that is a nice coin if you are into colorized coins (and yes, I know these are colorized at the mint) but I would never buy a colorized ancient....
Well one of the bronzes I bought Friday were "colorized", a nice pretty green. Of course, it was not colorized by the mint, it was colorized by a rare reaction over 1800 years in the ground, but I will still take it. I wonder how this would look after 1800 years. I am wagering not as pretty as a nicely toned roman bronze.....
Big difference between colorized and patina. I have actually seen an ancient that had been enameled, it wasn't pretty.
I was actually implying (sarcastically of coarse) with "Do I see a challenge" as you challenging Bill. The challenge came from someone else
Hello And yet, most of the architecture and art that the Romans and Greeks developed was painted in full color, except perhaps for the Bronze. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/07/greek-statues-in-color.html http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/true-colors.html http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/ultraviolet-light-uncovers-original-colors-of-greek-sculptures/ The Chinese Terracotta Armies are also in color, as are the Freezes of Nimrod at the Brooklyn Museum. The truth is, that not a lot of thought was given to the aesthetics of ancient coinage. They were more about projecting authority and advertising the authority of the state. It might be that there were colorized coins, but one thing is fairly certain, a lot more thought is given today then in the past to the look and aesthetic of coins. If history is any guild, these coins might well look good in 2,000 years. Amanda
Amanda, where do you that assertion from? From the fact that an unfavorable likeness of the emperor can get you exiled to the mines, or the fact that Greek city states competed over the ability to hire talented die engravers? To say ancient people, who created what many consider the epitome of artistic expression in coinage, did not give much thought to the aesthetic of coins seems curious. Now, if you asserted that medieval people did not pay much attention to the aesthetics of coins I think you may have more of a case.
I get that assertion from the library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, based largely on historical records. For example, one of the first things Alexander did as he conquered Persia and the Indus Valley was to uniform coinage with his image. It was one of the major contributions to keeping his empire intact and allowed for uniform business practice from one end of the empire to the other. Amanda
Yes, political broadcasting was a portion of what was accomplished numismatically. How does that mean that the ancients did not pay attention to the aesthetic? It would seem to me an aesthetically pleasing coin to go along with uniformity of coinage would also be desired. Btw, its actually Herakles with what is thought to be Alexander's likeness that was the uniform coin of his empire, not his image directly. Also, his Greek coins that circulated through the empire where either usually an aesthetic improvement over existing coinage, or the first coinage those areas knew. Still doesn't explain why its believed to show the ancients didn't care for their coins. In fact, many ancient coins were artistic interpretations of the city's most famous artistic monuments, not something you would do if you did not care about the artistry of your coins. Edit: also btw, the emperor Augustus was well known for collecting beautiful artistic Greek coins. In fact, most city states had the locals gather up the most beautiful coins from the city they could find to present to the emperor. Again another aspect that points to artistic appreciation of coinage.
This statement can only come when someone thinks what goes for one ancient people is true for all ancient people. Some ancients were all about aesthetics; others all authority; yet others about weight standards or practicality for trade use. Many (most??) blended the three to some degree. My modern biased mind often wonders why some periods made so little use such a tool for political communication but we don't do it now in many countries so I should not be surprised.
Small world: On CT 'areich' is Amanda from Brooklyn while on Forvm Ancients 'areich' is Andreas from Germany (and one of their most prolific posters). I though I had a common name but I guess not so much in terms of ancient coins.