Welcome to my list of top coins for the year 2021. I’ve bought about 100 coins this year, but I decided to narrow it down to the top 3. For each coin in the top 3, I’ll post a little info about the coin, and why I like it so much. For those of you that are interested and want to learn a little more, I’ll add a link to a more in depth article on my website - as I don't want this to be too long. And it is also worthy of note that every single coin I bought this year and every single coin on the list was purchased for at most 40 pounds, but in most cases less. So hopefully this will demonstrate that it’s possible to have fun with ancient numismatics even with a small budget. Let’s begin: 3. Info: Empire: Ancient Greece Place: Miletos Date: Late 6th Century BC Denomination: AR Twelfth Stater Weight: 1.22g Obv (image on left). Lion protome facing left. Rev (image on right). Debated design, may be a sun, star, flower… (discussed within article). Why I like this coin I find the fact that the whole reverse design is a disputed mystery to be very interesting. I really appreciate coins that have designs that are quite abstract and uncommon. I also love lions on coins, and this one looks pretty fierce which is awesome. Furthermore, the condition is incredible for a coin from the 6th century BC. It's wonderful that coins this old can be so inexpensive (this is the oldest coin in my collection so far). if you want to learn more: https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/miletos-twelfth-stater 2. Info: Empire: Ancient Greece Place/Ruler: Lampsacus/Philip III Date: 323-317 BC Denomination: AR Drachm Weight: 4.00g Obv (image on left). Posthumous issue featuring head of beardless Herakles wearing a lion skin headdress. Rev (image on right). Zeus seated on stool-throne left, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left hand Left Field - Buckle Under Throne- Artemis I. Holding Torch Why I like this coin I love the fact that 3 mythological figures are featured here (Zeus, Herakles and Artemis). Furthermore, even though it’s posthumous, it’s really great to have a coin related to Alexander III. Herakles is also wearing the Nemean lion headdress. The Nemean lion has to be the most well known lion of antiquity, so that’s pretty awesome for my lion-themed collection. if you want to learn more: https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/philip-iii-drachm 1. Info: Empire: Ancient Greece Place: LUCANIA, Herakleia Date: Circa 420/15-390 BC Denomination: AR Diobol Weight: 1.00g Obv (image on left). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla Rev (image on right). Herakles standing right, strangling the Nemean Lion to right. Why I like this coin Firstly, I love the detail of Athena and her helmet. I'm also a big fan of decorated helmets on coins, and it's really cool to see such an iconic helmet with a Skylla on it too. Even if the reverse isn't in the best of condition, I love the scene. It's so wonderful to have a coin depicting a famous mythological scene in action, and it works really nicely with my Philip III Drachm as on that coin you can see that Herakles has defeated the lion and is wearing the lion skin headdress. It was quite affordable and featured an awesome lion scene, so it was a must buy. if you want to learn more: https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/lucania-herakleia-diobol
It seems the images don't work? Sorry about that - I'm still really new here, but if you want to see the pictures, they are all here: https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/top-coins-of-2021
welcome, nice coins, I like the 1/12th stater best. Is the 1/12th stater gold colored in hand? I have had trouble making pictures match the color of coins. I took the pics below. The coin on the right really has a gold tone and the left one is silver with no gold tone.
No, it actually looks completely silver in hand, and doesn't have any gold toning.The pic is quite misleading, because it does suggest it doesn't look all silver-coloured. I might try to retake that photo sometime, in the hope I can capture its appearance in hand.
If linking images doesn't work, you'll have to upload them and I don't remember if you have to have a certain minimum number of posts before you can upload pictures. I took screen shots of your three coins and will upload them below along with the brief descriptions. Your writeups for each coin are very nice and I hope people will click them if they have time . Congrats on a good coin year! Empire: Ancient Greece Place: Miletos Date: Late 6th Century BC Denomination: AR Twelfth Stater Weight: 1.22g Obv (image on left). Lion protome facing left. Rev (image on right). Debated design, may be a sun, star, flower… (discussed within article). https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/miletos-twelfth-stater Empire: Ancient Greece Place/Ruler: Lampsacus/Philip III Date: 323-317 BC Denomination: AR Drachm Weight: 4.00g Obv (image on left). Posthumous issue featuring head of beardless Herakles wearing a lion skin headdress. Rev (image on right). Zeus seated on stool-throne left, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left hand Left Field - Buckle Under Throne- Artemis I. Holding Torch https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/philip-iii-drachm Empire: Ancient Greece Place: LUCANIA, Herakleia Date: Circa 420/15-390 BC Denomination: AR Diobol Weight: 1.00g Obv (image on left). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla Rev (image on right). Herakles standing right, strangling the Nemean Lion to right. https://www.ancientnumis.com/articles/lucania-herakleia-diobol
Wow @TIF Thanks so much for doing all of that! I did manage to post a pic in another thread just after I sent this, so hopefully it will work from now on. I'm really glad you enjoyed my write-ups on the website too!
Welcome AncientNumis Always a treat to see nice coins as the three you shared Happy New year to You and your Family! John
Great set, @AncientNumis, and welcome! Your Herakleia diobol issue may also have been minted at Taras, Tiati, Kailia, Heridonia or Rubi which all issued similar coins. Often the ethnic is absent, making it difficult to conclusively identify the correct mint site. Most of these coins appear to be attributed to either Herakleia or Taras though.
