Uncommon Denominations, Greek, Roman, Byzantine

Good heavens! You are to be commended for your studies and for sharing your uncommon coins. It's better than I thought it would be and I must admit that there is a good deal of information being disseminated that helps fill in a vey large gap in my collection. I now know I need some of these coins. My wife will be delighted to hear this, I am sure.

 

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I hate to admit this, but although I have been collecting ANCIENT coins, apparently for so long that they were just OLD coins when I started I had no idea that some of these later imperial coins had marks of value on them. I admit to not being as much interested in the coins of the Tetrarchy Era and Constantine as earlier imperial coins but I don't know how I could have missed out on this. I now will have to go through all my folles to see if I have any of these in my possession. One question, if I may. Are these coins scarcer than coins without those marks of value and therefore harder to come by? Thanks

 

Oktobol is a quite uncommon denomination for Greek coins, same as a Tridrachm and Hemitetartemorion (maybe someone has one to share?).


Syracuse, Sicily - Pyrrhos AR Oktobol (278–276 B.C.). 'Old collection toning'.
Obverse: Head of Persephone to left, wearing wreath of grain leaves and pendant earrings; poppy seed behind.
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - ΠΥΡΡΟΥ; Athena Alkidemos advancing left, brandishing spear with her right hand and holding shield aloft in her left.
5.20g; 20mm

Other then that the Seleukid empire had their own Bronze denomination system, which I did a write up about: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/special-seleukid-elephant-coin-from-ekbatana.343802/

With Denomination E, a "quarter unit" being the rarest, even when comparing to other kingdoms such as Macedon the quarter unit is the most uncommon.


Antiochos VIII Epiphanes (121/0-97/6 B.C.) Æ Denomination E (quarter), struck circa 109-96 B.C.
Obverse: Diademed head of Antiochus VIII right.
Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY EΠIФANOYΣ (“of King Antiochos the Illustrious”), Rose. Outer left PE control.
Reference: SC 2316; HGC 9, 1227(R3).
2.33g; 13mm

 

I must admit that although I very much like ancient Greek coins for their beauty and excellence in their minting process I am baffled by their down right weird (to me, anyway) and odd denominations. A "hemitetartemorion" sounds like an engine for a racing car.

 

Not the rarest in the absolute sense, but Aurelian and Severina attempted to reinstate AE denominations late in their reign, in the mid 270s. Based on size and weight most auctioneers call them an AE As, but the lack of a "sestertius" (of at least 15g) leads me to believe that they were probably treated as light sestertii.





Also there are radiate "quinarii" issued in the 280s, although for Allectus, I would suspect that they were simply reduced antoninianii produced later in his reign, as his isolated economy began to crumble

 

1/8 Aureus ND
Axumite Empire
Aphilas 290-300AD
13mm. 0.81g.

1/8 Daric ND Halikarnassus Mint
Karia/ Satraps
Pixodarus 341-38BC
7mm. 1.05g.

 

I am not familiar with those coins. Were they issued by all the mints or just a few?

 

QUINARII

Etrurian / Rasenna
(Unknown name, since the Rasenna Language not truly known... but AR 5 Asses)
I understand that the language of Rasenna / Etruria predates Indo-European, and that they are from Old Europe language / peoples.

POPULONIA.
Õ-5 Asses, 3. Jahrhundert v. Chr.; 2.00 g. Jünglingskopf l. dahinter Wertangabe//Glatt. Rutter, Historia Numorum 173; Vecchi, The coinage of the Rasna III, 52; Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage 91.6 (dies Exemplar).
Von großer Seltenheit. Feine Patina, winz. Kratzer, sehr schön
Auktion NAC 29, Zürich 2005, Nr. 9.
Das Stück ist abgebildet bei Christian Gliwitzky, Aus Etruskern werden Römer - Geprägte Gold- und Silbermünzen, in: Jörg Gebauer (Hrsg.) u. a. Die Etrusker - Von Villanova bis Rom, München 2015, S. 282, Abb. 6.41.

(Google Translate)
POPULONIA.
Õ-5 Asses, 3rd century BC BC; 2.00 g. Youth head l. followed by value // smooth. Rutter, Historia Numorum 173; Vecchi, The coinage of the Rasna III, 52; Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage 91.6 (this copy).
Of great rarity. Fine patina, tiny. Scratches, very nice
auction NAC 29, Zurich 2005, No. 9.
The piece is depicted by Christian Gliwitzky, Etruscans become Romans - minted gold and silver coins, in: Jörg Gebauer (ed.) U. a. The Etruscans - From Villanova to Rome, Munich 2015, p. 282, Fig.6.41.
THE DR. ROLF TETZLAFF-GAHRMANN COLLECTION
Ex: Kunker

Roman Republic:

Pre-Reform of 211
Tarriffed at 5 Asses, ergo a Heavy Quinarius


Roman Republic
Anon
AR Heavy Quinarius / Half-Quadrigatus / Drachm
216-214 BCE
Janus ROMA
Jupiter Victory Quadriga LEFT
Craw 29-4 Sear 35


Roman Republic
Anon AR Heavy Quinarius / Drachm / Half-Quadrigatus
225-212 BCE
3.1g 18mm
Janus Jupiter in Quadriga L Victory ROMA
Craw 28-4 Sear 35 SCARCE


POST 211 REFORM


Roman Republic
Anon
AR Quinarius 211-210 BCE
16mm 2.14g
SE Italia mint
Roma V ROMA
Dioscuri H
Cr 85-1a SYD 174 RSC 33b
ex RBW SCARCE

 

I am not too familiar with them, but I believe they were only minted at Rome.

It is also interesting to note that they don't bear the SC, so they would be considered medallions if they weren't so common and usually found with circulation wear.

There is also an extremely rare "dupondius" which features Aurelian radiate on the obverse and Severina on a crescent on the reverse - despite only weighing 13g, I would be more apt to call them double sestertii.

Other rare denominations from my Greek collection:

Not rare as a denomination, but this Kyme diobol or trihemiobol may be unique or one of only a few known, compared to the plentiful hemiobols of this type


Also a rare denomination, but apparently unique type in that denomination, an itty-bitty Troas, Dardanos hemitartemorion, only 0.07g - too small to be useful in daily commerce, or did 99% of all examples dissolve in the soil?

 

They are scarcer but you can find them. A common LRB with field marks is the half follis issued from mints controlled by Licinius from A.D. 321- 324 (Heraclea, Nicomedia, Cyzicus, Antioch, and Alexandria). The coin below is one of these. They were struck for all the rulers, but had no value outside the territory of Licinius.



In the right field of the coin pictured above there is an X over II and an episemon - "The last sign is clearly an episemon, epigraphically employed for S(emis) also." (RIC VII p. 12) Semis literally means half, and the semis coin was valued at half an as. So this coin is valued at 12.5, half of the normal follis struck in Constantinian mints at the time. The normal follis was valued at 25 denarii communes (DC is an accounting unit).

The real reason that this radiate half follis had no value outside of Licinius' land was that it contains less than 1% silver, versus the Constantinian coins of the time which are circa 4%.

 

Interesting study, the language of the Etruscans with apparently no connection to any other existing or extinct language. Even considered odd by the ancient Romans who were interested in it as much of Roman religious practice was supposed to have been based on Etruscan beliefs and practices. Supposedly the emperor Claudius made a study of it which has not survived. There was a British gentleman by the name of Michael Ventris who was a cryptologist during WWII for the British. I have read that he was a true genius and that he was responsible for determining that one of the languages of the Minoan-Mycenaean world was a dialect of Greek, something not known until he cracked the code circa 1950. He next started working on Etruscan and it was believed that if anyone could do that it would have been him. He was killed in an auto accident and his work died with him. Actually I did not know for the longest time that there was an Etruscan coinage.

 

@dougsmit wrote in the Tiny Ptolemaic AEs thread that "If 2.0g gives you the unit chalkous, 2.9g would be a tri-hemi-chalkon not a trichalkon."

Got an AE of Augustus (shown in this thread-> The Roman Empire Begins) and somewhere, unfortunately I can't remember where, issues of this type were called Trichalkon.

After reading dougsmit's observation, I started looking for definitions of trichalkon and found "The trichalkon was an ancient Greek bronze denomination worth 3 chalkoi. Since the number of chalkons to an obol varied across regions a general weight is impossible to define, except that it weighed three chalkoi from the region where it was struck."

Is the AE of Augustus, weight = 7.370 g a Trichalkon, something else or should I just call it AE 16?

Thanks in advance for any clarification, they are always most welcome

 

Dextans, Half Victoriatus, Quincunx, Silver As, Dodrans and prow Dupondius (Cr.56/1) all from my collection.

 

Thank you for posting. I was going to call you out, in hopes that you would offer up your incredible collection. All of these are on my radar. Gorgeous.

 

These go by half/third Siliqua due to their small size and close to 1 gram weight, Kent calls them Scripulum relating them to 1:288th of a Roman pound. Did a write up on them https://www.cointalk.com/threads/scripulum.282752/

Justinian I
530 AD
Mint: Constantinople
AR Scripulum or 1/3 Siliqua
Obvs: Helmeted, draped, and cuirassed bust of Constantinopolis right.
Revs: Large TX monogram.
11x14mm, 0.51g
Bendall, Anonymous Type 12

 

The denomination of this bronze autonomous coin is "2 Chalkis". It was struck in Sidon-Phoenicia. Rouvier 1293.

 

It is instructive to actually see the coins of these uncommon denominations. Reading about them just does not have the impact of seeing them.

 

I have seen these coins, but not commonly and I read your link. Do you know if these were produced as a general circulation coin? Silver did not prominently fit into the Byzantine coinage that much so I would ask you if you know for whom, for what region these coins may have been produced? That might be best answered by determining where they are likely to have ben found. Do you know from where in the Empire these coins have been uncovered? Thanks

 

Am now thinking of dropping this bunch of coins in my hands and jiggling them around and making a recording of the noise as they clatter against each other, so you can hear the in-pocket sound of a whole load of rare denominations, metal to metal clinking.

 

Ok, so I will toss out some unusual or rare denominations from CARTHAGE, since they were quite intimate with the Roman Republic over 3 Punic Wars!

1) 1-1/2 Shekels or a TriDrachm


Carthage mint
2nd Punic War 203-201 BCE
BI 1½ Shekels / TriDrachmae
24mm 9.4 g
Wreathed Headd Tanit -
Horse stndng R hd L, raised foreleg Pellet between back legs
SNG COP 394
Ex: Praefectus


2) 15 Shekels

I have posted this before, but it is the largest Hand-Stamped Ancient Coin in my collection... and, honestly, a 15-Shekel Coin is an odd denomination. I am not sure if they truly know its denomination, but this one is a "HORSE" of a Coin:

These were minted after Hannibal was defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE. Carthage was defeated and owed massive indemnity payments to Rome. Hannibal was asked to lead Carthage and reorganize their finances... This appears to be the largest denomination at 15 Shekels, and is my largest stamped coin...

This guy is a huge BRONZE... 3+ Troy Ounces





Seller write-up:
Carthage.
Circa 201-175 BC.
Æ 15 Shekels
45 mm. dia. 7.5 mm. thick. 102 gm.
Obv: Wreathed head of Tanit left
Rev: Horse standing right; uraeus above.
Ref: MAA 104 ; SNG Copenhagen 400.
Comment: Original green patina.
Note: The largest Carthaginian coin and likely one of the largest coins struck in antiquity.
Very rare.

This extraordinary large bronze coin was likely issued under the administration of Hannibal, who, following defeat at the battle of Zama, was appointed as chief magistrate of Carthage. Hannibal worked effectively to restore the finances of Carthage. The annual payment of 10,000 talents to Rome as reparations for the war, and the loss of control over the silver mines in Spain made the issuing of a silver coinage impossible. The immense thickness of this coin also precluded any significant relief of the die's impression.


3) This STATER is also considered a DEKADRACHMAE Coin in EL:

Minted at the height of the Carthage Empire's power, controlled the Western Med, Checked the Roman Republic, and was the greatest trading consortium for the time.

Africa, Zeugutana, Carthage
Anonymous (ca. BCE 310-290)
EL Dekadrachm (Stater)
18.5mm x 7.27g
Obverse: Wreathed head of Tanit left, eleven pendants on necklace; pellet before neck
Reverse: Horse standing right; two pellets below exergue line
Ref:Jenkins & Lewis Group V, 259–79; MAA 10; SNG Copenhagen 136 (my attribution from my SNG Cop Plate Book)