I love high relief coins!

I recently picked up this very attractive Seleukos I Nikator Tetradrachm from John Anthony's recent auction. It formerly was part of the Sallent collection and now is happily part of my own.

One of the things that attracted me to the coin was its high relief. To me, that adds a whole new dimension of tactile enjoyment to handling a coin (pun intended). Some ancient coin designs have more relief height on one side than many other coins have in total thickness. I also like the golden toning of this coin. I have kept this one on my desk since acquiring so I can admire it daily.


Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC
AR Tetradrachm, 17.2 g, 28mm, 9h, Babylon Mint.
Struck in the name of Alexander III of Macedon, circa 312-300 BC.
Obverse.: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin.
Reverse.: ALEXANDROU BASILEWS; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monogram within wreath in left field; H below throne.
Reference: SC 82.6; Price 3704
From the Sallent Collection

Here is a side view showing the relief. I shot this free hand using my Sony a6000 and my new Sony FE 2.8 / 90 macro lens, which has improved my photographs a lot. Still learning how to use it.



Post your high relief coins with perspective shots if you have them!

John

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Here is another favorite I have posted before. The perspective shots were taken with a cell phone and the facing shots with my old lens and extension tube.


Ionia, Klazomenai, c. 386-301 BC, AR Tetradrachm, 14.86g
Obverse: Theodoros, magistrate. Laureate head of Apollo facing slightly left.
Reverse: Swan standing left, preening its wing; ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟΣ below.
Hurter 17, V5/R10 (this coin)
Very Rare, Fine Style
Ex Kunker Sale 94, lot 1085, September 27, 2004



This coin is 6mm thick at the tip of his nose.



John

 

Nice coin and images Bing!

Now I want one of those too.

 

That reverse is stunning!!

 

Nice tetradrachm, @Theodosius! One of my favorite high relief coins is of a similar style. It looks, and feels, like Herakles is working his way out of the flan (the lesser-known 13th labor of Hercules: emerge from a coin)!




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; plow in left field, Θ below throne. 27 mm. 17.1 g.

 

I like the plow symbol on the reverse of your coin! Very nice.

It is amazing how much effort they put into these tetradrachms that were made in such large quantities and at so many mints. It has to be a lot more work to make high relief dies and I bet they don't last as long as lower relief would.

John

 

Very true very true, now go look at the coinofglory.com and how you like it?

 

I'm afraid my photography skills are extremely limited so I'm not going to try a perspective shot of this Tetradrachm but hopefully the picture speaks for itself. The head of Apollo sits very high on the flan.

Aeolis, Myrina, AR Tetradrachm, circa 155-145 BC.

 

Great coin and photos, @Theodosius! And wow to the relief on that Klazomenai! I had no idea they had such high relief. The type has languished on my wish list and now I think I'll try a little harder to find one .

Here are a couple of my higher relief coins.


KINGS of PERGAMON, Eumenes I
263-241 BCE
AR tetradrachm 29 mm, 16.94 gm
Obv: head of Philetairos right, wearing laurel wreath
Rev: ΦIΛETAIPOY; Athena enthroned left, right hand resting on shield set at her feet, gorgon on shield; left elbow resting on small sphinx seated right; transverse spear in background, ivy leaf above knee, monogram on throne, bow to right
Ref: BMC Greek (Mysia) 31, p.115; SNG France 1606–9
Formerly slabbed, NGC Ch AU 5/5 3/5, Fine Style
Ex Dr. Spencer Paterson Collection of Ancient coins, Great Collections 15 Sept 2019




ISLANDS OFF ATTICA, Aegina
456/45-431 BCE
AR stater; 20mm, 12.32 g
Obv: land tortoise, head in profile, with segmented shell
Rev: large square incuse with skew pattern
Ref: SNG Delepierre 1774ff; BMC Taf. 24.11

 

I do love it when people try photos with thought rather than just flopping the things out there and complaining when the image is not perfect. It makes me want to try harder to keep up. Today is a busy day so it may not be today but someday, I hope??? My first photos other than flat were intended not to show high relief but interesting edges. With proper lighting, both will show together. My first perspective effort was over ten years ago. It was to show the 'situation' down inside the test cut Athenian tetradrachm. Those early shots obviously should be improvable but it will be embarrassing if I can't.

 

Very nice coins and pictures TIF, did you use focus stacking for the side views?

The Eumenes portrait is so life like it is amazing.

John

 

Doug,

You have posted some amazing perspective shots over the years. I first heard of focus stacking from one of your posts. I have not given it a try yet but I'm tempted to give it a go.

John

 

No, just single shots. The Eumenes and its side shot were taken with a fixed lens camera on manual mode (Canon Powershot). I'm not sure if it was the same camera for the older Aegina images-- possibly, or it may have been with a Canon DSLR.

 

My Seleukos I tet is rather worn, but it is still has high relief. Ancient coins were definitely not stackable in these cases!





Seleukos I Nikator Tetradrachm
(c. 311-300 B.C.)
Babylon Mint
Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / AΛEΞANΔPOY right; [BAΣIΛEΩΣ] below; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; MI above bee in left field; MYP monogram in wreath below throne.
Price 3754; SC 82.2b
(17.02 grams / 23 mm)

 

@Theodosius, a great Tetradrachm and your relief shot really highlights it - also a great idea for a thread with many very clearly illustrated high relief coins.
Here's an attempt to show off the relief on a tetradrachm - getting it to stand up on edge was the fun part of taking this photo:

Alexander III of Macedon, early posthumous issue of Babylon, struck under Perdikkas ca. 323-320 BC.
Obv: Head of Heracles right, wearing lion-skin headdress
Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; M in left field, ΛY below throne.
Size: 24.3mm, 16.67g
Ref: Price 3692

 

Great coin, looks like impressive relief on the reverse too!

High relief always makes me think of my Rhodian didrachm: