Coin Talk

Oh Lyon, la belle cité !
Maybe you’ll call me a chauvinist. Lugdunum (Lyon), this is true, is the hometown of my ancestors.But it’s also a place with a rich history in the ancient Roman world. So let’s overview some interesting details about this famous polis and mostly about his monetary workshop.
The city
Lugdunum and its region are at the crossroads of Western Europe, joining the North Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Europe to the Atlantic Ocean. Many centuries ago, it was built for his strategic location. Today it is still the third biggest city in France. Lugdunum is composed of two Gallic words : Lug was the Celtic god of the order and the right, and dunos (fortress or hill), the whole thus designating the “fortress of Lug”. In Roman times, the city was called Caput Gallilae, “capital of Gaul”. It was founded in 43 BC and reached a population of up to 200000 inhabitants at the summum of its glory....

About 4 years ago I bought the slabbed Parthian silver drachm at auction, pictured below, when the market for Parthian coins was rather soft. At that point I had sold all my Parthian coins except for one and wasn't looking for any more until I saw this coin. The bizarre looking crown with a bulls horn on the side and 8 small stags attached, that the king was wearing, intrigued me . I thought to myself who would wear such a crazy looking thing . Phraates was murdered by his two sons, Orodes II and Mithridates III. Maybe they wanted that crown he was wearing .



Lately the market for Parthian coins has gotten a lot stronger . After browsing through a recent CNG and Heritage auction I was surprised at many of the prices realized. Pictured below is a rare Phraates III drachm from CNG that sold for $1,800.00. The coin had previously sold at Peus 338, lot 133, April 27, 1994, and was described as...

Guess the grade:

OK, had the opportunity to add this one to my collection; description in the past Goldberg auction as follows (image courtesy PCGS):

“1798 S-176 R4 Style II Hair, Small 8. PCGS graded VG-8. Struck over a Token. Glossy light to medium chocolate brown and steel. Smooth and attractive showing only a few trivial contact marks. A tiny pinprick over the 9 and a shallow pit in the field over the hair ribbon are good identifying marks. MDS, Breen state V late. Swelling is starting to weaken ES in STATES. What makes this cent so special is that it was struck over an as yet unidentified token, most likely one of the British "Conder" or merchant tokens of the late 18th Century. Clear undertype from the token is visible at RTY and in the opposing area at CA to the denominator. On the reverse you can make out two letters, H and E, and the numeral 8 shows under the second A in AMERICA. Perhaps an expert in the token series could attribute the token, but we are...

Dear friends of ancient mythology!

Here is another myth that can be chronologically classified after the myth of the white sow of Lavinium. It takes place in the time when the Trojans were still looking for land in Latium.

The Coin:
Roman Republic, L. Papius Celsus, gens Papia
AR - Denarius, 18mm, 3.66g
Rome, 45 B.C.
Obv.: Head of Juno Sospita r., on the head goatskin and horns
Rev: She-wolf standing r. with log in mouth, that she wants to throw into the fire burning before her. Next to it an eagle, who with open wings is fanning the flames.
above CELSVS.III VIR
in ex. L.PAPIVS
Ref.: Crawford 472/1; Sydenham 964; Papia 2
VF, attractive toning


Mythology:
Aeneas had made a treaty with the Latin people, which was affirmed by oaths. The natives gave the Trojans as much land as they wanted, i.e. about 40 stadiums in each direction. For this the Trojans had to assist the natives in the present war, and both peoples should help each other...

This is one fella whom I keep telling myself I will upgrade my denarius of his but don't. Partly due to the fact that I like the ghostly almost spooky portrait. Also, because it's just boring old AP.




Antoninus Pius
(138-161 AD). AR Denarius (18 mm, 3.39 g), Roma (Rome), 153-154 AD.
Obv. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVII, laureate head right.
Rev. COS IIII, Vesta standing holding simpulum and Palladium.
RIC III, 229b.
Nicely toned

The guy didn't kill his own mother, skipped out on sleeping with his sisters, never killed his son for false accusations of sleeping with his wife, if he played the fiddle we never had to hear about it, heck, he was even known as a completely devoted and loving husband despite the salacious rumors of his wife Faustina out prostituting a prostitute!


Diva Faustina Senior
wife of Antoninus Pius (141 BCE). Silver denarius (3.69 gm). Ca....

I was very excited to add this “travel series” coin of Hadrian to my Nerva-Anotonine collection in silver that I have been working on the last couple of years. Of the travel themed coins of Hadrian I have always preferred the types that show the province being referenced as a lone personification with the name as the legend.


Roman Empire
Hadrian (AD 117 – 138)
AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck ca. AD 134 – 138
Dia.: 17 mm
Wt.: 2.98 g
Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP; Laureate head right
Rev.: AFRICA; Africa with elephant headdress reclining left, holding scorpion and cornucopia, basket of grain at feet
Ex L. Rose Collection

Hadrian’s accomplishments in Africa
Hadrian’s travel series coins were struck all together near the end of his reign while he was living in Tivoli at his magnificent villa there. The coins are probably meant to reference the accomplishments he made during his...

If ever there was a surprise Roman emperor, perhaps it was Claudius, who ruled from 41 to 54 AD. He may have been born with a birth defect, or he have suffered from cerebral palsy. Whatever his problems were, it left him with “an uncouthness” that left him a family outcast. Some probably viewed him as mentally challenged, but that was clearly not the case.

Perhaps to compensate for the snubbing, he became an accomplished scholar. He wrote 20 books on Etruscan history, eight books on Carthaginian history and eight autobiographical memoirs. Unfortunately, all of these works have been lost, but it is clear that his mind was sharp and clear.

After the insane emperor, Caligula, was murdered, the praetorian guard chose Claudius as emperor. Although there were some plots to remove him, Claudius held on to power by establishing his hold on the army and taking Britain as a new colony, perhaps as a diversion. He named his son Britannicus in honor of that addition to the empire.

Although...

Dear Friends of ancient mythology!

Here I have a Republican coin I want to present together with its mythological background. It is one of my most beautiful Republican coins and I'm a bit proud to have it in my collection.

The Coin:
It is a denarius of the mintmaster C. Sulpicius C. f. Gala of the gens Sulpicia.
AR - denarius, 20mm, 3.67g
Rome, 106 BC
Obv.: Conjugate heads of the Di Penates, laureate, l.
D.P.P. before (abbreviation of Di Penates Publici)
Rev.: Two male figures standing vis-a-vis, both holding spears, the right one points
with r. hand to a sow, laying between them to left.
above N (control mark)
in ex. C.SVLPICI.C.F
Ref.: Crawford 312/1; Sydenham 572; Sulpicia 1
rare, EF

The scene of the rev. is often called an oath scene. But the depiction of a Fetial sacrifice at an oath scene is not much likely because the victim animal was always killed with a silex sacrum (a sacrificing key made of stone), and this is not seen here....