The Sheer Beauty of Ancient Greek Tets

Yeah, I got a deep appreciation for Chinese calligraphy coin art too....

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

My main "secret" is shooting on a partly cloudy day with natural sunlight, augmented (optionally) by a bit of artificial light if needed.

I tilt the coin with a small stack of business cards so that it hits just the right angle relative to the camera. This takes a bit of trial and error but there's usually a set of angles where a coin really "pops".

I use a relatively inexpensive camera (~$300). I have a much nicer one but just haven't gotten around to learning DSLR macro photography and... "if it ain't broke"

 

I finally got around to photographing my Chinese stuff, so in the footsteps of @TypeCoin971793, @Milesofwho, and @Sallent, here's one of my favourite pieces of calligraphy. It's from the same emperor (Hui Zong) as the Song dynasty coins posted by TypeCoin and Miles, but slightly later, issued 1107-10. It also features the emperor's "Slender Gold" script, but is an even bigger 10 cash coin at 42mm. (H16.426. It's actually the coin illustrated on the cover of Hartill.)



My mind boggles at the high quality of this coinage, coming at a time when the northern half of the empire was about to fall to the Jin invaders (Jurchen ancestors of the Manchu). I truly find this coin to be as beautiful as a Hellenistic tet. This is a lot cheaper though!

 

Very lovely coin. A solid specimen. In my opinion some of the best calligraphy on Chinese coins was done around the time of the Song dynasty.

However, I don't own any, as much as I like them. So far I've only concentrated on Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, and Emperor Wang Mang because of my historical interest on that period of early Chinese Imperial history.

 

Awesome!

 

Your type is definitely on my list. It’s just hard to come by, probably because it was a better weight standard than the one before it.

 

I always thought that the difference between Greek and Roman coins was a good reflection of what each civilization most valued and how they saw and interpreted the world around them. The Greeks beheld their world in terms of aesthetics, how it could be appreciated whereas the Romans saw the world in term of how it worked. The Greeks wanted people to gaze at their coins and appreciate them. The Romans wanted their coins to be spent.

 

Nice Alexander Coins. Pity he was such a Great Drinker !!!

 

Different hairstyles can be found on those tets from Syracuse. Fascinating!


SICILY, Syracuse; Second Democracy (466-405 BC) struck ca. 420 - 415 BC
Obverse: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙ-ΟΝ, head of Arethusa right, hair in sakkos decorated with meander pattern in band; four dolphins around.
Reverse: Charioteer driving Biga (two-horse chariot) to right, crowned by Nike flying left above
24 x 31 mm; 16.84 g
Reference: Boehringer Series XXIII, 709 (V347/R485); HGC 2, 1322

 

Why?

 

He died after a bout of drinking.

 

Didn't Alexander blame his early death, before 30, on prophesy by the gods - at the price of eternal glory ?

 

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an...hringer__coins_of_syracuse/40492/Default.aspx
I have always had an unexplainable desire for the Boehringer book on the Syracuse coins. I simply will never have enough of the coins to warrant the book purchase.

He lists 500 reverse dies (the head is the reverse on these; the chariot is the obverse). Of them, I was happy to find a not too great example of Boehringer 703 (V345/R481) showing the large die break on reverse 481 with a good size cud missing behind the head. I'm sure most people would prefer a die that was not falling apart but I found this one interesting particularly because it seems the strike was made unevenly, I like to believe because they were trying to avoid a total die failure. I like to imagine management standing over the die cutter who was busy engraving a replacement reverse die yelling "Faster! Faster!" I have seen several coins of this die in various stages of failure. I'm sure there is someone out there trying to get the set (733 combinations?). That would be a fascinating set.

This coin does not have all that much wear judging from the front of the face and the upper left quadrant of the obverse. The missing hair detail has not worn away but was never there from the flat, uneven strike. I would love to know how many coins were struck with this die before and after mine. The one sold by CNG was not struck unevenly but you can see the break is quite obvious. It is later than mine.
https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=68481

Is this a case where theirs is better for being worse?

 

Thanks dougsmit for your very interesting explanation. 500 reverse dies!! Just amazing! (thanks for clarifying that the head is the reverse).

Both coins you are showing seem to me real beauties and interesting, each in its own way. Maybe an expert would say differently..
Here is one with a very worn and blackened obverse but what I think is a lovely reverse. What could possibly have happened to the obverse? Guess an expert would say it is a bad coin.
SICILY, Syracuse, Tetradrachm, struck ca. 430 - 420 BC; Second Democracy (466-405 BC); 24 mm, 17.05 g
Obverse: Charioteer driving Biga to right crowned by Nike flying r.
Reverse: bust of Arethusa r., whorl earring, and band wound four times around head and hair, ΣΥΡΑ[ΚΟ]ΣΙ[ΟΝ], three dolphins, one behind the neck, two in front;

Sear 932v; BMC Sicily, #122; not sure if it is Boehringer 675 (V338/R462) or Boehringer 667

A similar one (same reference) in a much better condition, with the same hair style and face, 24 x 28 mm, 17.19 g



I find Arethusa's expression lovelier on the "bad" coin

 

While there are some striking examples of artistry among the Roman coinage, I have to agree that Greek coinage, especially the tets, is overall much more interesting and artistic. As we all know, Roman coins were usually designed to be political statements first and foremost, while Greek coinage often was often designed primarily to show off the glory and power of the issuing city-state. And as we also all know, politics and beauty seldom mix!

 

While we are at it with Greek tets, here is my other one:

 

My father has one tetradrachm. He said it was the only coin he ever wanted.

 

For the record and to prevent anyone thinking I am gettin soft on the matter: Tetradrachms are wonderful but the same Greek mints tat made them made other denominations that are nice,too, and have excellent die work. Below is a minor silver (half litra) of Syracuse for comparison.

 

No worries, I was stumping for the same point earlier in the thread. I know we both greatly admire AJ's Akragas obol. This is a 10mm coin!!

 

I have to agree. As nice as tetradrachms are, one can't help but be blown away by the detail and sheer beauty of tiny Greek silver.

How on Earth did they get so much detail on this face for a tiny coin that's barely 6mm? The celator must have been extremely talented to accomplish this with the ancient equipment he was working with.



And although earlier coins like this one from around 520 BCE may be a little less artistic, there is great beauty to be appreciated in the form of the celator's talent at getting the lion's details and the reverse pattern on a coin so tiny it makes a US penny look enormous.



And of course, as time passed the detail on tiny coins got even more intricate and beautiful. It's almost as if the celators wanted to upstage the work of their parents and grandparents by producing more delicate and refined work on tiny silver coins.


Look at the facial details, as well as the details on the great of the helmet on this 9mm coin. Is that not amazing? And Athena, doesn't she just amazing on this tiny coin? How could one person have so much talent to depict such delicate beauty in such a small medium.

And to this date, this Kyzicos boar coin is in the top 3 favorite Greek coins in my collection. Look at the about of the lion as he roars, you can see the creases. Look at the detail on the mane of the wild boar. Trully fantastic work.




And my favorite tiny Greek by far is this one. Can you see why? I am deeply in love with the almost surrealistic quality to the lion and the scorpion. I don't know why, but I'd like to think Salvador Dalí would love the artistic style of this coin.



So yeah, as impressive as large Greek silvers can be, I find myself more drawn to the tiny Greek coins for the incredible talent and skills of the celators that worked on them. Any skilled celator can do wonders on a large silver coin of 28mm to 35 mm, but it takes almost superhuman talent to render a timeless work of art on a 5mm to 9mm surface area, especially only using the tools they had available 2,000 or 2,500 years ago.