I was able to nab this on the Heritage live auction. I almost lost. These photos are from Heritage. ZEUGITANA. Utica. 1st century BC. AE29 (15.94 gm). Fine. Laureate, jugate heads of the Dioscuri right / Two horses advancing right, Punic legend above. Müller 341. SNG Copenhagen 428-30. I've been looking for a Castor and Pollux (Gemini twins) coin but didn't notice this one until looking on Vcoins. The prices were high but saw one on Heritage while searching and narrowly won it on the 8th.
kool!.. i got this Antiochous l Soter coin with the Dioscuri hats on the reverse..interesting and varied legends on those two at different times and cultures. a good read!
Very cool! Uncommon, too, perhaps rare Looks like you got a heck of a deal on it! Bargains can be found on Heritage for those who don't have to have plastic tombs and particular grades.
Nice coin- they are a key to how many of the religious traditions ancient and modern interconnect. and their two white horses! It is quite rare- the only other one I could find:https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=124997 and another one on WW:
Nice. I have a fondness for the Dioscuri L MEMMIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS MEMMIA AR Denarius OBVERSE: Young male head (Apollo?) right, wearing oak-wreath; before, mark of value REVERSE: Dioscuri standing facing between their horses, each holding spear; L MEMMI in ex. Struck at Rome 109-108 BC 3.86g, 19.05mm Syd 558; Cr304/1; Memmia 1 MN. FONTEIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS FONTEIA AR Denarius OBVERSE: Jugate heads of the Dioscuri REVERSE: Galley under oar Struck at Rome 108-109 BC 3.9g, 20mm Cr.307/1, Fonteia 7 MN FONTEIUS CF ROMAN REPUBLIC AR Denarius OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo Vejovis right, M FONTEI CF behind, thunderbolt below, ROMA monogram below chin REVERSE: Infant winged Genius (or Cupid) seated Struck at Rome 85 BC 3.87g, 20mm Cr353/1a; Fonteia 9 ANONYMOUS ROMAN REPUBLIC AR Denarius OBVERSE: Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, X REVERSE: The Dioscuri galloping right; in exergue, ROMΛ in raised letters within linear frame Struck at Rome 214-213 BC 19.8mm, 3.45g Sydenham 140. Crawford 44/5
nice find @Jbruce ! Those are tough to find. I have the SNG Copenhagen North Africa plate book. For funzies, I looked yours up and it appears more to be SNG COP 428 (out of the 3 listed), due to the noses and the cadence of the horses (430 has one horse almost a half-length ahead of the other) Since I collect Roman Republic, I have several examples of Dioscuri. However, I can toss out a few cool ones (to me): RR AE Aes Grave Sextans 270 BCE 37mm 55.28g Dioscuri R and L RR Anon AR Quinarius 211-210 BCE Aplulian mint 16.5mm 2.1g Phrygian helmet Dioscuri Craw 102-2b RARE RR Anon AR Sestertius 211-208 BC Roma Dioscuri Sear 46 Cr 44-7 RR Anon AR Denarius Roma 211-206 BCE ROMA incus Dioscuri single horn-helmet Sear-- Craw 68-1b SICILY ISSUE RARE RR Anon after 211 BCE AR Quinarius 2.12g Helmeted hd Roma - Dioscuri riding Cr 68-2b was RSC 3 ex Clain-Stefanelli RR Anon AR Quinarius 211-210 BCE 16mm 2.14g SE Italia mint Roma V ROMA Dioscuri Craw 85-1a SYD 174 RSC33b ex RBW SCARCE RR Anon 211-208 BCE AR Denarius 20.9mm 3.7g Rome Hd Roma R X - Dioscuri riding spears, stars ROMA tablet Cr 44-5 Syd 167 RSC 1a Scarce RR Anon AE 23 Quincunx 6.96g Apollo P behind Dioscuri Luceria 5 pellets Cr 99-4 Syd 309 S 910 Rare Baktria Greco-Baktrian Kingdom Eukratides I Megas 170-145 BCE Dioscuri AE Quadruple Unit RI Maxentius 306-312 CE AE Folles Dioscuri holding their horses She-Wolf
ACsearch has 7 including the OP coin, using search terms "utica dioscuri" Edited: one is a repeat, so six.
RIC VI, Ostia, No. 35, Maxentius as Augustus IMP C MAXENTIVS PF AVG .................................. AETERNITAS AVG N MOSTT in reverse exergue Ostia Mint. Rev: Castor & Pollux facing each other leaning on staff and holding horse (Dioscuri)
I agree. It is difficult to know when and if you've found all there is to find, and of course this doesn't count coins in museums or otherwise off the market. Perhaps more could be uncovered with other search terms. Regardless, it does seem that the OP coin is rare. Very nice pickup!!
My favourite ancient features the Dioscuri and is also my avatar. Roman Republic denarius L. Cupiennius 147 BC. 147 BC was the year before a couple of significant events in the history of republican Rome - the defeat and complete destruction of Carthage and the final conquest of Greece. History in the hand!
I don't think I have a page on the Dioscuri. I do have a coin -- or rather an ancient fourree in imitiation of a denarius. L. MEMMIUS. Denarius (109-108 BC). Rome. Fourree denarius, 18mm (3.20g) Obv: Male head right, wearing oak wreath; below chin, star (mark of value). Rev: L MEMMI. The Dioscuri standing facing between their horses, each holding spear. Crawford 304/1. Holding History auctions via Agora Auctions, January 2016, Lot 01-082.
I thought this was your page on the city of the OP coin?http://snible.org/coins/hn/zeugitana.html Just noticed you did the web design- coding for the page? I think I have a real one(hopefully) of the fourre you just postedof L.Memmius L. Memmius Ar. denarius, male hd. r., wearing oak-wreath, star below the chin, rev., the Dioscuri standing facing, holding their horses, L MEMMI in ex. (Seaby, Memmia, 1) 3.90 g (just noticed @Bing posted one of these also above)
I was actually looking at this page while web searching for the Utica Dioscuri after seeing it on HA. I need more practice with the acsearch.com to narrow down searches but it’s getting easier now than previously. I saw another Zeugitana Utica Dioscuri on fourmancientcoin.com
That's a great coin... nice catch! Probably my most unusual reference to the Dioscuri is on this hemiobol(?) of the Indo-Greek ruler Antialkidas Nikephoros (115-95 BC), who was apparently a devotee of Vishnu. (That's Zeus on the obverse, with his thunderbolt.)
