It's Valentine's Day -- show us your Eros/Cupid coins

A blindfolded, armed Cupid (1452/66) by Piero della Francesca.​

Caravaggio's Amor Vincit Omnia, 1601–1602.​

Ah, Cupid! This pesky winged boy is not only responsible for the passionate attraction between lovers, but for our cupidity in our mania to acquire more coins!



The son of Venus and Mars ...

Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman Æ as, 11.96 g, 25 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 170-175.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VENERI VICTRICI S C, Venus standing right, placing both hands on the arm of Mars, standing facing, head left, holding round shield in left hand.
Refs: RIC 1680; BMCRE 999-1001; Cohen 241; RCV 5305; MIR 42-7/10c.​

... he is often portrayed as a winged, chubby boy at his mother's feet ...

Julia Domna AD 193-217, issued under Caracalla
Roman AR Antoninianus, 5.11 g, 23.3 mm.
Rome, AD 217.
Obv: IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, diademed and draped bust right on crescent.
Rev: VENVS GENETRIX, Venus enthroned left, holding apple; Cupid at feet.
Refs: RIC 389a; BMCRE 27; RCV 7099; Cohen 206; Hill 1582; CRE 393.​

Cornelia Salonina, AD 253-268.
Roman Æ dupondius, 15.24 g, 24.2 mm.
Rome, AD 256-7.
Obv: CORNELIA SALONINA AVG, diademed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VENVS GENETRIX SC, Venus standing left, holding apple and scepter; cupid at feet.
Refs: RIC 50 (joint reign); Cohen 124; Hunter p. xlix; RCV 10685.​

... or in her hand.

Julia Mamaea, AD 222-235.
Roman AR denarius, 2.98 g, 20.3 mm, 6 h.
Rome, 4th emission, AD 224.
Obv: IVLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust right.
Rev: VENERI FELICI, Venus standing right, holding vertical scepter in right hand and Cupid on left arm
Refs: RIC 351; BMCRE 189; C 60; RCV 8214; CRE 508.​

Sometimes Eros/Cupid appears in the attitude of Thanatos, leaning on an inverted lit torch.

Caracalla, AD 198-217.
Roman provincial AE 17.1 mm, 3.44 g, 12 h.
Thrace, Hadrianopolis, AD 198-217.
Obv: AVT K M AVP CE ANTΩNEINOC, laureate head, right.
Rev: AΔΡIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Nude Eros in attitude of Thanatos standing right, left leg crossed over right, leaning with right hand and left elbow on inverted lit torch.
Refs: Varbanov 3526; Jurukova, Hadrianople 390.2; CN 5217; Moushmov 2615; cf. SNG Cop 271.
Notes: Reverse die match to CN 5217 specimen (Nacionalen Arheologičeski Institut s Muzej, Sofia, no. 1566).​

Let's see your coins depicting this mischievous imp!

 

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Antiochos VII, Sidetes
AE 18, Syria, Antiochos VII, struck 138/7 B.C. Obv: Winged bust of Eros facing right. Rev: Headress of Isis, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΞΟΥ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ, EOP below (Seleukid era date 138/7). Dark brown patina with earthen highlights, gVF. SGII 7098 var.

When I was wooing my wife I made this into a necklace. She still has it but I’d like to have a master jeweler redo it at some point. When she wears it she get lots of comments!

 

Cupids as horses!
L. Iulius Caesar denarius, Crawford 319/1: Head of Mars left, CAESAR behind, letter and dots above. Venus Genetrix in biga left, drawn by two Cupids, before them lyre, letter and dots above, L IVLI L F in exergue.

 

While not exactly a Cupid, Krishna is known for attracting all the ladies!

 

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

Cn. Egnatius Cn.f. Cn.n. Maxsumus, 76 BC. Denarius, Rome. [MAXSVMVS Diademed and draped bust of Libertas to right, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace; behind, pileus. Rev. [V] - CN•N / C•EGNATIVS•CN•F Roma, on left, standing facing, left foot set on wolf's head and holding staff with her right hand, and Venus, on right, standing facing, holding staff right and with cupid alighting on her shoulder; rudder standing on prow on either side. Babelon (Egnatia) 3. Crawford 391/3. RBW 1429. Sydenham 787

 

MN FONTEIUS CF ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo Vejovis right, M FONTEI CF behind, thunderbolt below, ROMA monogram below chin
REVERSE: Infant winged Genius (or Cupid) infant Genius riding goat right, caps of the Dioscuri above, filleted thyrsos below
Struck at Rome 85 BC
3.87g, 20mm
Cr353/1a; Fonteia 9

 

LAKSHMI


Sri Lanka, excavated in Anuradhapura
Anonymous, 1st C. BCE
PB 1/8 Lakshmi
1.1g, 14.1mm x 7.8mm
RARE
OBV: Hindu Goddess Lakshmi facing. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity. She was a beauty and the wife of Vishnu
REV: (blank)
Comment: "Lakshmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी, lakṣmī,ˈləkʂmiː) is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity. She is the wife and shakti(energy) of Vishnu, a major god in Hinduism.[2] Lakshmi is also an important deity in Jainism and found in Jain temples.[3] Lakshmi was also a goddess of abundance and fortune for Buddhists, and was represented on the oldest surviving stupas and cave temples of Buddhism.[4][5] In Buddhist sects of Tibet, Nepal and southeast Asia, goddess Vasudharamirrors the characteristics and attributes of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi with minor iconographic differences." -Wikipedia.org

 

Domna - Venus

 

Moesia inferior, Nikopolis. Septimius Severus AE17. Eros standing


Moesia, Nikopolis. Septimius Severus AE18. Eros leaning


Thrace, Bizya. Philip II, AE18. Eros


Thrace, Callatis. Julia Domna AE18. Eros

 

Here's some chubby buddies:


And ero(s)tica:

 

this Constantine coin has eros (in Greek) in the mintmark. Eros is amor in Latin which is a palindrome for Roma.




http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ROMAE/

 

Here is a unique Attic weight didrachm of Kyrenaika from the Biblioteque nationale de France with Eros:



AR didrachm 313-312 BC 8.41 gm
O: head Dionysios right
R Eros holding lyre right
BMC 173b(XVII,11P) = Traité III 1895 - this coin
http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb4175055

Of course, Kyrenaika was much better known for coins with the heart-shaped silphium fruit which some think to be the origin of the heart symbol used so much on Valentines Day. Here is one of my coins:



AR hemidrachm 480-460 BC 2.02 gm 12 mm
O: silphium fruit
R: head Zeus Ammon right
cf. BMC 27(IV:22)

 

I've posted all of these very recently, so I'll leave out the footnotes this time:

Roman Republic, L. [Lucius] Julius L.f. Caesar, 103 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Mars left wearing helmet with long crest, feather on side, and peaked visor; behind, CAESAR upwards; above, control-mark (retrograde open “P” with two dots, one above and one below) / Rev. Venus Genetrix driving biga of cupids left, holding scepter in right hand and reins with both hands; above reins, control-mark (same as on obverse); beneath cupids to left, lyre; in exergue, L•IVLI•L•F. Crawford 320/1, RSC I Julia 4 (ill.), Sydenham 593, Sear RCV I 198 (ill.), BMCRR 1405-1434 [this control-mark not included; cf. 1430-1431, each with retrograde open “P” with only one dot as control-mark, one with dot above and the other with dot below.] 16 mm., 3.83 g., 9 h.



Roman Republic, Mn. Fonteius C.f., AR Denarius, Rome Mint 85 BCE. Obv. Laureate head of Apollo (or Vejovis) right, MN. FONTEI behind (MN and NT in monograms), C.F below chin, thunderbolt below neck / Rev. Cupid or winged Infant Genius seated on goat right, caps (pilei) of the Dioscuri above, thyrsus of Bacchus below; all within laurel-wreath. RSC I Fonteia 10 (ill.), Crawford 353/1c, Sydenham 724a, Sear RCV I 271 (ill.), BMCRR Rome 2478. 20 mm, 3.93 g.


Roman Republic, L Lucretius Trio, AR Denarius, 76 BCE. Obv. Laureate head of Neptune right, XXXIII above and trident behind/ Rev. Cupid (or Infant Genius) on dolphin right; L LVCRETIVS TRIO. Crawford 390/2, Sydenham 784, RSC I Lucretia, Sear RCV I 322 (ill.), Harlan, RRM I Ch. 16 at pp. 98-103, BMCRR Rome 3247. 19 mm., 3.9 g.


I have the impression that the more recent authorities tend to favor the Cupid identification rather than the "Infant Genius" theory.

 

Diadumenian
Region, City: Thrace, Deultum
Coin: Bronze
- Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right
Cupid - Cupid riding on dolphin right
Mint: (217-218 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 2.19g / 18mm / -

Notes: Nov 17, 14 - Reference 20mm 5.71g this is lighter but only ref found. Unpublished in the major references

 

Silphium Addict, thank you for this wonderful coin, and for the hemidrachm. Here are the right links :
Gallica
Catalogue de la BnF

 

Thank you so much for the new link - my link is broken for some reason. I checked it before but not after posting. BTW, I think BnF Gallica is the best museum site as it has high resolution images of almost their entire collection.

 

I love how the wings sometimes go outside the dotted circle on these Antiochos IX Eros coins, as in several examples in this thread. This is rarely seen in coin design, ancient or modern:


Also relevant to the thread is this strange Byzantine weight I have (30mm, 35.9g). Hearts were used as symbols on certain Byzantine officials' insignia, but not to represent love:

Any ideas about this item would be gratefully received!