Birth of Beauty: Aphrodite comes

Oh, how it must've felt to beautiful, perpetually in blume, Aphrodite



and be chosen as the most beautiful godess over the queen godess, Hera, and your warrior godess sister, Athena, by pretty boy Paris at his trial. Would she have felt elation, self satisfaction or was her luscious superiority just as obvious as the face on Cleopatra VII's nose?
But, of course, she was the godess of beauty, love and sexual passion. Aaand she did sweeten the pot by offering Paris the most beautiful mortal alive in Hellen of Troy.
Before all of the stories of the trial of Paris, the cults or her cuckold of her husband Hephaestus, God of blacksmiths, with Ares, The God of war (and with as notorious as Aphrodite was he was possibly then after God of war(ts) as well) she needed a birth sorry.



She has several origin stories so I'll stick to the most popular (even though in the Illiad, which you think would be the definitive on the subject, she was named as Zeus's daughter with a Titaness, Dione).
Aphros, the root of her name means "of the foam". This is due to the fact that, much like how Zeus would kill his father Cronus, Cronus would commit an atrocity upon his overbearing father Uranus.
In Hesiod's Theogony, Uranus was the God of the sky or Heaven who came() to Gaia (Earth) each night to mate with her. Seems like a good enough bloke. But hated the 6 children (the Titans) he had with her so much that he damned the youngest to Tartarus (Hell)!
This hurt Gaia so greatly that she asked her sons to do something to their own father with a sickle she made...a momentary warning: This ain't Disney. This is ancient Greek mythology.

(when I was a kid this meant the album was must listen to content)

What she'd asked her sons to do to Uranus... castration!
Her youngest son, Cronus, was the only one brave/crazy enough to take up mother Earth's cause.
Welp, as you can guess, sickle met pickle


(Ok, ok. It was his coin purse. Though, sickle met testicles is only slightly less funny)

Cronus would throw his father's severed genitals into the ocean causing it to bubble up with white foam! (If there is one thing that would stop all these crazy people from spreading Covid by congregating in mass at the beach I think it would be having the ocean turn into a giant cauldron of sperm!)
And so, of this cauldron Aphrodite was born.

Man O man, nobody tells wilder tales then those ancient Greeks... but they also did pretty good with coins too. As did their less creative conquerors, the Roman's who would steal the stories and change her name to Venus (and in keeping with their prude nature, the Roman's would clean up her stories).


MACEDON, Uranopolis
Circa 300 BC. Æ 15mm (3.27 gm). Eight pointed star / OURANIDW-[P]OLEWS, Aphrodite Urania seated left on globe, holding sceptre in right hand. SNG ANS 914ff; BMC Macedonia pg. 134, 2ff; SNG Copenhagen 455ff; Laffaille -. Nearly VF, dark greenish brown patina
Ex: Savoca
The name of this city and types depicted on this coin refer to Uranos, the divine personification of the sky and scarcely known in cult. From Hesiod (Theogony 126ff.) we know he was produced by Gaia, became her consort, but hating her children he caused them to remain confined within her. Gaia in revenge instigated his castration by their son Cronos and cast his severed genitals into the sea which engendered Aphrodite.

Julius Caesar would famously claim that Venus was his great great great great great great... grandmother

Julius Caesar
Denarius fouree, Africa, 47-46 BCE. AR 2.8 g. 18mm, Diademed head of Venus r. Rev. CAESAR Aeneas running l., carrying his father Anchises on his l. shoulder, holding palladium on his outstretched r. hand. This coin represents Caesar’s war coinage for the protracted campaign against the Pompians in Africa culminating in the battle of Thapsus.Cr. 458/1. Syd. 1013.



L. Iulius Lf Caesar
AR Denarius (16 mm, 3.96 g), Rome, 103 BC.
Obv. Helmeted head of Mars to left; above visor, ·F· and behind, CAESAR.
Rev. Venus in biga of Cupids to left; above, ·F· and below, lyre; in exergue, L·IVLI·L·F.
Syd. 593; Craw. 320/1.
Ex: Savoca


Creperius, Rocus
Denarius. 68 BC. Uncertain mint. (Ffc-657). (Craw-399-1b). (Cal-522). Obv: Bust of the back of the Sea Goddess (possibly Venus whom was also known as godess of the sea for obvious reasons) to the right, C to the right, to the left crab. Rev .: Neptune with trident, in biga pulled by hippocampi to the right, below Q CREPER M (F) / ROCVS. Ag. 3.61 g. Usually struck off center. Very scarce. VF.
Ex: Tauler & Fau


Off of the album Birth of Cool:


And if you missed my first "Birth of " thread and want to find out how Athena was born:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/birth-of-a-battlefield-godess-athena.363952/
And if you enjoy these stories then please make sure to sponsor Coin Talk

So please post all your coins that have to do with Aphrodite/Venus sexuality, beauty or whatever foams your ocean

 

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Great writeup --and a really solid (who's surprised?) early Miles album. (My dad had that. Think I eventually wound up with it.)

 

Nice write-up, much of it I didn't know! Here's my smattering of Roman Venuses...


Julia Domna, Wife of Sept. Severus,
Empress 193-217 AD, AE Sestertius,
Rome Mint, Struck 193-196 AD
Obverse: IVLIA DO-MNA AVG, Bust of Julia Domna, hair waved and coiled at back, draped, right.
Reverse: VENERI VICTR, Venus, naked to waist, standing left, holding apple in extended right hand and palm sloped over left shoulder in left hand, resting left elbow on column, S-C across fields.
References: RIC IV 842
Size: 30mm, 18.3g

​

Faustina II, Wife of Marcus Aurelius
AR Denarius, Struck under Antioninus Pius 145-161 AD, Rome mint
Obverse: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, Bust of Faustina the Younger, band of pearls round head, with hair waived and coiled on back of head, draped, right.
Reverse: VENVS, Venus, draped, standing left, holding apple in right hand and rudder set on dolphin, which coils round it, in left.
References: RIC III 517c


Plautilla, Wife of Caracalla who ruled 198-217 AD
AR Denarius, Struck 202-205 AD, Rome Mint
Obverse: PLAVTILLA AVGVSTA, bust of Plautilla, hair firmly waved and drawn down on neck, draped, right.
Reverse: VENVS VICTRIX, Venus, naked to waist, standing left, holding apple in extended right hand and palm in left hand, resting left elbow on shield; at feet, left, Cupid.
References: RIC IV 369
Size: 21mm, 3.24g

​

Gordian III, Ruled 238-244 AD
AR Denarius, Struck 241 AD, Rome Mint
Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: VENVS VICTRIX, Venus, draped, standing left, leaning on shield, holding helmet in right hand and sceptre in left hand.
References: RIC IV 131
Size: 20.5mm, 2.74g


Julia Mamaea, Augusta
Mother of Severus Alexander (222-235 AD)
AE As, Struck 224 AD, Rome mint
Obverse: IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, wearing stephane.
Reverse: VENVS FELIX, Venus, draped, seated left, holding cupid statuette in right hand and sceptre in left hand, SC below.
References: RIC IV 703

 

@Ryro....Lovely write up.....I do enjoy your threads!.......
Here's a recent pick up of the young lady...
LAODICEA AD LYCUM (Phrygia) 14mm/4.0gr. Ca 200-100 BC.
Obverse: Draped bust of Aphrodite right, wearing stephane, hair in bun.
Reverse: ΛAOΔIKEΩN. Aphrodite standing left, holding dove, rose with stalk to left.
BMC Phrygia (p.284)27, SNG Copenhagen 497; SNG München 340; HGC 7, 744
SCARCE (R1 per HGC) Laodicea ad Lycum mint

 

Diadumenian. As Caesar, 217-218 AD. MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum. Æ (26mm, 13.33 gm, 6h). Marcus Claudius Agrippa, consular legate. Obv: Bare head right. Rev: Venus standing right between dolphin and altar. Hristova & Jekov 8.25.15.1; Varbanov 3635.

 

Gordian III Æ 22
(c. 238-244 A.D.)
Deultum, Thrace
[IMP GORDIANVS PI]VS FEL AVG laureate, draped, cuirassed bust r. / COL FL [PAC DEVLT] Aphrodite, naked to waist, standing left holding the ends of her long hair and hem of chiton; amphora left.
Jurukova 244; Sofia 8469; cf. Dragonov 1313; Varbanov 2863 (??).
(4.97 grams / 22 mm)

I posted this a while back: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ve...er-hair-gordian-iii-Æ-22-from-deultum.347295/

But to repeat: rough as it is, this is one of my favorite Provincials. Virtually all I know about it comes from Harlan J. Berk via acsearch: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5263464

"Gordian III. ; Gordian III; 238-244 AD, Deultum, Thrace, AE 23.5, 9.43g. Cf. Dragonov-1313 and Varbanov-2863 (misdescribed), which are from a different die pair. Obv: IMP GORDIA - NVS P [IVS] FEL AVG Bust laureate, draped, cuirassed r. Rx: COL FL P - AC DEVLT Venus/Aphrodite washing her hair: she stands l., head r., wringing out her long wet hair with her r. hand, nude except for drapery covering the lower part of her legs, one end of which also hangs from her r. shoulder while she holds the other end in her l. hand; at her feet is a vase with two large handles so that it could easily be lifted and the water within poured over the body.

Sculptural parallels to this type are thought to represent Aphrodite emerging from the sea after her birth and wringing the seawater from her hair, but our coin appears to depict a bathing scene. Dragonov knew only one reverse die of this type in the entire coinage of Deultum, used under Gordian III (pp. 124-5). Our coin is from a new, second, reverse die of the type, also used under Gordian III, but coupled with a different obverse die of that emperor, Draganov's Obv. 109, which was known to him from coins with three other reverse types (p. 75). Our coin also reveals a new, older state of that obverse die, with a large cud in the legend before the emperor's forehead, a fault which does not appear on any of the coins from this obverse die published by Dragonov...."

Here's a statue: The emerging from the sea type is known as Venus Anadyomene - Wikipedia has several examples - below is a statuette: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Anadyomene



Photo: By Romaine - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50775643

 

Uranopolis, or "City of Heaven", has a neat little backstory. It was founded around 316 BC by Alexarchos, son of Antipater and the brother of Kassander. He was a bit (?) of a kook who fancied himself the reincarnation of the sun god Helios. He had the idea of establishing a utopian society with its own unique laws and language (invented by Alexarchos, but said to be indecipherable to anyone but himself). Hence the founding of Uranopolis, which he ruled until his death in 290 BC. I guess it was kind of charitable of Kassander to give his brother a whole city to serve as his personal insane asylum.

My drachm of Corinth below shows Aphrodite with a twin sister.

CORINTHIA, Corinth
AR Drachm. 2.55g, 14mm. CORINTHIA, Corinth, circa 350-300 BC. BCD Corinth -; SNG Copenhagen 127. O: Pegasos flying left, Ϙ below. R: Head of Aphrodite left, wearing hair in sakkos; [Σ before], I behind.
Ex JB (Edmonton) Collection (purchased in Victoria, Spring 1998)
Notes: Reverse doublestruck

 

I always liked PeteB's type. I got a deal on mine from a dealer that thought it was Apollo.

 

Great, Doug!

 

Hi All,

Aphrodite comes in two forms on Ptolemaic coinage. Both are coins from Cyprus, her home turf.



On the earlier coinage of Ptolemy I, she appears with a polos (a type of pill-box hat). On later coins of Ptolemy III, she is seen as the cultus statue worshiped in Cyprus.



- Broucheion

 

Super writeup and always entertaining, @Ryro ! Dyn-o-mite coins too!

When you strip away all the marketing hype, the coins have to stand alone! I really likem!


RR L and C Memmius L F Galeria 87 BCE AR Denarius Saturn harpa EX S C Venus driving Biga Cupid above Sear 262 Craw 349-1



RI Magnia Urbica 285 CE silvered Ant AE 23mm 3.4g cresent - Venus helmet scepter shield RIC 343 Rare



RR Faustus Cornelius Sulla 56 BCE AR Denarius, obv Venus rev Signet ring of Pompey - his Triumphs from 3 continents! Sear 386 Crawford 426/3

One of my favorites... one of the Moneyers was Samniite after the Social War!

RR Egnatius Maxsumus 76 BCE Bust Libertas pileus behind- Roma Venus stndg cupid on shoulder stepping on Wolf Head Sear 326 Cr 391/3

 

Love some Venus. Here's my most recent Venus acquisition. It may not look like much, but these middle bronzes of Mamaea don't appear often.


Julia Mamaea, AD 222-235.
Roman Æ as, 9.84 g, 25.0 mm, 11 h.
Rome, 12th emission, AD 231.
Obv: IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VENVS VICTRIX S C, Venus standing left, holding helmet and scepter, shield at her feet.
Refs: RIC 707; BMCRE 723-24; Cohen 79; RCV 8249.

 

Thanks my man! I was hoping some folks would share those Venus dairy air's and yours sure has a plump rump!

 

Funny enough, I heard Venus was Flo Rida's muse for this song...

 

Thanks so much for sharing your excellent double Aphrodite! Really dig her portrait.
Though, in defense of the seller/sucker that mistook @dougsmit's reverse (great type btw, Doug and @PeteB), if you'd told me that was Apollo I would totally have fallen for it (silly man buns):

Ionia, Smyrna

Civic issue. 2nd-1st century BCE 75-50 BCE 15mm 3,67 gr, Metrodoros, son of Menekles, magistrate. laureate head of Apollo right within dotted border / [ΞΜ]ΥΡΝΑΙΩ[Ν] / [ΜΗΤ]ΡΟΔΩΡ[ΟΣ] , ethnic and magistrate's name vertically downwards to right and left of hand in caestus; palm-branch to right. Cf. BMC 56; Cf. Milne 393; Cf. SNG Cop 1172. VF, smooth tan-green patina.
"caestus" is a early version of the boxing glove
Ex Savoca

 

Dione, mother of Aphrodite.

Epeiros, Ambrakia. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Æ 17mm.
Obv: Laureate and veiled head of Dione right.
Rev: Baetylos within wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 23.

 

(Sorry, couldn't stop myself in time: ) ...And if any of those were minted in Londinium, she'd have a London dairy air.

 

...And then, of course, there's Sir Mix-A-Lot. ...Maybe the next candidate for the unofficial anthem of Seattle, after Hendrix, "Rainy Day, Dream Away."

 

Great, Dougsmit, ...despite the esthetics.

 

Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome. Mn. Cordius Rufus. Circa 46 BC. AR Denarius (3.99g). Rome mint. Obv: Conjoined heads of the Dioscuri right, wearing pilei surmounted by stars. Rev: Venus Verticordia standing left, holding scales and scepter; Cupid on her shoulder. Ref: Crawford 463/1b; Sear, CRI 63a; Cordia 2b.

Venus Verticordia ("the changer of hearts") was an epithet of the Roman goddess Venus, alluding to the goddess' ability to change hearts from lust to chastity. (Wikipedia)