I've been in coinstalking mode for one of these ever since @TIF scored hers and showed it off here last year. I mean, a coin with a chicken on one side and waffles on the other... how can one not be tempted by such a deliciously whimsical numismatic morsel? Another reason this coin type appealed to me was for purely nostalgic reasons. Just looking at it turns back the clock for me 15 years to my first (and only) time trying that iconic American mashup. It was in 2005, and a friend I was traveling with insisted we pay pilgrimage to Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles off Sunset Boulevard in LA. I remember thoroughly enjoying my plate, but I also remember being a little disconcerted when I accidentally got some hot sauce intended for the fried chicken onto my waffles. Alas, I didn't take a pic of my dish, but in trawling through old Yahoo emails for memories, I did find one I took that afternoon, of some Star Wars geeks queuing for tickets outside Grauman's Chinese Theater, a couple of weeks prior to the actual release of Revenge of the Sith. Jeez, Episodes I - III... now there's a memory I maybe didn't actually need! But, anyway, enough waffling, back to the coin! TIF's thread about this type has all the fun exposition about the intriguing reverse design, so I won't go into that, beyond saying that I love that on my example, the cross-hatch pattern is most appropriately echoed on the obverse by the extensive surface crystallization of the coin. As far as the story behind the city's use of the rooster as its emblem goes, I found this short blurb from a Nomos auction: "Dardanos used the cock as its symbol on its early coinage, perhaps because of that animal's relation to the sunrise or because of a lost myth connecting it with the Dardanians, an ancient people who supposedly lived in this area and were closely connected to the Trojans (Tros was the grandson of their eponymous founder, Dardanos)." So, I guess now the only mystery left to ponder is, how did the Dardanians like their chickens served? More research for another day! In the meantime, please post pics of your coins of Troas, chickens, or waffles! TROAS, Dardanos AR Obol. 0.66g, 10mm. TROAS, Dardanos, circa 500-400 BC. Klein 303; SNG Ashmolean 1119. O: Rooster standing left. R: Cross-hatch pattern.
I loved @TIF 's write-up about the chicken and waffles coin and I see you did, too! Fun acquisition for your collection. I like that crystallized silver look to old Greeks, too. I have no coins with waffles, and this one with a tiny rooster is the only one I have with a chicken: Gordian III, AD 238-244. Roman Provincial Æ 35 mm, 26.72 g, 6 h. Pisidia, Antioch, AD 238-244. Obv: IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III, r., seen from rear. Rev: COL CAES ANTIOCH, S-R, Mên standing r., wearing Phrygian cap, foot on bucranium, holding sceptre and Victory (standing r., on globe, holding trophy), resting elbow on column; behind his shoulders, crescent; to l., rooster standing, l. Refs: RPC VII.2, — (unassigned; ID 3431); Krzyżanowska XXII/94; BMC xix.187, 70.
That's a fine looking waffle, Z! Pass the butter and syrup . Here's mine, still a favorite acquisition from last year. TROAS, Dardanos c. 450-420 BCE AR obol; 9 mm, 0.56 gm Obv: cock standing left Rev: cross-hatch pattern Ref: Nomismata 3, 303; Demeester 98; SNG Ashmolean 1119 (all references unverified; I do not have copies of these reference books/catalogs) I love the reticulated look of crystalized coins even though they're extremely fragile. MACEDON, Mende circa 460-423 BCE AR hemiobol; 7 mm, 0.39 gm, 6 h Obv: forepart of donkey to right Rev: Kantharos within incuse square Ref: AMNG III, 18. SNG ANS 365 MACEDONIA, uncertain c. 500 BCE AR trihemitetartemorion (trihemiobol), 5 mm, 0.26 gm Obv: monkey squatting left Rev: round shield or pellet within incuse square Ref: "Uncertain Thraco-Macedonian Coins, Part II", Nomismatika Khronika (1998, Tzamalis), 67 Another of the same type with dramatic crystalization... or perhaps just better photos: A darkly toned and crystallized obol: PHLIASIA, Phlius 400-350 BC AR obol, 11 mm, 0.84 gm Obv: forepart of butting bull left Rev: large Φ surrounded by four pellets Ref: SNG Copenhagen 8-9 from Triskeles Auctions, Oct. 2013 ex BCD Collection, not in previous BCD sales. Handwritten round tag and auction clipping indicates that BCD acquired this coin from Sotheby's, 26-27 May 1976, lot 88, for £55 + 10% VAT Crystallized pigs: IONIA, Klazomenai 499-494 BC AR diobol, 9mm, 1.2 g Obv: forepart of winged boar left Rev: incuse square Ref: Cf. BMC 9-10 (drachm); cf. Traité I 488 (drachm). VF, toned, porous. Very rare with boar left, apparently unpublished as a diobol IONIA, Klazomenai 498-494 BCE AR drachm, 6.77 gm Obv: forepart of winged boar right Rev: incuse square, somewhat quadripartite Ref: Rosen 563; Jameson 1492; Asyut 615; Traité II 487; SNG Copenhagen 1-2) ex NFA MBS (18 October 1990), part of lot 310
Great coin! I have no waffles to contribute, only this little rooster: Here is the full coin: Alexander III "the Great," Kingdom of Macedonia, Ar tetradrachm, 325–323 BC, Amphipolis mint (under Antipater). Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin. Rev: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, rooster standing left. 26mm, 17.17g. Ref: Price 79; Troxell 1997, issue E3. Ex CNG, e-auction 376, lot 47; ex Tiberius collection; ex AMCC 1, lot 39.
Good ol' Mên and his pet rooster! I have one of those too, but a Caracalla. I really like the feather detail on yours. Love those reticulated little beauties too, especially the Mende and second monkey. My own favorite crystallized piece is probably this Kierion. THESSALY, Kierion AR Trihemiobol. 1.27g, 13.3mm. THESSALY, Kierion, circa 350 BC. BCD 1053; SNG Cop 32; Traité IV, 509. O: Laureate head of Zeus to right. R: ΚΙΕΡΙ-ΕIΩΝ, The nymph Arne, wearing earring, necklace and full robes, kneeling right, her head turned to left, playing with knucklebones (astragaloi) tossed from her right hand; to right, magistrate’s initial Φ. Ex BCD Collection, his tag noting "Pr. nr. Ked. [procured near Kedros] Nov. 1973, 10000 drs"
I remember that coin from AMCC and being tempted to bid on it. Very neat how the rooster looks like it's climbing up the dotted border.
LUVIT, LUVIT, LUVIT!!! Nice find, @zumbly ! So cool. Congrats. I just do not have many! Raised a lot of chickens throughout my life. They are BOZOs, but have great eggs and good eating. Kids always had fun with them as half-pets. CHICKEN / ROOSTER Campania Cales 256-240 BC AE 18 Athena Cock Star TROAS Troas Tenedos late 5th-early 4th C BCE AR Obol 8mm 0.60g Janiform Hera-Zeus - Labrys within incus sq RARE SNG Ash 1235 HGC 6 387
Epic write up and coin! Like you #IblameTIF. As you can see, someone poured a little to much sauce on my chicken (but I'm not one to wipe grease off my chicken):
TROAS - Ancient TROAS Neandria AR Obol 4thC BCE 0.56g 8mm Laur hd Apollo r - NEA N Ram stdng right within incuse sq SNG Cop 446 Troas Birytis 350-300 BCE Æ 9mm1.21g Hd Kabeiros L pileos - two stars above Club within wreath SNG Cop 249 Left
Best roast chicken I've ever had was at siwa oasis. Absolutely delicious at 5 Egyptian pounds. Alexander was calling to me, and the next day I visited the Oracle of Ammon.
Nice! I like both the Cales and Tenedos types, and they're on The List. Thanks! I remember you posting yours and thinking, damn, I need to step up my coinstalking game! That sounds both poetic and delicious!
Nice coin @zumbly! It's good to have a waffle pattern on a small coin, gives it a grip. A couple of rough lookin chickens. Ephesos, Ionia. ca 48-27 BC. AE 25mm Obv: E-Φ, Artemis standing right shooting an arrow, quiver over shoulder, dog at her feet. Rev: IAΣΩN beneath rooster standing right, palm tied with wreath over shoulder, all in laurel wreath. BMC 185. Campania, Cales. After 268 BC. AE19. Obv: Helmeted head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet. Rev: CALENO, cock standing right, star behind. SNGCop 322.
Very cool, @ancientone... I've never seen the Ephesos type before. And now if anyone else shows another Cales, I'm really going to have to just go out and buy one. Here's a Julia Domna denarius with Juno seemingly accompanied by a rooster rather than the expected peacock. JULIA DOMNA AR Denarius. 2.43g, 19mm. Laodicea ad Mare mint, AD 200-207. RIC IV 640 var. (peacock); BMCRE V 602 var. (same). O: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. R: IVNO REGINA, Juno standing front, holding patera in right hand and sceptre in left; on left, in front of her, rooster standing left. Ex A.K. Collection (Triton XX, 9 Jan 17, Part of Lot 614)
I have a coin with a rooster, but it's not ancient: France, Louis XVI AR ecu de 6 livres, 1792, Paris Mint (rooster in right field on reverse): And I have several ancient roosters, but none is depicted on a coin: Bronze Rooster, Roman Empire, 2nd-3rd century AD. Attic Black-figure Lekythos, ca. 525-500 BCE, pygmies hunting rooster (or rooster hunting pygmies): Corinthian aryballos, ca. 600 BCE, rooster and swan:
Thanks, @zumbly. The Attic lekythos is about 3.5" (89 mm.) high, and 1.75" (44.5 mm.) across at its widest point. The Corinthian aryballos is about 2.5" (63.5 mm.) high, and 2" (5.1 mm.) across at its widest point. The lekythos cost me a bit more than twice as much, and the aryballos about the same, as I've ever spent on any single ancient coin. Anything much larger than that, I would never have been able to afford. With antiquities, you're talking serious money with large ancient Greek vases with figural scenes.
Such a common animal but difficult to get on a Greek coin. Until I get one from himera, or from Sophytes, here's a whole one And a couple of chopped ones
TROAS - "Modern" (yeah, after 1 CE) RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AE 20mm Alexandria Troas mint Horse Grazing
Thanks for showing those! I’ve always admired those Sophytes coins celebrating his pet rooster and am looking forward to someone posting one here one of these days.
