They seem to be silvered bronzes, but I don't really care if I'm right about that or not, because this is a damn cool chalice at the Schatzkammer of the Munich Residenz. I realize the Bavarian state coin collection is also there, but I didn't have time and was battling jet-lag.
Wow... I'd like to watch a football game, sipping an ice cold Hawaiian Punch outta that thing! As if I don't get enough eye-rolls from my wife for my coin obsession...
Silver denarii. I see a few Severan dynasty denarii on there-- Septimius Severus, Elagabalus, maybe Caracalla, Geta, and Severus Alexander too although it's hard to make out the details. Swanky chalice!
Correct. The styles shown include some not issued in bronze. My first thought is why they used cheap old Severans rather than 12 Caesar aurei which a peoson who could afford the chalice could have afforded for a very slight upgrade back then. I'm not a chalice syle expert but don't see this as all that old (19th century?). Do you have details on the piece? This sort of thing makes me feel the need to apologize for any mention of overly expensive holders for coins made of plastic. The coins are not plated. I assume the holder is not either??? Thanks for posting.
I think it said 18th century. Unfortunately, the audio guide I had wasn't working and I couldn't get further details on it. The website of the Residenz has more background on some of the pieces in the Treasury collection, but not this one. Here's a gallery of some of the other pieces that I saw there.
Here's the full-size crop from the original image showing the most legible of the coins on the chalice. The size of this image (click to enlarge, of course) is about right for desktop wallpaper.
Ummm, is this an actual ancient chalice, or did AJ merely stick his junker-coins onto one of his rec-room drinkin' steins?
