Featured Follow the coin theme GAME - ancient edition - post ‘em if you got ‘em

LICINIUS I
AE2 Follis
OBVERSE: IMP LICINIVS P F AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: GENIO POP ROM S-F, Genius standing left, modius on head, loins draped, holding patera & cornucopia, PLN in ex.
Struck at London 313-4 AD
3.2g, 22mm
RIC VII 3

Next: Licinius II

 

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Licinius II (317 - 324 A.D.)
Æ3
O: DN VAL LICIN LICINIVS NOB C, helmeted, cuirassed bust left holding spear and shield.
R: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI, Jupiter standing left, chlamys across left shoulder, holding Victory on globe and eagle-tipped sceptre, eagle with wreath left, captive right. X over II Mu in right field. Mintmark SMHB.
Heraclea Mint
20mm
3.3g
RIC VII Heraclea 54

Next: Tetrobol

 

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

Next: Griffin

 

MYSIA, Kyzikos.
AR TRITARTEMORION
After 480 BC.
Obv: Forepart of boar retrograde K on its shoulder, upward tunny right
Rev: Head of lion left, upward tunny right

Up Next: A Wolf

 

Sex. Pompeius Fostlus. (137 B.C.)
AR Denarius
O: Helmeted head of Roma right; jug behind.
R: The shepard Faustulus discovering the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus; three birds in branches of fig tree behind.
Rome
19mm
3.6g
Sear 112; Crawford 235/1c; Sydenham 461a; Pompeia 1a.

Next: Caracalla

 

Here's my very displeased (rightly so) and frowny-faced Gallia (Hostilius Saserna Denarius, 48 BCE, Crawford 448/3):



NEXT: A Roman denarius depicting a non-Roman, whether on the obverse or reverse (from any non-Roman kingdom, tribe, people, etc.).

 

Roman Republican denarius with Gaul on obverse (? Vertingetorix).

next, coin of enemy of Rome....

 

Parthia, Orodes, AR tetradrachm, Seleukia on the Tigris, 55-54 BC.
13.10 grams



Edit:

Next: A Persian coin from the 5th-4th centuries BC.

 

This siglos must be one of the most common Persian coins of the Achemenid period.

Next: (let's go to a completely different domain) a coin of the Crusades

 

Crusaders, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem AR Dirham (20mm, 2.91 g, 10h), Uncertain mint, mid-Late 13th cent. Imitating a Damascus issue of Ayyubid al-Salih Isma'il & 'Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir. Dated AH 648 (AD 1250/1). Cf. Balog & Yvon 37 (AH 641); Metcalf, Crusades –; CCS 3.

Ex Jay Galst (NYC, 1950-2020) Collection (Triton XXV [Online, 11 Jan 2022], 6767);
Ex Erich Wäckerlin (Coins of the Crusader States and Their Successors, Munzen & Medaillen GmbH 47 [23 May 2019], 217.2);
Ex Münz Galerie München (Jan 1988).

NEXT: Another coin with an interesting legend.

(Doesn't have to "aniconic" -- just anything you find interesting in the legend or calligraphy)

 

Byzantine Empire, anonymous follis class B (usually attributed to Romanus III Argyrus 1028-1034). I like the contrast between the very elegant obverse die with its beautiful Pantocrator icon and the good Greek legend ([EMMA]NOVHΛ) and the extremely blundered reverse die, obviously carved by a celator who couldn't read at all.

Next : a Byzantine coin with the Virgin Mary icon.

 

Not sure if this counts but certainly Mary on the reverse.
Manuel I Comnenus, 1143-1180. BI Aspron Trachy (billon, 3.20 g, 27 mm). Constantinople, circa 1167-1183. Christ, wearing tunic and colobium, seated upon throne without back, holding book of Gospels; IC-XC across fields. DOC 13; Sear 1966.
Rev. Manuel to left, wearing divitision and loros, holding labarum and globus cruciger, standing facing being crowned by Virgin, wearing robes and maphorium, standing on right; M-TV above and to right.
Next ( if this counts) a Claudius denarius, if not carry on.

 

CLAUDIUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P VI IMP XI, laureate head right
REVERSE: PACI AVGVSTAE, Pax-Nemesis advancing right, drawing out fold of robe at neck, holding caduceus above serpent preceding her
Struck at Rome, 46/7AD
3.6g, 19mm
RIC39, BMC40

Next: Pax/Nemesis

 

Well played, @Bing -- I wasn't sure we'd get a Claudius Denarius, as fewer players have been on the field lately!

I hope just plain Nemesis (rather, Nemesis as a Griffin) is ok? I'm never quite sure how it worked when merging two Greek or Roman deities (or aspects of them) into single beings. Maybe this would've been a different "Nemesis" from the "Pax-Nemesis" on RIC of Claudius and Hadrian....

At least for Alexandrian coinage, Kerry Wetterstrom may be the recent (c. 1990-) popularizer of Griffins-as-embodiments-of-Nemesis (when they have a wheel, at least). This Antoninus Drachm was from his collection (CNA XII [26 Sep 1990], p. 34, Lot 213). Another type illustrates his CNR XV.1 (Winter 1990, p. 43) essay on the topic, "Nemesis as Portrayed on Roman Coinage."

(Interestingly, in Spring 1988, neither his 6-page "Introduction to the Coinage of Roman Egypt," in HCR 13.2, nor the cataloged examples [see Lot 46], mentioned Nemesis at all.)

For an interesting account of the Nemesis-Griffin from artistic traditions beyond the numismatic, see the extended commentary on the Getty's 5th-6th century mosaic from Roman Syria.



Photo credit: From the Heritage Auctions listing (Ancient Coin Selections from the Morris [Phil Peck] Collection, Part III World Coins Monthly Online Auction 61151 [26 Jan 2020], Lot 97082)




NEXT: Another Mythical Beast
(whatever kind strikes your fancy from any ancient or medieval coining culture you like)

 

APOLLONIA PONTICA
AR Drachm
OBVERSE: Gorgoneian facing with snakes for hair and a protruding tongue
REVERSE: An anchor flanked by letter A and a crayfish, which represents the minting city of Apollonia, the major fifth century BC Greek colony on the west coast of the Black Sea, modern Sozopol in Bulgaria
Struck at Apollonia 450-400 BC
3.13g, 14-15mm
BMC IX, Black Sea 150-151

Next: Another Apollonia

 

Lest we go dark,"96 hour rule" (!) ... How about a Gorgoneion from ... is it Olbia or Parion now?


Greek (Archaic). Mysia, Parion (Parium) [or Black Sea Region, Olbia?] AR Drachm (3.80g, 14mm), c. 500-450 BCE.
OBV: Facing head of Gorgoneion, high forehead with bumps atop (horns?), open cavernous mouth with protruding tongue, large ears, and bulging eyes.
REV: Irregular incuse pattern within square.
REF: SNG BNF (Paris) 1352; see also 1351, 1343 (obv). Cf. SNG Cop 256; Asyut 612; Rosen 525
PROV: Ex-Savoca 28th Blue (26 Jan 2020), Lot #2006 (part).
NOTES: Coin-in-hand video.

Many catalogers and most references (especially prior to publication of SNG Bibliothèque Nationale de France, vol. 5, Mysia) fail to distinguish between this variety (SNG BN 1351–52), which is rarer and considerably more artistic and desirable than the cruder, flatter style (SNG BN 1344–50). This type is also appreciably heavier, usually 3.75-4.0g as opposed to 3.2-3.4g or less. Sear (1979, Greek Coins, vol II: 3917, 3918), identified the heavier (c. 4gm) as a 3/4 Drachm and the smaller (c 2.6gm) as a Hemidrachm. Both are typically dated to the late sixth or early fifth centuries but should be viewed as separate types. The description above includes mention of larger mouth, eyes, and ears, along with high forehead and what appear to be bumps or horns (depicted better in this example than on almost any published in recent years) in place of hair. Though both are often described simply as “Facing gorgoneion with protruding tongue,” the cruder style should be distinguished by mention of long nose, narrower mouth, closer ears, and/or lower hairline with curly hair.
See also: http://rg.ancients.info/medusa/parion.html = “Parion Hemidrachms” and Ed Snible’s “The Gorgons of Parion” page.
I forget whether those mention the recent reattribution to Olbia.
On Olbia vs. Parion, see also:
CT Thread 355452 (22 Feb 2020) by John Anthony
CT Post 3526764 (17 May 2019) by Ed Snible (apparently not prev. pub.)​

NEXT: GORGON - GORGONEION - MEDUSA (including as a decoration)