Addition to the Menagerie : the Frog

With the little love that frogs have received on coins, I have to assume that many ancient cultures were either indifferent to or had a bias against them. Certainly, I wouldn't blame the ancient Egyptians for looking upon them as pests, especially in light of the Plague of Frogs described in Exodus 8:3-4 :

"The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials."

Like, ewwww...



Biblical plagues not withstanding, it would seem that the ancient Egyptians actually saw frogs as symbols of fertility and renewal. Their appearance in great numbers on the banks of Nile each year heralded the final stages of the river's inundation and the imminent germination of barley. They also symbolized abundance, with the hieroglyph for the numeral 100,000 being a frog or tadpole.


From right to left: "10,000" represented by a finger, "100,000" represented by a frog or tadpole, and "1,000,000" represented by a deity with arms raised.

The benevolent view of frogs held by the Egyptians persisted into Roman times, when the frog was used as a reverse type on small bronzes issued during the reigns of Claudius (AD 41-54), Trajan (AD 98-117) and Hadrian (AD 117-138). The most often encountered of these coins, a dichalkon issued during Claudius's 10th regnal year, gets a rarity rating of 1 (most common) in Emmett, yet it's only infrequently available for sale. With just 6 examples listed on acsearch, I felt very fortunate to win the one below last month:


CLAUDIUS
AE Dichalkon. 2.47g, 15.5mm. EGYPT, Alexandria, RY 10 (AD 49/50). RPC I 5179; Emmett 100 var. (obv. legend); Dattari (Savio) 170. O: [TIB] ΚΛΑY, laureate head right. R: Frog seated right, LI (date) above.

While I think the amphibian depicted on the coin is really just a frog, it was fun if unsurprising to discover that the Egyptian pantheon included some froggy deities. For example, the Ogdoad were a group of eight primordial gods and goddesses venerated at Hermopolis, four of whom were often depicted as having the heads of frogs. More widely worshipped was the goddess Heqet, who was depicted as a frog as well as a frog-headed woman.


Relief from the Dendera Temple Complex: ram-headed Khnum seated on the left, frog-headed Heqet kneeling on the righ, moulding and giving life to the child god Ihy between them.

Heqet was the wife of the creator god Khnum, who at his potter's wheel would fashion the bodies of all human babies out of mud. As these mud-babies were ensconced in their mothers' wombs, Heqet would breathe life into them. In this role, the goddess was the patron of midwives, who were called the Servants of Heqet. The midwives would often carry with them ivory wands and knives inscribed with frogs, and give to women about to go into labour frog-shaped amulets to wear in the hopes that "She Who Hastens the Birth" would bless them. Through her role in the resurrection of the god Osiris (as Horus), Heqet would also come to be associated with the afterlife and rebirth, and Heqet frog amulets were often used in funerary rites as well.


"Diorite-gneiss amulet in the form of the frog-goddess Heket." British Museum Collection.

I know of a few other coin types out there that feature frogs - @Alegandron has a cool one from Luceria, and I've seen a couple others posted too. If you have 'em, please show 'em!

 

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Nice write up, coin and Egyptian amulet.

My frog is Babylonian old period (circa 2000-1600 BC) in origin, carved from dentritic agate:

184 grams





As for a coin with a frog on the obverse and a corn ear on the reverse, here's a cast AE uncia from Apulia, Luceria.

45.7 grams






And then there's the accidental frog, the result of remnants of a coin bonded to an owl as a result of burial, for a considerable length of time:




That's all I have to croak about.

 

@furryfrog02 your spirit animal

speaking of frog coins, is there some absurdly expensive silver Greek with a frog worth like $50k or something? Vaguely remember seeing it somewhere but don’t quite remember it fully

 

Those are great! I really like the Babylonian frog, and the "accidental frog" on the Owl is fascinating. Thanks for sharing them.

It would be a Seriphos stater, like this one (not mine):

 

Fun writeup!

You know I'm envious of that amphibian . Congrats on the snag!

 

There's quite a few modern coins celebrating frogs. Most are NCLT coins from Palau, Samoa, etc. But Colombia has a currently circulating 500 peso coin (KM# 298) depicting a frog. I bought a couple for my "coins with animals" collection and one for a friend of mine that collects frog stuff. It's bimetallic as well.
Great write up though. A concise and informative read.

 

Very fun!!! Now I need to get one! The want list just keeps growing and growing!

 

As the resident frog of CT, I approve of this thread.
Though, unfortunately, I have nothing numismatic to contribute.

 

Very cool write up... and I really like that coin, @zumbly !

Aes Grave Frog from Luceria


Luceria
AES Grave
Anonymous
217-215 BCE
Uncia
7.35g
Frog from above-
Corn Ear pellet retrograde L
Thurlow & Vecchi 285
Ex: Stephen Album Auction

 

Thank you, folks. I think all the frog love has inspired my next lunch order :



Probably the only question to consider is whether or not to upsize...



Sorry, @furryfrog02, but they really are quite tasty.

 

I've had frog legs before. Is cannibalism bad if it's super tasty?

 

I guess it depends on who you ask?

 

Me after seeing a new @zumbly thread post...


Seriously Z, how do you always find such interesting coins!? Great thread. I do not have an amphibian coin to share unfortunately.

 

Well, thanks to Aristophanes, we know what Greek frogs sounded like. Unlike North American frogs which make a croaking sound that comes out something like, ribit, ribit, the Athenian playwright tells us that Attic frogs go , Brekekekex, koax, koax. Undoubtedly those Dorian speaking Spartans heard it differently.

 

Here's the classic cartoon from the National Lampoon in 1970:

 

YUM!

Grew up eating frog legs. Your recipe looks great!

 

Caption: That's not funny...that's sick!