Artistic portraits on ancient coinage: Name your top 3 through space and time

@Ryro, an excellent idea for a thread and an impressive diversity of good looking portraits presented so far. Here are are examples aligned with my vote.

Classical

Roman Republican




Roman Imperial

 

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This first post is all but Roma. Because I have so many coins with Roma Obverse I will share a few of these variations separately.

Athena. Corinth 345-307 BC, Stater

Heracles (Alexander), Greece, Macedon After 323 BC, Mint of Amphipolis, Tetradrachm

Hercules, Rome 269-266 BC, Didrachm

Urania, Rome, 66 BC, Denarius of Q. Pomponius Musa

Maximianus, Rome, 307-308 CE, Mint of Trier

 

My second post on this thread is to share only variations of Roma portraits. Many of these are not considered "high art", but have their own appeal for their distinctiveness. Generally arranged from most realistic to most abstract:

Crawford 53/1. C. 208 BC. A particularly delicate portrait of Roma


T. Deidius Crawford 294/1, 113-114 BC


C Titinius Denarius, Crawford 226/1b, 141 BC

Caduceus symbol denarius, Crawford 60/1, C. 211 BC

Wreath Symbol Denarius, Crawford 110/1a, 211-208 BC

C Denarius, Crawford 107/1a, C. 209-208 BC

 

The poll results are as expected, although I might've thought Hellenistic would edge out classical Greek, if only because the Hellenistic coins are more abundant/attainable/accessible.

Because provincials are my main area, the obverse (usually a portrait) is almost not even a factor when deciding whether to buy a particular coin. I do however have a number of coins with beautiful portraits and that was a big part of their appeal.

Some of my more artistic portraits:


KINGS OF MACEDON, Philip II. 356-336 BCE


EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter


CORINTHIA, Corinth
circa 375-300 BCE


SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles
struck 310-305 BCE


SICILY, Entella. Punic issues
c. 300-289 BCE; AR tetradrachm, 24 mm, 16.8 gm, 12h)


KINGS of PERGAMON, Eumenes I
263-241 BCE

Here's an unassuming little bronze with a thoroughly charming portrait:

Sicily, Syracuse. Dionysios I
c. 390 BCE

I don't find the average Roman Republic portraits to be particularly artistic but there are exceptions. Here's one I think is relatively artistic but it's still pretty lo-fi compared to classical, Hellenistic, and certain Roman Imperial periods:


ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Piso M.f. Frugi
58 BCE (redated from Crawford's 61 BCE by Hersh and Walker, 1984)

Roman provincials aren't known for their portraiture but here's a nice one:


EGYPT, Alexandria. Severus Alexander
year 12, 232/3 CE


I don't have a lot of Imperial coins but these have rather nice portraits:


Trajan
Rome mint, 114-115 CE


Lucilla
163-169 CE, wife of Lucius Verus

 

Great thread @Ryro . Here are a few of mine that I consider to be nice portraits.

 

Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Licinius I looking like the fun uncle:

Constantius Gallus looking like a regular-type dude you'd probably see at a 1970s British discotheque


Julian II looking pretty regal:


Gallienus looking like a disappointed father:

Trajan smirking at that inside joke that nobody else gets:


Faustina looking like the belle of the ball