The last truly great Macedonian, through enemy eyes/My greatest denarius but is it the world's best?

Great denarii. I had never really paid attention to that ROMA monogram behind the helmet but I love that (and always love equestrian statue reverses).

No Philip V, but how about his son Perseus' Third Macedonian War (v. Rome) Drachm, c. 170 BC? (I had trouble photographing this one, given the high relief, video is here on imgur or CNG's auction photo)

Kings of Macedon. temp. Perseus (179-168 BC), in the name of Stasion (Rhodos magistrate), AR Drachm (2.65g, 16mm, 1h). Pseudo-Rhodian type. Third Macedonian War issue, struck in Samothrace or Euboia (?), ca. 171–168 BC.
Obverse: Head of Helios three-quarter facing right, with chubby face and thick locks.
Reverse: ΣTAΣIΩN. Rose; P-O flanking stalk; bud to right; to left, downward facing club crossed over bow.
References: Ashton (ΣΤΑΣΙΩΝ, 2013) Group 1, 59b (A21/P36 – this coin); Ashton (Rhodes, 2001) 297; SNG Cop 786-787. See also: HGC 6, 1453.
Pedigree: Ex-Gerard Hirsch Nachf. 244, #1528 (Munich, 15 Feb 2006), cited in Ashton (2013: p. 37, 59b); Ex-CNG e-Auction 483, #126 (Lancaster, PA USA, 6 Jan 2021), from the Crescent Collection.​

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Wonderful coin @Ryro ! Not only is it among the nicest of this type that I’ve seen but it also has wonderful toning. I must say that I had to do a bit of a double take when I saw your photo at first because the phi monogram below the chin on the obverse looks decidedly like... well, something else.

I don’t have a Philip V or Perseus to add so I’ll add a cool helmet with an appropriate sized horn (you may recognize ) and my example of a Republican with a cool Roma monogram and an equestrian statue.

If Alexander had come up against Rome in the 330s BC, I don’t see how Rome could have avoided getting steamrolled. However, in a battle between eras the veteran army of Scipio Africanus that defeated Hannibal, vs the Macedonian army, built by Philip, under Alexander would have been quite the throw-down!

 

Lovely example - here's mine

 

A very attractive denarius and an informative, humorous write-up!

My own example is less outstanding but I still very much like it!

Roman Republic, moneyer: L. Philippus, AR denarius, 113-112 BC, Rome mint. Obv: ROMA (heavily ligated); head of Philip V of Macedon r., wearing helmet decorated with goats' horns and skin; below, Φ. Rev: L·PHILIPPVS; equestrian statue: horseman carries laurel- or palm-branch; below horse, flower (?); below, tablet with inscription and crossed X. 19mm, 3.86g. Ref: RRC 293/1. Ex Calgary Coin (2006); ex JB collection; ex AMCC 2, lot 98.

This Philip V, a rather scarce type, was a cheap pick-bin find. It appears to have sound metal under all the encrustations and might make a nice project for someone with advanced cleaning skills – but unfortunately, that's not me, so I'll keep it as it is:

Philip V, Kings of Macedonia, AE quarter unit, ca. 183–179 BC, unknown Macedonian mint. Obv: head of Perseus, helmeted, r. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ; harpa; monogram below; all within oak wreath. 17mm, 3.94g. Ref: Sng Alpha Bank 1126; Mamroth: Bronzemünzen 26.

Another Macedonian shield ona Republican denarius, celebrating the victory of Q. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, a relative of the moneyer, in Macedonia in 148 BC:

Roman Republic, moneyer: M. Caecilius Metellus, AR denarius, 127 BC, Rome mint. Obv: ROMA; head of Roma, helmeted, r.; before, X. Rev: M·METELLVS·Q·F; Macedonian shield decorated with elephant's head. 18mm, 3.83g. RRC 263/1a. Ex Hommel collection.

This coin also has an interesting provenance: it comes from the private collection of the well-known German Orientalist Fritz Hommel, which he later passed on to his son, the classicist Hildebrecht Hommel. According to Fritz Hommel's ticket, which came with the coin and is rather niftily fashioned from an old postal envelope, he acquired this coin from a certain Lennox in a swap on Dec. 4, 1911. I have no idea who Lennox was, though:

 

A great coin, one I must get..

 

Apologies for a tangent, I get excited about cool provenances -- especially one on an old envelope/partial stamp! I have dreams that someday there will be a database of "old tickets," "dealer flip inserts," and known collectors, where researchers or collectors can figure out who & where "Lennox" was in 1911. Or "Andrew in St. Louis, 1965." What are the meanings of all of the hand-written abbreviations and notations and symbols on the BCD Collection's voluminous round tags? And who must have printed out these flip inserts, based on font size & style?

Perhaps, I fantasize, the Numismatic Bibliomania Society will develop a searchable database & it'll run out of the Washington University (St. Louis) Library's "Newman Numismatic Portal" .... where, out of curiosity, I recently looked up the "old collector ticket" described in a CNG lot as noting, "Royal 12/28/51, #833". I used Martin Gengerke's "American Numismatic Auctions" (via the NNPortal at Wash U) to learn that it must've been Royal Coin Company's (Boston, MA) Sale #72 (28 Dec, 1951, presumably Lot 833). Soon enough, I hope, such obscure catalogs will also be digitized so the lots can be individually checked.

But what I'd really love is it if such a database also existed for looking up "Lennox, 1911" -- who he was and what other coins he may have labeled. I predict it will be a reality, so everyone who is saving up these collector tickets (and sharing photographs of them) is doing a great service for the provenance/pedigree researchers of the future! And blessing us pedigree-geeks with great excitement in the meantime!

 

That’s a great coin, Ryro. Congratulations, I’m happy for you man.

I do have two coins that have a fighting chance of being «the best known». One is ancient:



Volume: IV.2 №: 362 (temporary)

Reign: Marcus Aurelius Persons: Lucius Verus (Augustus)Magistrate:Pherekydes (strategos)
City: Aegae Region: Aeolis Province: Asia (conventus of Smyrna)
Denomination: Æ (33 mm) Average weight: 24.13 g. Issue: Marcus and Verus, co-emperors (c. 161-163)
Obverse: ΑV ΚΑΙ Λ ΑVΡΗ ΟVΗΡΟϹ; bare-headed bust of Lucius Verus wearing cuirass and paludamentum, r., seen from front
Reverse: ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡ ΦΕΡΕΚΥΔΟΥ ΤΙΤΝΑΙΟϹ ΑΙΓΑΕΩΝ; river-god Titnaios reclining, l., holding reed and cornucopia, resting on water-urn
Reference: BMC 23–4 Specimens: 3+this one.

The other is Norwegian, and struck late in a year between kings Frederik IV and Christian VI. It’s R6, I think:



If I sold this coin, I could buy a nice aureus....
Not selling it, though.

 

@Ryro, I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know about this type before you posted your wonderful example. Now I want one! (It immediately goes right near the top of my list of Roman Republican coins I want. Other great coins posted on this thread that are already on that list include the Paullus Lepidus depicting a captive Perseus and his sons, and the Metullus depicting a Macedonian shield with an elephant head at its center. For whatever reason, I'm finding it even more difficult this year than last year to find decent examples of Roman Republican coins at affordable prices. For example, I would want the elephant head to be visible on the Metullus, and Perseus and his sons to look like humans rather than blobs on the Paullus Lepidus. Easier said than done.)

The reverse of your coin reminds me a lot of the reverse on a denarius issued by a later L. Marcius Philippus in 56 BCE (Crawford 425/1):



Each of the two coins shows a flower on the reverse beneath the horse's feet. I didn't notice anyone in this thread mentioning its meaning, but according to Crawford (Vol. I p. 408), the flower may refer to the conception of Mars by the fertilization of Juno by a flower. Crawford also states (id.), with reference to your coin, that the laurel-branch held by the horseman on the reverse "identifies its bearer as a triumphator and perhaps as Q. Marcius Tremulus, Cos. 306, whose statue stood before the temple of Castor and Pollux."

 

Beautiful denarii in thread. I only have Philip V bronze coins:

 

Thanks so much for all the replies! With examples like the ones from @Romancollector and @octavius my new coin isn't necessarily the pretty girl in the block... though, the only Philip V coin in this thread that I would trade mine for is the absolute show stopper @Terence Cheesman shared with the masterful hellenistic Philip V portrait