note: Historical section on Orodes II and Kangavar is recycled; new text about fourrees follows.)

Orodes II was a son of the Parthian king Phraates III. Around 57 BC, he teamed up with his brother Mithradates III to murder their father and seize power. The brothers soon quarreled, and after a couple of years Orodes II was able to defeat and kill his brother and claim the throne uncontested. He fought several times against Rome, most importantly the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC where the Roman Triumvir Crassus was killed. In 38 BC his favorite son and heir apparent was killed fighting in...

I always enjoy the "why we collect what we collect" posts on CT, for they help clarify my rather incoherent thoughts on the subject.

And so here's how I got my very first Kushan coin, which I bought on eBay from a seller describing it as "BYSTANTINE (sic) JUSTIN 1 - ANCIENT COPPER" I knew it wasn't Byzantine, but I was not really sure what it was, so I just watched it for months (it was a "buy it now"). Finally, after a little digging, I figured out the Kushan Kingdom part and pulled the trigger. I had no idea what size it was beyond the seller's "thicker than a nickel", and when it arrived I was slightly disappointed - I figured it was a tetradrachm, since they are the most common AE denomination. But this one is a di-drachm, which appears to be scarcer.

After my size-disappointment, I found myself being impressed as heck with it - lovely workmanship, very "eastern" with the caftan and trousers, humped bull, etc. Nice greenish-black patina too. And so I found...