New rarish cheapish Hannibalish & Cleopatrish

I'm attracted to portrait coins of famous personalities... like practically everyone, which means they're distressingly expensive. Recently I was able to check a couple of big ones off the list. At least I have them covered until (or if) I can upgrade.

First comes Hannibal: the problem is that no coin is known to depict his features, unfortunately. That said, there are a few issues from Spain dated to 237-209 BC with unusual portrayals of the god Melqart that might depict him, in the same way that some portrayals of Herakles are thought to depict the features of Alexander. At the very least, these coins may depict features characteristic of the Barcid family (his father Hamilcar and a couple of his brothers also had control of Spain at one time or another). So: "Hannibalish."

Here is an expensive example (not mine) with an elephant on the reverse (how cool is that??):



And here is my new, very modest version with a horse:

The seller's photo is not great, as you can see, and I'm hoping it might arrive with a little more detail than I expect. (I'll be happy in any case, though!) Both of the above are quarter-shekels, very small coins - a little less than 2g and 13mm. And they are definitely not common!

New acquisition #2 is "-ish" for a different reason. It definitely depicts Cleopatra VII, it's just a very worn example, even moreso than the Hannibal:



It is a diobol (16.58g, 26mm), with the classic Ptolemaic eagle on the reverse, minted in Alexandria. But you CAN see Cleopatra there, right... if you squint? With perhaps a faint shadow of the famous nose?? (cf. Asterix)

Here is one (not mine) that is easier on the eyes, but a lot harder on the pocketbook:



Overall, two cheapish ($200 range for each, all in) additions to my collection. What do you think of them? And please post your related coins! Second Punic war era, Ptolemaic from the same period... plenty of history to add to this thread as I haven't included much!

 

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Cant go wrong with that 1/4 shekel - that alone was worth the lot in my opinion.

 

Thanks! They were actually about $200 each, not $200 together. (That really would have been a steal!) Edited to make this clear.

 

I love your new "ish" coins. I'm sure I couldn't afford the elephant and Cleo VII is far from cheap. I would take both if you please.

 

Two great acquisitions Severus Alexander, and good value, as my guess is they will always appreciate in value.

 

i likeish them

 

I owned the quarter shekel in the original post for a while but recently upgraded it. Here's my picture which shows it more accurately in hand:



And my new example, a 1 1/2 shekel. I was outbid on a trishekel a couple years ago but this was far less than half the cost of that coin, so I can't complain!

 

Wow. Now i like them elephants

 

That upgrade is pretty stunning, @AncientJoe. Do you have an opinion on the various portraits found in the series? There's the earlier bearded one, then the one on the quarter shekels above, and this third one on your 1 1/2 shekel. Do you think they depict or at least borrow features from actual members of the Barca family? (There's also the portrait that is sometimes thought to be Scipio, which I have in bronze.)

 

Wow two cool new additions @Severus Alexander! Congrats I was not aware that there were coins that may depict features of the Barcid family. Way cool!

...but oh no my want list is already way too long *must resist temptation to overspend on one*

 

Pretty cool

 

Sev-A: those are definitely some excellent historical figures! As for your Punic quarter shekel, I've seen worse (see below )

AJ: fantastic upgrade

In the first months of collecting I bought what may be the ugliest known Punic quarter shekel . At the time, I couldn't imagine ever being willing to spend more for an even halfway decent example. Oh how things have changed but the price of a good example is still daunting.


IBERIA, Punic Iberia
c. 237-209 BCE
AR 1/4 shekel
Obv: laureate bust of male (Hannibal? Melqart? Herakles?) with club left
Rev: Elephant walking right; dotted border
Ref: La Monedas Hispano-Cartaginesas, 45-58

This Cleopatra VII bronze is very nice at first glance but there is some tooling-- a common problem on her coins. It was more pronounced after I removed the "makeup" from the crevices. It wasn't from dealer A or dealer Z but in retrospect maybe it was consigned to the auction by one of them.


EGYPT, Ptolemaic dynasty. Cleopatra VII Thea Neotera
51-30 BCE
AE 40 drachmae
Obv: Diademed and draped bust right
Rev: KΛEOΠATPAΣ BΑΣΙΛΙΣΣHΣ, Diademed and draped bust right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; double cornucopiae to left, M (mark of value) to right
Ref: Svoronos 1872; Weiser 184-5; SNG Copenhagen 422-4

 

It's speculative and unable to be confirmed but close enough for me to colloquially call it Hannibal (especially with the elephant). Here's a description from an auction catalog which has some additional context:

"It has been suggested that the head on the obverse of the coin might be that of Hannibal, in the guise of Melqart, or of another Punic ruler. In the absence of firm evidence, this theory can only be conjectural, and the head is usually identified as that of Melqart. The features of the head, with the raised brow, the distinct bridge of the nose, the prominent chin, and the sideburns, does perhaps suggest a realism that one would expect from portraiture. The reverse of the coin depicts one of the Carthaginian War elephants that would have been used by Hannibal to cross the Alps in his campaign against Rome."

 

Even with the tooling, that's an awfully nice Cleopatra, TIF. (In fact, the tooling is a good thing, in a way: an untooled version with that level of detail would have cost well into 5 figures, I expect!) I'll be amazed if you ever manage to upgrade it.

Your quarter shekel may be aesthetically challenged... but it has the elephant!!

Two great coins.

 

Excellent. I will try hard to believe that the individual portrayed on mine is the same as that on yours.