interesting Shield typ Roman Imperial Coins, Caracalla, 198-217, Denarius 208, Rome. 3,28 g. Laureate head right ANTONINVS PIVS AVG / PONTIF TR P XI COS III Mars standing right, holding spear and shield. RIC 100. remarkable illustration of Mars with shield., very fine to extremely fine not my coin not my coin/ compare
Those are some awesome shields I had not seen before @ro1974 and @Victor_Clark! Here's a Philip V with head of Medusa on shield. As far as I can tell, the only one with this feature. Macedonian Kings, Philip V. Bronze AE17. Aegis shield. Macedonian Kingdom, Philip V, 221 - 179 B.C. Bronze AE 17, obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse B-A / Φ, Athena Alkidemos standing right, brandishing javelin in right, aegis in left hand with head of medusa, dolphin lower right. "It's a rendering of the Classical (not the traditional Archaic) more romantic Medusa. For the type see the Rondanini Medusa in the Glyptothek in Munich. Considering that it's a detail of a 15mm coin, it's remarkably good, even suggesting the foreshortened knotted snakes that frame her chin. All other things being equal, a Medusa gorgoneion is Athena's most usual episematic device, since it belongs to the aegis. Actually, it needn't be specifically the Medusa of the Perseus myth, but a lot of books call any gorgon 'Medusa'." Pat Lawrence.
The unusual thing about that shield is it was shown from the back showing the part held by the bearer. Most of the time we see the front.
I believe I have a couple showing the back of the shield as it is being held... Syracuse Sicily Pyrrhus Epirus 278-276 BCE AE Litra 11.4g 23.3mm Herakles Nemaean Lion scalp - Athena Promachos thunderbolt shield SNG Cop 813, SNG ANS 852 RI Domitian AR Denarius 81-96 CE Minerva spear shield COS XVI CENS PPP 22nd Imperial acclamation minted Sept 93-Sept 94 RIC 761
now that you mention it.. i think i have one of Mars doing the inside shield also..i'm not sure if its a good thing or bad to have so many coins you can't remember them all..or just don't have the RAM in the head ><
what makes the shield interesting is the type of shield. It is very convex, versus the usually seen shields which seem flat. I have heard this type of shield referred to as a Macedonian shield.
