Featured Follow the coin theme GAME - ancient edition - post ‘em if you got ‘em

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Collect89, Jul 21, 2017.

  1. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    [Edited to add: never mind; @Ryro beat me by what appears to be a fraction of a second!]

    And now it's been 12 hours after all.

    Next: Apollo on a Roman Provincial coin. Here's my example.

    Gordian III with wife Tranquillina, AE 26 mm., 241-244 AD, Thracia, Anchialus [Pomorie, Bulgaria]. Obv. Confronted busts of Gordian III right, laureate, draped and cuirassed, and Tranquillina left, draped and wearing stephane; ΑVT Κ M ANT / ΓOPΔIANOC AVΓ clockwise around; CEB TPAN // KVΛΛINA in exergue; border of dots/ Rev. Apollo standing left, holding patera in right hand; left arm resting on column; ΟΥΛΠΙΑΝωΝ / ΑΓXΙΑΛEωΝ clockwise around; border of dots. Moushmov 2939 [H. Moushmov, Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula (1912)], Varbanov II 668 [Ivan Varbanov, Greek Imperial Coins And Their Values, Vol. II, Thrace (from Abdera to Pautalia) (English Edition) (Bourgas, Bulgaria 2005)], AMNG II 656 [F. Münzer & M. Strack, Die antiken Münzen von Thrakien, Die antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands Vol. II (Berlin, 1912)]. 26 mm., 11.91 g.

    Gordian III - Tranquillina Anchialus (Thrace) - jpg version.jpg
     
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  3. Claudius_Gothicus

    Claudius_Gothicus Well-Known Member

    Here's a coin I've never shared before:
    VOT X MVLT XX (Eraclea).jpg
    Julian (361-363), AE3, Heraclea mint.
    Obverse: D N FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield;
    Reverse: VOT X MVLT XX, legend in four lines within wreath, mintmark HERACL dot B;
    RIC 106

    Next: Another Roman Imperial coin with an heroic bust.
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2020
  4. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    I am lost.
     
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  5. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    @Claudius_Gothicus's request applies. A heroic bust is one in which the guy looks like he's naked.
     
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  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Now I'm lost. Maybe I'll run into Alegandron. I'll compromise and show a drachm with Menander lightly attired for summer. I don't know if he has pants on or not. Athena does not but has a thunderbolt making me question who the figure was intended to be. You would think Zeus would be smart enough to lock up his t-bolt cabinet to keep the kids out.
    og1350bb0132.jpg

    Next: someone throwing something
     
  7. Claudius_Gothicus

    Claudius_Gothicus Well-Known Member

    Well, I thought that "heroic bust" simply meant that the emperor was wearing battle gear and wielding a spear/shield, but I guess my definition was incomplete, then.
     
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  8. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    @DonnaML, I'm glad somebody's paying attention! I'm still seconding @Alegandron, but I'm happy to take your word for it.
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    IMHO we are going too far defining details. Heroic shows the emperor pretending to be somethin above human - a hero. How that is depicted is open to the whim of the die cutter. I believe there are many views of the emperor with weapons that are not heroic but the term is OK for this Probus which I offer in replacement because Menander was not Roman. I said I was confused. We should have taken that 1 hour replacement which would have avoided waiting twelve and still not having something posted to a hard question.
    rs3030bb1497.jpg
     
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  10. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    "Heroic" can be very subjective. You could, for example include the portraits of Alexander III, wearing the lion headdress as Hercules, as a heroic portrait. The Greeks were pretty good at doing this stuff - portraying mortals as gods.

    I think Doug's example is a good one with the emperor in military garb, holding a shield and brandishing a spear.
     
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  11. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    20190326_135916_6CF2B5C0-6409-4E0F-BB33-75B26F42E13A-406-000000AEC9E65CFA.png

    Next up: ugly but cool
    Edit: preferably Greek
     
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  12. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I don't care if he's wearing pants! It was my understanding from reading descriptions of coins (and obviously I could be wrong) that it's the absence of drapery, a cuirass, or anything else on a bust -- making the figure look like he's naked from the waist up -- that makes it "heroic" by numismatic convention. See these comments by @curtislclay and @David Atherton on the Forvm discussion board in 2013:

    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=89265.msg556040#msg556040

    "By numismatic convention, followed by Cohen, the early RIC volumes, and BMC, a "head" has no adornments except for a possible wreath or radiate crown, while a "bust" has adornments, usually a fold of the cloak or aegis on the front shoulder and behind the neck, or a cuirass worn on the upper body and covering both shoulders, or a cloak pinned around the neck, or both cuirass and cloak.

    Obviously heroic nude busts including much of the upper body are exceptions and cannot be called merely "heads" because they lack adornment!"

    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=89265.msg556056#msg556056

    "An unadorned portrait with torso/shoulder I would describe as a 'heroic (nude?) bust'."

    Maybe it's not an exclusive definition, and other kinds of busts can be called "heroic" as well. As I've said many times, I'm no expert.
     
  13. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    OK - "ugly but cool, preferably Greek"

    This little Athens obol is a a bit dark and grim, but it's the first Athens fraction I'e owned and the reverse is quite nice when viewed from a distance, like with Mommy Owl below.

    Athens Obol
    Obv. Head of Athena right, wearing Attic helmet decorated with olive leaves and palmette
    Rev. ΑΘΕ - Owl standing right; in left field, olive sprig and crescent. All within incuse square
    Mint: Athens (ca. 421-415 BC)
    Wt./Size/Axis: 0.57g / 10mm / -
    References:
    • Svoronos Pl XIII, 41
    • Klein 199
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    20201117_234236.jpg

    Next - a fractional Greek silver.
     
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  14. ancientone

    ancientone Well-Known Member

    b~0_(2).jpg
    Caria, Halikarnassos. Hemiobol AR7
    Rev: Young male head right, Carian legend S-A across fields.
    Obv: Head of ram right.
    c. 400-340 BC.
    7mm., 0.55g.

    Next: Tetartemorion
     
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  15. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    IMHO the best tetartemorion is the one from Athens BUT my example has a strong claim as the worst one known to exist due to its centering only retaining the crest of the helmet.
    Athens 1/4 obol (tetartemorion) Athena head rt / one crescent
    g41315bb3200.jpg

    Next: a hemitartemorion
     
  16. shanxi

    shanxi Well-Known Member

    MILETOS_01.jpg
    Ionia, Miletos 500 BC
    Hemitartemorion
    Obv.: Rosette on a raised disk
    Rev.: Five pellets within square incuse.
    Ag, 4mm
    Ref.: SNG Tübingen 3018

    Next: not bigger than 5mm
     
  17. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    12 hours

    1423-1590 CE AE 1 Mun Cho Son Tong Bo 1.85g 24mm S1 Combined.png
    Kingdom of Korea
    1423 - 1590 AD
    AE 1 Mun | 1.85g | 24mm
    Obv: Cho Son Tong Bo​


    Next: Peninsular coin
     
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  18. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    Sethupathis of Ramnad, an independent state existed in the southern part of India, in a peninsular region called Ramanathapuram from the late 1500s to early 1700s, which then came under the British rule until India’s independence in 1947!
    B360535D-A9AF-4B27-99B1-33AED0AF0EA5.jpeg
    Obverse shows a horse, reverse shows the Tamil letters depicting 'சேதுபதி' 'Sethupathi' with dotted circles. Probably minted in their early years, 3.20g.
    603AD9AF-D27B-474E-82A1-0237118A582B.png
    Next, a coin from a kingdom that came under the British rule!
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2020
  19. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Next theme???
     
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  20. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    8.22g 22mm 3mm thick S1 Combined.png
    Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt
    8.22g | 22mm | 3mm thick

    Next: same theme
     
  21. Andres2

    Andres2 Well-Known Member

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