Sweet! I saw these on Reddit too. I think this piece is my earliest coin to read a year (Year 10 = 1250 CE) although I may have something earlier within my Islamic/Indian collection. Southern Song Dynasty of China Emperor Lizong | 1250 CE | Year 10 AE Cash | 2.93g | 24mm Obv: Chun You Yuan Bao Rev: Shi (10) above Ref: Hartill#17.787
Germany, Bavaria. Albrecht IV der Weise (the Wise), Duke, AD 1467-1508. AR Halbbatzen (22mm, 2.06g, 4h). Dated 1506. Obv: + ALBERTVS DVX BAVARIE 1506; Civic coat-of-arms of Bavaria. Rev: + IVST’ NON’ F RELINPVETVR (P retrograde); Lion rampant left; crescent to left. Ref: Hahn, Bayerischen 7; Drescher 9. A note says "The first dated coins of the Bavarians."
So at which point does the middle age end and the renaissance/modern period start? is it 1453, 1492, or 1526? if it's 1526, what's so significant about it?
..many things..but yeah..it's debatable...in fact i'd find it hard to pin down to just any one year...it's kinda like a grey area as such....and, these coin aren't considered ancient either.
But - what is dated? My oldest Christian coin that is dated is this one from Sicily, but it is dated according to the Islamic calendar to 533 AH = 1138/39 AD. It was issued by King Roger II of Sicily (1130-1154), who strictly maintained an equilibrium between the Christian and the Islamic cultures. Sicily was slowly conquered from the Egyptian Fatimids by the Normans between 1060 and 1091. For a long time the islamic element was still strong. Under the relatively benevolent king Roger II, the island was a multi-ethnic community. (Two kings later Sicily was violently de-arabicised.) This AE follaro (14 mm, 1.05 gr.) has a standard Byzantine obverse with Christ and "IC XC", 'Jesus Christ' in Greek, but the reverse is all in Arabic. It mentions the name of 'Magnificent King Roger, the Powerful Through God'. And the date. This is one of the very first coins with a date in Arabic numerals, if not the first at all. Arabic coins started to be dated already in the 7th century AD: AH 77 (697 AD), the first gold dinar after the great coinage reform of caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. But the dates were always written out fully: 'three hundred and fifty and seven'. The first Islamic coins with dates in numerals were only issued in 622 (AD 1225) by the Seljuqs of Rum. However, this coin (and only this one in Norman-Sicilian numismatic history) is dated 533 AH = 1138/9 AD in Arabic numerals. Spahr 62. Grierson p. 116 (photo 197). And here is a dated Roman Provincial coin according to a local calendar: HΠΡ (188) = 140/141 AD. AE26 Seleucis and Pieria. Laodicea ad Mare. Antoninus Pius AD 138-161. Obv. Laureate and draped bust right. Rev. Bust of Tyche as city goddess left, wearing headdress of gateway, turret, lighthouse and walls. ΦΟ to left, date HΠΡ (188) to right. 26 mm., 13.2g. RPC IV.3, 8580. This Parthian tetradrachm is dated to the month. It uses the Seleucid era, that started in 312 BC. I tried to find a coin that dated as close as possible to the year 0, and this one is from April, 1 BC. Isn't that hard to imagine! To make it even more difficult, according to modern estimates Jesus was born about 6 BC. Phraataces (2 BC-4 AD). AR tetradrachm. Obv. Bust to the left, pointed beard, with the hereditary wart; Nike flying at left. Ear is visible. Rev. King enthroned to the right with bow; Date AIT (311), [A]PTEMISI[OV] (Artemisiou = April) = 1 BC. 26 mm, 10.13 gr. Sellwood 57.4.
There are two really nice books on calendars and coins, including Gregorian-type dated coins: The Early Dated Coins of Europe, 1234-1500, 2nd Edition by Robert A. Levinson Tempus in Nummis by James O Sweeny There are many different calendars and thus many different types of "dated coins". For instance: Macedonian Kingdom: Antigonos I Monophthalmos, as Strategos of Asia (320-306/5 BCE) AR Tetradrachm, Tyre (Price 3298; DCA 736) Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress Rev: AΛEΞANΔPOY; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, (Phoenician King’s name) and (Phoenician Year 8, in two lines) Georgia: Queen Rusudan (1223-1245) AE fals (Lang-13; Langlois-30) Obv: In center; Asomtavruli ႰႱႬ (RSN), standing for RuSudaNi, surmounted by the queen’s monogram being a part of the ornamental device. Surrounded by a linear border. Asomtavruli characters ႵႩႬჃႫႦ (K’KNUMZ, standing for the date formula K’oroniKoN UMZ, i.e. 447, which corresponds to 1227, the frozen date) are placed into the right, bottom and left compartments between the ornamental device and the linear border Rev: name and titles of Rusudan in Arabic in four lines across field surrounded by a beaded or a linear border; الملكة الملوك والملكات; Queen of Kings and Queens جلال الدنيا والدين; Glory of the World, Kingdom and Faith روسدان بنت تامار ظهير المسح; Rusudan, daughter of Tamar, Champion of the Messiah عزالله انصاره; May God increase [her] victories The Georgian year is encoded using the "Paschal cycle". This dating system is based on the creation date being March 22, 5604 BC. From this date, they ran through a 532-year cycle. So, Year 1 was March 22, 5604 BC for the 1st cycle. And the 13th cycle's Year 1 was March 22, 781 AD. For years 346 to 532, add 780 to obtain the corresponding year in AD. The year starts off at March 22nd for each AD year. So, 420 + 780 = March 22, 1200 AD. Western Kshatrapas: Vijayasena (238-250 AD) AR drachm (Fishman-23.1.160) Obv: Bust of Vijayasena, with corrupted Greek legend, date in Brahmi numerals behind (160 Saka Era = 238 AD) Rev: Three-arched hill or Chaitya, with river, crescent and sun, within legend in Brahmi Rajno Mahaksatrapasa Damasenasaputrasa Rajnah Ksatrapasa Vijayasanasa ("of Raja Satrap Vijayasena, son of Raja Mahasatrap Damasena")
Here are two more of my earlier dated coins, the Byzantine piece must be my earliest dated coin. That's not counting one year issues such as Roman coins. Byzantine Empire Emperor Heraclius | Year 17 | 626/627 CE Cyprus Mint AE 40 Nummi | 3.07g Abbasid Caliphate Khorasan Region | al-Shash Mint Present-day Uzbekistan Issued by subvassal Amir Sa'id b. Yahya under Governor al-Mahdi Muhammad 149 AH | 766 CE
My oldest dated coin is this Alexandria tetradrachm of Hadrian, from 126/127 AD: Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 11 (126/127 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from rear, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ - ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Canopic Jar of Osiris (a/k/a Osiris-Canopus Jar and Osiris-Hydreios) right, L ΕΝΔ - EKATΟΥ [= Year 11 spelled out]. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 5640 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5640; Köln 939 [Geissen, A., Katalog alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen, Köln, Band II (Hadrian-Antoninus Pius) (Cologne, 1978, corrected reprint 1987)]; Milne 1205 [Milne, J., A Catalogue of the Alexandrian Coins in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1933, reprints with supplement by Colin M. Kraay); Emmet 827.11 [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; Dattari (Savio) 1327 [Savio, A. ed., Catalogo completo della collezione Dattari Numi Augg. Alexandrini (Trieste, 2007)]. 25 mm., 13.41 g. (Purchased from Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., 212th Buy or Bid Sale, August 2020, Lot 497.)
My oldest dated coin was produced in 356/5 BC. The upside-down crescent-shaped symbol above the galley on the reverse is the symbol for 10, which signifies the coin was struck in the 10th regnal year of Abd'ashtart I. Phoenicia, Sidon. Rev.: Galley to left on waves; date (curved hash-mark) above = 356/5 B.C. Obv.: Persian king or hero in kneeling-running stance, right, holding spear & bow. Weight: 3.32 gr. Diam. 14 mm. Attrib.: Hoover HGC, Vol. 10, Pg. 71, #251, Year 10. (See snip below.)
Should collectors try to add dated coins to their collections that are from the B.C., pre Christian Era, I would recommend "Dated Coins of Antiquity" by Edward E. Cohen. Well written and is an excellent guide when researching these coins. The earliest coin with a date from Western Europe are the Obols And Denar's with the date 1204 A.D. in Roman numerals. The calendar system used at that time was introduced by Augusts Caesar in 38 B.C. The year 1204 would then translate to 1166 A.D. using our current calendar. Alfonso VIII had these coins issued in the city of Toledo,Spain celebrating the expulsion of the Arab community in the area.
The Shekels of Tyre supplement to Cohen's book is available for free download (at over 500 pages!): https://cngcoins.com/photos/cng_links/dca-tyre_release_2.pdf
