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<p>[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 4965723, member: 44316"]Many ancient-coin collectors have the series of <b>Roman</b> portrait coins in mind. Of course, many also collect other themes as well. I have been at it a long time and have worked on many sub-collections, mostly Roman, that interested me. Read a lot about ancient coins and you will find very many potential themes and many collectors conceive of their own, unique to them. In May I bought Pangerl's magnificent new book on Hellenistic portrait coins (which I wrote about in a thread at the time:</p><p><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/pangerls-hellenistic-portraits.361174/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/pangerls-hellenistic-portraits.361174/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/pangerls-hellenistic-portraits.361174/</a> )</p><p>I looked at it again recently and was impressed with the coins and the thought I could extend the portrait series to <b>Greek</b> coins. I thought I'd like to add some portraits of Greek rulers too. Today two Seleukid coins came in the mail:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1193475[/ATTACH] </p><p>30-29 mm. <b>Large</b>. 13.97 grams.</p><p>This is from the second reign, 129-125 BC, of Demetrios II, Seleukid king. Dated according to the Seleukid era in the right field: 130/129 BC (very early in his second reign.)</p><p>Hoover Handbook 1222. Sear Greek 7105.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1193474[/ATTACH] </p><p>28-27 mm. 14.07 grams.</p><p>Antiochus VII, 138-129. Dated in the right field according to the Seleukid era: Struck 137/6 BC.</p><p><br /></p><p>(The Seleukids were kings in Syria and beyond after Alexander the Great.) </p><p><br /></p><p>Look at the two portraits closely and they look pretty similar. There is a reason for that--they were brothers! The story is far more complex than I will give here, but the outline is Demetrios II came to the throne as a young man after challenging the successor to his father. He gained the throne but was unpopular and usurpations broke out. Also, he had to go fight the Parthians and got himself captured in 138. Thereupon his younger brother Antiochus VII claimed the throne. After successes against rivals he became sole ruler and the Parthians, cleverly, released Demetrios II (who had reportedly been treated well for ten years) to sow discord among the Seleukids. Antiochus VII was killed fighting Parthians in the east leaving Demetrios II to claim the throne for a second time. None of this action was accomplished in isolation; the Ptolemies were meddling and supporting Seleukid rivals all the time. Many of the second-reign portraits of Demetrios II show him with a long beard (much like Parthian rulers), but this one has him look much like his brother. I think the same man engraved the dies for both portraits. </p><p><br /></p><p>I recommend a small, inexpensive, and well-done book entitled "Royal Greek Portrait Coins" by Edward Newell. It is 125 pages with life-size B&W photos and very short biographies of almost 200 different Greek kings, organized by region and easy to find in an 8-page index. Amazon does not have it inexpensively now, but AbeBooks does, under $10.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you decide you like Seleukid coins, the book to get is Oliver Hoover's "Handbook of Syrian Coins, Royal and Civic Issues, Fourth to First Centuries BC," published by CNG. It is very well and thoroughly illustrated in B&W. </p><p><br /></p><p>We have had many threads on portraits of Roman emperors. <b>Let's show a selection of non-Roman portraits. </b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 4965723, member: 44316"]Many ancient-coin collectors have the series of [B]Roman[/B] portrait coins in mind. Of course, many also collect other themes as well. I have been at it a long time and have worked on many sub-collections, mostly Roman, that interested me. Read a lot about ancient coins and you will find very many potential themes and many collectors conceive of their own, unique to them. In May I bought Pangerl's magnificent new book on Hellenistic portrait coins (which I wrote about in a thread at the time: [URL]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/pangerls-hellenistic-portraits.361174/[/URL] ) I looked at it again recently and was impressed with the coins and the thought I could extend the portrait series to [B]Greek[/B] coins. I thought I'd like to add some portraits of Greek rulers too. Today two Seleukid coins came in the mail: [ATTACH=full]1193475[/ATTACH] 30-29 mm. [B]Large[/B]. 13.97 grams. This is from the second reign, 129-125 BC, of Demetrios II, Seleukid king. Dated according to the Seleukid era in the right field: 130/129 BC (very early in his second reign.) Hoover Handbook 1222. Sear Greek 7105. [ATTACH=full]1193474[/ATTACH] 28-27 mm. 14.07 grams. Antiochus VII, 138-129. Dated in the right field according to the Seleukid era: Struck 137/6 BC. (The Seleukids were kings in Syria and beyond after Alexander the Great.) Look at the two portraits closely and they look pretty similar. There is a reason for that--they were brothers! The story is far more complex than I will give here, but the outline is Demetrios II came to the throne as a young man after challenging the successor to his father. He gained the throne but was unpopular and usurpations broke out. Also, he had to go fight the Parthians and got himself captured in 138. Thereupon his younger brother Antiochus VII claimed the throne. After successes against rivals he became sole ruler and the Parthians, cleverly, released Demetrios II (who had reportedly been treated well for ten years) to sow discord among the Seleukids. Antiochus VII was killed fighting Parthians in the east leaving Demetrios II to claim the throne for a second time. None of this action was accomplished in isolation; the Ptolemies were meddling and supporting Seleukid rivals all the time. Many of the second-reign portraits of Demetrios II show him with a long beard (much like Parthian rulers), but this one has him look much like his brother. I think the same man engraved the dies for both portraits. I recommend a small, inexpensive, and well-done book entitled "Royal Greek Portrait Coins" by Edward Newell. It is 125 pages with life-size B&W photos and very short biographies of almost 200 different Greek kings, organized by region and easy to find in an 8-page index. Amazon does not have it inexpensively now, but AbeBooks does, under $10. If you decide you like Seleukid coins, the book to get is Oliver Hoover's "Handbook of Syrian Coins, Royal and Civic Issues, Fourth to First Centuries BC," published by CNG. It is very well and thoroughly illustrated in B&W. We have had many threads on portraits of Roman emperors. [B]Let's show a selection of non-Roman portraits. [/B][/QUOTE]
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