I've been getting interested in chess again (I used to play in tournaments when I was in college decades ago) after watching "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix. I realized we can make several sets of chess pieces with our coins. Silver coins as the white pieces and patinated bronze as the black pieces? Post yours!!!! King: No shortage of these on coins and I figure any King or Emperor will do. How about my favorite emperor, Marcus Aurelius? Queen: No shortage of these, either. Any Queen or empress will do. Of course, with Marcus Aurelius as king, Faustina II has to be the queen! Bishop: There are many medieval coins featuring bishops, but I don't own any. I figure a coin depicting a priest performing religious rites would count, such as this one of Claudius as priest, holding a simpulum: Or Elagabalus: Knight: Certainly one of those Carthaginian horse's head coins would be perfect, but I figure any equestrian figure would count, such as this antoninianus of Philip I: Rook: Of course, a campgate would be perfect! Pawns: There is no shortage of foot soldiers on coins.
This one would be perfect as a white rook. Galerius Ar Argenteus Antioch 298 AD Obv head of Galerius laureate right Rv Campgate or Rook RIC 43/ 4a 3.18 grms 19mm
Fun idea... I’m in. King I'll go with a husband and wife combo from the 2nd century as well but mix it up with Antoninus Pius as King... Queen ... and his beloved Faustina I as the Queen. Bishop Here is St. Blaise proudly holding his Bishop's Mitre. Knight I'll see your Philip I and raise you... actually I'll also go with Philip I. Rook Here is my favorite campgate. Pawn Some foot soldiers.
Very cool concept for a thread. ...Not any less so the more I think about it. ...Bishops? got some up in here. France, Meaux, episcopal issue, c. 1161-1171. Bishop Stephen (Etienne / 'STEPHANVS'), with his miter and the whole thing. Castles... here's a[nother] repost of a seigneurial issue, eerily of the same period. (Berri /Berry, vaguely western central France --a politically dysorganized [sic] part of that world. Seigneurie de St.-Aignan, Herve III, c. later 12th c. Here you get the vague outline (no, in good examples) of what looks like a 'shell keep' on a motte. The legend goes: '+CASTRVM.' ...Honest, medieval representations of castles, especially in contrast to the late Roman equivalent, are thin on the ground, up to the the 14th century.)
This sounds amazingly fun. I’ll have to see what I can come up with, it won’t be as awesome as your guyses but I’ll try my best
Cool idea.....Here's a black knight... Spain, Bolskan (Osca). Circa 150-100 BC. AE Unit (10.35 gm, 24mm). Obverse: Bearded head right; dolphin behind. Reverse: "BOLSKAN" in Celt-Iberian in exergue, rider on horse right, holding spear; star behind. CNH 8; SNG BM Spain 734; SNG Copenhagen 325. VF.
Here's the second white rook Constantius, Argenteus - Antioch mint, 8th officina, c. AD 296-297 CONSTANTIVS CAESAR, Laureate head of Constantius right VIRTVS MILITVM, Campgate, *ANTH* at exergue 3.40 gr Ref : Cohen #318, RCV # 13966 (1100) A pity it's yellow, but we could paint him if necessary, I can provide a knight. Q
I've been an avid "chessnut" for many years & enjoy playing the games of the old masters like Paul Morphy, Mikhail Tal, & Jose Capablanca. I joined the website at www.chess.com after retiring & will challenge any CT member to a 30 minute game on that website (it will cost you nothing to join that website). I also frequent the website Chessgames.com.
Nice thread idea! Let's do a medieval chess set – chess came to the West in the Middle Ages, after all. King. How about this positively royal Neapolitan gigliato? In my eyes, this is one of the iconic medieval displays of kingship on a coin: Kingdom of Naples, under Robert "the Wise" of Anjou, AR gigliato, 1309–1317. Naples mint (?). Obv: +ROBERT DEI GRA IERL ET SICIL REX; Robert sitting facing on lion throne, holding lily scepter and globus cruciger. Rev: + hOnOR. REGIS. IUDICIU. DILIGIT; floral cross, lilies in quadrants. 28mm, 3.93g. Ref: MIR Napoli 28. Queen. There are medieval coins depicting actual queens, but I have none. My only coin struck by a queen (an Otto-Adelheid-Pfennig) is visually unimpressive. Thus, I'll go with an early modern coin showing Mary as queen of heaven: Kingdom of Hungary, under Ferdinand I, AR denár, 1538 AD, Kremnitz mint. Obv: FERDINAND • D • G • R • VNG • 1538 •; quartered shield with stripes (Árpad), double cross (Hungary), leopard heads (Dalmatia), and lion (Bohemia); central inescutcheon with Austrian arms. Rev: PATRONA •*• VNGARIE; crowned Madonna with child; in fields, K–B. 16mm, 0.62g. Ref: Huszár 935. Bishop. No shortage of these. I'll go with this Cologne obol (half penny), since it's one of my favorite coins: Archbishopric of Cologne, under Rainald von Dassel, AR obol, ca. 1159–1167. Obv: Bishop facing, holding crosier and book. Rev: church building with three towers, inside, three sarcophagi (?). 14 mm, 0.53g. Ref: Hävernick 498. Knight: I thought about showing an early modern Mansfeld taler with St. George on the reverse, but since chess originated in India, this might be the perfect oportunity to sneak in a medieval Indian horseman jital: Chauhan of Delhi, Prithviraja III., BI Jital, c. 1191–1192 AD. Obv: stylized bull l.; Nagari legend “Sri Samanta Deva” around. Rev: stylized horseman r.; Nagari legend “Sri Prithvi Raja Deva” around. 15mm, 3.39g. Ref: Tye 52. Rook: A crusader coin from the Kingdom of Jerusalem showing the Tower of David: Baldwin III, Kingdom of Jerusalem, BI Denier, 1142–1163 AD, Jerusalem mint. Obv: BALDVINVS REX; cross pattée. Rev: + DE IERVSALEM; Tower of David. 16mm, 0.97g. Ref: CCS 21. Pawn: There is no shortage of men-at-arms on medieval coins. Here is a nice bracteate with St. Maurice in full armor: Archbishopric of Magdeburg, anonymous, AR bracteate penny, ca. 1270–1280 AD. Obv: St. Maurice, wearing armour, standing facing, holding lance and lance flag; ringlets r. and l.. Rev: negative design (bracteate). 20mm, 0.73g. Ref: Berger 1603–1605; Slg. Bonhoff 719.
kool idea..the only office i ever was nominated for & elected to was the college chess club vice/pres..i play my computer..not as frequently as i used to, but yeah, i'm a old chess player from wayback...how 'bout some dengas of czar Ivan the T for knights? (i have some to spare)
Here is a nice rook, absolutely black in color. The Andharas of the Deccan, Satakarnis, Goutamiputra Sri Yajna Satkarni (?), 172 - 201 AD, Potin (nickel? billon?) Karshapana, 19mm, 2.85g Obv: Brahmi legend "... Ya-na Sa-Ta ..." ("[Rano Siri] Yana Sata[kanisa]"); Tusked elephant with trunk raised Rev: Satavahana symbol (cross with circles) AKA Ujjain. The nice thing about using this as the rook is that the reverse shows the legal moves for a rook. Mine is a bit off-center, but you get the idea.
Very cool idea and nice, creative sets of chess pieces!! I'm curious if someone were able to create a set (well, one player's set) from one ruler or issuer? And if so, would it be a later ruler issuing LRBs? Or could you do it with a 1st or 2nd century AD ruler? Also, what about a Greek set... What would that consist of?
A DOG'S BREAKFAST Chess Set KING Makedon Alexander III Lifetime Tet Myriandrus mint-Alexandria near Issus QUEEN (arguably first living woman on a Roman coin) RImp Marc Antony 43 BCE AR Quinarius 13mm 1.67g Lugdunum Winged bust Victory-probly Fulvia Lion DVNI LVGV Cr 489-5 Syd 1160 BISHOP (Veiled as Pontifex Maximus Roman Imperatorial Era Julius Caesar Lifetime P Sepullius Macer AR Den 1st 2 weeks-Mar 44 BCE 4.03g. CAESAR – DICT PERPETVO Veiled - Venus Victory sceptre star Syd 1074a Sear Imperators 107e Cr 480-14 KNIGHT Carthage Zeugitania First Punic War 264-241 BCE Double Shekel 26 mm 13.9 g Wreathed Tanit Horse stndng r star above SNG Cop 185 Rare ROOK (Yeah, he "rooked" the Empire...) RI Constantine I CE 306-337 Æ Follis 19mm 3.2g Siscia CE 326-7 AVG Laureate R - PROVIDENTIAE AVGG Camp gate 2 turrets no door star RIC 200 PAWNs (The sad story of these 2 Guys...) Makedon Philip III Arrhidaeus - Alexander IV AR Drachm Amphipolis mint 2.59g 13mm Apollo- Youth horse VERY RARE SNG ANS 621 Le Rider123
Here are a few bronzes with dark patinas as contenders for the black pieces. King Julian II Queen Severina Augusta as sole ruler Bishop Elagabalus Knight Krannon AE Rook Constantius “open doors” campgate
...so now, the "CT Ancients Gambit"... Love this idea, & although I can't play, I'm following it closely...some great ideas & specimens so far! Sing along: "Chessnuts" roasting on an open pyre, Jack Frost sipping at the booze,... ...Oh, you know the rest! I also like: "I'm dreaming of a wide Christmas...", because you know, I like them big! ...and the one about the Chinese cooking, ah yes, "Wok'ing in a Winter Wonderland"...