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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jwt708, post: 3168776, member: 32619&quot;]It is always nice to toss something ancient in the exonumia thread!</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/media/jwt186-tessera-helmeted-head.9096/full" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Syria, 3rd - 1st centuries BC</p><p>PB tessera, possibly a weight or seal.</p><p>19mm, 4.6g, maximum thickness 6mm.</p><p><i>Obv</i>.: Helmeted head left.</p><p><i>Rev</i>.: Helmeted head left.</p><p><i>Ex-FORVM</i></p><p><br /></p><p>From the <i>Dictionary of Roman Coins</i>:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>&quot;Tessera</i>, a square, marked with a certain number of points, to serve as a ticket or a voucher.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Tesserae</i> were also small pieces of <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Wood" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Wood" rel="nofollow">wood</a>, of bone or of ivory, or of bronze, which received various names, according to the different purposes to which they were applied. Accordingly there were theatrical, gladiatorial, liberal (<i>frumentariae</i>), convivial, military, and hospitable <i>tesserae</i>. Many of these are a species of coin, or counter, and are found in most large numismatic cabinets. From the times of the emperors they were chiefly employed for distribution amongst the people, to enable each individual to go with one or more of them, and receive the gifts which had been assigned to him, in <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=corn" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=corn" rel="nofollow">corn</a>, in oil, in money, and in every other article of greater or less value. For this reason they were call <i>tesserae liberalitatis</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Medals, struck when public distributions were made, present numerous examples of this kind, and the <i>tessera</i>, or tablet, appears in the right hand of the figure, which respectively personify Annona, and Liberalitas. See the words.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>This was purchased from CoinTalk&#039;s very own [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER] . I&#039;m going to shamelessly steal his description:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Ah, the infinitely complicated and mysterious world of ancient lead. Here&#039;s a...thing, from ancient Syria. Is it a token or a weight, or something else? I acquired this intriguing piece from Joe Sermarini at FORVM, who could only tell me that the fabric and size of the piece placed it in ancient Syria – according to a conversation he had with the scholar and collector of tesserae, Gert Boersma.</p><p><br /></p><p>As you can see, it&#039;s considerably larger than most ancient tesserae, with helmeted busts on both sides in high relief. Perhaps it&#039;s a weight? Or a seal? <b>Is it a military token?</b> If you collect ancient coins (or exonumia or artifacts for that matter), there comes a time when you just have to embrace the mystery.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The bold part I added because this is exactly what attracted to this tessera, a possible military token! In my ancient collection, I have the below coin (think I posted it here before) that was minted when Hannibal was in control of parts of Spain that was used by his troops...possible military trade token?! Who knows but I like the idea anyway.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/media/jwt-99-hispania-carthaginian.3969/full" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Carthaginians in Hispania</p><p>AE 1/4 Calco, 1.5g, 13mm; mobile military mint, 218-208 BC.</p><p>Obv.: Wreathed head of Tanit left.</p><p>Rev.: Crested helmet left, with cheek guards.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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