Acquired a coin I've been wanting for some time now, nice detail on both sides. Lion Is slightly off center however.
Yeah, these are nice little coins to own. I need a second one for my collection, one with the lion facing the other way.
Miletos, Ionia AR twelfth-stater Obv: Forepart of lion left, head turned Rev: Floral, star, or sun pattern in incuse square Mint: Miletos Date: 525-494 BC Ref: SNG Cop 952
This thread demonstrates how these had problems with centering. Where are the ones off center the other way leaving the lion's nose on and losing the mane? Mine is worn.
Little Lions Ionia Miletos AR Tetartemorion 5.6mm 0.21g Roaring Lion Hd - Bird Klein 430 SNG Kay 941 Iona-Miletos Late6thC fine lion Iona-Miletos AR Obol Late6thC fine lion laying LEFT facing RIGHT
I have posted this before, but it is kinda fun and puts things in perspective. I am reading “Gus, Germs, and Steel” which creates some cool timelines. Homo genus hominids are 5,000,000 years old. Modern Homo Sapiens are 50,000 years old. Recorded History is 5,000 years old. Oldest Coin: Iona Kolophon AR Tetartemorion 530-520 BCE Archaic Apollo Incuse Punch 0.15g 4.5mm- SNG Kayhan 343 Ex: @John Anthony Oldest Scarab: Egypt SCARAB Middle Kingdom 2065-1650 BCE Scarabaeus Sphinx Oldest Seal: Akkadian 2350-2200 BCE Cylinder Seal Buff stone scene hero wresting antelope winged lion Ex J Tabot with SCENE Oldest Relic Material: These are figurines carved from Russian Mammoth Tusks imported into and carved in China into Chinese Zodiac Figurines: I am Year of the Boar, my Wife is Year of the Rabbit... At the time, it was perfectly legal to own and transport Mammoth Tusk, as it was NOT an endangered species, rather it was Extinct. However, I understand NOW you cannot purchase nor transport them into the US. These are grandfathered. I purchased these on one of my trips to China. Mammoth Tusk - Russia find China carved Chinese Zodiac BOAR and RABBIT. Estimated age of Mammoth Tusks: 55,000-60,000 BCE.
My oldest: APOLLONIA PONTIKA AR Hemiobol OBVERSE: Anchor, A in field REVERSE: Swastika with two parallel lines in each quadrant Struck at Apollonia Pontika, circa 500 BC .28g, 6.54mm SNG BM 149; Moushmov 3146 ex. Aegean Numismaics
I love those little Miletos diobols. They are quite common; I wonder how many were originally made for so many of them to make their way to us, 2500 years later? This was my pick from a large lot of early fractions My oldest coins: Oldest with a narrow date range (560-546 BC) Croesus AR Siglos / 1/2 Croesid Other contenders: Asia minor blank Electrum 1/48 stater, OR maybe just a blank planchet? India, Gandhara Janapada AR Shatamana Some say these date back to 600 BC, although this one is probably about 450-400 BC
Interesting coin. I can imagine carrying a bag of silver coins / pieces to market to buy supplies. I have a harder time seeing carrying enough Aes Rude to buy much. My oldest is a lion / bull unless you count some pieces that were probably traded by weight similar to money this silver piece was listed as Asia Minor, 600 - 400 BC I have lots of bronze (Aes) pieces listed as Central Italy, 1000 - 300 BC
Awesome small "oldest coins". Impressive how they could struck those tiny coins, no wonder a few were struck off-center. And how could those people carry these tiny coins without loosing them? Did they have a purse or something? Even though the oldest coins are not my primary interest, my husband said he wanted a really old coin, he chose this one and a plain globular type dated 650 - 600 BC, .... and I couldn't say no This is the first one: Mysia, Kyzikos (Kapu Dagh, Turkey) ca. 600 - 550 BC, EL Hemihekte 8.7 mm maximum diameter, 1.299 g (seller's measurements) Ref.: Hurter-Liewald III 5.2; SNG Von Aulock 7255 (fish above off flan); BMC Mysiap. 18, 2 (hekte); von Fritze 2; Nomisma VII2 Ob.: head of tuna fish left, jaws closed, backbone protruding from truncation at right, pellet as eye, two pellets right, smaller tuna fish to right above Rev.: irregular quadripartite incuse square
Very hard to pin down an exact identification on these coinsm but these are punch marks from the ghandara region. 600-200BC The first coinage if the indian region. similar to the greek lydian and ionian coinage. probably inspired from them or the other way around.
Very hard to pin down an exact identification on these coinsm but these are punch marks from the ghandara region. 600-200BC The first coinage if the indian region. similar to the greek lydian and ionian coinage. probably inspired from them or the other way around. View attachment 963298
@cmezner I, too have one of those (see my Avatar. c.600-550 B.C. Electrum (6 mm, 0.50 gm. Head of Tunny right / Quadripartite incuse square. Hunter & Liewald 2.2; cf Von Fritze l 9 (twelfth stater); SNG France - ; Rosen 419 VF
Awesome !! and on yours the tuna fish is to the right - also a Hemihekte? OK, now I see, it is a twelfth stater or Hemihekte Do you have any theory about how they carried these tiny coins? imagine a mom sending her child to get some bread, I would have lost the coin all the time
My theory is that they were small enough to be carried in the mouth to beat the 'robbers', but I have no evidence to support this.
Probably my oldest. I have several Chinese monies reaching back into the Shang Dynasty, however, I am not sure if they were truly minted until much later in the Dynasty. I find it interesting that Western Countries feel that everything was invented in Europe or The Med. I find it myopic when considering Human History world wide. There were many Eastern or “Other” cultures using the concept of money through coinage. Sadly, we seem to think coins must be round. However, even in Western coinage during ancient times had square and irregular coins (I have seen a lot of ancient Roman coins that are a hot mess after manufacture, and Byzantines look and are shaped crudely.) We even have debates on Ancient vs Modern coinage. The date milestones and technologies for other cultures OUTSIDE Europe and The Med are COMPLETELY different. I would have to say the Chinese were brilliant early in their coinage heritage. 1) they poured their money via a simple casting process. 2) they created FIAT money, not tying value of the coins to precious metal within the coin. Rather, they generally STATED the value ON the coin. Yes, they had size differences for values, however that made it easier to quickly understand its fiat value. Smart, and well before the West “ figgerred” it out! INDIA ' India Gandhara janaprada AR Bent Bar 11.3g 650-600 BCE RARE two dots - also have on BOTH sides is VERY RARE CHINA FISH MONEY China Zhou Dynasty 1046-256 BCE AE Fish Money 67mm 9.5g AB Coole Enc Chinese Coins 6920ff EX: @Ken Dorney