Masterpieces of Ancient coinage.

This is one of the finer-style profile portraits from High Medieval Europe. ...Hope that, as such, it manages to slide home, even if in a bigger cloud of dust than usual.


County of Provence. Denier /'royal coronat,' Marseilles, c. 1186-c. 1243.
'+REX .ARA.GONE;' 'PO / VI /NC / IA.'
Crusafont v. IV, 174 (attr. Jaume I of Aragon); Duplessy 1611 (Anonymous). Cf. Boudeau 807, attributing it to Alfonso II 'of Aragon', Count of Provence 1196-1209, immobilized up to the new coinage of Count Raymond Berenger V, from 1243. (Conspicuously citing hoard evidence, albeit as of the early 20th century.) Crusafont, meanwhile, distinguishes this issue from earlier ones, which he dates to Pere I, King of Aragon 1196-1213, on the basis of substantive stylistic, ...ahem, improvement.
...The latter attribution is problematic, merely because Alfonso II of Provence was Pere I of Aragon's brother (and father of Raymond Berenger V), and the two ruled simultaneously, respectively in the County of Provence and the Kingdom of Aragon. Intuitively, the longer interval of immobilization, advocated by Boudeau and Duplessy, seems to make more prima facie sense.

 

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I try to avoid using superlatives such as masterpiece. It is both subjective and definitive, something, being a relativist, kind of goes against my grain.

Now, having said that, there are certainly coins of merit, of great merit even. There are certain coins that exude a quality of art, in all of its manifest forms, that make them stand out.

Here are four from my collection. I could list more, but I wanted to make a distillation using these examples.

1) Syracuse

What is it about Syracuse? While it is a major city/state in ancient times, it produced coinage in all metals noted for its beauty in design, and in most cases, execution, as exemplified by my tetradrachm of Agathokles. Other cities in Sicily beautiful coinage as well, while other Greek cities stuck to rather monotonous coinage, such as Athens, Thebes and Corinth, primarily for economic reasons, no doubt.



2) Paeonia

During the late 4th century BC, Paeonia, under Audoleon, produced tetradrachms depicting Athena in a three-quarter pose. The skill needed to successfully produce a die of this nature is considerable. This type of portrait is much more difficult to create than a simple profile portrait. While this coin is not in the same league as the magnificent facing portrait coins of Syracuse and Rhodes, it is nonetheless quite remarkable, especially the obverse. This example from my collection (sorry for the blurry obverse) is nicely engraved, with a pointed nose (not a flat "boxer" nose), good orientation of the eyes and good centering. The reverse is also well centered and of good artistic quality.


3) The coinage of Alexander III

Without a doubt, in my mind, the vast coinage produced by Alexander III and his successors, including the posthumous coinage, has some of the best engraving, setting the stage for the beautiful Hellenistic periood coinage to follow. The quality of the workmanship of Alexander's coinage varies considerably. This is my tetradrachm from Cilicia, possibly Side, either a late lifetime or early posthumous coin.



4) The Eastern Celts

The quality of this coinage varies widely, both in the quality (or lack thereof) of the dies, the quality of the metal, and the quality of the strike. This is my Doppelkopf type, with the Janiform head of Zeus on the obverse. These coins do come up for sale or in auctions from time to time, but they do very in the quality of dies, as well as strike. This coin as a pleasing style to it, with one side of Zeus seeming to peer, somewhat ruefully, back at his other face, perhaps his better side? The reverse, while off center, has the quintessential Celtic horse and a very abstract rider.



So, are these coins masterpieces? That is for the viewer to decide. I love each coin for what it is, and what it has to offer and say about its time in history.

 

@robinjojo, I need to second your caveats about assigning esthetic norms according to irreducibly subjective, as such inexorably specious criteria. --Memorably in reference to what @Only a Poor Old Man has gone into in considerable depth with, recently and a little less so.
Except, in reference to your central European Celtic (...polysyllabic expletive of choice), to quote the old BBC comedy, Red Dwarf, "Kicking Bottom, or What?")

 

Actually, when I was describing the Celtic coin, I this in mind:

 

@robinjojo, who is that?
I'm getting that it's somebody posing with his Madame Tussaud persona, or something vaguely along those lines. But how wrong am I in thinking this is Paul McCartney... during some ill-advisedly post-Bowie /post-Punk phase of his career ...In other words, while I wasn't paying attention?

 

Lol, you're close - it's Zaphod Beeblebrox.

robinjojo can expand on who Zaphod is.

 

As I recall, Zaphod Beedlebrox is a rather conceded, off-the-wall, argumentative (with himself) chap from around Betelgeuse who would not be my first choice for taking out to lunch.

Here's a classic scene:



And everything you might want to know....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaphod_Beeblebrox

 

I do not think those guys would have lasted in the days of the Celts/ back then you needed hardcore warriors to fight against the well trained Roman legions.

 

My goodness @Only a Poor Old Man that is an unexpected (but welcome) surprise for me. Here is why:


https://www.mfa.org/collections/publications/lethal-elegance

 

My goodness @Only a Poor Old Man that is an unexpected (but welcome) surprise for me. Here is why:
View attachment 1248851

Spectacular book from Boston Museum of Fine Art:

https://www.mfa.org/collections/publications/lethal-elegance

 

I do love looking in The Lanes Armoury for their militaria especially Samurai swords.
I always prefer utilitarian over artistry so a 700 year old blade that has seen action always wins out over hamon and sword guards of artistic excellence to me.
It's a bit like modern US coins in plastic against crusty ancient to me.

 

I bought a Samurai Sword at a antique store here in Kingston. The thing is sharp as a razor. I remember having an accident with it, had a deep cut near my thumb....ouch. Watching, "Forged in Fire" I could decapitate their human dummy with one swing.

 

Happy to see a fellow nihonto fan. It was my main hobby before I got into coins. I cannot really financially sustain both hobbies simultaneously and after all I need to hold and examine a sword before I buy it, I wouldn't buy one online. So at the moment it is all about coins!

Here is a nasty picture I just took of my two wakizashis. Typical shakudo fittings on one and copper on the other. Both blades are mumei.



I will definitely check out the book you suggested. Here is one of mine with some jaw-dropping fittings. It is hard to get and a bit pricey, but I really loved it.

Ah, the eternal debate, koshirae vs blade. I like both

 

Please excuse the double-post response above. I was an avid collector and researcher when I lived in Japan some sixty years ago. The swords I depict on the stand are for decoration of my writing desk - something nice to look at as I render my calligraphy. On top: Satsuma shin-Shinto wakazashi in the same koshirae as that on the cover of the MFA Earle book. Below: signed kanekado (Mino province, 1605) blade in storage scabbard (shirasaya).

 

A great thread with some impressive coins from all, @BenSi, including the OP coin. This coin seems a good one to include with the OP coin (even if not a perfect masterpiece):

Islamic, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk), Artuqids (Mardin), Najm al-Din Alpi, AH 547-572 / AD 1152-1176, Æ Dirham (35mm, 15.36g, 1h), Unnamed mint (Mardin[?]), undated
Obv: Diademed and draped male busts facing; Najm al-Din above and Malik Diyarbkr below; Artuqid tamgha at lower left; all in beaded cicle.
Rev: Byzantine emperor standing facing being crowned by the Virgin Mary standing facing; 3 generations of the ancestry of Najm al-Din Alpi around. The legend in cursive Naski. "abu al-Muzzafar Alpi / bin / Timurtash bin Ii-Ghazi bin / Artuq"; all in beaded circle.
Notes on this coin: 12th Century Artuqid Mash-up

And a coin that I consider a masterpiece:

Roman Republican, M. Junius Brutus, 54 BC.
AR Denarius, Rome, struck 54 BC
Obv: Bearded and bare-headed head right of L. Junius Brutus; BRVTVS.
Rev: Bearded and bare-headed head right of Caius Servilius Ahala; AHALA
Size: 3.96g, 17-19mm
Ref: Crawford 433/2; Junia 30
Notes on this coin: An Ancient Coin for Independence Day

 

It is the opposite for me @NewStyleKing - my Nihonto collection consists of mostly signed koto period blades in full polish and Edo period koshirae (furniture) in sets or singles. On the other hand, my ancient coins often show much use and wear.

 

Yes, you do have to be careful John - a high quality katana blade in full polish is just like a three foot long razor blade.

 

Yes, I did learn a valuable lesson, and some blood.

 

For stylistic contrast to the denier, here's an obole, Duplessy 1612 (Anonymous, Marseille, c. 1186-1243); Crusafont V. IV, 171 (dating it to temp. Alfons I, Count 1162-1196).

This is the obverse of one of the later oboles, attributed along predictable lines by both Crusafont (Jaume I, 1213-1276) and Duplessy (anonymous).