Janus the god belongs exclusively to the Romans, but we do find Greek coins with janiform heads, like this diobol of Lampsakos that I found in Baltimore today. On these types, the style progresses from archaic to classical - this coin seems to fall somewhere in the middle. Some are described as janiform head, male and female. It does somewhat look like the left head is male, the right female - what do you all think? At any rate, does anyone know the significance of these heads prior to the Romans? If it is male/female, it would seem the coin is trying to convey some Mars/Venus yin-yang? 5th-century BC...
I suppose it does look slightly more male on the left. The nose looks more pronounced. There is a book in Australia called men are from Wagga and women wish they weren't. Hilarious. Maybe it was a Ancient women's rights thingy. You know. All are equal no matter the sex. That is a wonderful coin JA. Wish it were mine.
I saw a lot of beautiful BIG Greek silver today, to the point of overkill, but I couldn't leave without this one. It's the one-grammers with great detail and surfaces that you should never leave behind, in my opinion.
I'm trying to talk myself into making the drive to Baltimore tomorrow. Your cool newp is pushing me that way.
Sweet OP-score, JA ... very cool Ummm, I looked up Janus on Wiki (so it' gotta be true, eh?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus ... yah, apparently the Greeks didn't comment too much on good ol' Janus Oh, but I did stumble across this adorable, yet creepy lil' fella ...
Edward Mordrake From Wikipedia:Edward Mordrake (sometimes written Edward Mordake) is claimed to be a 19th century heir to one of the peerages in England who had an extra face on the back of his head. According to the story, the extra face could neither eat nor speak, but it could laugh and cry. Edward begged doctors to have his 'devil twin' removed, because, supposedly, it whispered horrible things to him at night, but no doctor would attempt it. He committed suicide at the age of 23.
Apollo and Artemis? Some time back I showed a countermark with a Janiform head and there are several other doubles. I'm sorry I am missing Baltimore this time around.
Janiform simply describes a head with two faces, whereas Janus refers specifically to the deity. Additionally, the term "gryllos" can be used to describe a head with more than two faces, which usually includes an animal face. These are usually scene on engraved gemstones.
I always understood that this coin had a janiform female head, with a female face on both sides, representing the shared Persian and Athenian control of Lampsakos. BTW - you can tell it is two female heads, because they share an earring.
How about a Janiform head of Pompey. MAGNVS.PIVS.IMP, Cn Pompeius Magnus Jr about 45BC; Minted in Spain; Cr 479 Obv - Janus head of Pompey the Great; Rev - Prow
Digging through the latest Nomos auction which is now online, and being completely disappointed by a whole four (4) RR in the sale, I took a gander at the Greek and ran across this interesting little coin with a Janiform and a Triform head. I don't recall ever seeing a Triform head. CILICIA, Uncertain (Tarsos?). Circa 400-380 BC. Obol (Silver, 9mm, 0.73 g 10). Janiform head: on the left, a bearded the male and, on the right, a diademed female (Zeus and Hera as at Tenedos?). Rev. Triform, bearded male head. Göktürk 37 and pl. XX, 7. SNG Levante 202. Very rare. A charming little coin, well struck and of particularly nice style. Extremely fine.
LOL, Carthago, I wonder if there is a FOURTH face, just hiding behind... Laughing at you... And I skipped Nomos also due to the sparse RR's...
Me too!!! I definitely do not recall EVER seeing an example like that before EVER!!! Fantastic pick-up @Carthago !!!!!
