Featured Finally succumbed to the Greeks! The 12 Olympian gods..

Well.....
I've been collecting ancient coins now for many years and had managed to keep myself focused and steadfast on a few areas, Roman Imperial , Asian and the odd Iberic coins, right to the end!
That 'end' came about 10 weeks ago and I remember it like it was yesterday!
Normally, whilst on the hunt, blinkers on, never once looking left or right at the forbidden 'G' letter, homing in on my Roman, Asian, or Spanish prey!.....Then......
It was a Saturday, late afternoon, strong winds and pouring with rain, lockdown and complete silence outside. There I was, sitting in front of my log burner, it was glowing and crackling in time to Debaussy's 'Clair de lune' and I was half way through a decent bottle of red 'Lagrimes'.....Flicking through a couple of my favourite sellers on vcoins with my defences low the inevitable happened, I purchased my first ever GREEK!....


So here's my first ever Greek coin!.....
This is the start of a 12 Olympian gods set in bronze that I'll be working on over the coming year. It will be a slow and tight budgeted endeavour...But must say I'm finding the hunt and research very interesting and will post each new god as I acquire them....Thanks Paul.
The 12 Greek gods who resided on Mount Olympus / The Roman equivalent.
Greek / Roman
1..Zeus / Jupiter
2..Hera / Juno
3..Athena / Minerva
4..Apollo / Apollo
5..Poseidon / Neptune
6..Ares / Mars
7..Artemis / Diana
8..Demeter / Ceres
9..Aphrodite / Venus
10.Hermes / Mercury
11.Hephaistos / Vulcan
12.Dionysos / Bacchus
Note..The Greeks did not always agree on the 12 and some lists include Hestia, Hercules or Leto, with Dionysos often the one replaced.

First of the dozen for me is.....

ATHENA.
In Greek Mythology, 'Athena' was believed to have been born from the head of her father 'Zeus' fully formed and armoured.
Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare, battle strategy, and handicrafts.
She's depicted as being crowned with a crested helmet, armed with shield and spear, and wearing the aegis over a long dress. Her symbol is the olive tree and is also commonly shown accompanied with her sacred animal, the owl. Her Roman counterpart being 'Minerva'.
This coin was minted in the affluent and powerful city of Pergamon (Pergamum) near the Western coast of Mysia, an ancient region in the Northwest of ancient Asia Minor, part of modern day Turkey...
Mysia, Pergamon . Circa 2nd Century BC. AE 18mm (5.31 gm).
Obv.: Head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian Egret helmet.
Rev.: ΑΘΗΝΑΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ (Athénas Nicéphore), trophy, consisting of a crested helmet, a cuirass with arms below; monogram to the right.

Please feel free to post your Athena Bronzes.....

 

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Very nice Pergamon bronze and nice to see a list with the Roman equivalent names.


Syria, Seleukis and Pieria. Laodicea ad Mare. Æ14
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right.
Rev: Owl standing right, head facing.
1st century BC. Æ14, 2.5 g.

 

Cool, @Spaniard ! You might be interested in the 12 Dii Consentes thread from a few years back.

Here's one of my bronze Athena coins:


Phrygia, Apameia, ca. 88-40 BC.
Greek Æ 23 mm, 7.71 g.
Magistrate Philokratos son of Aristos.
Obv: Bust of Athena to right, wearing aegist and crested Corinthian helmet decorated with griffin.
Rev: AΠAMEΩN / ΦIΛOKPATOY APIΣΤΕOY, Eagle alighting right above Maeander pattern; to l. and r., eight-pointed star above piloi of the Dioskouroi.
Refs: BMC 25.87, 105-108; SNG Cop 168-69.

 

Great way to start your Greek collection!
Here she's facing the camera:

 

Nice coins!...Thanks for sharing...
This is real new territory for me so please bear with me on this new learning curve..Hopefully you'll enjoy the journey as it progresses...
@ancientone...Have you got a reference for your coin?...I'm struggling to find it and would like to know the legend...
@Roman Collector....Really like the reverse with the meander pattern..Thanks for the link, very interesting. I'm actually trying to run a parallel set with the same 12 gods that I've listed using the reverse standing dieties on Roman coins but I haven't had time to research enough as to whether this is possible?
@Ryro...Thanks and that's a really cool coin!....Why does it give me the shivers?..This face seems to remind me of a similar coin @TIF posted with it actually moving...Scared the hell out of me!
The OP coin has a monogram...

@Sulla80.. ran a great thread a while back...
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-tropaion-turning-point-to-victory.359328/
Looks like the OP coin is a #1b monogram but open to some feedback on this?
I'm tentatively attributing it to SNG von Aulock 1374; SNG France 1884.?

 

..kool coin @Spaniard! ...ya gotta figure they(the Greeks) were making fantastic coins(not that have them) when the Romans were still living in mud huts. .Antigonus ll Gonatas,277-239 BC.Macedonian mint bronze drachm, helmeted Head of Athena right obverse/Pan erecting trophy reverse (did you know that 'panic' comes from pan?)

 

Hard to be certain from your photo if it is 1a or b, 1b looks believable to me.

At least you have the wine to blame - perhaps if you are cautious, you will be spared further lapses. nice coin and fun writeup! Here's one of my relapses:

Mysia, Pergamon, circa 200-133 BC, AE21
Obv: Head of Athena right, wearing three-crested Corinthian helmet with cheek-pieces lifted up
Rev: ΑΘΗΝΑΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ, trophy of arms, monogram to right
Size: 19mm, 6.45g
Ref: AMC 3274; SNG France 1885; Lindgren 300; BMC ?

 

One of my favorite appearances of Athena on bronzes is the series under Mithradates VI used from several mint cities. This one is Sinope. Of course the reverse showing the hero Perseus slaying Medusa gets all the attention.

 

@Spaniard - I just realized this is an early provincial autonomous coin from the Caesarean Era. The reverse inscription is [ΙΟΥΛΙΕΩΝ] ΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ with the first part off of flan. So thank you for asking.

Here's a Greek one.
Cilicia, Seleukeia ad Calycadnum. AE18. Athena/Helios
Obv: Helmeted and cuirassed bust of Athena r. with shield and spear.
Rev: Bust of Helios ? r. / SELEYKEWN EPI DHMIORGOY DHMH.
SNG LEVANTE 0702(1)

 

@ominus1....Supposedly the inventor of the panpipes too..Nice coin!

@Sulla80.....Glad you think so too, and apologies for my awful photographic skills. Under magnification it certainly looks like a 1b ....I suppose it could always be a corrupt circle with the vertical line to the right but I don't think so....BTW nicelooking coin!

...Not for me Doug...Nicely detailed obverse and love the portrayal of the little Pegasus on that pretty helmet.....Nice coin!

 

Athena with an ELEPHANT...

Seleukos I AE


Seleucid Seleukos I 312-280 BCE AE 20 Athena-Elephant Spaer 129

 

Cool idea, @Ryro. I'll offer two more facing heads to keep your own fantastically spooky example company.

THESSALY, Pharsalos
AE Trichalkon. 6.23g, 22.1mm. THESSALY, Pharsalos, 4th-3rd century BC. HGC 4, 646; Rogers 504; BCD Thessaly II 671.3. O: Helmeted head of Athena facing, turned slightly to left. R: ΦAP-Σ, Armoured Thessalian horseman brandishing flail, riding right on prancing horse; behind him, his attendant walking right carrying a spare flail.
Ex BCD Collection, tag stating, “Pr. Thr. Ked. Oct. 72, drs 500.”

And here's one purchased almost 3 months ago. I still don't have it in hand, but have just been told that it's finally on its way to me.


TROAS, Sigeion
AE20. 8.91g, 20mm. TROAS, Sigeion, circa 355-334 BC. SNG München 304-6; SNG von Aulock 1570; SNG Copenhagen 493. O: Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple crested helmet and necklace. R: ΣIΓE, Double-bodied owl standing facing; crescent to right.
Ex Demetrios Armounta Collection

 

"This is the start of a 12 Olympian gods set in bronze"

Looking forward to seeing your progress.. Awesome!!

Great idea for a set that I may pursue at some point.

 

Nice idea, @Spaniard ! I'm working on a similar set of Roman, if possible Severan, denarii showing the Twelve Olympians – or, better, "Thirteen Olympians" since I'm including both Vesta and Liber/Bacchus. Still missing Diana and Vulcan, but I got my eyes on some coins and plan to pull the trigger once my current situation (I'm in the middle of rather spontaneously moving to another continent) has settled down a bit.

Yet, until then, here are my two favorite Greek Athenas in bronze. I just realized I haven't shown them here before:


Antiochos I Soter, Seleucid Empire, AE denomination D, 280–261 BC, Smyrna or Sardes mint. Obv: head of Athena facing. Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTI]OXOY; Nike standing l., holding wreath; monogram in field l. 13mm, 2.12g. Ref: Seleucid Coins I, 315b.


Aeolis, Elaia, AE10, 350–300 BC. Obv: helmeted head of Athena l. Rev: grain of wheat in olive wreath; ethnic E-Λ. 10mm, 1.08g. Ref: SNG Copenhagen 169; Sear 4204; BMC 11–14.

 

NAGIDOS in CILICIA
AR Stater
OBVERSE: Aphrodite seated left, holding patera over altar, crowned by Eros flying right above, rose and bud in left field, mouse under chair
REVERSE: NAΓIΔIKON, Dionysos, loins draped (long), standing left, holding bunch of grapes and thyrsos. EY ΔIO in left field.
Struck at Nagidos in Cilicia 356-333 BC
9.93g, 23 mm.
Lederer 64; Paris 809; Babelon Traite II-2 1524.8; SNG France II, 34
ex. Warren Esty

SICILY, SYRACUSE, HIERON II
AE19
OBVERSE: Head of Poseidon left
REVERSE: IEP-ONOS, ornamented trident of Poseidon
Struck at Syracuse, Sicily 275-216 BC
6.5g; 19mm
SG 1223

THRACE, ABDERA
Tetrobol
OBVERSE: Griffin springing left
REVERSE: Magistrate's name around linear border, within which head of Hermes l., caduceus before; all in incuse square
Struck at Abdera 411-385 BC
2.780g, 15mm
May 279

AMISOS, PONTOS
AE 20
OBVERSE: Head of youthful Dionysos right, wreathed with ivy
REVERSE: Thyrsos leaning against cista mystica draped with panther skin; AMISOU below
Struck at Amisos 85-65 BC
8.8g, 21mm
SNG BM Black Sea 1199-1200; HGC 7, 243

 

Thanks to everyone who has posted...Some great coins and I've really enjoyed reading up on them...

...
Nice!...I'm running a similar set but was unsure if I would need to pick up some Provincials as well to complete, so you've answered my question thanks....Hope you post a thread when your set is completed I for one would be very interested so good luck!

I'll be posting my second example in a few days....

 

Here's the 2nd of the dozen.......
ZEUS.
King of the Gods.
The child of Cronus and Rhea the Titans and was born on the island of Crete..
God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice.
Symbols associated with Zeus are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak.
His Roman counterpart being 'Jupiter'.
I'm not gonna go into what this god could or couldn't do but lets just say 'virtually anything'! From physical transformation to sticking a mountain on his shoulder and moving it somewhere else..He was pretty cool!

Wow! This guy has so many representations, he must be up there with the most depicted portrait on ancient coins!? After looking through many different styles of this 'Iconic face' with his huge curly beard often filling the obverse and an array of reverses depicting thunderbolts, eagles and the said fellow seated, surrounded with a multitude of legends, I decided on a much calmer simplistic portrayal. This coin really called to me and after subsequent research realised it's a nicely detailed coin for the type and wasn't expensive so I bought it!

This was one of the first coins minted in Eumeneia, a town positioned on the river Claucus in the ancient West region of ancient Asia Minor, part of modern day Turkey. The town was named after Eumenis II by his brother the king of Pergamon Attalus II (Now there's a story!)...
OK here's the coin..
Phrygia, Eumeneia Circa 200-133 BC. AE 15mm (3.98 gm).
Obv...Laureate head of Zeus right.
Rev...EYME-NEΩN (EUMENEON) legend in two lines within oak-wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 377-378

OK... The first two together...When this set is finished I would like to display it in a vertical tray stand, as I really liked how Donna presents her coins see this thread.
www.cointalk.com/threads/running-out-of-display-space.359223/
Criterias I look for are the coin diameter, I'm trying to keep them within 5mm, but also that the coins compliment each other...
Please feel free to post your bronze coins of ZEUS...Love to see'em.

 

Both very nice examples with a clear head of Athena and Zeus. Welcome to the Greek side.

Here two random bronze coins featuring helmeted Athena and Zeus.


Islands off Thrace, Samothrace. AE Trichalkon. 3rd-2nd centuries B.C. Pythes, magistrate.
Obverse: Helmeted and draped bust of Athena to right.
Reverse: ΣΑΜΟ / ΠYΘO Kybele seated left on throne, holding patera and sceptre.
Reference: Schönert-Geiss, Samothrake 13. SNG Copenhagen 998.
5.43g; 20mm
From the collection of Jean-Pierre Righetti, inv. no. 10004.


Syria, Seleukis and Pieria. Adelphoi Demi (Tetrapolis). AE Double Unit Dated 149/48 B.C. Under the reign of Alexander I Balas (152/1 - 145 B.C.)
Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right.
Reverse: ‘ΑΔΕΛΦΩΝ’ above, ‘ΔΗΜΩΝ’ below (“of the Brother Peoples”). Winged thunderbolt; monogram to left, EΞP (date) and ΒΥ monogram to right; all within wreath.
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 397; BMC 7; HGC 9, 1396.
6.91g; 21mm

 

....Thanks! It has taken a long time and I'm finding the history quite enthralling!
That's a lovely depiction of Athena! With a sound provenance....

 

..i love the story of the Titans and Greek Gods..ole Gronos had it figured out how to keep from being put out to pasture..so to speak.....i got a couple of Zeus seated..(plus a bronze with a quiver and club..and something else)