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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kirispupis, post: 8315430, member: 118780&quot;]Hello everyone,</p><p><br /></p><p>Since I&#039;ve started collecting ancient coins, neither of my sons have taken particular notice. In fact, recently my younger son brought his girlfriend over to the house. Somehow the discussion moved to coins, and she mentioned that her father collects ancient Greek and Roman coins. My son had a near heart attack, since he knew there was no way to prevent the coin albums from coming out.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nevertheless, I decided to buy each of them one coin that would serve them well. To my eldest (one year difference in age), I gave an Antoninus Pius denarius with Felicitas. I felt that would be a nice &quot;good luck&quot; coin, and he has been lucky so far in building up his sports card business.</p><p><br /></p><p>Recently, I began looking for my younger son. He&#039;ll be attending Emerson in Boston and has long wanted to be a director. At first I thought of a coin with Dionysos, but I didn&#039;t think he&#039;d find that all so interesting. That&#039;s when I remembered this coin from Istros in Moesia.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472286[/ATTACH] </p><p style="text-align: center"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4">Moesia, Istros, 340 - 313 BC</font></font></p><p><font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4"><p style="text-align: center">Silver Drachm, 17mm, 5.25 grams</p></font></font></p><p style="text-align: center"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4">Obverse: Two facing male heads, one inverted.</p></font></font></p><p style="text-align: center"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4">Reverse: Sea eagle left grasping dolphin in its talons.</p></font></font></p><p style="text-align: center"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4">AMNG 420 // Dima VII, 2</p><p></font></font></p><p style="text-align: center"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4">Ex Ken Dorney. Dealer&#039;s photo.</font></font></p><p><br /></p><p>Note that since the coin is not in my possession, I&#039;ve used the dealer&#039;s photo. The two heads are where I really felt it was appropriate. There are a number of theories on their meaning, including the first reference to an ancient eclipse, but the truth is we really have no idea. There is no parallel to this image from any other ancient coin, but Istros continued to mint pretty much the same design for about 150 years. The coins are common, though high quality copies can get pricy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since we don&#039;t know why the ancient Istrians chose this image, IMHO it&#039;s up to us to interpret what it means ourselves. To me, it illustrates difference perspectives in life, and hence difference perspectives towards a story. It&#039;s this message that I wanted to stress to him - how you look at a story will determine its success. The most thrilling stories are those told from that unexpected perspective. This coin will remind him to always search for that.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse is a bit more ordinary, since eagles dominate ancient coinage and dolphins were common on coins from around the Black Sea - especially in Olbia. There&#039;s some speculation that the eagle represents Zeus, but in truth - though the symbols are known - the exact message here has again been lost. One can assume that the average dolphin had little to fear from predatory eagles, and so this symbolizes to me the fantastic. Again, my wish is for him to find those extraordinary stories that boggle the mind.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ultimately, it will be up to my son to determine his own stories for this coin, which is why I felt it suited him perfectly. He agreed, and loves the coin so much that he keeps the flip with coin in his wallet. </p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post anything you find relevant/interesting.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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