as a companion to the post "my boat came in", a post dedicated to the Navy. As a Ex-Navy and a passionate LRB collector-- post your nautical themed coins. one of my favorite, celebrating the conquest of Constantinople Constantine I A.D. 327-8 Ӕ nummus 20mm 3.0g CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG; rosette diademed head right LIBERTAS PVBLICA; Victory standing left on galley, wreath in both hands; in left field B. in ex. CONS RIC VII Constantinople 25 post ancient nautical themes
This one was in a multiple lot of 13 coins: Antoninianus Gallia, Lugdunum 260/261 AD 19.5 x 21mm; 2.857 g, 1h RIC V Postumus 73; Elmer 130, 186; Cunetio 2385; RSC 167a; Sear III, 10958; Seaby 3114; Mairat 18 and 103 (The coinage of the Gallic Empire, Wolfson College, Trinity. 2014, unpublished PhD Thesis) Ob.: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Postumus to r. Border of dots Rev.: LAETITIA / (A)VG (in exergue), War Galley going left over waves. Acrostolium and rostrum at prow. Helmsman, aplustre, acroterium at stern. Four rowers.
And Gordian III also had war galleys For coins of Gadara it seems the galley reverse type only occurred on the coins of Gordian III AE 24 Decapolis, Gadara (Umm Quais, Jordan), dated Year ΓΤ = 303 = 239 – 240 AD 12.004 g, 11h; RPC VII.2, 3625; Rosenberger 90; Sofaer 103; Spijkerman 93; SNG ANS 1337; Paris 309; Mionnet V, 54; Saulcy "Terre Sainte", Chandon de Briailles 982-983; Sear SGI 3781. Ob.: ΑVΤΟΚ Κ ΜΑΡ ΑΝΤΩ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟϹ laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III to r. Rev.: ΠΟΜΠ / ΓΑΔΑΡЄ/ΩΝ (of the Pompeian Gadaraneans) war galley traveling to right, navigator at prow (r.) seven oarsmen, and steersman at stern (l.); (ΓΤ) (date, only the upper part is visible) below the galley. Picture courtesy CNG:
This is all I've got. 'Tis just a tad more modern. But my ironclad could beat your triremes and stuff, so nyah nyah.
an unofficial issue from the Freckenham Hoard of 1948; which contained almost 600 Constantinian era coins. Constantius II circa A.D. 348- 350 21mm 5.0g D N CONSTAN-TIVS P F AVG; pearl-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right. FEL TEMP REPARATIO; Emperor in military dress stg. l., holding phoenix on globe and standard with [Chi-Rho?]; in stern sits Victory, steering ship. In ex. SLG cf. RIC VIII Lyons 69
Two small coins of Sidon : On this 5th c. BCE AR 8 mm 1/8 of shekel, we see the Persian overlord on obverse (or perhaps some male local deity figured like the Persian king) and on reverse a war galley with a line of shields, the kind that fought in Salamis, and city walls with towers in the background. This could be seen as a view of Sidon military harbour, but a much later coin will explain this type otherwise. Here is a 1st c. AD AE 12 of Sidon minted under Domitian. On the obverse, a veiled Tyche wearing the usual turreted crown. On reverse a war galley. The legend : ΣΙΔΩΝΟΣ ΘΕΑΣ ("of the Sidonian Goddess"), ΗϘΡ (year 198 of the local era = 87/8 AD), ΑϚ (below) (1st semester). The war galley of the 1st coin is still there, but 5 centuries later it's a galley of a later type. The city-walls are still there too, they are now the Tyche's turreted crown. The legend explains the galley : it is not a reference to Sidon's navy but the ceremonial galley of Astarte, the "Sidonian Goddess" - always this Oriental reluctance for naming a god... More than 5 centuries later, the city of Sidon still minted coins with the same types and symbols...
There are ancient Greek and Roman coins that represent not a whole ship but just parts of ships : the stern, the prow, even just the bronze ram of a war galley. Coins with just a prow are very frequent in cities like Arados (Rwad, Syria) or Rome. This little AE 14 mm of Arados shows not a prow, but just the bronze ram. Arados, AE 13 mm, 2nd c. BCE. Obv.: head of Zeus right. Rev.: ram of galley; two Phoenician letters above, Phoenician date below. We can compare this ram with the real object, one of the 17 bronze galley rams discovered do far on the sea floor at the Egadi Islands battle site, 241 BCE.
On coinage depicting war galleys one can see the naval ram (Rostrum), a remarkable weapon that dominated Mediterranean naval warfare for nearly five hundred years. A rostrum is a bronze ram attached to the bow of an ancient warship. It was used to punch holes into the hull of enemy ships to puncture, disable or sink them. The rostrum was made of cast bronze and was molded directly onto the bow of the finished galley. It was fitted to different types of ships. The weapon comprised an underwater prolongation of the bow of the ship to form an armored beak, usually between 2 and 4 meters (6–12 ft) in length. The Phoenicians were famed in antiquity for their ship-building skills, and they were credited with inventing the keel, the battering ram on the bow, and caulking between planks. From Assyrian relief carvings at Nineveh and Khorsabad, and descriptions in texts such as the book of Ezekial in the Bible we know that the Phoenicians had three types of ship, all shallow-keeled. Warships had a convex stern and were propelled by a large single-masted square sail and two banks of oars (a bireme), had a deck, and were fitted with a ram low on the bow. The Roman historian Livy gives a description of their use at the Battle of Side in 190 BC: Whenever a ship encountered an enemy vessel head on, it either shattered its prow, or sheared off its oars; or else it sailed through the open space in the line and rammed it in the stern[[1] Livy History of Rome XXXVII 24, translated by Henry Bettenson, Penguin edition]. The best definitions about devices on ancient galleys that I have found are from the Dictionary of Roman Coins at https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Illustrated Ancient Coin Glossary https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Acrostolium It is not uncommon to find descriptions of coins where the acrostolium and the aplustre are wrongly identified. Acrostolium An ornamental extension of the stem post on the prow of an ancient warship. Often used as a symbol of victory or of power at sea https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Acrostolium. Acroterium Alternate spelling acroterion, is an ornament, such as a decorative knob or a statue, on the pediment of a temple or other building. Some are at the apex, others are at the corners. On Roman galleys they are at the top of the Acrostolium (round object at the left in image below) https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Illustrated Ancient Coin Glossary Aplustre Alternate spelling apluster, (Latin: Aplustrum) or Aphlaston, an ornamental appendage of wood at the ship's stern, usually spreading like a fan and curved like a bird 's feather. The aplustre is used on ancient coins to symbolize maritime power Dictionary of Roman Coins, https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Aplustrum https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=aplustre
Victory on the prow of a galley is one of the most ubiquitous LRB's. The coin below was sold by Roma (goodnight sweet prince) as a mule; which is a coin mixing dies that shouldn't be together. However, I believe that this one is just an unofficial issue in pretty good style. Constantius II, as Caesar, BI Mule Nummus. Treveri, AD 332-333. FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate and cuirassed bust to right / Victory standing to left on prow, holding transverse sceptre and resting hand on shield; TR•P in exergue. For obv., cf. RIC VII 540; for rev., RIC VII 543. 2.03g, 19mm, 11h. Speaking of mules, here is a coin that was recently listed. It is an improbable pairing of Constantine I with a FEL TEMP galley reverse. It is of course fake, as Constantine was dead for about a decade before the galley type was issued.
Here’s a recent galley FEL TEMP from Antioch. It had/has some encrustations, making it affordable but the reverse has great style. I’ve said it before and will say it again but Antioch and Alexandria were the most artistic mints of the 350s.
Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye out for one of those galleys with the figureheads. They’re so cool. I think I remember you posting one at some point. You still have it or sell it off through the store?
Antiochos IV Epiphanes, AE double, Tyre - dated LΘΛΡ (year 139 = 174/3 BCE). An elegant stern of galley...
