Coins of Alexandria Troas often feature a horse as the reverse motif. In fact, almost all coins of Alexandria Troas have a nearly identical horse on the reverse. I recently picked up an unusual issue of Valerian I. Does anybody know the significance of the horse to Alex Troas?
See the footnote to my description for one theory. Anonymous colonial civic issue, AE 23, 251 - 260 AD (Trebonianus Gallus to Valerian I), Troas, Alexandria Troas Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Tyche right, wearing mural crown, vexillum inscribed CO AV over right shoulder, CO ALEX TR / Rev. Horse (of Erichthonius?)* grazing to right, COL AVG, TROAD in exergue. RPC IX 505 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/505); Bellinger A486 [Alfred A. Bellinger, Troy, The Coins (Princeton 1961)]; BMC 17 Troas, 46 var. [diff. legends]; see also id. 45, 47-50 var. [Warwick Wroth, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 17, Troas, Aeolis, and Lesbos (London 1894)]; SNG Copenhagen 108-113 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 20, Troas (1945)]. 23 mm., 5.80 g. Ex: Pars Coins; Ex: Kenneth W. Dorney. * See BMC 17 Troas at xviii, citing Cavedoni (Spicil., p. 151) for the suggestion that the grazing horse, first depicted on the coins of Alexandria Troas ca. 300 BCE, is one of the horses of Erichthonius, father of Tros, after whom Troas was named. This happens to be one of my favorite Provincials, for the reddish color.
Here’s my similar Valerian. Alexandria Troas had some interesting coinage with lots of animals and architecture.
I recently picked one of these up for my daughter. She loves horses Severus Alexander AE24 Alexandria, Troas Obverse: M AVR SEVERVS ALEXANDER AVG, laureate, draped cuirassed bust right COL ALEXA, TROA below, horse grazing right
Nice coins, @hotwheelsearl. You might be interested in this article I wrote about two years ago about this. Here are some of mine from Alexandria Troas: Valerian I, AD 253-260, Roman provincial AE 19 mm, 4.83 g, 7 h. Troas, Alexandria Troas, AD 253-260. Obv: IMP LICINI VALERIANV, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: COL AVG TRO, horse feeding, right. Refs: BMC 17.29, 159; cf: Bellinger A 436, SNG von Aulock 7573, SNG Copenhagen 191, Mionnet Suppl. V 313-314 (variations of inscriptions). Time of Valerian I to Gallienus, AD 253-268. Roman provincial Æ 20.1 mm, 4.49 g, 1 h. Troas, Alexandria Troas, AD 253-268. Obv: CO-L TROAD, turreted and draped bust of Tyche, right, with vexillium inscribed AV/CO over shoulder. Rev: COL AVG, Horse grazing right, TRO in exergue. Refs: Bellinger A486; SNG Copenhagen 108-113; SNG von Aulock 1466; SNG Tübingen 2533; BMC 48 var.
Great coin @hotwheelsearl TROAS RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AE 20mm Alexandria Troas mint Horse Grazing Troas Assos 500-450 BCE AR Tetartemorion 6.4mm 0.21g Griffin springing right - Astragalos within incuse square Klein 475 VF R 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 Troas Tenedos late 5th-early 4th C BCE AR Obol 8mm 0.60g Januform Hera-Zeus - Labrys within incus sq RARE SNG Ash 1235 HGC 6 387
The horses of Alexandria Troas are unique in the equine imagery of the ancient world because they're in a state of repose. They're not galloping or being ridden, or pulling a chariot - they're grazing. And nothing says pastoral serenity like grazing horses.
This article gives an explanation. On the Hellenistic and colonial coins of Alexandria there is a grazing horse, standing to left or to right. The depiction of a horse on the coins of the city most likely indicates that horses were raised in the city and its environs. In fact, the horses seen on the coins of Alexandria Troas are an allusion to mythology. According to Homer (Iliad, XX.219-230), King Erichthonius, who ruled in Troas, had many thousands of horses grazing in the pastures of his land. Another myth (Iliad, V.265-66) has it that Zeus abducted Ganymedes, the son of King Tros, so as to have the boy serve him drinks on Mount Olympus, and Zeus left the king a pair of immortal horses as compensation. The Troas took its name from King Tros, who was the son of King Erichthonius and the father of Ganymedes. Like its coins, the weights of Alexandria bear also a grazing horse with ALE, the abbreviated ethnic of the city. So one may say that the horse is a civic badge (parasemon) of Alexandria in Troas.
