'Other' Ancient Coins

What other types does everyone collect outside Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc?


Liang Dynasty, Emperor Wu, 502 - 549 AD
Æ13mm, 3.6 grams
Obverse: Da Ji Wu Zhu.

References:
None, possibly unique.

Notes:
This type is primarily known from contemporary literature as well as a mould excavated in 1935 (showing four lines radiating from the corners of the central square). The dating and attribution of the type is contested, though odd variations of the Wu Zhu mostly appear in the North & South Dynasties period of the 5th to 6th Century AD. It has been theorized that this type is not a coin but rather a charm of the period.

 

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Well I have always wanted to collect the coinage of Axum - it's on my 'to do' list once I've exhausted the possibilities of my 'one per emperor' Roman collection.

While I find Chinese history fascinating (especially Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty), I don't find the coinage particularly interesting, limited as it is to the holed 'cash' coins with Chinese writing (or perhaps I'm wrong?).

 

My collection is inadvertently heavily Eurocentric but I do represent ancient China with one coin:



CHINA. State of Chu. "Yuan Jin" Gold Cube Money, Warring States Period (ca. 400-220 B.C.). 7.03 gms. History of Chinese Currency-pg. 7, #1; H-5.5. Inscribed "Chen Yuan". Made in what is now Hubei province, it was cut from larger bars which allowed for the making of small denominations. Historically this is China's first gold currency with a fixed shape and size.

China had very little gold, and they kept minimal stockpiles of precious metals as rulers didn't want to expose themselves to the possibility of a warrior/warlord being able to carry a great amount of wealth. Doing so would allow someone from outside the area to raise an army easily, as mercenaries easily identify gold and silver as a universal currency.

This lack of precious metal significantly shaped society. They had substantial reserves of copper which was turned into cash coinage, but very rarely ever used gold and only in small quantities, making these pieces particularly rare.

 

@Loong Siew and @Ancientnoob get in here!

I have these and I'm not sure if they're part of the "etc." or not...

Indo-Scythians, King Maues
90-57 BCE (per CoinIndia; elsewhere, shown as 125-85 BCE)
AE hemi-obol, 9.5 gm, 20 x 23 mm
Obv: Elephant walking right, with raised trunk, within rectangular dotted border; Greek legend around, BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY MAYOY
Rev: King seated cross-legged facing oncouch, within rectangular border, monogram above right, Kharoshthi legend around:rajatirajasa mahatasa moasa
Ref: MIG 734a, Sen 15.1 (reference fromcoinindia)


Azes II*, Indo-Scythians, BC 57 -12
AR, drachm, 2g, 16mm; 6h, uncertain mint west of Taxila
Obv.: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY AZOY; king on horseback right, raising right hand, holding whip left, Kharosthi letter "ņa" before
Rev.: Kharoshthi legend around: maharajasa rajadirajasa mahatasa ayasa; Pallas-Athena standing right with shield and spear, monograms on either side
The "na" should have a dot under the "n" but I can't make it do that


Forgive me but I do not have my notes for this Azes tetradrachm handy. Reverse is Poseidon.

 

=> somehow I stumbled upon sweet medieval coins from "Lorraine"

=> yah, they rock!!

14th Century


15th Century


16th Century


17th Century

 

Everything but Chinese. I collect Roman, Greek, Roman Provincial, Byzantine & Middle Eastern. I just can't get into cash coins of any sort.

And like steve, I enjoy the Medieval years too.

 

I have a few Byzantine and a couple Medieval coins, but I pretty stay in the Greek, Roman Republican and Roman Imperial up to the very late Roman bronzes (LRBs).

 

Ken, you may be sorry yo asked this group that one. We have a few people here who have specialties most collectors would not recognize let alone be able to identify. I have a few of these 'other' things but mine are all common junk in poor grade compared to some of our specialists.

Aksum - Kaleb with gold inset



Sasanian - Varhran II


Gurjura kingdom of Sindh


Yaudeheyas (DVI)


Satavahana, Vasisthiputra Sri Pulomavi


Kashmir, Abhimanyugupta


Shahi, Spalapati Deva, This is a Tye 3 high relief which I feel lucky to have.



Parthian, Mithradates II



Chach, ruler unknown to me (Help, please)


Lanka, Dharmasoka


CT only allows ten attachments per post so we stop there. I hope our others will add their specialties.

 

I am new here but I just clicked on the link at the end of this sentence.

Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection

I think I stopped breathing for almost 30 seconds as I gazed at the Glory that was Greece. It reminds me of the collection that Michael Ruettgers (former CEO of EMC) donated to the MFA. I sat in that room (Ruettgers Gallery) for 3 hrs. I really don't know what to say, other than I tip my hat to you sir.

Kudos

M

 

This original coin is Nabataean. It represents Rabel 2 and queen Gamilat, the latter being on reverse, I think.

 

Yup. AJ's site will do that to you.

 

Some of my less common foci:

Kushan, Huvishka, local issue:


Gupta and post-Gupta, Skandagupta central provinces:


Central Asia, Zabulistan Turks.


Hunnic, Mihirakula.


Jitals, Kalhana deva:


Jitals, Sharaf Beg:


Jitals, Muhammad bin Sam:

 

I just looked at Rome. All I could think was, "you gotta be kidding me."...buried at Pompeii..............my brain hurts.

 

Yup! Three of them I think. I have AJs site pinned to my menu bar and look in often.

 

Thank you for the kind words! I appreciate it

 

Did I ever mention Dombes ?
Yeah, sure I did, being kind of maniac with them

"La Dombes" is a region of France situated between Lyon, Villefranche sur Saone and Bourg en Bresse, which has been ruled by princes under the authority of the kings of France during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, with allowance of minting their own currency.

Their coins were merely copied from the french royal coins, just changing the names and symbols, so that people (most of them couldn't read at this time) would take them as equal to french coins. They were legal tender in the whole kingdom. My interest in that coinage comes from me living a few kilometers from the border of that region. When I started collecting them, 18 years or so ago, there was no recent reference book about them, the last one had been edited in the 19th century. Since then Mr Jean Paul DIVO, the famous swiss numismatist, has writen a very useful book about Dombes coinage, that gives a much better view of the relative rarity of these coins, some of them being very rare.

Below are an illustration of one type of coin (all different, sort of specific to its period) per each and every ruler in this principality. Please note the gold pistole is an unicum (to date)


Jean II de Bourbon (1456-1488) Blanc, billon - sans date
Atelier de Trévoux
+ IOhES : DVX : BORBONI : TREVORCII : DNS Ecu de Bourbon accosté de trois flammes dans un double trilobe
+ DISPERSIT (rose) DEDIT (rose) PAVPERIBVS A Croix pattée cantonnée de deux lis et deux flammes, dans un double quadrilobe
2.91 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 2, PA # 5076, Boudeau # 1044



Pierre II de Bourbon (1488-1503) Liard, billon - sans date
Atelier de Trévoux
+ P[ETRVS] . DVX . BORBO . T Quatre lis avec brisure dans le champ
+ SIT NOmE . DhI . BNEDIT Croix pattée cantonnée de trèfles
1.23 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 22, PA # 5091, Boudeau # 1054, Monnaies XXII # 443



Louis II de Montpensier (1560-1582) Pistole, or - 1579 (inédite) - Atelier de Trévoux
+ LVDO . P . DOMBARVM . D . MONTISP Ecu de Bourbon couronné
+ DNS . ADIVTOR . ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1579 Croix feuillue
6.54 gr - 25-26 mm
Ref : Date inédite : Divo Dombes -, PA -, Mantellier -, Boudeau -, Sirand -



Francois II de Montpensier (1582-1592) Douzain, billon - 1587
Atelier de Trevoux
+ FRANCIS . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTIS . M Ecu de Bourbon couronné, dans le champ, deux F couronnés
+ DNS . ADIVT : ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1587 Croix échancrée cantonnée de couronnes
2.11 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 68, Poey d'Avant # 5136



Henri II de Montpensier (1592-1608) Teston du deuxième type, argent- 1604Atelier de Trévoux
+ HENRIC . P . DOMBAR . D . MONTISP . R Buste cuirassé à droite
+ DNS . ADIVTOR . ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1604 Ecu de Bourbon couronné, dans le champ deux H couronnés. Point dans le O et sur l'M, point dans l'écu
9.32 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 85, Boudeau # 1066



Marie de Montpensier (1608-1627) Double Tournois type 5, cuivre - 1627
Atelier de Trévoux
+ MARIE . SOVVER . DE . DOMBES . Buste à gauche avec large collerette et collier de perles
+ DOVBLE . TOVRNOIS . 1627 . Trois lis et une brisure
2.96 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 157, CGKL # 728 (b2), PA # 5165 v



Gaston d'Orleans (1627-1650) Quinzain, billon - 1643
Atelier de Trévoux
GAST . FR . VN . REG . VSV . FR . PR . DOMB Ecu couronné, surmonté d'un lis dans un ovale. Dans le champ, deux G
+ DNS ADIVT ET . REDEM . MEVS . 1643 Croix échancrée avec un lis au centre, cantonnée de quatre lis. Point secret dans le D de DNS
1.89 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 186, PA # 5190v, Mantellier # 77



Anne-Marie Louise d'Orleans (1650-1693) Douzième d'écu, argent - 1664
Atelier de Trévoux
AN . MA LOV PRINC . SOVV . DE . DOM Buste drapé de 3/4 à droite
(Rose) DNS + ADIVTOR . A . ET . REDEM . MEVS Ecu d'Orléans couronné. Dans le champ, 16 | 64
2.22 gr
Ref : Divo Dombes # 231, Boudeau # 1094

Q

 

I can't get into Chinese (washers), I tried cup coins, did nothing for me. I have a saxon and a couple of Sennone celtic coins. I would like a William the Conqueror coin because of family connections, but medieval I count as "modern".

I don't collect Byzantine because I needed a cut off point somewhere. So Roman Imperial/Provincial and Greek for me. I just branched out into RR so have a denarius to add to my semis.

I do enjoy looking at other peoples coins, even though I don't collect them

 

Spanish cob coins from shipwrecks are also of interest. I wouldn't mind a nice big chucky piece of 8. But you know, 2 expensive hobbies - travel and coin collecting - finite funds.

 

Uhm, are you aware your coin has a hole in it?

 

Dang, I forgot one!


Khusru II, Sassanid Kingdom, AD 590-628
AR, 4.12g, 31.5mm; 2h
Obv.: bust of Sassanian king facing right, wearing winged crown
Rev.: Fire altar flanked by two attendants

This is my photo. The seller's was better but at the time I was still struggling with silver. The struggle continues...there is a touch of pretty toning I failed to capture, and in these it looks like a red-orange spot at the 9 o'clock position on the reverse.