Roman Republic. AE as. c.169-158 BC. Obverse: Bearded face(s) of Janus left and right. Reverse: Ship's prow, ROMA beneath, VARO above. Crawford 185/1. Sydenham 364. This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 117, lot 92 (December 7, 2021). Janus was one of the earliest Roman gods, and appeared frequently on coins starting early in the Republican period. He is usually depicted with two faces, and is said to be able to see both past and future. He was often associated with transitions, beginnings, and endings, and by extension with doorways and passageways. The month of January is named after him. I've been seeking out a bronze coin with Janus portrait for a while, mainly because I find the type attractive and wanted a decent representative example for my collection. I haven't tried to find out the history of who may have issued this coin, and (unusually for me) don't particularly care, as the Janus portrait was the only selling point for me. Also, the image of Janus on a Republican bronze was used as the logo of Janus Films, which was a major distributor of "art house" foreign films in the US in the 1950s and 60s, and is still active in distribution of classic films: There's already a thread on Janus coins so don't post them here; instead, post coins you recently acquired that you've been selling for a while, or coins that you sought for quirky reasons (like being featured in the logo of a film distributor). And, Happy New Year!
@Parthicus , Since you posted a great AE Roman As, I will post my Janus As... POMPEY JANUS RImp Pompey 42-38 BC AE As Janus Prow Magnus S 1394 Cr 479-1 JANUS AS RR Anon AE As after 211 BC Janus I Prow Cr 56-2 Sear 627
Happy New Year to all of you! And here is a quirky recent acquisition I haven't shown yet – definitely not what I usually collect, but I couldn't resist: (Yes, it's a Paduan! The real thing was too expensive.)
The talented forger/copyist Slavey Petrov (the Bulgarian), created this beautiful janiform portrait on a gold style copy of a Tenedos tetradrachm. TROAS, Tenedos. Circa 1995-2005, Slavey Petrov. Obverse: Zeus & Hera ? Reverse: Double axe, Artemis & stag, clump of grapes, & monograms, all within an olive wreath. AV Tetradrachm: 19.89 gm, 35 mm, 12 h.
Non-Slavey Troas Tenedos late 5th-early 4th C BCE AR Obol 8mm 0.60g Januform Hera-Zeus - Labrys within incus sq RARE SNG Ash 1235 HGC 6 387
I became interested in this coin because it was used as the logo for an early 20th century coin dealer, Thomas L. Elder, as seen on this old letter. I wonder why, of all the coins Mr. Elder could have chosen to represent his business, he chose this particular one. So I purchased an example for my numophylacium Faustinae: Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman provincial Æ 15 mm, 1.62 g, 6 h. Decapolis, Abila, AD 162/3 (year 226 of the Pompeian era). Obv: ΦΑYϹΤЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: ϹЄΛЄYΚ ΑΒΙΛΑ ϚΚϹ, bunch of grapes. Refs: RPC IV.3 6509 (temporary); Spijkerman 6; Rosenberger 5a; Sofaer 8.
