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

LYDIA, Tralles/Tralleis. After 133 BC. Æ (20mm, 5.96 gm, 9h). Obv: Laureate head of Zeus right. Rev: ΔIOΣ TPAΛ/ΛIANΩN, Winged thunderbolt within wreath. BMC__; SNG von Aulock__; SNG Kayhan 1010

 

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Seleukos I, Nikator; 312-281 BC. Tetradrachm (25mm; 16.58 gm; 4h). Obv: Laureate head of Zeus, r. within circle of dots. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to l., ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ in exergue. Athena driving a quadriga of horned elephants right; nearest elephant with a bell suspended under neck. Monogram above and below Athena’s shield. Anchor to right of Athena. ESM 71; SC 130.32. Seleukia II mint. Ex Hesperia Art.

 

How ‘bout a BEARDLESS Zeus...


Sicily Akragas AE Trias 23mm 8.5g 287-241 BCE Beardless Zeus Hellanios 2 Eagles hare in talons HGC 2 159

 

My favorite Zeus on a bronze.


SICILY, Syracuse
AE Dilitron. 21.31g, 27mm. SICILY, Syracuse, Timoleon and the Third Democracy, circa 336 - 317 BC. Calciati 80; SNG Cop 725. O: [ΖΕΥΣ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΟΣ], laureate head of Zeus Eleutherios left. R: [ΣYPAKOΣIΩN], horse prancing left.

 

That is just a great coin. Nice Zeus portrait; Horsey reverse; Syracuse always had cool flans; weighs a ton... it be PHAT, Dude!

 

That it be! I remember registering surprise when it first slipped out of its old envelope and thudded onto my palm. It had a light webbing of bronze disease across its surfaces which thankfully washed away easily. I applied some Verdicare after that and ol' Zeus has been doing well ever since.

 

Here's yet another coin awaiting shipment. This one has Ares or Mars on the obverse and Hera on the reverse, purchased as a unsold lot recently. It's a fairly common coin, but this one has a nice patina, a bit rough on the reverse, but that doesn't bother me. I figure that if I was over 2,000 years old, I'd be on the rough side as well.

Bruttium, The Brettii Æ Double Unit (Didrachm). Circa 214-208 BC. Head of Ares left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with pegasos; thunderbolt below / Hera Hoplosmia advancing right holding shield and spear; BPETTIΩN to left, torch to right. HN Italy 1987; SNG ANS 96. 16.62g, 27mm, 4h.

 

Nice Zeus Coins

Wide variety of examples being posted!



Bithynia, Dia, c. 85-65 BC. Æ (20mm, 8.37g, 12h). Struck under Mithradates VI Eupator of Pontos.
Laureate head of Zeus right / ΔΙΑΣ; Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, head right, wings spread; monograms flanking.




Alexander III 'the Great' AR Tetradrachm. Tarsos, circa 327-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; plough in left field, Θ below throne. 27 mm. 17.1 g.

 

Wow...Some great coins posted thanks for sharing everyone...

....I didn't know Zeus had been portrayed beardless on any coin so thanks for posting..Cool coin!
As I said previously I'm running a parallel set of Roman reverse dieties so here's a Licinius I with a Jupiter to go with the Zeus portrait...

 

The Greeks also made very similar designs as that Licinius with Zeus standing like that holding things like nike, eagle, helmet, star etc.
Here from some examples from my collection (all from Seleukid empire).




Or like this, with different animals:

 

.....That's a nice idea....I wonder if all 12 can be found on the reverse of Greek coins as well either standing or seated?..Could be an interesting sideline set to run with the other two....

Great coins @Pavlos..Particularly like the little owl and the one above I assume is a lion?
Thanks for posting...Paul

 

Definitely, as far as I know all Greek gods from your 12 list can be find either standing or seated. Some more difficult to find then others. I think Ares is the only god I have not yet seen a standing or seated version of, only as a helmeted portrait, but I am pretty sure one exists.

Yes that is a lion, the above bronze coins are all part of the semi-municipal coinage of Antiochos IV and Alexander I Balas, with the portrait of the king on the obverse and a local deity and the city name on the reverse.
Even Poseidon holding a trident and dolphin in his hands exist in the series:

Not mine unfortunately, I have yet to get this interesting type.

 

Here we go with the next, and one of my favourite Gods ....

The third of the dozen...
POSEIDON.
His father was Cronus the youngest of the 12 Titans, (A little bit of inbreeding going on here), and his mother was Cronus's elder sister Rhea ..He was also one of the brothers of Zeus and Hades. Although he's always connected in some way with water he was also known as the ennosigaios the "earth-shaker" and was worshipped as asphalios the "stabilizer" due to his powers of initiating and ending earthquakes. You didn't want to mess with this guy!
He was god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.
Symbols associated with him are the Trident, fish, dolphins, horses and bulls..
His Roman counterpart being Neptune.
I wanted a coin that portrayed a trident and/or dolphins so this one fitted the bill nicely. It was minted in the city of Syracuse which is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily. The city was founded by the Corinthians way back in 733 BC and was to become one of the major powers of the Mediterranean region. I have fond memories of visiting Syracuse about 25 years ago, it's so steeped in history, and remember in particular the feeling of awe when entering the Greek theatre....

Here's the coin...
Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II. 274-216 BC. Æ-Litra (19mm, 6.38g).
Obverse..Diademed head of Poseidon left with border of dots.
Reverse..ΙΕΡΩΝΟΣ, Ornate scroll decorated trident with lotiform shaft flanked by dolphins.
Ref:for type SNG Cop 844-856.

Here's the 3 together....

Feel free to post your Poseidon/Neptune coins.....

 

That is a great looking trio! I don't have a Poseidon - I guess I need to add one to the list.

 

How hard it will be to form a set will depend on how liberal you are in defining what fits. If you define 'Greek' to exclude places and times not thought of as fully 'Greek', it will be more difficult. If you accept Roman equivalents, Provincials or even a few Eastern civilizations that used Greek god types there will be more options. This is Azes the Indo-Scythian with Poseidon reverse. Few would want it as their sole representative Poseidon.


The best Poseidon, IMHO, would be the AR tetradrachm of Demitrios Poliorketes (but I am sure most would want a specimen in much higher grade than mine!).

 

It does..



LYCIA. Oinoanda. Ae (2nd-1st. century BC).
Obv: Draped bust of Hermes right, wearing in winged petasos
Rev: Ares standing facing with shield and spear. Left in field O / A.
A. R. Ashton, The Coinage of Oinoanda, NC 165, 2005, p. 75 and Taf 5,1

 

@dougsmit.....The main criterias I have with the set is that they are all in bronze, pre BC and Greek even if under Roman rule....I have to bend the rules for one of the gods due to budget that being Vulcan, as my budget wont stretch to the Lipara coins so will add a Spanish Malaca or an Italian Samnium, Aesernia not sure which yet. I'm also trying to keep them between 14 and 20mm in diameter purely for aesthetics, but this again is proving difficult, as when the set is complete I would like to display them along with others in a vertical stand, as I really like how @DonnaML has some of her coins on show....
BTW... Nice coins and particularly like the Poliorketes reverse........Paul

 

POSEIDON

LUCANIA. PAESTUM (POSEIDONEIA).
SECOND PUNIC WAR Æ SEMUNCIA / DOLPHIN
Attribution: Crawford 4/1
Date: 218-201 BC
Obverse: Wreathed head of Poseidon right, two pellets behind
Reverse: ΠAIST, Dolphin right, two pellets above
Size: 19.97 mm
Weight: 6.82 grams
Description: Old mark across the coin almost as if it was meant to be cut for change
Ex: Marc Breitsprecher

 

MACEDON, the Macedonians. Time of Philip VI Andriskos (?)
AE Serrate. 10.0g, 25mm. MACEDON, Amphipolis mint, probably under Philip VI Andriskos, circa 149-148 BC. SNG Cop 1294; HGC 3.1, 331 (S). O: Diademed head of Poseidon right, trident over shoulder. R: MAKE-ΔONΩN, club; monograms below left and right; all within oak wreath.
Notes: HGC considers these “probably” struck under the pretender Philip VI Andriskos, following the theory that the “of the Macedonians” group of bronze coins belong to the period after 168 BC, and that this issue with the serrate edge can be attributed to mint workers that Andriskos brought with him from Syria after he sought and failed to get the support of the Seleukid king. Bronze coins with serrate edges of a similar module were a feature of some contemporary Seleukid coinage under Demetrios I.

 

This is an low-cost / easy one to get for Poseidon:


Sicily Syracuse Hieron II 275-215 BCE AE20 Poseidon Trident Dolphin Left