Inexpensive contemporary coins of famous historical figures/groups

Whew! That was a long, drawn-out fancy way of saying: "I'm looking for cheap coins from the country/region of famous dudes".

E.g.:

• Attila the Hun (406–453 AD)
• Genghis Khan; Mongols (c. 1162 – 1227 AD)
• Vikings (pointy hat invading ship dudes... not football dudes)

I could start a separate thread for each but thought I'd start like this.

Any thoughts? The coins should be legible/recognizable as they will be used for educational purposes.

(I was going to use them for "educational porpoises", but I couldn't find any...)
(ba-dum-BUMP!)

I'm starting my search at VCoins but thought that some knowledgeable folks here could filter down the search a little bit... tell me which coins would be the most abundant (and therefore most reasonably priced, etc.)

Thanks!

P.S. Can anyone *add* anything to the list that would be interesting to your common person on the street? I.e., *any* ancient coin is interesting to most of us here, but a coin of Elagabalus is not going to turn as many heads as a coin of Julius Caesar.

Other coins on my list:
* Coins of the Crusades
* Queen Elizabeth I
* King James I
* Vlad the Impaler
* Coins of the Reformation (time period, country)
* Alexander the Great
* Julius Caesar
* Caesar Augustus (Tiberius)
* Caesar Augustus (Octavian)

 

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Henry VIII
Napoleon
Copper coin of Ferdinand and Isabella for their link to Columbus

 

I made a thread about coin issuers that were judged significant by an algorithm from MIT. It was a fun exercise and probably has many coins of the types of figures you are looking for. I don’t think we got everyone on this list though.

Who’s the Most Culturally Significant Person in your Collection? (According to MIT)

 

Good luck on your Search, @Dougmeister . Some will be easy, some hard (Vlad), some will be expensive.

I have a few of them:


Great Mongols, Genghis (Chingiz) Khan,
AH 603-624/ AD 1206-1227,
AE Jital (4.12gm, 2h),
Ghazna type, undated, citing Genghis as Khaqan and
citing on the reverse, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Nasir. O: 'adl / khaqan / al-a'zam("the Just and Supreme Khaqan" or "Just [coin] of the Supreme Khaqan"). R: al-Nasir / li-Din Allah / amir al-mu- / -minin ("al-Nasir li-Din Allah, commander of the faithful").
SICA-9, 1008; Tye 329; Album 1969



England
Elizabeth I
AR Shilling,
5th Issue with "A" mintmark (#54), struck 1582-84 CE
31.4 mm x 5.74 grams
Ref: S-2577



Makedon Alexander III Lifetime Tet Myriandrus mint-Alexandria near Issus



Roman Imperatorial Era
Julius Caesar Lifetime
P Sepullius Macer AR Den
1st 2 weeks-Mar 44 BCE 4.03g.
CAESAR – DICT PERPETVO Veiled -
Venus Victory sceptre star
Syd 1074a Sear Imperators 107e Cr 480-14
Rare

Andrew Alföldi arranges Crawford 480 series coins in (44 BC) month order as follows:

RRC 480/1, Buca - January
RRC 480/2, DICT QVART - early February
RRC 480/3/4/5, CAESAR IMP - late February
RRC 480/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14, DICT PERPETVO - early to mid March14
RRC 480/17/18, CAESAR IMPER - late March
RRC 480/19/20, PARENS PATRIAE - April
RRC 480/15/16, MARIDIANVS - April
RRC 480/21/22, CLEMENTIAE CAESARIS and Mark Antony - April



Augustus AR Denarius - Obv-Rev Sear 1578



RI Tiberius AE As 14-37 CE Laureate-Pont Max Globe Rudder RIC I 58

 

The first three are tough.

Atilla the Hun - His empire did not strike attributable coins. Closest would be a $500 solidus of Theodosius II struck to pay him off and keep him out of the Eastern Empire. His Germanic tributary kingdoms did mint imitations of late Roman coins as they migrated through Europe, but these are "barbarous" coins and thus not attributable.

Ghengis Khan - Again, the Mongols did not strike coins, but there are plenty of Central Asian coins struck as kingdoms submitted to him. AFAIK, the only ones that bear his name are in Arabic, and there are a few jitals about that will bear the Great Khanate tamgha. I would check a Stephen Album auction - I believe he usually has a couple for sale. Shredplayer on Ebay is another trusted source - I have seen him list them from time to time, and they usually go for about $100-250.

Vikings - Well, they *did* strike coins, but expect to pay an arm and a leg, especially for any of the fun issues with Runic characters on them. You can get an Anglo-Saxon sceatta for $100-200, although they technically predate the "Viking" age. It is also worth noting that Viking hoards often contain large numbers of Umayyad and early Abbasid dirhams; those are quite affordable but I have never seen one offered with Viking hoard provenance.

 

France Napoleon Emperor 2 Francs 1808-I Limoges mint Republic Rev AU55
Ex: The Frenchman @Cucumbor



Spain - Ferdinand and Isabella AE Blanca - Granada mint 1469-1504 CE



IRELAND Henry VIII 1509-1547
AR Groat 25mm 2.5g
hЄnRIC VIII DI GR RЄX -
RΛnCIЄ ЄT hIBЄRnIЄ harp
H & R London SCBI 22 Copenhagen
Ex: @Mat

 

..i think the closest you'd get to Vlad is, from my experience, either a coin of his ancestors, or a coin of Matthias l, Hungarian king (1458-90). Vlad didn't have any coins minted, but served (and was imprisoned by) under Matthias Corvinus..denars of him are quite available and not too expensive..

 

kool koins Brian...i'm awaiting a 1940 Ireland half penny now with a lyre on it

 

I have a bunch of pre-Euro change from Ireland from when I lived in Wales.

Now, they are mixed in a huge jar of change I acquired from my travels. Grandkids have been pilfering the jar.

I used to have kilos of change from all over the world.

 

hehe..well, that's a good way to get them interested in coin collecting i reckon.. my grandson Roman is interested(for a moment or 2, anyway) in my collection, i gave him some 'coins' of his own that rest on 'the table of coin & stuff' for when he comes to visit...'update'.. i just checked me mail, it came in...i'll post it in world coins

 

Coins of his grandfather Mircea of Wallachia do show up from time to time. When they do there is usually some very healthy competition for them because of the Dracula connection .

 

Well, since @Alegandron has posted virtually every other coin requested, here's Vlad "Dracula" Sepish’s grandpas (only a handful are known to exist that you can attribute to his dad):


Wallachia Mircea celBătrân,
1386-1418 ss Ducat 1386-1418 Romania



Alexandru cel bun (Alexander the Good)
Half gos type 4. 11.7 mm diameter, ? g, copper or billon
Obverse Moldavian coat of arms: urus head bearing a five ray star between its horns, the uneven ray pointing down, waning crescent at left and five petal rose at right, the odd petal pointing down (heraldic positioning Reverse shield split vertically; three bars at right and five fleurs-de-lis at left arranged 2-2-1 (heraldic positioning); over the shield the Moldavian urus having at heraldic left a waning crescent (in the missing portion of the coin a five petal rose); partially visible outer pearl circle Secret Saturlanlia

 

An interesting idea for a collection, @Dougmeister. Might I ask whether you are looking to acquire these coins for yourself, or whether you want them for some sort of educational project?

Here are some coins that could be associated with people or events most non-history-geeks will have heard of:

Struck in Athens during the lifetime of Socrates:

Attica, Athens, AR tetradrachm, ca. 440s–430s BC. Obv: head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves and palmette. Rev: AΘE; Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive sprig and crescent; all within incuse square. 24mm, 17.14g. Ref: Kroll 8.

Alexander the Great:

Alexander III "the Great," Kingdom of Macedonia, Ar tetradrachm, 325–323 BC, Amphipolis mint (under Antipater). Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin. Rev: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, rooster standing left. 26mm, 17.17g. Ref: Price 79; Troxell 1997, issue E3.

Augustus:

Augustus, Roman Empire, as, 15 BC, Rome mint, moneyer: Lucius Naevius Surdinus. Obv: CAESAR AVGVSTVS TRIBUNIC POTEST, bareheaded head of Augustus right. Rev; L SVRDINUS III VIR AAAFF, large SC. 26mm, 10.62g. Ref: RIC I, 386.

Julius Caesar:

Roman Republic, Imperatorial Coinage, Julius Caesar, AR denarius, 49–48 BC, military mint moving with Caesar. Obv: [CA]ESAR; elephant walking r., trampling snake. Rev: priestly implements: culullus, aspergillum, axe, apex. 20mm, 3.70g. Ref: RRC 443/1.

Marcus Aurelius, author of the Meditations:

Marcus Aurelius (as Caesar), Roman Empire, denarius, 140–144 AD, Rome mint. Obv: AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F COS; head of Marcus Aurelius, bare, r. Rev: IVVENTAS, Iuventas (youth) standing l., dropping incense in candelabrum and holding patera. 17.5mm, 3.16g. Ref: RIC III Antoninus Pius 423a.

Constantine the Great:

Constantinus I, Roman Empire, AE 3, 326 AD, Trier mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS AVG; bust of Constantine, laureate, r. Rev: PROVIDENTIAE AVGG; "campgate" with two turrets, star above; in exergue, PTR-crescent. 19mm, 3.30g. Ref: RIC VII Trier 475.

Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem:

Baldwin III, Kingdom of Jerusalem, BI Denier, 1142–1163 AD, Jerusalem mint. Obv: BALDVINVS REX; cross pattée. Rev: + DE IERVSALEM; Tower of David. 16mm, 0.97g. Ref: CCS 21.

 

..ah, what the heck.. here it is...

 

I always like the Irish coins! And, PIIIIIGGGS!!!