Ancient coins with interesting motifs?

What are some words to search for when looking for ancient coins with interesting or cool motifs?

You know like lion or serpent or captive or sacrifice etc...

I wanna get a fallen horseman coin but haven’t picked one out yet.

 

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A pretty interesting one is the “cista mystica,” which is a snake-in-a-box

Fallen horseman are great. They’re plentiful, cheap, and can come in large modules!

 

When searching for "snake" it is good to look for "serpent" too. The words are used interchangeably on a lot of sites.

Panthers and lions make appearances on ancients too.

A lot of captives are Dacian and Parthian, so you might search those too. There are others - here is Constantine the Great with a captive Sarmatian on the reverse:



Roman wolves show up - here is a little quadrans of Trajan:



Ancient war galleys show up on a lot of coins too. This is a small AE from Ascalon in Palestine:

 

I'd agree, and add to the search list "Agathodaemon".

"Pegasus" is cool. "Circus" and "Bridge" would be cool too. If someone had a Circus Maximus with the galley and animal menagerie reverse, that'd be a great example.

 

Here's the Elagabalus cista mystica I own. Definitely an interesting motif, to say the least.


Fel Temp Galleys are affordable and the large module on the AE2s gives lots of room for great art.


This Fel Temp Horseman cost me all of $10.


Probus has some really neat front-facing quadrigas.

 

"Man-headed bull" turns up some interesting types, as I'm sure @Nicholas Molinari could tell you. There is a specifically Persian man-headed bull called a gopadshah:

 

Many people are drawn to architectural coins. You might search "temple" or "bridge."

 

Interesting motifs? There are so many to choose from, particularly among Roman provincial coinage. You can find depictions of all kinds of mythological scene and an equal number of seemingly inexplicable designs.

You might be interested in all the threads by @Jochen1, who specializes in ancient mythology. Here's a search result for his numerous wonderful threads:

https://www.cointalk.com/search/5450837/?q=ancient+mythology&o=date&c[node]=9&c[user][0]=103829

Here's his long-running thread, Coins of Mythological Interest, from the Forum Ancient Coins discussion board:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=25089.0

Here are a few coins from my collection which I think are particularly interesting, although pretty much all ancient coins are interesting in some way .

Queen Dido overseeing the building of Carthage:

PHOENICIA, Tyre. Elagabalus
CE 218-222
AE29, 13.4 gm
Obv: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Dido building Carthage; she stands to front before the arched gate of the city, looking left, holding a rule and transverse sceptre; above the gate, a mason at work, [below, a man digging with pick]; murex shell in upper field, palm tree to right
Ref: Rouvier 2375; BMC 409; AUB 245; Price & Trell 748

Elagabalus parading the Sacred Stone of Emesa, the earthly embodiment of the sun god he represents:

Elagabalus
AR denarius, 19.4 mm, 3.5 gm
Antioch, 218-219 CE
Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right
Rev: SANCT DEO SOLI / ELAGABAL, Quadriga right, bearing sacred Baetyl stone, flanked by four parasols
Ref: RIC IV 195
Vauctions 310, lot 250 (25 Sept 2014)
ex CNG Mail Bid Sale 33, lot 914 (15 March 1995)

Shrine to a Sewer Goddess:

Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome
L. Mussidius Longus, 42 BCE
AR denarius, 18 mm, 3.8 gm. Rome mint.
Obv: Radiate and draped bust of Sol facing
Rev: Shrine of Venus Cloacina: Circular platform surmounted by two statues of the goddess, each resting right hand on cippus, the platform inscribed CLOAC and ornamented with trellis-pattern balustrade, flight of steps and portico on left; L • MVSSIDIVS • LONGVS around above.
Ref: Crawford 494/43b; CRI 189a; Sydenham 1094a; Kestner 3758-9 var. (CLOACIN); BMCRR Rome 4252-4; Mussidia 7a.

"The Good Snake" ushering in the change of seasons and fertility of the Nile delta:

EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian. Regnal year 10, CE 90/91. Æ diobol (25mm, 10.86 g, 12h). AVT KAICAP ΔΟ ΜΙΤ CEB ΓΕΡΜ, laureate head right / Agathodaemon serpent, wearing the skhent crown (emblematic of upper and lower Egypt), on horseback galloping left; L I (date) below. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) –; K&G 24.109; RPC II 2585; SNG Copenhagen 214; Emmett 277.10 (R5).
Ex Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection
Ex West Coast/Lloyd Beauchaine Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 41, 19 March 1997), lot 1110
Ex Classical Numismatic Review Vol. XVI, No. 1 (January 1991), lot 31
Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Fall Mail Bid Sale (18 October 1990), lot 2365
Appearances:
Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 39 (this coin)
Obverse illustrated in Emmett as the header for the Domitian section, p. 24 (this coin)
Fully illustrated in Emmett, p. 26 (this coin, discussing the unusual reverse).

 

How about a gorgon? A mythological woman with snakes for hair and a look that will turn you into stone. There are plentiful coins in both Greek and Roman coinage with that theme and they look really cool. The Greek designs are better, and many of these coins are really old (older than the 4th century BC) which would provide you with a coin that can be a great study piece. Also, you can find really affordable examples with good details if you go for smallish coins like drachms and hemidrachms. I would suggest going for an Apollonia drachm, the gorgons there are quite funky

Search terms are: Gorgon, Gorgoneion, Medusa.

Here is my example (not an Apollonia one): A more playful Gorgon ~

 

I’d like to get one of those. Is that yours? It is a nice example.

 

I agree with TIF on this point but some equals are more equal than others. The differences are more in the minds of the collector than in some absolute truth. What I find most interesting is not necessarily what you will even worth considering. Both TIF and I like Alexandrian coins but we are not as well aligned in other areas (e.g. my love of technically odd coins). That is fine and allows us all to collect 'our way'. She showed four examples of which I have one and would love the other three. I show here four coins I like but do not know whether you might or might not.

Dated to the last four months of 211 AD, this Alexandrian tetradrachm is the only type I know that shows the two co-Augusti after the death of father but before one killed the other. I may be the only person who finds this interesting but I can not imagine how these two brothers felt about the issue of this type. I am, compared to Caracalla, relatively easy to get along with BUT I probably would have crucified the mintmaster. TIF and everyone likes the rodeo snake best but I like the history of my favorite Alexandrian coin.


Many people collect Roman Republican denarii a lot more seriously than I do but this one attracted my attention because the die cutter attempted to show a 3/4 perspective view of the reverse galley when most coins of the period stuck with flat on side views. The boat appears to be flexing toward the viewer and shows oars on both sides as well as the full face of the prow. TIF prefers the sewer coin; I like the bendable boat.


I agree with TIF regarding the high interest in Roman Provincial coins. My favorite is much simpler than her Dido but shows the figure of Apollo Sauroktonos showing the lost Greek masterpiece of Praxiteles known today by a Roman copy in the Louvre that probably dates to about the same time as my coin. This Nikopolis coin, posted on my website, resulted in a bonus personally when I was contacted by a college art professor that led to a long term, online friendship in coins. I put her in contact with another friend who sold her one similar and started her on the road to being an expert in that subject. Things like that add to interest in my book.


Of my hundred or so 'odd' coins, top spot has to go to this Byzantine anonymous follis struck on a coin of Roman emperor Gordian III that was just short of 800 years old at the time. Many ancient coins were overstruck on earlier coins but most were on coins only a few years old when recycled. This is like finding a coin of Queen Elizabeth II struck on a Queen Elizabeth I. Strange.


In a few years you will find coins that fit your definition of 'special'.

 

How about Knuckle-bones and Frogs...


RR
Aes Grave
Uncia 269-266 BCE
10.1g
Astragalus knuckle-bone -
knuckle-bone
Thurlow- Vecchi 21 Craw 21-6 R



Luceria
AES Grave
Anonymous 217-215 BCE
Uncia 7.35g
Frog-
Corn Ear pellet retrograde L
Thurlow-Vecchi 28

 

Here's an agathadaemon serpent...

Nerva, 96-98 A.D.

Type: Billon Tetradrachm, 25mm, 12.7 grams, mint of Alexandria year 96-97 A.D.

Obverse: Bust of Nerva facing right, KAIS SEB AVT NEPOVAS

Reverse: Agathodaemon serpent coiled with head right, holding caduceus and grain ear within coils, wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. In exergue, LA.

Reference: Milne 542, Dattari 638 (rare)

 

CONCH SHELL
and while your at it, a YUMMY FLY


Sicily Akragas
AE Onkia
16mm 3.8g
425-406 BCE
Eagle r fish fly -
Crab conch
SNG ANS 1062 var

 

Yes, that is from my collection. I bought it at a CNG E-Sale a few years ago. This type comes up every now and again, especially at sellers like CNG, Steve Album, and Pars Coins, but like any Arab-Sasanian bronze it can be tough to find in decent condition.

 

Finding interesting sub groups is fun. I like how cultures used different ways to show the same item on coins.
I like anchors, some point up

and some point down


I am fond of knucklebones / astragalos - see my avitar

 

Interesting thread....

I find the Canopic jar on the Alexandria tetradrachm of Hadrian intriguing and quite exotic.



Also, the intermediate Athens tetradrachm with two vines behind the owl on the reverse is an unusual addition to what is normally seen.

 

Horses are a popular collecting theme. Some have more character than others.

Thessaly, Pharsalos. Mid-late 5th century BC. AR Hemidrachm (15mm, 2.61g, 10h). Obv: Head of Athena in Attic helmet right, with facing eye. Rev: Head of horse right within incuse square, ΦAR to right. Ref: Lavva 31 (V21/R19); BCD Thessaly 664.1 (same obv. die); HGC 4, 630.

 

Speaking of astragalos, here's stater from Cilicia, Kelenderis, circa 430-420 BC, which has a goat leaning left and looking up at an astragalos above.

This coin came out of Roma's E-Sale 74.

 

Can't go wrong with the plentiful and readily affordable (generally under $200) staters of Aspendos.

Archaic examples show an iconic hoplite, nude except for his helmet and shield

Classical examples show two wrestlers mid-match, and a slinger on the reverse


Not the best example, but I have always loved the image of Apollo seated on the Omphalos from several Seleucid kings


As far as Greek silver goes, the coinage of Indo-Greek king Menander has Athena in a nice action pose, and is hard to beat price-wise


Indigenous Indian kingdoms' coinage is fascinating from the perspective of "Holy cow what is going on here?"
Magadha karshapana, anonymous AR Karshapana, featuring about a dozen animals and odd dynastic symbols as punchmarks

Kuninda, king Amoghabhuti, featuring Lakshmi and a deer on the obverse, and a smattering of Hindu and Buddhist symbology on the reverse


From the medieval Paramaras come an enigmatic and unusually active "battle scene" dramma depicting a warrior on horseback trampling one enemy soldier while engaging the other in sword combat


Also the famous coinage of Bhoja I, showing Varaha, the boar-headed Vishnu curb-stomping a lion


From ancient Persia, I feel like the Parthians don't get enough love, because their coins usually feature exactly the same motif of Arsakes seated with a bow - an interesting motif that hearkens back to Antiochus I in a way

Likewise, the Sassanians always have a fire altar on their reverse (until you get to the post-Sassanian coins of the early caliphates) but the ones by Shapur I are particularly well done