What is the most obscure fact about world and or ancient coinage that you know of. It could be any coin, it could be about your favorite coin.
But what's known is no longer obscure, and what's obscure isn't known, so how could I know an obscure fact?
OK...semantics aside,having just watched the final episode of Rome on HBO and watching Brutus kill Julius Caesar on the Ides (15th) of March,and also read the same thing in Shakespeare,I was fascinated to learn that Brutus actually minted a coin honoring the event.It not only featured his name,a liberty cap and daggers but also the words EID MAR for the day of the assassination.I would LOVE to own one but they're WAY too expensive...here is a picture.
Decius (Trajan Decius) Decius managed to secure for himself the dubious honor of becoming the first Roman emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy. His son also died in the same ambush.
Mikjo0,that Ides of March Denarius is a very well-known coin.It is in the same catagory of famous coins as the Tribute Penny Denarius.What do you think? Aidan.
I'll assume that obscure can mean little known fact This one is liable to rile the dander of a few - nonetheless it happened. In the middle to late 1700's the British king was so unhappy about the popularity and widespread circulation of the Spanish pillar dollar in the New World that the British govt. actually began to mint debased copies of the coins and distributed them into circulation.
Aidan, True but you can pick up a Tiberius denarius for $150-200 US and I doubt the Brutus could be bought for that kind of cash.I have actually never checked though.If anyone finds one for sale online,please let me know. EDIT: a few minutes later..check this out!! http://boards.collectors-society.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=world&Number=837279&page=0&fpart=all
Here's one (a forgery) but I suspect it was cast recently http://www.bid-it.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?action=ViewItem&ID=1132550450&Lang=English Bone
Thats a good one GDJMSP, but I want to mine your mind some more. I actually got the idea for this thread from a post you once made.
Mikjoo: I would have never believed that Brutus would have coined a coin about that event unless I saw it myself. I realize that he thought or said that he was slaying a tryant but still why get Ceasers allies and supporters riled up? Bonedigger: Was the Decius coin shown connected to his death? Was it minted to pay the legion going into battle or in memory of?
Andy, from what I understand it's an Antonius which was struck when he was crowned, so it was before the final battle with the Thracians. Bone
"Thracians" you say Bonedigger, interesting .. I have a connection to that coin being that I have mixed blood but some of my blood line is from Romania. Now which side my blood was on....since the roman legion settled the Thracian home land after their defeat, perhaps both since the women of my family are pretty hot. No need to worry about me thru for I have no sisters,...just cousins. (joke)
I did some indepth research and apparently his forces fought a running battle for a few days. Some have said he, Decius died in a most heroic manner, but history is written by the victors and the Thracians said after he and his legions were slaughtered they were stripped of valuables and left to be savaged and eaten by wild animals. They're is a monument (???) commerating the battle which is very strange considering the Romans were wiped out, so he (Decius) must have displayed some type of valor. When his son was killed he said "No matter at the loss of one soldier" or something to that effect. He also was know for his persecution of Christians. Bone
Andy,the Thracians came from what is now northern Greece.It was the Dacians who came from what is now Romania. Aidan.
Well Aidan you are right about the Thracian's and northern greece but they were also in other areas as well. I use the two examples below as sources of quick reference. But the bottom line is I wasn't there and only a DNA test between bones found at a Thracian grave site or Dacian burial mounds could come up with a more defined answer. THE THRACIANS The boundaries of the Thracian ethnos comprise not only the territory of present-day Bulgaria but also the land of present-day Romania, Eastern Serbia, Northern Greece and Northwestern Turkey" taken from www.bulguria.com "The earliest people recorded in the Balkans belonged to three tribal groups--the Illyrians, Thracians, and Dacians. Historians are still out on the question if Thracians and Dacians were the same people or just closely related, Illyrians and Thracians were also related and are often refered to as "Thraco-Illyrian". taken from members.tripod.com/great-bulgaria/Bulgaria
Now back to the thread about obscure coin facts. Here is one that I got off of www.coinfacts.com "The 1804 Silver Dollar is one of the rarest and most popular of all American coins, despite the fact that none were made until 1834 and several were even made many years after that! Mint reports from 1804 show a delivery figure of 19,570 Silver Dollars, but numismatists believe these were all leftover coins dated 1803. Certain qualities of the known 1804 Silver Dollars (and other facts concerning their history) indicate that the first 1804 Silver Dollars were struck in or about 1834, when orders came from the State Department for special sets of coins to be struck for diplomatic purposes. Later restrikes were made sometime after 1857 "
