Heads or heads or tails or tails or tails

Some coins are important because they depict an emperor who changed history. Others are beautiful because they were engraved by the most talented artists of their time.

Then there are some coins which are just fascinating and enigmatic: this is one of those.

While I'm not aware of a deeper meaning behind it, it certainly turns heads (groan-inducing pun intended):



CILICIA. Uncertain. 4th century BC. Obol. Janiform head; on the left, a bearded male; on the right, a diademed female. Rev. Triform bearded male head. Göktürk 37 and pl. XX, 7. 0.88 gr, 9mm

Post your unusual coins!

 

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Wow, never seen this type of coin before. Really neat. Congrats.

 

The only time Meow has heard the name Janus was for the two faced James Bond Villain, and the insurance company with a two faced head logo.

 

I'll take tails since the odds are 3:2

Yeah, this one is now added to the list .

Okay .

A snake atop a horse... not just plopped atop but holding onto the reins. Yeehah, giddyup!

EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian. Regnal year 10, CE 90/91. Æ diobol (25mm, 10.86 g, 12h). AVT KAICAP ΔΟ ΜΙΤ CEB ΓΕΡΜ, laureate head right / Agathodaemon serpent, wearing the skhent crown (emblematic of upper and lower Egypt), on horseback galloping left; L I (date) below. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) –; K&G 24.109; RPC II 2585; SNG Copenhagen 214; Emmett 277.10 (R5).

Ex Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection. Ex West Coast/Lloyd Beauchaine Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 41, 19 March 1997), lot 1110; Classical Numismatic Review Vol. XVI, No. 1 (January 1991), lot 316; Numismatic Fine Arts Fall Mail Bid Sale (18 October 1990), lot 2365.

Appearances: Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 39 (this coin). Obverse illustrated in Emmett as the header for the Domitian section, p. 24 (this coin); fully illustrated in Emmett, p. 26 (this coin, discussing the unusual reverse).

This one is described more or less as a snake coiled atop a horse but it looks like it may be a snake-encircled baetyl atop a horse.


LYDIA, Philadelphia. Caracalla. Æ 31, 16.7 gm, CE 198-217. Ioulianos, strategos. AVT K M AVP ANTΩNЄINOC; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / ЄΠI CTPA IOVΛIANOV A ΠOΛ ΦIΛΑΔЄΛΦЄΩN; horse prancing left surmounted by serpent coiled left. BMC 85.

Not many coins feature a closeup of a foot. Hmm, are there six toes on that foot? Maybe the ancestor of the Hemingway cats ! (whaddya think, @MeowtheKitty? )

EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius
AE diobol, 22.8 mm, 8.33 gm
RY 17 (176/7 CE)
Obv: MAVPHΛIOCANTωNINOC; laureate head right
Rev: right foot and ankle (of a statue of Serapis?), pointing right; draped bust right of Serapis above, wearing kalathos; LI[Z] in right field
Ref: Dattari (Savio) 3516; Emmett 2254.17 (this coin illustrated, p. 96); K&G 37.411 (this coin illustrated). Extremely rare. None in CoinArchives.
Ex WRG Collection
Ex Kerry K. Wetterstrom Collection (Part II, Classical Numismatic Auctions XIII, 4 December 1990), lot 130.

 

Such interesting designs.

 

They show too many poorly fed Cats on them ancient coins.

 

Ditto to @Mat's "Wow." I've never seen anything like that either.

 

In the same vein as @TIF's Alexandrian diobol of Marcus Aurelius,
here is a chicken and a foot on this Biunx from Hatria c. 275 - 225 BC.

By the way, TIF, the your Domitian diobol is amazing.

 

Stunning coin
I love and will always appreciate the ancient Greeks ability to deal with depth and optical illusion on these tiny masterpieces on metal:

CARIA, Halikarnassos
(reassigned from Kindya)
499-497 BCE
AR hektai, 1.78 gm, 11 mm, Milesian standard
Obv: head of ketos right
Rev: geometric pattern within incuse square
Ref: Konuk

Facing us or facing each other?

BRUTTIUM, Rhegion
Circa 415/0-387 BCE. Æ 11mm (1.76 gm). Lion's head facing / PHΓIN[...], laureate head of Apollo right. Cf. SNG ANS 702; HN Italy 2524. Good VF, dark green patina


Lesbos. Uncertain mint circa 500-450 BC.
Obol BI
8mm., 0,89g.
Confronted boars' heads / Quadripartite incuse square.
very fine
Klein 348

 

Great optical illusion coin, AJ. I can't stop staring at the reverse!

 

What a GREAT coin, really like that Quadri-Janiform! Very cool find, @AncientJoe ! I really enjoy it!

How about Knuckle-bones and Frogs... Great items we would love playing with as KIDS! At least I would as a farmboy.


RR
Aes Grave
Uncia 269-266 BCE
10.1g
Astragalus knuckle-bone -
knuckle-bone
Thurlow- Vecchi 21 Craw 21-6 R



Luceria
AES Grave
Anonymous 217-215 BCE
Uncia 7.35g
Frog-
Corn Ear pellet retrograde L
Thurlow-Vecchi 285

 

That triform head is spectacular!

 

@AncientJoe that is an interesting design and a lot of heads on a small canvis.
@octavius I think your coin is a hat trick: an aes grave, a foot on a HAT coin and a chicken.
My small coin with a lot of knuckelbones on it:

Cilicia, TARSOS (389-375 a.C.) AR Obol
Obv - Female kneeling left, tossing astralagoi.
Rev - Male head right.
0.63 gr
9.4 mm

 

What a fantastic design!! I love it. And I love obols too, so it's a great combo.

Probably my most suitable coin to post would be this 3-headed Shiva from Ujjain (c. 155-120 BCE):

 

That is a very neat reverse design, congratulations with this addition @AncientJoe! It still amazes me that ancient die makers were able to produce such complicated and appealing designs with the tools they had in those times.

 

You can also be proud of holding the world record of hammering 1150 times the starting price

 

It's not a coin but I have a feeling of "déjà vu"...

 

I placed a prebid of 1155 for it so I ended up buying it by $5 (although I was watching live and was going to go higher if outbid). I'm hoping there was no funny business running me up but it is surprising that someone else would have come up with the same bid on an obscure coin...

Regardless, I'm happy with it but it does make me question how it all unfolded!

 

@Ancient Joe - a fascinating coin.Why do so many strange
coins come from Cilicia ?
Here is my own Cilician oddity :

CILICIA. Uncertain. Circa 4th Century BC. Obol (Silver, 11 mm, 0.69 g, 12 h).


Turreted and bearded male head of Persian style to left. Rev. Bearded male head facing (Nergal?), with a turreted crown and with a facing lion's mask underneath and blending into his beard.


Nergal was the rather dark Mesopotamian god of war and pestilence - perhaps this was his COVID mask ?

 

I remember that coin! Definitely a memorable design .