“And now my beauties, something with poison in it I think, with poison in it, but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell . . . poppies, poppies, poppies will put them to sleep.” —The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of Oz (movie, released 1939) I find this to be an amazing coin. The caduceus (symbol of physicians and medicine — in the U.S.A. only I’m told) combined with the image of the poppy (symbol of sleep, dreams, peace, death, pain relief, and for too many — drug addiction.) Please post your coins and your thoughts, your poppies, your caducei, and coins featuring the messenger of the gods — Mercury.
The Mercury caduceus is not the symbol of Asclepius. Asclepius, (patron god of physicians), had only one snake. All ancient coins showing it shows this clearly. The AMA screwed up in the 19th century in picking out their symbol.
Hi All, The rearing cobra on Alexandrian coins is very often associated with poppies, as on this coin. ex Numismatic Naumann Gmbh (Viena, Austria): Auction 67 (30 Jun 2018) - Broucheion
Hi All, Here is some more information on the distinct staffs of these two gods http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html - Broucheion
Nice link sir, thank you. I was just going off of memory. @Deacon Ray , thanks. My baby daughter is Irene so thought I needed a really nice portrait of the ancient Irene. Slowly accumulating all of her Byzantine coins.
An amazing coin! Poppy: Hadrian AR Denarius 134-138 AD. Obv. Bare head right, HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P/ Rev. Four grain ears in modius with one poppy in middle, ANNO-NA AVG. Old RIC II 230 (1926 ed.), RSC II 172. 18 mm., 3.2 g. Caduceus (with Mercury/Hermes or snake): Roman Republic, C. Mamilius Limetanus, AR Serrate Denarius, 82 BCE Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Mercury right, wearing petasus with two wings, caduceus over left shoulder, control letter “F” behind* / Rev. Ulysses walking right, wearing mariner’s clothing and pileus, holding staff in left hand and extending right hand towards his dog, Argus, who stands left at Ulysses’ feet with his head raised towards him; C•MAMIL downwards in left field, LIMETAN [TA ligate] upwards in right field. Crawford 362/1. RSC I Mamilia 6, Sear RCV I 282 (ill.), BMCRR 2717 and 2720-2721 [two examples of control letter “F”]. 21 mm., 4.04 g., 9 h. [Footnote omitted.] Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 3 (118/119 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, drapery on left shoulder, AYT KAIC TPAIANOC -AΔΡΙΑNOC ϹƐΒ (clockwise from 5:00) / Rev. Serpent Agathodaemon standing erect right, crowned with pschent/skhent [the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt] , tongue protruding, with coils enfolding caduceus to left and stalks of corn to right; L - Γ (Year 3) across fields. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 5149 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5149; Emmett 803.3; BMC 16 Alexandria 665 (at p. 79) (1892) [ill. as RPC Vol. III 5149, specimen 2]; K&G 32.68 (at p. 118); Dattari (Savio) 1541; Milne 918 [ill. as RPC Vol. III 5149, specimen 13]; Geissen 764 [ill. as RPC Vol. III 5149, specimen 18]. 24 mm., 13.81 g., 12 h. Purchased from http://www.cgb.fr July 2021, ex. Collection of Aymé Cornu (1926-2020) (Engineer. - Head of the mass spectrometry laboratory at the Center for Nuclear Studies in Grenoble, France; see https://data.bnf.fr/fr/12598408/aime_cornu/).* *The serpent Agathodaemon or Agathos Daimon -- translated variously as good spirit, noble spirit, or good genius -- was sacred to Serapis, and was worshipped in every Egyptian town. “On the coins he is always represented erect, and usually wearing the skhent, in the midst of corn and poppies, generally with a caduceus, also rising from the ground.” BMC 16 Alexandria, p. lxxxvi. . . . The rod enfolded in the Agathodaemon, despite its absence of wings, appears clearly to be a caduceus (Greek kerykaion) -- i.e., two snakes wrapped around a staff -- rather than the single snake associated with the rod or staff of Asclepius. [Rest of footnote omitted.] Macrinus Augustus and Diadumenian Caesar, AE Pentassarion [5 Assaria], 217-218 AD, Marcianopolis Mint, Moesia Inferior [now Devnya, Bulgaria] (Pontianus, consular legate). Obv. Confronted heads of Macrinus, laureate, right, and Diadumenian, bareheaded, left, [AVT K OΠE]Λ CEV MAKPEINOC K M OΠEΛ ANTΩNEINOC [bracketed portion off flan][ = Imperator, Caesar, Opellius Augustus Macrinus, Caesar Marcus Opellius Antoninus ] / Rev. Hermes standing facing, head left, holding purse in extended right hand and caduceus in left hand; chlamys hanging over left arm; E [mark of value for “5”] in right field, VΠ Macrinus ΠONTIANOV MAP-KIANOΠOΛEITΩN (ΩN ligate) [ = Consular Legate Pontianus, (coin) of the people of Markianopolis]. AMNG I/I 740 [Pick, Behrendt, Die antiken Münzen von Dacien und Moesien, Die antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands Vol. I/I (Berlin, 1898) at pp. 240-241]; BMC 3 Thrace 35 [R.S. Poole, ed. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 3, The Tauric Chersonese, Sarmatia, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, etc. (London, 1877) at p. 32]; Hristova & Jekov 6.24.10.3 [Nina Hristova & Gospodin Jekov, The Local Coinage of the Roman Empire - Moesia Inferior, I - III c. A.D., MARCIANOPOLIS (Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria 2006)]; Varbanov (Eng.) Vol. I, 1192 var. (E to left) [Ivan Varbanov, Greek Imperial Coins And Their Values, Volume I: Dacia, Moesia Superior & Moesia Inferior (English Edition) (Bourgas, Bulgaria, 2005)]; Diadumenian.com /marcianopolis5.html, No. Mar5.33d. 25 mm, 12.89 g. Purchased from Kirk Davis, Cat # 75, Fall 2020, Lot 62; ex.: Dr. Paul Rynearson (ca. 2003). (Coin is double die match to Lot 696, CNG Triton XII Auction, Jan. 5, 2009.)
Btw, I know if used incorrectly poppy can be a scourge to mankind, but that is more of a our problem than a poppy problem. The "seed of the poppy" has saved untold misery, pain, and suffering for humans for millennia. It should be celebrated more than it is. Most modern humans only concentrate on bad aspects in which humans can use it.
Poppies: Antoninus Pius ( 138-161) AR denarius Rome, 141-143 ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TR P COS III - laureate head right Rev: ANNONA AVG, modius with four grain ears and a poppy. RIC 62 2,56 g, 18 mm Caduceus 2.24 g 15.3 mm Quadrans RIC II Nerva 113 Date: AD 98 Legend: IMP NERVA CAES AVG Type: Modius containing four corn-ears Legend: S C Type: Winged caduceus upright Antoninus Pius AD 138-161. Rome Denarius AR 19 mm., 2,90 g. RIC III Antoninus Pius 136 Date Range: AD 145 - AD 161 Obverse Legend: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P; Type: Head of Antoninus Pius, laureate, right Reverse Legend: COS IIII; Type: Clasped hands holding caduceus between two corn-ear Philip III Arrhidaeus Uncertain mint in Western Asia Minor. (323-317 BCE)/ Or Antigonus Gonatas (288-277 BCE) Bronze Æ Half-bronze unit, (PB, 16) No. v19-0059 16mm, 12 hours. 4.11g. No. 110 in the reference books: Cop.- - Price 2803 pl. 110 Obverse, Three-quarter-front head (Herakles?) to the right placed in the center of a Macedonian shield. Reverse, Macedonian helmet; in the field on the right, a caduceus; monogram in the left field. Vespasianus (69-79) Denarius AD 70 Obverse Legend: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Type: Head of Vespasian, laureate, right Reverse Legend: COS ITER TR POT Type: Pax, draped. seated left, holding branch in extended right hand and winged caduceus in left RIC 29 I have no coins with Mercury, but I have one with Hermes Aiolis. Aigai circa 200-27 BC. Bronze Æ 13 mm., 1,58 g. Head of Hermes right, wearing petasos / Forepart of goat right; monograms above and to right. SNG München -; SNG Copenhagen 14; SNG von Aulock -.
Great coin, @Deacon Ray ! I don’t have any coins with poppies, but I can share this Mercury reverse: Numerian, Antoninianus, 283 A.D., (22 mm, 3.91 g), Rome mint, Δ = 4th officina, IMP C NVMERIANVS P F AVG Radiate and cuirassed bust of Numerian to right./ Rev. PIETAS AVGG / ΚΑΔ Mercury standing facing, head left, holding purse in right hand and caduceus in left. RIC 414.
Wonderful coin @Deacon Ray . Also neat background. I don’t have any poppies to show but I can add a caduceus. This object is usually associated with Mercury but in the imperial period it began to be associated with Felicitas as well.
Poppies were but one attribute of Demeter. This little provincial has every attribute of Demeter imaginable! Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman provincial Æ 20.1 mm, 5.09 gm, 12 h. Bithynia, Nicomedia, c. AD 148-150. Obv: ΦΑVСΤΕΙΝΑ ΝΕΑ СΕΒΑ, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: ΝΕΩΚΟΡOV ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔEI, lighted torch entwined by serpent, surmounted by two ears of corn and decorated with two poppies. Refs: RPC IV, 6091,(temporary); RG 107, pl. XCI 24; Lindgren 166 (this coin).
Great coin, @Deacon Ray ! LOL on the Poppy Witch... “Ding, Dong, The Wicked Witch is dead...” POPPY RI Titus 79-81 CE AR Denarius Ceres seated corn ear poppy torch CADUCEUS RImp Marc Antony & Octavian AR Quinarius 1.58g Military Mint Gaul 39BCE Concordia r Hands clasped caduceus Cr-529-4b Sear 1575 Syd-1195 MERCURY RImp Octavian 32-31 BCE AR Den Rome mint Bare CAESAR DIVI F Mercury lyre RIC 257 Sear 1550
@Deacon Ray That is a top-notch Hendin 1171!!! Here's a rather worn poppy from Attica near the end of 1st century BCE: Greek: Attica. Possibly struck at Athens in connection with the Eleusinian Festivals. Bronze Æ, 13 mm., 3.94 gr. Obv.: Veiled head of Demeter, right Rev.: Poppy upright in center, pair of crossed grain ears; A-ΘE Attrib.: Kroll 150. J.N.Svoronos, Les monnaies d'Athènes, pl.104, 38-45.
This coin took me 10 years to attribute: Moesia Inferior, Tomi. Nerva (96-98 AD), AE16 (2.91g). Obv: [ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤωΡ Ν]ΕΡΟΥΑ; laureate head of Nerva, r. Rev: [ΤΟ/Μ//ƐΙΤ]/ωΝ; bunch of 3 ears of corn and 2 poppy heads RPC vol. 3 #778 Pegasi Numismatics, October 2005 at WESPNEX coin show (as a coin of Elaeia in Aeolis.) Pegasi's guess was a good one, in the days before RPC. The coins of Elaeia do feature poppies as well: Aiolis, Elaia / Elaea, Hadrian (117-138 AD), AE15 2.78g Obv: [ΑΥ ΤΡ]ΑΙΑ [ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС]; Bust Rev: ΕΛΑΙΤΩΝ; Kalathos containing poppy heads and grain ears Lindgren and Kovacs 407, RPC vol. III 1886
Demeter, in despair over the seizure of her daughter Persephone by Hades, ate poppies in order to fall asleep and forget her grief.