Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Milo W, post: 26109735, member: 148792&quot;]Some time ago, I purchased a lot of 5 unidentified tesserae for $25. All five have a lovely star and crescent design and quite interesting reverses. I did some research, and they are part of the “Star and Crescent” series from Moesia, likely from Nicopolis ad Istrum. Here is one of mine: </p><p><br /></p><p>3 stars with a Crescent/Fortuna with a rudder and cornucopia</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1665190[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1665191[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I found this series fascinating and decided to catalog as many of these coins as possible, and attempt to identify the uncertain ones! It has become a bit of a pet project. There is a variety of star orientations, and there seems to be a general theme of Egyptomania, apotropaic imagery, fortune, and fertility. Could these possibly be magic talismans of some sort - to me, this seems the likely answer! Every example I could find is holed, so they were likely worn, and at-least strung on something. There is a variety of dies used for each type. I have seen dates ranging from the 1st to 4th century BC. To me, the 2nd to 3rd century seems likely - this would line up with similar coins with the star and crescent design as well as Egyptomania in the region. I have also seen suggestions that the crescent represents a solar eclipse with the stars being those which appear during an eclipse - interesting, but I am not sure if I believe this. Anyway, here is an abridged list (I made a longer list of every example I could find with larger images, lmk if you would like to see that).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Note, the descriptions are mostly from Auction houses, but those in italics are mine! Additionally, I have left a few notes that came to me while writing this post!</i></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1665182[/ATTACH]</p><p>Fortuna could be Fortuna Isis?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1665183[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1665184[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1665185[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1665186[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1665187[/ATTACH]</p><p>The standing figure resembles cult statues - could it be Cybele? It seems to have a head dress. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1665188[/ATTACH]</p><p>Could this triangle and sphere a pouch of some sort? I’m not sure!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1665189[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Let me know if you have any ideas! I find this series really fascinating, and if you know anything, please let me know.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to post your own Tesserae/coins with stars![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in