My first gold

No, it is not a Phillip II stater (I wish) but a humble (for some) Byzantine solidus. Ancient gold coins come at a premium, but you can still get a bargain if it is a Byzantine one and if you look hard enough. The following one had the right balance of wear on Christ's face and price.

CONSTANTINE VII PORPHYROGENITUS (945-955) - Constantinople (19mm - 4.33 gr)




Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus was an emperor of the Macedonian dynasty from 913 to 959. He barely had the chance to rule alone, and as it can be seen in this coin one of the co-rulers was Romanos Lekapenos (from 920 until 945). Porphyrogenitus is not a surname, but it translates as "the one born in purple" and that refers to the purple room of the imperial palace (decorated with porphyry), where the children of the emperors were born. He was known to be a collector, an art enthusiast, a writer, and a scholar. His books are still available if you look hard enough. On top of that he was a pretty good emperor too, making good decisions and appointing the right people to the right positions.

Show off your golds!

 

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Beautiful!
Byzantine (or other ancient gold) is, and probably will always be, out of my price range.

 

Congrats, @Only a Poor Old Man ! I see a lot of folks start with Byzantine AV. Yours looks great.

My first gold was from Carthage...


CARTHAGE, ZEUGITANA
AV GOLD 1/10 STATERor Trihemiobol.
350-320 BCE Carthage mint
7.50 mm, 0.94 g
Obv: Palm tree with two date-clusters
Rev: Horse’s head right
Ref:Jenkins & Lewis Group III, 138; GC.6461-Müller II,87,81; Sear 6455; SNG Cop (Nordafrika) 132, MAA 8; SNG Lloyd 1613; Pozzi 3290-1; Boston MFA 500

My second Gold was Electrum (natural gold / silver ore mix)

 

Nice example @Only a Poor Old Man. It's nice to hold gold, eh? My only gold, which was purchased at a bargain basement price:

VALENS
AV Solidus
OBVERSE: DN VALENS PER F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: RESTITVTOR REIPUBLICAE, Valens standing right, holding labarum in right hand & Victory on globe in left, cross to left. Mintmark star ANTE star
Struck at Antioch, 364 AD
3.6g, 19mm
Antioch RIC 2d,xxxvii-5

 

...nice...obviously something only the poor can afford.. rolleyes:i ain't got any!)...

 

Very nice. Congrats!
I only have one gold ancient coin....

 

Africa, Zeugutana, Carthage
Anonymous BCE 310-290
EL Dekadrachm - Stater
18.5mm, 7.27g
Obverse: Wreathed head of Tanit left, eleven pendants on necklace; pellet before neck
Reverse: Horse standing right; three pellets below exergue line
Ref: MAA 12; SNG Copenhagen 136

 

That is a nice one—just enough of Christ’s face still showing.

 

Hey, my only gold also happens to be a Constantine VII solidus. Or, more precisely, it used to be a Constantine VII solidus. At some point in the past, someone clipped it down to just this little bitty thing, presumably to have it serve as a small religious pendant or talisman featuring just the face of Christ.


BYZANTINE EMPIRE, Constantine VII Porphrogenitus
AV Solidus, clipped and ex-jewelry. 1.22g, 9.6mm. Constantinople mint, AD 945-959. Sear 1751; DOC 15. O: [+IhS XPS RЄX RЄGNANƮIUM], bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction and holding Book of Gospels in left hand. R: [CONSƮANƮ CЄ ROMAN AVGG], facing busts of of Constantine VII, with short beard and wearing loros on left, and Romanus II, beardless and wearing chlamys on right, both crowned and holding between them long patriarchal cross.

 

Only a Poor Old Man, Congratulations on your score ! Byzantine gold coins are still affordable & you get a lot of "bang for the bucks" .

 

Alegandron, That is a stunning gold stater ! I think I waited too long to sink my teeth into one of those staters . They have been selling for big money at auction the last few years .

 

Attached below are a few of my favorite Byzantine gold coins .

 

all fantastic coins in this thread - I just cannot get my head around calling any of them “humble” This one is not the purest gold - but perhaps qualifies:

John III Doukas Vatatzes Emperor of Nicaea 1222-1254 AV Hyperpyron
Size: 22-24mm and 4.1g
Obv: (double struck?) Christ enthroned facing, nimbate and raising hand
Rev: Emperor standing facing, holding long cross and being crowned by Mary to right.

 

I was looking for archaic silver and it was medieval specialist Dr. Andy Singer who handed this across the counter and said, "Sometimes gold can be as cheap as silver."



1/12 stater electrum. Miletus c. 500 BCE.

It is my only ancient gold.

It is not uncommon for Byzantine (Romaion) gold to be at about twice bullion, which is pretty good for anything ancient and truly numismatic. They struck a lot of gold to pay off their enemies and maintain their shrinking empire. As Islam rose, Rome contracted.

(1) They called themselves "Roman" or "Romaion." The word "Byzantine" was a French invention of the 18th century encyclopedists. See "What, if anything, is a Byzantine?" here: http://www.romanity.org/htm/fox.01.en.what_if_anything_is_a_byzantine.01.htm

(2) I f you read science fiction, allow me to recommend Up the Line by Robert Silverberg. It is a time travel story set in the Eastern Roman Empire where time guys have little villas of their own. (Silverberg has other science fiction with archaeology as the framework.)

 

I've owned a few gold coins in the past, but this somewhat pugilistic solidus of Theodosius II is the only gold coin currently in my collection:

Constantinople mint, A.D. 430-440
Obv: D N THEODO-SIVS P F AVG
Rev: VOT XXX MVLT XXXX S - Constantinopolis, seated on throne, facing left, holding scepter and globus cruciger (cross on globe)
CONOB in exergue; [star] in right field
RIC 275
21mm, 4.4g

 

gsimonel, I sold a solidus of the same type a couple of years ago at a Heritage auction pictured below. Despite some doubling on the reverse the coin managed to sell for $3,840.00 !

 

DARIC


PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire.
Darios I to Xerxes II.
Circa 485-420 BC.
AV Daric (14mm, 8.30 g). Lydo-Milesian standard. Sardes mint.
Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, holding spear in right hand, bow in left /
Incuse punch.
Carradice Type IIIb, Group A/B (pl. XIII, 27);
Meadows, Administration 321; BMC Arabia pl. XXIV, 26.

Twenty-five drachmas equals one Daric

The "feel" / specific gravity of a gold coin 1/4 TOZ or more is very nice. I have several varieties of Modern Gold, but when you hold 1/4 TOZ, 1/2TOZ, or more, there is a wow experience with that weighty-feeling in such a small object. Store of Wealth Value.

 

Your lucky, it's a nice coin & congrats.

No ancient gold for me

 

Nice pick up.

 

great addition! these are fun to collect
some of mine...