Ancients Bearing Weapons

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Ryro, Jan 19, 2019.

  1. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    War. Glamorized, stylized and expediatized (pretty sure I just made up that last one) through Weaponry!

    1200px-Battle_of_Issus_mosaic_-_Museo_Archeologico_Nazionale_-_Naples_2013-05-16_16-25-06_BW.jpg
    (Alexander the great mosaic)

    Weaponry doesn't just predate history, it predates humanity!
    From monkeys to fish. Even the animal kingdom had gotten into the game of "leveling" the playing field millennias before man existed.
    Though the date is up for debate, I am fairly certain that the first time man used weaponry was when he saw another fella with a woman that left him longing. So he balled up his fist, lined up his knuckles and propelled it towards his fellow man's jaw :punch:(if anyone wants to debate that a fist is not a weapon you can take it up with the law. A professional boxer or mixed martial artist whom uses his fists outside of the ring is fined with assault with a deadly WEAPON).
    I was gifted this wonderful book on the history and evolution of weapons a few years ago. So, I will not be trying to best it herein.

    20190119_121119.jpg
    (My 3yo sons finger seems to be choosing gun over sword...that or he's trying to plug the 18th century weapons barrel)

    It is very fascinating how we can trace the evolution of weaponry as well as some militaristic maneuvering through this hobby of ours. And that's what this thread celebrates...WEAPONRY ON ANCIENT COINAGE!!!:jimlad:

    The King of Kings knew how to "double fist" it. On his coins you can find him with a weapon in each hand!

    BOW AND DAGGER:

    CollageMaker Plus_20181110181173.png

    ACHAEMENID KINGDOM
    OF PERSIA.
    UNCERTAIN KINGS, about
    500-380 BCE Siglos, silver
    ("dagger type IV"). AR 16
    MM5.52 g. The Great King
    running r., wearing kidaris,
    holding bow in his outstretched l.
    hand, dagger in his r. hand.
    Rv.Countermarked Rectangular
    incuse. Babelon, Perses pl. 2,
    26. SNG Cop. 284.Rare.
    Previous: Savoca Coins

    BOW AND SPEAR:

    CollageMaker Plus_20181226201535.png

    Achaemenid
    AR Siglos (15-17 mm, 5.46 g), c.
    450-400 BC.
    Obv. The Great King, bearded,
    in "Knielauf" to right, holding
    bow and spear.
    Rev.Irregular incuse.
    Carradicepl. 11, 15; SNG Cop.
    282.
    Irregularflan.Punchmark on
    obverse,otherwise,very fine.
    From:AuctionesGmbH

    Here is a recent addition that I have yet to share with you all. I've been looking for one of these since I first started collecting and found this bronze beauty for a fantastic price!

    SWORD AND SHIELD:

    CollageMaker Plus_2018111811512613.png

    Caria. Mylasa . ΕΥΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ (Eupolemos), strategos 295-280 BC. Bronze Æ 15mm., 4.46g. Three overlapping shields, with spearheads on bosses / EYΠOΛEMOY, sheathed sword, in left field, labrys. Good very fine SNG München 21; Lindgren III 435.

    Herakles knew about weapons and utilized, maybe, the most basic weapon next to the fist or a rock. He probably introduced 50 cent to...

    DA CLUB:

    CollageMaker Plus_201856155448136.png

    Alexander III the Great
    336-323 BCE AE 19 (19
    mm) Macedonian mint.
    Head of Alexander the Great
    as Hercules right, wearing
    the lion-skin headdress /
    AΛEΞANΔPOY, between
    bow and club; thunderbolt
    above. Price 276

    CollageMaker Plus_201812262026729.png

    Commodus
    (wishing he was as bad@$$ as Herakles)(177-192 AD). AE As (24-25 mm, 10.34 g), Rome, 192 AD.
    Obv. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, Head to right, wearing lion skin headdress.
    Rev. HERCVL / ROMAN / AVGV / S C, Legend divided by club within laurel wreath.
    RIC III 644; C. 193; BMC 722.

    You want maximum damage???:nurse: How about this next one? Though, may I please refer to this as a BATTLEAXE... No? It's just that it's terribly embarrassing to say as mine has a hole in it. Fine. My BIPENNIS...with a hole:

    CollageMaker Plus_201872918359647.png

    Thyateira, Lydia, AD 1-100, AE14, semi-autonomous issue. Bearded head of Herakles right / ΘYATEIΡHNΩN, bipennis (double-axe; labrys). BMC 8; RPC I 2379; SNG Tuebingen 3838.

    Perseus used a sword/sickle hybrid called a HARPA or HARPE:

    CollageMaker Plus_201881319424835.png
    AmisosPontos,
    Obv: Helmeted head of Athena
    Rev: Perseus holding harpa (sickle sword) and Medusa's severed head
    29 MM 18.95 gr

    With all these weapons flying around I better suit up. Starting with a good ol...HELMET!

    CollageMaker Plus_201846165347137.png

    THRACE. Mesambria
    Ae (4th-3rd century BC).
    Obv: Facing Corinthian
    helmet.
    Rev: META.
    Four spoked wheel.
    SNG BM Black Sea 272-
    275.
    Condition: Extremely fine.
    Weight: 1.91 g.
    Diameter: 13.46 mm

    Please post all your favorite weaponed up coins or whatever you deem relevant:)...and BRUTAL:vamp:
     
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  3. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    You can always count on Mars to display weaponry!

    Trajan Mars Denarius.jpg
    Trajan Mars Denarius Sulzer listing.JPG
     
  4. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Cool posting @Ryro ! Nice coins...

    I have one that really thought was cool, and that you do not see too much as being used as a weapon on a coin:

    WHIP!

    upload_2019-1-19_14-59-12.png
    RR AR denarius 3.8g 18.0mm T Didius Rome 113-112 BCE Roma star ROMA mono - Two Gladiators whip sword S 171 CR 294-1

     
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  5. maridvnvm

    maridvnvm Well-Known Member

    Here is a type that I believe is unique to Numerian from this single reverse die. It is highly unusual to see the emperor wielding a sword.

    Obv:– IMP C NVMERIANVS AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right
    Rev:– PACATO-R ORBIS, Emperor advancing right, holding shield and sword, captive, cowering beneath
    Minted in Lugdunum (C in exe) Emission 9 Officina 3. Summer A.D. 284
    Reference:– Cohen 41 (30 F). Bastien 618 (2 examples).

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    550F93A8-F50D-4599-9065-695039B6BF5F.jpeg Roman soldier vs barbarian. When your comrade falls, you have to protect him...
     
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  7. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Phillip II as Caesar, Prince of the Youth holding spear, point down, straddling captive
    phillipII.jpg

    phillipII2.jpg
     
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  8. Ancient Aussie

    Ancient Aussie Well-Known Member

    Nice coins and great thread Ryro, I was lucky enough to see that Alexander Mosaic at the Naples museum and was mesmerized.
    BOW & QUIVER Perge.jpg
    Obv: Distyle temple containing facing sPamphylia, Perge, c. 50-30 BC. Æ (16mm, 4.64g, 12h). Cult statue of Artemis Pergaia facing within distyle temple. R/ Bow and quiver. Colin series 7.2; SNG BnF 373-8. Good VF
    PAMPHYLIA. Perge. Ae (Circa 50-30 BC). tatue of Artemis Pergaia.
    Rev: APTEMIΔOΣ / ΠEPΓAIAΣ.
    Quiver.

    SNG BN 373-8.
     
  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Tank? Are there any coins that show a person shooting an arrow from an elephant or even from a horse?
    ro1010bb0576.jpg

    Trident (tetradrachm of Demetrios Poliorketes):
    g92187bb3051.jpg

    Sling and fist (stater of Aspendos):
    g61805fd3291.jpg

    Shields (as of Trajan)
    rc1755bb2984.jpg
     
  10. DomitLover

    DomitLover New Member

    q78QHgs2iz7Dp4Ak9CwRq3XmdRT6ka (1).jpg I go with traditional bow and arrow in Zeus hand on Seleucid coins (One of the finest series to my eyes)

    Seleukos IV. 187-175 BC Tetradrachm (17.11 gm). Ekbatana mint
     
  11. David@PCC

    David@PCC allcoinage.com

    g171.jpg
    Mysia/Pergamon
    regal coinage
    2nd c. BC
    Obvs: Head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet with griffin
    Revs: ФIΛETAIPOY, bow.
    13mm, 1.6g
    Ref: BMC 15.119.54
     
  12. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    IIRC that famous mosaic came from a Roman villa - is that correct?
     
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  13. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    I don't recall any coins where the emperors hold swords other than the argenteii of Diocletian and the tetrachs.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2019
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  14. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    You got it! The Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic originally from the House of the Faun in Pompeii.
     
  15. alde

    alde Always Learning

    Here is a scarce William the Conqueror Sword type penny.
    William_I_Sword_Type_Penny_HHC4323.jpg
     
  16. Bob L.

    Bob L. Well-Known Member

    Neat thread idea. No coins here, but in keeping with the theme, my latest two weapons pick-up's:

    Top:
    Dagger, Luristan, bronze, 1200-800 BC, 33 cm (13”)
    Cf. Mahboubian, Art of Ancient Iran, #379; Cf. Overlaet “Luristan Exacavation Documents Vol. IV,” PK.3-10, p. 216

    Bottom:
    Sword, Talysh area of northwestern Iran, bronze, 1200-800 BC, 45.5 cm (18”), tip broken
    Cf. Mahboubian, Art of Ancient Iran, #397a-i

    dagger and sword 2.jpg
     
  17. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    The Kestrosphendone, or Macedonian dart-sling

    Thessaly Thessalian League - Kestrosphedone 2796.jpg
    THESSALY, Thessalian League
    AE Chalkous. 3.55g, 15.2mm. THESSALY, Thessalian League, circa 170 BC. Warren, “Two Notes on Thessalian Coins,” NC 1961, pl. I, 11; Rogers 4 var. (arrangement of ethnic); BCD Thessaly II 24.2 var. (same); HGC 4, 236. O: Macedonian shield with star in center. R: ΘEΣΣA ΛΩN around from upper left, dart–sling (κεστροσφενδóνη) with dart inside.
    Ex BCD Collection

    From CNG's description :

    The Kestrosphendone - Secret Weapon of the Third Macedonian War

    "While Rogers thought that the object on the reverse of this coin was a lyre, Jennifer Warren has argued that it represents a powerful new weapon – the dart sling, or κεστροσφενδόνη – first introduced during the Third Macedonian War between Rome and Perseus of Macedon. The weapon is described by the Achaean Polybius (xxvii, 9), who was taken to Rome as a prisoner following the war: “The form of the dart was as follows. It was two palms long, the tube being of the same length as the point. Into the former was fitted a wooden shaft a span in length a finger’s breadth in thickness. Into the middle of this were wedged three quite short wooden wings. The two thongs of the sling were unequal in length, and the missile was so fitted into the center of the sling that it was easily freed. While the thongs were whirled round and taut, it remained fixed there, but when at the moment of the discharge one of the thongs was released, it left the loop and was shot like a leaden bullet from the sling.” Livy (xlii, 65, 9-10) adds that: “They (the Roman army) suffered particularly from the dart-slings.”

    The Macedonian shield supports a connection to Perseus, and Warren offers a compelling insight on the reverse design: “On this Thessalian issue the kestrosphendone would be as apposite as the harpa, the special weapon of his hero namesake, on the reverse of Perseus’ similar Macedonian copper coins.” This type (cf. SNG Alpha Bank 1147–8) also carries a Macedonian shield on the obverse."
     
  18. Ancient Aussie

    Ancient Aussie Well-Known Member

    Yes a floor in a villa at Pompeii.
     
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  19. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    IMG_0687.JPG IMG_0688.JPG
    AV Aureus ND Rome Mint
    Emperor Severus Alexander posing with spear.
     
  20. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    Another thread has considered the meaning of FDC, fleur de coin, flower of the die. That coin fits the bill, doesn't it?
     
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  21. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Now THAT is cool! Not too many weapons like that out there...
     
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