Let’s see your OLDEST ancient!

Personally I love old coinage. It just has so much history in such a small object and coins are like portable works of art. If they could talk I imagine they would all have amazing stories to tell.

This should be fun!

For all the Ancients collectors our there: What is the OLDEST coin in your collection (that can be dated and is actual coinage so none of the “cowry shells” kind of stuff. Unless you want to share that that’s fine too but it doesn’t count.)

I’m expecting a lot of people on this forum to have some of the 2nd century BC- 2nd century AD coinage from Rome and Greece but who knows what’s out there.

I mean these are times when gold & silver were mined by hand by slaves in extremely dangerous conditions. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into these older coins.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Wow, Nice thread . I even own one now . Thanks to @lordmarcovan !!

 

Nice! How old is it?

 

Ya know , I didn't even ask but it definitely cool . I might even be wrong about the gifter now that I look at my paperwork . It could be @hotwheelsearl actually . I've been blessed to have been gifted so many coins last year ,

 

Is it silver or copper? It’s kind of hard to tell because of how dark it is.

If I could read the writing I could date it using my books.

 

Bronze , I believe .

 

These two would be my oldest metallic coins,
Ionia (modern day Turkey) 1/12th stater with an exact date range of 525 BC - 475 BC.

And, this Gandhara Janapada (Afghanistan) 1/8th satamana, with the earliest date range of 600 BC.

This 'cowrie shell imitating bone money' would be my oldest artifact from China ranging from 1200-700 BC (although you said you didn't wanna see a shell!), only carbon dating can prove it!

 

Amazing stuff!

I didn’t say I didn’t want to see the cowrie stuff. Only that it doesn’t count. xD

It’s cool though for sure!

I find the stater to be particularly interesting. If you think about what was going on at the time.

The people who used these coins would’ve lived in the same generation as King Leonidas (died 480 BC @ Thermopylae) and his Spartans. That’s just incredible.

Maybe one of those Spartans held that coin at some point? I read that in ancient times coins ended up all over the place outside where they were minted. Greek drachmae would end up in India.

So maybe? You never know! That’s what’s fascinating

 

Well, I only collect Flavians so I suppose this Alexandrian regnal year one tetradrachm struck for Vespasian has to be one of his earliest coins.

Vespasian
AR Tetradrachm, 12.56g
Alexandria mint, 69 AD
Obv: AYT TIT ΦΛAYI OYEΣΠAΣIAN KAIΣ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r., date LA before neck
Rev: PΩ-MH; Roma standing l., with spear and shield
RPC 2403 (9 spec.). Emmett 206.1.
Ex Roma E16, 28 February 2015, lot 268.

Struck between 1 July and 28 August 69 AD.

 

Wow! You actually are focusing on one specific patrician family? That’s incredible!

Rarely do people have the time, patience, resources and desire to focus on that kind of collection.

But who knows? Maybe one day your collection will be passed on and used to study the past by future generations.

We are only caretakers of these precious antiques.

 

Oh by the way: In the next year or so I plan on picking up 1 denarius from each of the “Five Good Emperors”.

Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius & Antoninus Pius.

According to Edward Gibbon they were the best of Roman emperors in terms of treating the people well, running effective government, and winning wars.

Interestingly as Gibbon points out: “None of these Emperors were born “in the purple.”

His hypothesis was that emperorship should not have been passed down through inheritance as once that happened the Emperors who inherited the title ended up becoming corrupt, lavacious, cruel, or just downright insane. Even if their fathers had been good Emperors.


It’s interesting to think that history proves through experience that titles should not be handed down but rather earned on an individual basis.

We wouldn’t want a President to pass down the Presidency to his oldest son after all xD.

Our Founding Fathers knew that. When they took those long wagon rides across states to attend conventions & delegations they were reading about Classical History and trying to learn from mistakes the Romans made when creating the USA.

 

I just have this to say regarding that ... Domitian. lol

 

What’s scary is Domitian wasn’t even the worst.

Think of Commodus. Think of Caligula. Think of Nero.

Commodus is the Emperor I’ve learned the most about. His father was the incredible Marcus Aurelius, one of the most loved Emperors in Roman history. Yet his son Commodus inherited the Emperorship and look how that turned out. Assassinated.


His reign is part of the era in Ancient Roman history that I’m studying.


There sure is a lot of Ancient Roman history. Even a lifetime isn’t enough to master all of it.

Although I know historians squabble about whether they were really as bad as was documented or if there was bias in the writer against them.

 

John Hurt as Caligula in I, Claudius was probably the worst.

 

It’s funny you mention a movie.

Believe it or not, my entire love of Roman history began after seeing the movie “Gladiator” with Russel Crowe.

Yes the historical accuracy was off. Yes they had German tribes fighting in outfits from the STONE age. Yes they had buildings in the movie that hadn’t been built in the time period of Commodus.


But the way that movie made Ancient Rome feel “alive” to me has never faded.

I love that movie lol!

I have it on my iPhone! xD

 

My oldest one seems to be


Ionia. Miletos circa 525-475 BC.
Tetartemorion AR Cf. Rosen 407/8.
Klein 430; SNG Tubingen 3001

5 mm., 0,08 g.

This looks fantastic in hand (if you have good eyes )

As dating for coins in that era is uncertain and there are big date ranges, it could also be this one



Ionia. Ephesos circa 500-420 BC.

Diobol AR 11 mm., 0,92 g

Karwiese Series VI, 2A; SNG Kayhan 124

 

Being a Roman collector, I don't have many really old coins, but here's this tiny little Greek one. It features Pumba on the obverse and Simba on the reverse:


Mysia, Kyzikos (c.480 BC)
AR Trihemiobol, 10 mm, 1.16 g.
Obv: Forepart of boar left ; Tunny upward.
Rev: Head of roaring lion left, outstretched tongue, all within incuse square.
Ref: Von Fritze, Nomisma IX Kyzikos, Group II, 9 / Table V, 10-11.

 

Technically “Rome” goes all the way back to ~700 BC. I’m actually reading a book about the history of Rome called (Ab Urbe Condita) by Titus Livius who lived 2000 years ago!

He dates Rome back to around 700 BC.

But I’m not sure when they first minted coins. I know they made what were called “as”es which were basically pieces of bronze.

I believe those go back to the 5th century BC.

If I recall correctly the oldest Ancient Roman coinage had “ROMA” marked on it.

480 BC! That’s the same year King Leonidas died!

Another coin from that ancient period in time.

I wonder what stories that coin could tell if it could talk. Who owned it when it was still in circulation? It’s fun to think about even if we’ll never know.

Pumba & Simba xD

 

Wow nice! I like the bug xD

Are those ones bronze too?

 

Maybe 5th century BC, but it's a stretch to call them coins. I'm not into these ...