(Yes, that was clickbait ) I avidly collect coins with unusual modes of transportation and a Volteius Lion biga has been on the hit list for at least half a decade-- just never seem to find the right one. This particular Volteius lion big isn't what I had in mind but the provenance story was just too fun to pass up. There is horn silver and some sort of copper-bearing deposits so one of these days I'll study @Roerbakmix's old post and give this coin a sodium thiosulphate bath. Roman Republic, moneyer M. Volteius M.f 78 BCE AR denarius, 18 mm, 3.94 gm, 5 h Obv: laureate, helmeted, and draped male bust to right; in field to left, simpulum. Rev: Cybele driving biga of lions to right; above, ΛB; in exergue, M•VOLTEI•M•F Ref: Crawford 385/4 From the Red Ox Collection and the collection of the Czech musician Adolf Picek (circa 1885-1978), and formerly in the possession of an Italian banker, whose life was saved by Mr. Picek in the Battles of the Piave River on the Italian Front in 1917-1918 and who presented his savior with 'four socks of old coins' in reward. (Hmm... maybe those encrustations are ancient toe jam? Ewww.) I know at least a few of you picked up some dirty sock coins from that same Leu sale so let's see them and any other alternative modes of transportation . Roman Republic Moneyer M. Volteius M.f., 78/75 BCE AR denarius, 18 mm, 3.91 gm, 6h Obv: Head of Bacchus or Liber right, wearing ivy wreath Rev: Ceres standing in biga of snakes right, lit torch in each hand; crescent upward behind; in exergue, M•VOLTEI•M•F• Ref: Crawford 385/3; Sydenham 776; Volteia 3. Removed from slab, NGC Choice VF 5/5 - ⅘ Ex Phil Peck (“Morris Collection”) ROMAN REPUBLIC, Moneyer Q. Crepereius M.f. Rocus 69 BCE (revised from Crawford's 72 BCE) AR serrate denarius; 3.99 gm Obv: draped bust of Amphitrite seen from behind, with head turned r.; behind, sea anemone; horizontal I to right of right shoulder (only partly visible on this coin) Rev: Neptune in biga of hippocamps right, holding reins and brandishing trident; above, I and below, Q·CREPER·M·F / ROCVS Ref: Crawford 399/1b; Babelon Crepereia 1. Sydenham 796a. Rare. from HJB BBS 200, October 2016 ex NAC 78 lot 1828, from the JD Collection of Roman Republican Coins EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian RY 14 (CE 94/5) Æ drachm, 36 mm, 25.42 gm Obv: Laureate head right Rev: The Emperor driving biga of centaurs right., raising hand and holding scepter and reins; in exergue, L IΔ Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 17, 453 (this coin); Geissen 406 (this coin cited); RPC 2704 (this coin cited) ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923) ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Aurelius Cotta 139 BCE AR Denarius, 20 mm, ? gm (can't find my scale right at the moment ) Obv: helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) behind; COTA before; dotted border Rev: Hercules carrying a club, driving biga of centaurs right; centaurs each carrying a branch; M·AVRELI (AVR is ligate); in exergue, ROMA; line border Ref: Crawford 229/1b; Sydenham 429; Aurelia 16 formerly slabbed, NGC bulk submission holder, "VF" Roman Republic moneyer L. Julius L. f. Caesar, 103 BC AR denarius, 17mm, 3.9 gm Obv: Helmeted head of Mars left; CAESAR; ・C (retrograde) Rev: Venus Genetrix in chariot left, drawn by two Cupids; lyre to left; ・C (retrograde) above Ref: Crawford 320/1 ex RBW Collection Roman Republic fourée mule denarius L. Antestius Gragulus, 136 BCE, and C. Renius, 138 BCE ancient forgery, 3.18 gm Obv: Roma helmeted head right, * below chin, GRAG behind Rev: Juno Caprotina in a biga of goats, C・RENI below, ROMA in exergue Ref: Obverse S.115, Cr.238/1, Syd.451, RSC Antestia 9; Reverse S.108, Cr.231/1, Syd.432, RSc Renia 1 PHOENICIA, Berytos 1st century BCE Æ19.5, 5.9 gm Obv: Turreted head of Tyche right Rev: Poseidon standing left in quadriga drawn by four hippocamps Ref: SNG Copenhagen 83 EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius year 14, CE 150/1 AE drachm, 34 mm, 28.8 gm Obv: Laureate bust of Antoninus Pius left Rev: Triptolemos driving biga of winged serpents right; L IΔ above Ref: Emmett 1683.14 This one is hard to make out, but that's Triptolemos sitting on a wheelchair-ish biga drawn by serpents: ATTICA, Athens. Eleusis mint Eleusinian festival coinage 340-335 BC AE16 Obv: Triptolemos, seated left in a winged chariot drawn by two snakes Rev: Pig standing right on mystic staff, bucranium below Ref: SNG Cop 415 EGYPT. Alexandria. Trajan AE drachm, 33.5 mm, 22.09 g Uncertain regnal year Obv: [AYT] TPAIANCE BΓEPM∆AKIK; Laureate bust of Trajan to right Rev: Triptolemos in a chariot drawn right by two winged Agathodaemon serpents Ref: Emmett 601; RPC III 4336.4 EGYPT, Alexandria. Faustina II Regnal year 14 of Antoninus Pius (150/1 CE) AE drachm, 33 mm, 18.2 gm Obv: draped bust right Rev: Triptolemos, wearing an elephant head cap and chlamys, driving a biga of winged serpents right; LIΔ above Ref: Emmett 2004.14; Dattari 3926 EGYPT. Alexandria. Trajan AE drachm, 32.3 mm, 19.8 gm Regnal year 14 (110/11 CE) Obv: AYT TPAIANC EBΓEPM∆AKIK; laureate bust right, with aegis on left shoulder Rev: Trajan, laureate, wearing a toga and holding an eagle-tipped sceptre and branch, standing in an elephant quadriga right; LIΔ above. Ref: Emmett 462.14; Dattari-Savio Pl. 31, 766 (this coin); RPC 4510.3 (this coin) ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923) Egypt, Alexandria. Trajan AE drachm, 34.73 mm, 21.18 gm Regnal year 12 (108/9 CE) Obv: [AVT TRAIAN] CEB ΓE[PM ΔA]KIK, laureate and draped bust of Trajan right, seen from behind Rev: Trajan, raising hand and holding scepter, driving biga of centaurs right; above, L IB Ref: Emmett 464.12 (R4). Ex Tom Buggey Collection Ex Jean Elsen
Here a standard "Mat Snack", version of your new coin. M. Volteius M.f. (75 B.C) AR Denarius O: Laureate, helmeted, and draped bust of Attis right; winged caduceus behind. R: �Cybele driving biga of lions right. Rome Mint 3.53g 17mm Crawford 385/4
@TIF you got me with the Click Bait but I was not disappointed. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to share. I just looked through everything and we don't have a single coin of depicting anyone riding in anything being driven by anything. Looks like I need to fix that.
Way to go @TIF So jealous!!! I bid on at least 5 of those dirty sock coins and was blown away every single time! Though, I am glad you shared your Creperius. I've wondered ever since winning my second coin of the type if ours are die matches: Q. Crepereius M.f. Rocus (69 BC). AR serratus denarius (19mm, 1h). NGC Choice Fine, bankers marks. Rome. Draped bust of Amphitrite right, seen from behind; Sea anemone (erroneously listed as oenochoe by Heritage) left, I right / Q•CREPER•M•F / ROCVS, Neptune driving biga of hippocamps right, brandishing trident in right hand, reins in left; I above. Crawford 399/1b. Sydenham 796. Crepereia 1. Ex: CNG 261 lot 239 Aug 2011, Auctiones GMBH #67 March 2020, Purchased from Heritage Feb 2022. From the Werner Collection. Her counterpart with crab (claws): Creperius, Rocus Denarius. 68 BC. Uncertain mint. (Ffc-657). (Craw-399-1b). (Cal-522). Obv: Bust of the back of the Sea Goddess 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 Of course, no one would confuse your and my Lucius Julius Caesars baby bigas: 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 Here's the founder of Rome's dad taking a ride on his son: 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. Speaking of, here are the mothers of Rome, the Sabines, being taken for a ride by those creepy early Romans: L Titurius L f Sabinus - Rape of the Sabine Women Denarius 89 BC. Rome mint. Obv: bare head of King Tatius right, bearded, SABIN behind, palm-branch before. Rev: two Roman soldiers running, each bearing a Sabine woman in his arms; L TITVRI in exergue. Craw. 344/1b; Syd. 698; RSC Tituria 2; Sear 249. 3.76 grams. Near very fine. Ex: Timeline Auction The obligatory horses and what is that they're trampling???: Elephant quadriga: Seleukos I - Elephant Biga Drachm 312-281 BCE Seleukeia ad Tigrim mint. Obv: laureate head of Zeus right. Rev: BASILEWS SELEYKOY to left and beneath Athena, holding spear and shield, driving quadriga of elephants right, anchor and DI above. 3.40 grams. Near very fine. [No Reserve] Provenance Property of a North London gentleman. Literature Houghton SC 130.1b; Hoover HGC 18a. Purchased from Timeline auctions May 2021
Wow, @TIF. Spectacular. How in the world did you get 14 photos into one post? Anyway, my eyes are bugging out like the wolf in the old Warner Brothers cartoon. The first two coins of M. Volteius are, and have been for some time, at the top of my "Holy Grail" list. That's one of the very best Cybele/lion biga coins I've seen in a long time, and the snake biga might be the best ever! I've been outbid a number of times for both, and pretty much all the ones I've seen offered at retail have been unappealing examples for way too much money. I will also please take your #s 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, & 12! I do have a few unusual animal bigas & quadrigas, although nothing comparable to yours either in quantity or quality. Goats: Roman Republic, C. Renius, AR Denarius 138 BCE. Obv. Helmeted head of Roma right, X behind / Rev. Juno* in biga of goats right, holding scepter and reins in left hand and whip in right hand, C • RENI below goats, ROMA in exergue. RSC I Renia 1, Crawford 231/1, Sydenham 432, Sear RCV I 108 (ill.), BMCRR Rome 885. 17 mm., 3.8 g. * RSC identifies her as Juno Caprotina. Crawford disagrees; Sear does not mention the theory. Stags: Roman Republic, C.. Allius Bala, AR Denarius, 92 BCE, Rome mint. Obv.: Diademed female head (Diana?)* right, wearing necklace; BALA behind, control mark "R" below chin / Rev.: Diana in biga of stags right, holding sceptre and reins in left hand and flaming torch in right, with quiver over shoulder; control-mark (grasshopper) below stags; C•ALLI in exergue; all within laurel wreath. Crawford 336/1b; RSC I Aelia [Allia] 4 (ill.), Sear RCV I 221 (ill.), Sydenham 595, BMCRR 1742-1771 [no control-letter "R"]. 17 mm., 3.88 g.** * Varying identifications of obverse head: Crawford ("female head r., wearing diadem"); RSC I ("female head (Diana?)"); BMCRR (same); Sear RCV I ("female deity"). ** Moneyer otherwise unknown. See BMCRR p. 238 n. 2: "This type may refer to the annual festival in honor of Diana held on the Aventine, where her temple stood, and at which torch races occurred. . . . C. Allius Bala was apparently the first moneyer to introduce a symbol as a mint-mark in conjunction with a letter." Cupids: 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.* *The moneyer, Lucius Julius Caesar, son of Lucius, was Consul in 90 BCE. (Crawford Vol. I p. 325.) Through his daughter Julia, he was Mark Antony’s maternal grandfather. (See Wikipedia; cf. Grueber, BMCRR p. 210 n. 1.) In addition, the moneyer was either the second cousin or the second cousin once removed of Julius Caesar: his grandfather, Sextus Julius Caesar, was either a brother or uncle of Julius Caesar’s grandfather, Gaius Julius Caesar. This was the first Roman coin on which the name CAESAR appeared. (However, in 129 BCE, another relative, named Sextus Julius Caesar, issued a coin [Crawford 258] on which the name CAISAR appeared, i.e., the same name with a different spelling.) The reverse type, depicting Venus, “alludes to the descent of the Iuli from Venus by way of Aeneas and Ascanius-Iulus" (Crawford p. 325): Iulus, the legendary ancestor of the Iuli, was the son of Aeneas, who, in turn, was the son of Venus. The figure of Venus on the reverse is identified in RSC and BMCRR (but not in Crawford or Sear) as Venus Genetrix, i.e., Venus in her capacity as goddess of motherhood and as a generative force, specifically as ancestress of the gens Iulia and generally with respect to the Roman people. (Query, however, whether that term was commonly used at the time this coin was issued, as opposed to more than 50 years later after Julius Caesar’s dedication of the temple of Venus Genetrix in 46 BCE and the sculpting of a cult statue to her. The concept was also poeticized by Lucretius, long after the issuance of this coin. See http://archive1.village.virginia.edu/spw4s/RomanForum/GoogleEarth/AK_GE/AK_HTML/TS-060.html.) According to Crawford, the lyre “is presumably explained by the links of the Iuli with Apollo.” (Id.) Similarly, according to Grueber, “the head of Mars on the obverse may point to past military successes gained by members of the family as well as to the mythical connection between that divinity and Venus.” (BMCRR p. 210 n. 1.) Crawford also explains at p. 325 that the control-marks are the letters of the Latin alphabet as far as S, either normally disposed or retrograde, alone or accompanied by one or two dots above, below, to the sides, and/or within the letters. The control marks are “invariably” the same on the obverse and reverse, and “[n]o pair of control-marks has more than one pair of dies.” In total, there are 92 obverse and 93 reverse dies. The two examples in the Schaefer Roman Republican die project of Crawford 320 with a retrograde open “P” with two dots, one above and one below -- and it took me a while to realize that the control-marks on mine were supposed to be reversed P's -- do appear to be die matches with this coin. (See p. 11 of the Crawford 320 die clippings in the RRDP.) Elephants: Trajan, AE Drachm, Year 15 (111/112 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate bust right, nude and with aegis on left shoulder, ΑΥΤ ΤΡΑΙΑΝ ϹЄΒ ΓЄΡΜ ΔΑΚΙΚ / Rev. Emperor (Trajan), laureate and togate, standing in elephant quadriga, right. holding eagle-tipped sceptre and branch; first three elephants with trunks turned down at end and fourth elephant with trunk turned up; in exergue, L IƐ (Year 15). RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 4605.4 (2015); RPC Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4605.4 ; Emmett 462.15 [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; Dattari (Savio) 769 [Savio, A. ed., Catalogo completo della collezione Dattari Numi Augg. Alexandrini (Trieste, 2007)]; BMC 16 Alexandria 512 [Poole, Reginald Stuart, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 16, Alexandria (London, 1892)]; Milne 669 at p. 19 [Milne, J.G., Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins (Oxford 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay, 1971)]. 33.5 mm., 21.26 g. Purchased from Odysseus- Numismatique, Montpellier, France, June 2021. Finally, although it's not a biga or quadriga, this coin definitely depicts an alternative means of transportation, plus it's one of my favorite coins and I will always take any opportunity to show it off: 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 3, Sear RCV I 322 (ill.), Harlan, RRM I Ch. 16 at pp. 98, 100-103 [Michael Harlan, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (Vol. I) (2012)], BMCRR Rome 3247. 19 mm., 3.9 g.
I love it! I collect interesting provenances wherever possible, so I can hardly forgive myself for striking out on all the [edit in italics, forgot one:] "Four Socks, an Italian banker, a War Hero, and a Czech Musician Collection" coins! Perhaps I'll get lucky and some will return to the market (perhaps with additional ex-CT Member provenance) or there were a few unpaid. I haven't received this one yet, @TIF but I was thinking of your cupids-gif when bidding! (Bit of a funny nose on my Mars though!) It's from the recently dispersed "Scipio Collection" (Part III, 458). (Very nice collection >1,000 denarii, both RRC and RIC, mostly much more expensive than mine, acquired mostly 1990s-2000s I think, dispersed by Soler y Llach). It was previously from the Leo Benz (1906-1996) Collection, Lanz 88 (23 Nov 1998), Lot 407. And Kircheldorf 29 (3 Mar 1975), Lot 249 before that. Interestingly, both of those sales are illustrated in the Richard Schaefer Binders of the ANS-RRDP, but under different control marks (!): once under "K (inverted)" [Krich 29] and once under "●K (inverted)" [Benz]. (I just realized I haven't sent an email to let them know yet.) Auction description, S&L (23 Feb 2022), Colleción Scipio (P. III), 458: ROMAN REPUBLIC. Denarius. 103 BC JULIA. L. Julius Lf Caesar. Obv.: Letter not visible. Rev.: Letter K inverted. 3.91 grams. AR. Former Lanz. November 23, 1998, no. 407. BMC-1406; Cal-632; Craw-320/1; FFC-765; Se-4a. MBC+/MBC.
A beach ball? The scary knife thing from Phantasm? Nice assortment, Scooby! Without a doubt . No surprise really since there weren't that many dies used per 399 1b variety, although a match wasn't a certainty. Here's yours overlaid with an outline of mine: You can do more than 10 if they were previously posted on CT. In this case, I simply copied and pasted the pictures + descriptions from other posts. Pretty sure you can do 15 pictures that way, perhaps 20. That's one of my favorite patinas-- looks like leather . Great coin! That one and another Republican dolphin rider remain on my buy list! Dagnabbit! I hope you're able to acquire one. It is a really fun pedigree . Very nice!! Speaking of control marks, here's a real bone-headed mistake (made by me): when I first posted my Julius l.f. Caesar cupid biga denarius, I described the control mark as ●J .
I bid on more than one but this was the only coin won... definitely paid a premium for the Dirty Sock/War Hero/Czech Musican/Italian Banker story. No regrets though .
Been 6 years since I posted it, no wonder I forgot. Paid $14 in 2015 Mn. Cordius Rufus. (46 B.C.) AR Denarius O: RVFVS S.C., Diademed head of Venus right, two locks of hair falling down neck. R: MN. CORDIVS, Cupid riding dolphin right. Rome Mint 3.7g 18mm Crawford 463/3; Sydenham 977
Very nice coins, TIF. The only ones I have of that lot is a decrepit version of the Domitian. How do you achieve the snazzy reflective black background?
Thanks In Photoshop Elements I made various layers (black, the "spotlight", etc) into which I drop pictures of the coin with the background removed. The obverse and reverse are copied, flipped upside down, and dragged into position both vertically and within the layers to obscure the portion that would be out of the spotlight. Here's what the layers look like. For this screen shot I put placeholder layers for the coin and its reflection. Note that the "Light" layer is less than 100% opacity, keeping the fake light from being too harsh. I first saw this done by @AncientJoe and really liked the look so I copied it.
@TIF .....Wow! Super pickup .. I tried to press 'like' twice, it doesn't work!...Really impressive selection you've shown......I actually quite like the deposits, gives it a bit more character. No transport here but Congrats on another lovely addition to your impressive collection. Paul.
That's the other Republican dolphin I want . $14... what a super deal! i think you pasted the wrong attribution though.
OK, though, I LOVE the horror classic reference: Fez from that 70s show sums up my feels after reading that: Thanks so much for the overlay! We're twinsies.. though more like Artemis and Apollo then the Dioscuri Do you use photoshop to do those? Keeping hope alive: One of my top ten coins from last year was this masterfully done Vercingetorix (yeah, I find it hard to believe it ISN'T of the Celtic King) fourée that I thought I'd lost out on. After the auction was over they reached out and said the top bidder had a change of heart. Coin at my last bid with 20 euro off and free shipping... Cha ching! Dreams do come true Semirelated with the wild and unique Celtic biga L. Hostilius Saserna. Fourré Denarius (18-19 mm, 2.86 g), Rome, 48 BC. Obv. Bearded male head to right, his hair straggling out behind him; cloak around neck and Gallic shield behind. Rev. L HOSTILIVS / SASERN, Nude Gallic warrior, holding shield with his left hand and hurling spear with his right, standing left in a galloping biga being driven to right by a seated charioteer holding a whip. Cf. Craw. 448/2; Syd. 952. Fourré. Very fine. Purchased from Auctiones gmbh March 2021
Very nice! I definitely want a Cordius Rufus dolphin rider to go with my Lucretius Trio, but they're a lot scarcer, at least in my experience. It's Crawford 463/3, as opposed to the Dioscuri-Venus-Cupid, which I have, and is 463/1a & 1b.
Photoshop and then a free online animated gif maker (I've used various ones; I think this one was with ezgif.com). It works best if at least one of the coins has strong devices and a good photograph (good focus and contrast). Whichever coin has the best contrast and focus is the one I reduce to an outline. In Photoshop Elements, I play around with contrast reduce shadows, then boost the lighting very very high until the fields are almost white, unless doing so obliterates the devices. Once it's as light as possible without sacrificing devices, I go to Filter > Adjustment > Threshold. Threshold will reduce it to black and white and with the slider I adjust it so that the fields are as white as possible but leaving as many device outlines as possible. After that, use the background eraser tool on the white portions, leaving the black outlines. From there you stack the outlines on pictures of the other coin and then tweak size and rotation. It's not hard if it's a die match. When one or more of the coins are not high grade or the photos are bad, it can be difficult to determine whether it's a die match. Generally, if you can find one strong feature, size and rotation can be adjusted to that and then you see if everything else is in the ballpark or not. Another confounding variable is whether the coins were planar to the lens when photographed because if they weren't... and that is usually the case with ancient coins the don't lie flat and with amateur photographers like most of us... you may also have skew the shape of one of the coins to correct for the distortion. Doing so can be guesswork.
For anyone who doesn't have photoshop, a popular alternative that runs in your browser & is free can use https://www.photopea.com/
Thank you, I'll have to save the description in Word so I won't forget it. I still have to master coin photography. I have Photoshop CS5 and Adobe After Effects CS5 (I think that's for video?), as well as the new version of Paint Shop Pro.
TIF! With your amazing collection you really do not need any clickbait. Hey! My lions have socks too! Phrigia, Cotiaeum. Between 244 and 249 Obverse. M IOYLIOS P'ILIPPOS AYG Reverse. EPI G IOYL PONTIKOY ARC'IER EWS KOTIAEWN Kyble on stool being pulled by biga of lions. Polos / Tympanon When snakes fly. Attica, Eleusis. AE15 dichalkon, ca. 317-307 BC. Triptolemos left, mounting a winged chariot drawn by two serpents / EΛEY beneath piglet standing right on mystic staff; all within wheat wreath. and my favorite ancient transportation... Bithynia, Nicomedia. Severus Alexander AE16. Galley Obv: Laureate bust right. Rev: ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔƐΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝƐΩΚΟΡΩΝ, Galley with oarsmen above waves r. Unrecorded in major references.
Wonderful pickup @TIF ! Very very nice! I have always enjoyed my goat biga... just reminds me of the county fairs when I was a kid... (I showed sheep, cattle, rabbits, dogs, etc.) watching pig races, mini pony races, goat chariots, etc. RR C Renius AR Denarius 18mm 3.8g Roma 138 BC Helmeted hd Roma r X - C RENI ROMA Juno driving biga goats r whip reins scepter Cr 231-1 This was a great scene in a fun movie... (goats are always dopey!)
