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

This AV Tremissis ND/ uncertain mint
Uncertain Ruler
Unpublished "Unique" bought it as "unsold" for 1000euros!
Struck in name of Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian 450-57
nextup: other unpublished coin

 

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settled for an unknown Asian mint:


next: Macedonian helmet

 

Goat horn helmets were associated with the Macedonian kings. Liv Mariah Yarrow wrote an excellent blog post on this topic. Here is a Roman Republican coin showing a Macedonian king wearing such a goat horn helmet:


Roman Republic, moneyer: L. Philippus, AR denarius, 113-112 BC, Rome mint. Obv: ROMA (heavily ligated); head of Philip V of Macedon r., wearing helmet decorated with goats' horns and skin; below, Φ. Rev: L·PHILIPPVS; equestrian statue: horseman carries laurel- or palm-branch; below horse, flower (?); below, tablet with inscription and crossed X. 19mm, 3.86g. Ref: RRC 293/1. Ex Calgary Coin (2006); ex JB collection; ex AMCC 2, lot 98.

Next: Non-Roman ruler on a Roman coin

 

*Edit, too slow. Non Roman ruler on Roman coin

 

Non-Roman Ruler on a Roman Coin: Well, I know opinions differ, but personally I am a believer that this is Vercingetorix, captured and returned to Rome to be strangled in Caesar's triumph and modeled for coinage and possibly other sculptures/artwork.

Wiki: "Vercingetorix was a king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman forces."​

Roman Republic, Moneyer Issue of Imperatorial Rome. L. Hostilius Saserna. AR Denarius (3.57g, 18mm, 6h). Struck in Rome, c. 48 BC.
Obverse: Bearded bust of captive Gallic warrior with wild, corded hair (Vercingetorix as Pavor?) and chain around neck, facing right. To left, a Gallic shield.
Reverse: L•HOSTILIVS (above) / SASERN (below). Two naked Gallic warriors in galloping biga right, one driving, holding whip in right hand and reins in left, and the other facing backward, holding shield in left hand and brandishing spear in right.
References: Crawford 448/2a; Hostilia 2; Sydenham 952. Provenance: Tauler & Fau Subastas, Auction 65, #1276 (Madrid, 6 October, 2020).​

Also seated on the right here:


NEXT: More Gauls or "Barbarians"

 

Next up: spooky imagery

 

Oh, Gallia herself! Or Gallia-as-Pavor -- or as I like to imagine, Vercingetorix's wife or daughter, now lost to history, as-Gallia-as-Pavor, at least on one of the obverse dies which looks particularly like a portrait of a real-life woman -- I love her facial expression:


But here's my Spook imagery, screaming Gorgoneion from Parion Mysia:



I like that theme... NEXT: More Spooky Imagery!

 

You've posted your wonderful Bes coin in this thread before, @Ryro, and, like this time, have not gotten any response. It's time you realized that you are apparently the sole owner here of a coin depicting Bes! But, as I've done before, I will post my Bes amulet instead. Even though I realize that it wouldn't qualify for the game even if 12 hours hadn't passed already.

 

You're good to me Donna
I love and drool over it everytime I see your amazing Egyptian cult statue
But, I can't be the only one.
His Iberian coins are plentiful enough:



And to keep it going here's a spooky:

Next: more spooky coins

 

Any time we have a subjective assessment like "spooky", it opens the door to subjective responses. This is probably a stretch from "Spooky Imagery", but I will take advantage of the subjectivity - here's a spooky, gaunt portrait of Septimius Severus rising from or dissolving into the fabric of this dark coin that is "sinister or ghostly in a way that causes fear and unease" or like a Rorschach test reveals the inner workings of the viewer's mind. The obverse complemented by the hauntingly beautiful portrait of Tyche of Heliopolis or a turreted Fortuna, poignant and evocative.

Syria, Coele-Syria, Heliopolis, Septimius Severus, 193-211 AD, Æ 25mm
Obv: [IMP L S]-EV PERT AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: COL HEL, bust of Tyche of Heliopolis left, wearing veil and turreted headdress; behind, palm-branch and cornucopiae

Next: more coins from the "hauntingly beautiful" category

 

That's a great Septimius and a great "next" theme! Though we've just seen a Gallia (and I included her thumbnail above as an aside ), I can't pass the opportunity to share the most "hauntingly beautiful" single die I'm aware of (well, in my collection!).

Someday I will share my full opinion (I have so many thoughts on this one), but I speculate this obv die was the "master" or first die from which the others of the issue were modeled, and very possibly based on an actual living model (there was also a more idealized/abstract series of dies, many of which are quite beautiful without aiming for realism, some may even feel those ones are a higher artistic achievement):



(Excepting the off-center Carnyx, Shanna Schmidt currently has one that's among the most attractive strikes of Gallia with this die for anyone interested. There are a few other nice ones in the Schaefer binders, but I don't think a proper die study has been published.)

NEXT: Yet more "hauntingly beautiful"!

 

Even before she started talking to me, this facing Athena just has something especially haunting:

Next: More coins that give you the chills

 

I like yours at least as much as the Shanna Schmidt example! Beautiful.

 

I like this coin, although I'm not a fan of snakes


next: Pergamon

 

PERGAMON MYSIA
AE15
OBVERSE: Helmeted head of Athena right
REVERSE: Head and neck of a bull right "A" above
Struck at Mysia, Pergamon 310-283 BC
3.09g, 15mm
SNG France 1571.
Ex Malloy Auction LXVII,93
Ex Aegean Numismatics

Next: Bull

 

Next, seated bull

 

More brought to its knees than seated, but the best I can do:



And a Sitting Bull:

Next: frontal head of lion.

 

Bruttium, Rhegion. Circa 425-420 BC. AR Hemidrachm (10mm, 0.69g, 9h). Obv: Facing lion’s scalp, dotted border. Rev: PH between olive twig; dotted border. Ref: HN Italy 2492; HGC 1, 1653; SNG Copenhagen 1936; SNG ANS 670-674. About Very Fine, darkly toned.

Next: More from Bruttium.

 

Great Hemidrachm @Edessa -- love the deep tone (thought it was bronze at first!).

Here's my Rhegion, Bruttium AR hemilitron (7mm, 0.31g) -- much rarer than the "larger" Litra (more like 12mm & 0.6-0.7g), which luckily Naville thought this was (described correctly someone might've recognized how rare it was).

It was from E.E. Clain-Stefanelli's collection and published in her 1987 article, "On Some Fractional Silver Coinages of Sicily and Magna Graecia during the Fifth Century," Revue Belge de Numismatique CXXXIII: p. 39-64, Pl. VIII-XIII. (Thumbnails of the plate and description below.)

It's really tiny!




NEXT: More TINY COINS!

 

Here's my smallest coin:
Info:

Empire: Greek

Place: Kyzikos

Date: 480-450 BC

Denomination: AR Hemiobol

Weight: 0.33g

Obv (image on left). Forepart of boar left, tunny fish to right

Rev (image on right). Head of lion left, retrogade K in top left field


Next: OTHER KYZIKOS FRACTION