And here's a lesser version of that drachm, although the wear is nicely even and it still has great appeal to me . Same year, bust left. EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius year 14, CE 150/1 AE drachm, 34 mm, 28.8 gm Obv: Laureate bust of Antoninus Pius left Rev: Triptolemos driving biga of winged serpents right; L IΔ above Ref: Emmett 1683.14 Since we've broken out Triptolemos, here's another although some imagination is required to see the snake-drawn chariot. It looks more like a winged wheelchair ATTICA, Athens. Eleusis mint Eleusinian festival coinage 340-335 BC AE16 Obv: Triptolemos, seated left in a winged chariot drawn by two snakes Rev: Pig standing right on mystic staff, (bucranium below?) Ref: SNG Cop 415 From CNG's archives: The obverse is inspired by a statue of Triptolemos that was presumably still in its temple when Pausanias (I. 38, 6) visited Eleusis in about AD 160: “The Eleusians have a temple to Triptolemos... They say that the plain called Rharion was the first to be sown and the first to grow crops... Here is shown a threshing floor and altar. My dream forbade the description of the things within the wall of the sanctuary, and the uninitiated are of course not permitted to learn that which they are prevented from seeing.”
Late to the party, as usual. Love that biga of snakes. When I was collecting Roman Republic I used to have a Volteius snake biga denarius, but had to sell it along with most of my other RR in the early 90s. Never went back, but did hold on to a few. I had a particular thing for the bigati and two of the three I kept haven't shown up here yet. Biga of stags: Anonymous in 143BC. Diana driving biga of stags above a crescent moon. Biga of goats (same old-same old): C. Renius in 138BC. Juno Caportina in biga of goats. (One more for the road.) And as requested, biga of elephants: C. Caecilius Metellus Caprario in 125BC. Jupiter driving biga of elephants, Victory above.
Great coin Bing! I have to say thatI didnt even know such a coin existed. Also, of all the snake bigas shown on this thread, I find the snakes on your coin portrayed the best
Thank you! I do try hard to take good photos. I basically copied how Ancient Joe does it-- same camera, similar settings, and I reproduced his nifty background template. Doug Smith is the real photographer here, and I've incorporated some of his tips into my setup, although I'm using a fixed-lens point-and-shoot camera (on manual mode).
Funky Teams: RR C Renius AR Denarius 18mm 3.8g Roma 138 BC Helmeted hd Roma r X - C RENI ROMA Juno driving biga goats r whip reins scepter Cr 231-1 RR Allius Bala 92 BCE AR Den Diana Biga Stags Sear 221 Craw336-1 Seleucid Seleucus I 312-280 BCE AR Tet 14.46g Seleucia on Tigris. Zeus - Athena driving a quadriga of 4 horned elephants SC 130
EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian Drachm 134-35 AD Poseidon in hippocamp biga Reference. RPC III, 6020 (this coin illustrated). Dattari-Savio Pl. 89, 7759 (this coin); Emmett 1023 (triton biga) Issue L ƐΝΝƐΑΚ·Δ or L ΙΘ = year 19 Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙС ΤΡΑΙΑΝ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС СƐΒ Laureate draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian, r., seen from rear Rev. L ƐΝΝƐΑΚ·Δ Poseidon in hippocamp biga, r.raising hand and holding trident 23.35 gr 32 mm 12h From the Dattari collection. Poseidon was the Olympian god of the ocean, earthquakes and horses. His father Kronos swallowed him whole when he was born, later Zeus with the help of Metis managed to set him free. During the Titanomachy, the Cyclopes forged a unique trident for Poseidon, and together with his brothers they defeated the Titans and threw them into the Tartaros. The god is well known for his famous attributes such as the Trident, sometimes he also used to carry around a rock with sea creatures on it, and he is pictured on pottery with a wreath of celery leaves. His sacred animals are the dolphin, the bull and the horses. However he is also associated with animals such as the hippocampus, in fact, his chariot was driven by seahorses.
A truly wonderful example. This is another Republican coin I've wanted for a long time (like the T. Carisius with a sphinx reverse). Almost every one I've seen, though, is missing Ceres's head, or one or both of the snakes.
No Fair! You found a great snake biga with the bonus scorpion option. Someone here got my Carisius Sphinx when I was in an anti-Republican, anti-low grade bad mood. I might have been well advised to save it until I found a better one but I was in a condition snob phase. My record keeping could be faulty but is shows I took a financial loss on the coin but could pretend I was a big dog. There was I time I was buying any RR that I did not have if it was cheap enough. At other times, I regretted that period. I hope it is now in a happy home. I have two kinds of coins in my collection that 'bother' me. First are coins I regret paying too much for and second are coins I paid too little for and got even less than I paid. The late Don Zauche sold this for $30. I believe that is about right for what it was. I look forward to the resumption of shows to see if someone brings a $130 example ($330?). There are a lot of them out there. https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp..._TYPE_ID=2&VIEW_TYPE=0&MAX_COUNT=10000&PAGE=1
Wow, Oki-- fantastic type! This thread is a few years old and I did finally get one of the Volteius Ceres snake biga coins a while back. Since this thread has been resurrected I'll drop it in the thread. The serpent heads look like chickens or ducks. Anguiped geese?
I've posted this coin before, as it is the only example showing this unusual mode of transportation. Also, here's a biga drawn by a mule, a tetradrachm from Messana, ca. 410-405 BC: You'd probably not break the land speed record in one of these....
My Triptolemos. Athens New Style Tetradrachm c 113/2 BC Obs : Athena Parthenos right in tri-form helmet 29mm 16.73 gm Thompson issue 52 Thompson catalogue : Obs 680 : Rev NEW Rev : ΑΘΕ ethnic Owl standing on overturned panathenaic amphora on which month mark M control ME below 3 magistrates : EUMAREIDES KLEOMEN PYRRI RF symbol : Triptolemos in biga pulled by snakes All within a surrounding olive wreath
Elagabalus. 218-222 AD. Nicopolis, Moesia Inferior. Æ (28mm, 14.20 gm, 12h). Novius Rufus, legatus consularis. Obv: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev: Triptolemos in chariot drawn right by two winged serpents. H&J 8.26.23.3; AMNG I 1906; Varbanov 3911.
Another interesting winged serpent coin: Caracalla. 198-217 AD. THRACE, Hadrianopolis. Æ (27mm, 11.95 gm, 6h). Obv: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left with shield and spear. Rev: Triptolemos in flying winged-serpent drawn biga, raising right hand to spread seed from bag he holds in left; below, Gaia, holding two ears of grain, reclines left and holds up fold of garment to receive the seed. Varbanov 3589-3593. Writes a major numismatic firm: "Triptolemos was the 'Johnny Appleseed' of the ancient Greeks; a god who gave man agriculture, by spreading seeds from a bag he carried in his flying biga. This reverse is an allegory of the function he performed by sowing Gaia, the earth goddess, with the seeds necessary for vegetation to exist."
