Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2727143, member: 81887&quot;][USER=78244]@TypeCoin971793[/USER]: Happy Birthday!</p><p>[USER=87186]@LaCointessa[/USER]: Your coin has the inscription &quot;Ban Liang&quot; (half ounce) in archaic Chinese script, this was used (with many varieties) on coins from pre-Qin to the early part of the Western Han dynasty (c. 350- 120 BC; see Hartill chapter 7).&nbsp; But I think yours is a modern copy- the shape of the characters isn&#039;t right, and overall it just looks &quot;off&quot;.&nbsp; At least you didn&#039;t lose any money on it, and if you&#039;re lucky maybe one of the real experts on Chinese cash can come in and explain why I&#039;m wrong.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think I&#039;ve shared this coin before, but it&#039;s a good one so I&#039;ll show it again:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]619262[/ATTACH]</p><p>Roman Empire.&nbsp; Augustus (27 BC- 14 AD).&nbsp; AR denarius, issued c. 20 BC.&nbsp; Obverse: Augustus head left, bareheaded, inscription CAESAR AVGVSTVS around; a couple of faint bankers&#039; marks at back of head.&nbsp; Reverse: Mars standing, holding aquila and with standard across shoulder, inscription SIGNIS RECEPTIS to sides.</p><p><br /></p><p>During the last decade of the Republic and the &quot;Imperatorial&quot; period, Rome had several major clashes with the Parthian kingdom.&nbsp; While some of the later engagements went reasonably well for Rome, the net result was still in Parthia&#039;s favor, largely due to the crushing defeat of Crassus and his legions in 53 BC.&nbsp; When Octavian became Augustus in 27 BC and began setting the foundation of the Roman Empire, the Parthian Question was surely on his mind.&nbsp; Rather than attempt a massive invasion, he decided instead to take a more diplomatic approach, and in 20 BC reached a major agreement with the Parthian king.&nbsp; Rome received back the surviving POWs who had been captured in previous decades, and (just as important symbolically for the Romans) also the various military standards, aquilas, and other military symbols that had been lost by the Romans.&nbsp; Augustus clearly considered this a great accomplishment and wanted to make sure that it was known throughout the empire, as he issued a number of different coin types commemorating the event.&nbsp; This type shows Mars holding a returned standard and aquila (staff with an eagle design) and the inscription &quot;Signis Receptis&quot; (&quot;Standards Received&quot;).&nbsp; A special temple of Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger) was built to house and display the returned standards.&nbsp; As for what the Parthians received on their end: the full details have not survived, but one of the personal gifts given to the Parthian king by Augustus was a slave-girl courtesan named Musa, who eventually became Queen of Parthia... but that&#039;s a story for another time.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in