I was lucky enough to stumble upon this inexpensive little gem from Sicily and just snapped it up... Have always enjoyed depictions of Nike/Victory on any coinage- so this one - depicting Nike furiously driving a biga looks fantastic to me. I use the word "furiously" as the perspective of the reverse scene is nicely depicted. With the horses at full gallop, their length taking up about 3/4 of the reverse flan, plus the oval shape of the biga's wheel gives the impression of speed - as she gets swung behind.. the whip certainly adds to the urgency. Overall a very pleasing coin. The coin was struck in or around the time of the 2nd Punic War. Sicily, Menaion. Circa 2nd Century BC. AE 18mm 4.3g, Pentonkion. Laureate & draped bust of Zeus-Serapis right / MENA-INΩN, Nike driving galloping biga right. Pi below **Please post any coins featuring Nike/Victory, bigas or anything from Sicily**
She is in a hurry. Wonder which side they were on during this time? Seleucus II Mint: Unknown Western 43 246 to 226 BC Obvs: Head of Poseidon right, crowned with kelp. Trident behind, dotted border. Revs: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY, Nike in fast quadriga left. AE 15x17mm, 6.55g Ref: SC 738; HGC 9, 353(R2)
Nice coin! I can show this one. One of the first I ever bought. Not a spectacular specimen but I like the flowlines on the reverse; Victory, bent over aerodynamically, trying to break the sound barrier. By the looks of it, she might have made it. The horses surely gave it their best. RR 157-156 BC anonymous denarius. Craw. 197/1. 18 mm. 3,98 gr.
A great Victory! It definitely conveys a feeling of "furious" motion, as do the other coins posted so far. Here are a couple more that I think should always go together (they bear successive Crawford numbers), one in a triga and one in a biga. They both represent actual or anticipated Sullan victories, and I put both on my top 10 list for 2020. I think the second set of horses is definitely in more of a hurry than the first! (Footnotes omitted.) Roman Republic, C. Naevius Balbus, AR Serrate Denarius, 79 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Venus [or Juno, see BMCRR p. 366] right, wearing diadem, necklace and long earring, hair long, S • C [Senatus Consulto] behind / Rev. Victory, naked to waist, driving triga right, with rightmost horse turning head back towards the others; control-number CLIII (= 153, with L in form of upside-down T); in exergue, C•NAE•BALB [AE and LB ligate]. Crawford 382/1b, RSC I Naevia 6 (ill.), Sydenham 760b, Sear RCV I 309 (ill.), Grueber, BMCRR 2926-2976 (this control-number at BMCRR 2964), RRM I Ch. 6 at pp. 28-31 [Michael Harlan, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012)]. 19 mm., 3.92 g. Roman Republic, Ti. Claudius Ti.f. Ap.n. Nero [Tiberius Claudius Nero, son of Tiberius and grandson of Appius], AR Serrate Denarius, 78 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Diana right with hair in topknot, bow and quiver over shoulder, figure of stag at end of bow (horns to left), S • C [Senatus Consulto] before / Rev. Winged Victory driving galloping biga right, with horses’ heads straining forward, holding wreath in right hand and palm frond and reins in left hand, control number CXXXIIII beneath horses; in exergue, TI•CLAVD•TI•F [VD ligate] / [A]P•N [AP ligate] in two lines. Crawford 383/1, RSC Claudia 5, Sear RCV I 310 (ill.), Sydenham 770, BMCRR 3096-3113 [Control number CXXXIIII not included], Harlan, RRM I Ch. 8, pp. 36-39 [Harlan, Michael, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012)]. 18 mm., 4.01 g., 6 h.
Those flow lines are amazing - Victory supersonic!! A great depiction to have on a coin: money can be in your hand one moment and its gone before you know it!
Sicily, Syracuse, Dionysius I, Decadrachm (I promise not to post it again for a while) Horses in full flight, almost literally Reverse Signed by Euainetos. Struck circa 405-390 BC Gallatin dies R.XI/D.I; Scavino 32 (D9/R19); HGC 2, 1299; SNG ANS 371 (same rev. die); SNG Copenhagen 691 (same dies); BMC 174 (same rev. die); Dewing 902 (same dies); Gulbenkian 314 (same rev. die); Pozzi 614 (same dies); Rizzo pl. LIV, 4 (same dies). Sicily, Akragas, Tetradrachm One of them looking back to see if they won or is he saying Hey guys did we win and are we still galloping in the right direction?? c.413-406 B.C. SNG Lloyd-818; Kraay-Hirmer-178 Sicily, Syracus, Philistis ,wife of Hieron II, Tetradrachm. Whew......finally we can slow down to a trot 275-215 BC. AR 16 Litrai – Tetradrachm (26.5mm, 13.12 g, 1h). Struck circa 240-218/5 BC. CCO 119 (D8/R29); BAR Issue 65; HGC 2, 1556; SNG ANS 880 (same dies).
My only Roman! Every time I see these coins with chariots on them I can't help but think the famous race in Ben-Hur.
@Clavdivs.....Great looking coin with real movement! Here's a really common coin from Sicily but I've always liked this design.. Does have the rarer legend break though... Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II. 274-216 BC. Æ-Litra (19mm, 6.38g). Obverse..Diademed head of Poseidon left with border of dots. Reverse..ΙΕΡ ΩΝΟΣ, Ornate scroll decorated trident with lotiform shaft flanked by dolphins. Ref:for type SNG Cop 844-856.
Cool coin, @Clavdivs! Nice addition to your collection! This one has everything you ask for! Philistis, wife of Hieron II. Greek AR 5 litrae. Syracuse 270-230 BCE, 4.46 gm, 18.1 mm. Obv: Diademed and veiled head, l., palm branch behind. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑΣ ΦΙΛΙΣΤΙΔΟΣ, Nike driving biga to left, E in l. field. Refs: SNG ANS 893; SNG III (Lockett) 1017; Forrer 196.
Syracuse Ar Tetradrachm 450-440 BC Obv. Charioteer driving slow quadriga right. Rv. Head of Arethusa right surrounded by four dolphins. Boehringer 571 17.39 grms 22 mm Photo by W. Hansen Last year I acquired some three tetradrachms from the mint of Syracuse and one from Himera. The coins of Greek Sicily are some of the most impressive ever struck. What is most interesting however is on both a technical as well as artistic level, the coins minted on this island are more advanced than contemporaries from the Greek mainland. I sometimes wonder that much of what we see as the beauty of Greek coins is the result of artists from other regions of the Greek world coming into contact with the coins from Sicily.
Fast Biga at the County Fair! RR C Renius AR Denarius 18mm 3.8g Roma 138 BC Helmeted hd Roma r X - C RENI ROMA Juno driving biga goats r whip reins scepter Cr 231-1
SICILY Sicily, Kamarina. AR litra, 11mm, 0.56g, 9h; c. 461-440/35 BC. Obv.: Nike flying left; below, swan standing left; all within wreath. Rev.: KAMAPI-NAION; Athena standing left, holding spear; at her feet, shield. Ref: Westermark & Jenkins series 2C; SNG ANS 1212-6. Comments: The ancient city of Kamarina was originally founded by Syracuse in the 6th century BC, but destroyed some 50 years later. It was rebuilt in 461 by the folks from Gela, under the Olympic charioteer Psaumis. Kamarina takes its place in the annals of weird history with the following episode. The people were plagued by a mysterious disease, which was widely thought to originate in the swamp north of the city. It was suggested that the swamp be drained, but the city’s oracle advised against it, as the swamp protected the city from invaders. The inhabitants rejected the oracle’s advice, drained the swamp, and were immediately invaded and exterminated by the Carthaginians. This litra was minted during the safe, swampy days of the 5th century, with lovely detail all around and what they call a “find patina,” that is, only lightly cleaned and darkly toned. Ex: @John Anthony
The flow lines on the RRC 197/1 denarius do add to the sense of speed. Here is a facing quadriga view I have always liked: Kyrene AV stater 331-322 BC Jason magistrate 8.56 gm 18 mm O: Nike in facing quadriga R: Zeus seated right, holding staff; eagle standing to right Naville 24 Very symmetrical with horses' heads turned from center (Hope they weren't still distracted by looking to the sides when the race started) and Nike very large in comparison to the horses.
