Just arrived from Ares - not a planned purchase, but at only $7-8 per piece, I thought it would be fun to go through them and maybe keep a couple at the end of the day. I know next to nothing about these - they were described as "theater tickets" although I read elsewhere that actual theater tickets should have an aisle/seat number, plus the triangular back makes me think that these were intended to be used as seals. I am also not certain whether these are Roman, Greek, or a mix. Based on the quality of the artistry, I would imagine that whoever engraved the seal used to stamp these was at least trained in the Greek way of things. Any info or pointers is appreciated! Without further ado... #1 Head of Zeus #2 Female head, probably Venus #3 Young Herakles fighting the snake! #4 Zeus seated - almost a perfect match to Alexander's lifetime tetradrachms #5 Female? Head left, hair in tight braids. Very much an archaic Greek look. #6 Cluster of grapes? #7 Facing head with fancy hairdo or maybe a turban? #8 Helmeted Athena #9 Bareheaded youth #10 Female head left, not 100% sure of the identity
#11 Another very archaic looking female bust with almond-shaped eye #12 Female bust left #13 River god! #14 Maybe Venus? Diana? #15 Venus or a nymph #16 Lion! #17 Mars/Ares #19 Also Ares #20 Winged figure (Victoria, Nike, or Cupid?) Playing a lyre? #21 Two figures... not really sure what it's depicting. In a strange way, it reminds me of the depiction of the Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary.
#22 Elephant! #23 Youth galloping on a gryphon? #24 More grapes #25 Head right with flowing hair - Maybe Apollo? #26 (Didn't realize I got a bonus!) Youthful Apollo?
Nice scores! I have a few floating around somewhere and also suspect they were seals of some sort. That elephant and youth riding "something" oughta be worth a bit more than the typical "head of deity" themed pieces.
Muwhahahaha, I will drag you yet to the dark, dark side of ancient group lots! Cool score. I find such pieces much more interesting when you have a small collection of them to compare and contrast, no?
@Finn235......Very interesting group!... I really like #1 Nice!...#7 with that amazing sullen face and of course #22 the elephant..I'm still intrigued as to why you went for these??.......Paul
Thanks all! @Plumbata, I'd love to see them if you can find any images! @medoraman, there is no dragging left to do; I actually seldom buy individual coins - mostly group lots. This is the first time that I've strayed beyond "money" although I have put in a few stray bids on lots of rings or other objects. @Spaniard, I can't really say why I was drawn to it - maybe I just got jaded with coins for a bit and wanted to mix things up a bit?
VERY cool Tessera Hoard, @Finn235 ! Always fascinating to speculate where they were used. Today, I betcha wouldn't have any problem using them at:
