Contrasting the Artistry of Two Ancient Masterpieces

The two major factors that drew me to collect ancient coins are their history and artistry. The Twelve Caesars period is, for me, the most interesting historical period of Ancient Rome. In addition, the artistry exhibited by many of these coins is stunning for such a small, difficult-to-work-with canvas. My imagination travels back to that period through these coins, trying to get a sense of what life might have been like for the average citizen of Rome, and what the coins would have communicated to me about the Caesars.

Another factor – albeit not as strong as the first two – is the mythology illustrated on ancient coins. For Roman coins, this is mostly the pantheon of deities, and Hadrian’s personification of countries and even individual features such as the Nile. So within the last few years I expanded my focus to include Hadrian’s travel series.

Arguably, Greek coins exhibit greater art and artistry than Roman coins, and the mythology illustrated on many of them is (in my opinion) without equal in the Roman world. But (again in my opinion) the greater historical aspect of Roman coins was the deciding factor in my choosing to focus on Roman coins rather than Greek coins. Nevertheless I remain highly attracted to the purely art aspect of Greek and certain other coins.

As an illustration of pure, classical coin art, perhaps no coin is a better example than this tetradrachm by Kimon, which hammered for about $2.6M at NAC 77 in 2014 (Not my coin! Image is from NAC shown here under what I believe to be fair use):



It strikes me that the obverse of this could only ever be recognized as a portrait, regardless of its orientation. Even with the portrait upside down; it’s still instantly recognizable as a classic portrait:



Despite having the shadows at the wrong angle – I simply rotated the image – it’s obviously a portrait. For a more detailed analysis of Kimon’s artistry on this coin, it’s enlightening to read NAC’s description of it from their catalogue:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=3

An ancient Greek who was handed this coin upside down would immediately know to rotate it 180 degrees to further admire this tiny masterpiece!

Now consider an ancient Celt being handed the coin below:



His/her first thought might be “What might this be? Are those waves on a shore at the right? Is that some sort of boat on the top? Are those fish swimming below?” But by rotating the coin 180 degrees, its obverse subject matter becomes readily apparent:



A similar epiphany happens if the reverse is initially viewed in the wrong orientation:



Is it some sort of odd plant life, or a snake slithering among grasses and weeds? But rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise and after an instant of staring, the galloping horse is obvious:



I first became aware of this coin type just a few years after I started collecting ancients, and from a pure art perspective – as someone who loves abstract “modern” art – the coin’s art struck a chord that no other ancient coin strikes. Historically, it doesn’t share the richness of a 12 Caesars coin, and fell well outside my collecting criteria. But to my eye, it’s a work of abstract art created 2000 years before abstract art was invented. In fact, the famous Surrealist artist Andre Breton had a significant collection of Celtic coins and now the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye also collects them.

I didn’t discover the above aspect of this coin’s artistry until I had it in my hands and was admiring it from various angles, when I noticed that at most rotations the actual (obverse) portrait and (reverse) galloping horse were not only not recognizable, but could easily appear as other animate or inanimate objects.

For those interested in its acquisition:

This coin was offered in the recent Maison Palombo auction but I declined to bid on it, partly because my main interest in it was purely for its art, and partly because I have no expertise in evaluating the Celtic market and setting a reasonable budget for it. Its hammer price, though, seemed eminently reasonable and exactly what I had informally estimated its worth. I thought I had missed it.

But I had contacted a Belgian coin dealer/expert regarding a different coin in an upcoming auction, and while discussing interests outside the 12 Caesars and Roman coins in general, I mentioned this coin. The dealer made some inquiries and discovered that the Parisii stater was available! I made an offer representing the price I would have paid including commissions and buyer’s fee, and after some short negotiations it was accepted. Less than two weeks later the coin is in my hands:



GALLIA. PARISII. Stater, gold, about 100-50 BC. AV 7.03 g. 25.45mm Head with flowing locks r., in front, large double volute, below, pine cone (or club ?); below truncation, zig-zag band. Rev. Bridled horse galloping l., above, aegis-shaped net; between legs, dotted rosette. Colbert de Beaulieu 26, fig. 18,55. D./T. I,42,83.
Rare. Large flan.

Which coins did you acquire because they were so attractive, so compelling, that not fitting into your current collecting focus didn’t matter? I would love to hear other stories of ancient collectors who acquired ancient coin(s) well outside their main area of focus, and why they were attracted to those coins!

 

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..both beautiful coins and yes, i agree the Greeks were better on coin artistry..

 

This coin is certainly not of the same standard as the two pictured by @IdesOfMarch01 Those are true masterpieces of ancient numismatic art. However some 15 or so years ago I saw one of these.
Tetradrachm of Kos 280-250 BC Obv, Head of beardless Herakles in lions skin headdress. Rv. Crab with bow case below all within dotted square Requier Group III 40 D8 R34 HGC 1308 15.16 grms 28 mm Photo by W. Hansen I thought that the obverse was so incredibly well done. The engraving is on a very high standard. The image of Herakles appears to have a real sense of strength, however the image also projects a perception of serenity as well. What surprised me that while the coin's obverse and overall diameter suggests a coin minted at the Attic standard, the actual standard this is minted on is the Chian standard. Back in 2005 I missed out on buying one of these and it took me another 15 years to finally get one.

 

I started collecting Indo Sassanian as a diversion from Roman at first, but it quickly became a co-equal focus of mine. The entire series follows a stylistic progression from a coin that is itself highly abstracted

Into such a fascinating array of abstractionism that I couldn't help myself but dive in

 

That's a stunning stater! It is an excellent example of Celtic art at its best.

The Syracusan tetradrachm is also a superb example of Greek portraiture. One of the most challenging feats for an engraver is to create a naturalistic, convincing facing portrait. Side portraits are comparatively easy.

Not only is the Syracusan's portrait facing, it is facing three-quarters, which even more of a challenge in terms of getting the proportions right, creating depth, and getting the eyes, especially, correctly oriented. Artistically, the three-quarters portrait, compared to one that is simply facing full on, gives the subject more dynamism, grace and overall appeal. When I was drawing, or at least making a feeble attempt, I almost always chose the three-quarters orientation. I can understand why a coin of this caliber is worth what it is.

In comparison, my Rhodian tetradrachm is a poor comparison to the Syracusan tetradrachm.




As for a stylish Celtic tetradrachm, here is my Janus type:

 

Ides., Congrats on scoring that magnificent gold Parisian stater ! I certainly agree that the coin is a masterpiece of Celtic art . The famous Greek Tet by Kimon that you picture is without doubt one of the finest Greek coins ever created, but is it the finest ? That's really a matter of personal opinion & taste. The coin pictured below is my favorite Greek coin, & in my opinion the finest Greek coin ever created .


SICILY, Akragas, circa 409-406 BC. AR Decadrachm: 43.41 gm, 35.5 mm, 12 h. Attributed to the engravers Myron (the chariot) & Polykrates (the eagles). The movement & detail of the obverse is breathtaking , & the strength & ferocity of the eagles standing on the dead hare is chilling . CNG in Association with Nomos AG, NYC, January 4, 2012. Opening bid was to be $2,500.000.00.
As it turned out, the coin was confiscated along with another famous Greek coin & the owner, Dr. Arnold-Peter Weiss, was arrested & charged with criminal possession of stolen property, a 2nd degree felony ! The coin was considered important cultural property of the Italian government & was not cleared to leave the country. Does this sound familiar ....

Pictured below are 2 coins I acquired last year that are out of my "main stream" of collecting. Both coins were expensive for me but I made sacrifices to get them .




I thought I overpaid for this coin at $2,660.00 . The coin pictured below is the same type as mine & is currently being offered at CNG Coin Shop for 15K !. Now I don't feel so bad .

 

This coin sold in the last Leu auction, i am still amazed every time i look at it

Mytilene, Lesbos

 

@IdesOfMarch01 , your new Parisii stater exemplifies Celtic art of the finest caliber. It's further aided by the needle-sharp strike: these are often poorly or inconsistently struck and yours looks absolutely hammered.

To your artistic commentary, I will offer two coins: my Parisii stater and this Eukratides tetradrachm. I don't plan on collecting Celtic or Bactrian coinage in a significant way, but these are both examples which typify the artistry of these regions and therefore are suitable as representative "type" coins.

That said, other Celtic coinage is often very tempting so we'll see how long my minimalistic approach to collecting can subsist...

 

I love the way the Celtic coins like this offer multiple images in a single design! That was the genius of the artistry -- it can't be judged by the standards of realism applied to Greek artwork. As you show, the elements are meant to be rearranged to show multiple different "hidden images."

My example is not a terribly nice coin (even for its type), but it's rather rare, and I've been unable to find another nicer example on the market. Rather than the classic Celtic coin imitating (directly) a Philip II tetradrachm, this one is imitating the local bronze coinage of Odessos.

My artwork isn't great, but I've tried to highlight the different busts in yellow (facing right on left, facing left in center, horse/rider on reverse):



At first glance, when looking for it, it's easy to spot the classic Celtic head of Zeus right. But when rotated 120' counterclockwise, there is a second bust facing left. (There is also a central image of a floral design.)

These are rarely fully struck, so it's hard to find other examples to compare and determine if this isn't just an accident of striking/centering. As for "pareidolia" (the mind's tendency to see designs such as faces in random imagery) -- I don't think so, but exploiting pareidolia is actually a design feature intrinsic to Celtic / “La Tène” artwork. (Strictly speaking, this may not be Celts, but certainly a culture with which there was strong mutual influence.)

I've written a full essay (too much for the coin, really, but perhaps one day I'll share it here). But the main themes apply as well to the OP Celtic Parisii stater:

- "Hidden faces" and other objects (relating to nature, especially);
- “Cheshire cat design” (or manipulation of the “figure-ground relationship”) in which one image appears and another recedes; and
- Rotational symmetry (the same, similar, or complementary images appear by rotating).

These apply throughout Celtic artwork, not just coinage (and are actually more apparent in other media).

Here's how I cataloged mine, including descriptions for all "three obverses":

Black Sea / Danube Region Celtic-Thracian Tribes. Imitating Thrace, Odessos. AE “Tetrachalkon” (4.19g, 18mm). 3rd cent BC.

Obverse (hub): Rosette with five curvilinear petals extending from central node or ball, all within large wreath or whorl of abstract floral imagery.
Obverse (12h): Celticized laureate head of Zeus facing right.
Obverse (4h): “Hidden” head facing left.
Reverse: Celticized horseman riding right. (No legend visible.)

References: Elsen 127, #92 (2015); Gorny & Mosch 126, #1086 (2003); Forum #CE37411 & #GB89084 (n.d.). Prototype: SNG BM 291; SNG Cop 670.
Notes: Apparently very rare, unpublished, four known examples of related types, citing only prototype. Cf. “Zaravetz” (Tsarevets), Kugelwange (“ball cheek”), Doppelkopf (Janiform) types.​

I even made a draft video (!) ... below are thumbnails of some of the slides I included for anyone curious...

 

excellent coin, thanks for sharing

 

Here's a favorite Greek portrait of mine:


And then some Celtic coins that don't readily tell you just what, or all, you're looking at:

 

Thanks everyone for the kind comments and especially for the coins posted from your collections that fit this thread. I thoroughly enjoyed every post!

 

Congratulations on the acquisition, IOM. I don't know much about Celtic coins but the Parisii staters stood out as high art from the moment I first saw one-- I think it was on TJBuggy's website, a list of his favorite ancient coins.

This one fits the bill, although I can't say it didn't fit into my then-current collecting focus... because I had no focus. I was just gobsmacked by its beauty .


SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles
struck 310-305 BCE
AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm
Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?)
Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram
Ref: Ierardi 12 (O2-R8); SNG Copenhagen 573 var., SNG ANS 637
The story of its acquisition is here.

 

Wow, what a coin, and what a story! I can only imagine what something like this would go for at auction these days. Anyway, I can't conceive of any collector who could afford a coin like this turning down the opportunity to buy it because it's outside their specialty -- "Nope, not interested; I only collect fallen horsemen."

 

That's a beautiful coin with excellent centering! The eye of the front horse is struck up. More often than not it is flat. That's arguably one of the most beautiful coins produced by Syracuse at the end of the 4th century BC.

My example has more wear and a flan flaw and some horn silver (very light crystallization) on the reverse. The reverse die appears to have been too wide for the flan used to produce this coin. On the other hand, the styling of the charioteer and the four horses conveys a dynamism of movement, of surging forward, something that I have always admired with this coin.

The story of its acquisition is far more prosaic, compared to yours. It was acquired back in the early 90s, from Harlan Berk, when a group of them appeared on the market, probably from a hoard. I figured back then that was my best chance to secure one of these masterpieces at an "affordable" price. This coin cost me around $750, as I recall. As I was working for a non-profit health center, at a pretty meager salary, that was a significant expenditure at the time.

17.0 grams

 

I think that one is what you're asking for. Very modest in comparison to the wonders you've shown, I knew I had to have it even though I don't collect this era


Ptolemy II Philadelphos : Obol (Bronze), Alexandria, circa 260-246 BC.
Diademed head of the deified Alexander III to right, wearing elephant skin headdress and aegis around his neck, and with horn of Ammon on his forehead.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle with open wings standing left on thunderbolt ; between the eagle's legs, Λ.
24 mm, 10.43 g, 1 h
Ref : Lorber # B250, Sear # 7780v.

Q