Your Most Expensive Ancient/Medieval Coins

Forgot, my best Medieval....
AV Cavalier d'or ND Philippe Le Bon
Comte de Hollande 1433-67
Not such a good guy, he handed Joan of Arc to English, who barbequed her on the stake

 

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Titus with Domitian on horseback sestertius

 

Nero sestertius

 

Caligula sestertius

 

Why not....my best Baroque era coin/ one of my favs.
AV Dukat 1646 A-I (Weissenberg Mint)
Prince Georg Rakozki I of Transylvania

 

Thanks, ValiantKnight for revisiting this topic!

 

My most expensive:



Erin

 

Bro's most expensive:



Erin

 

I forge t Commodus sestertius

 

This guy is my most expensive to date - twice as much as I have spent in any other coin

England
Stephen, r. 1135-1154 (c. 1136-45)
AR Watford Type Penny, London Mint, 19.17mm x 1.1 grams
Obv.: S[TIEFNE RE]X. Bust right, crowned and diademed, holding sceptre in right hand
Rev.: ADEL[ARD : ON : LVN]. Cross moline with fleur in each angle
Ref. North 873, SCBC 1278, CC99 ST1D-005, De Wit 3189

I currently have my eye on something that will be twice as much as this one...

 

Is the irregular shape the result of folks intentionally breaking off pieces to create denominations for smaller transactions?

Amazing, coin!

 

Not for the purposes of creating fractionals, but it was created during a time of chaotic civil war with little oversight, and there is some intentional clipping from 2-4 o'clock on the obverse. The odd shape is a little abnormal, but so is the strong and clear strike

 

My most expensive coin is probably someone else's least expensive coin, but when I bought it, my heart was racing...my coin equivalent of a modest Rolex (I don't wear a watch)

My money got me this. It's in my avatar. I feel like I know the old man, I've looked at it so often. In that sense, it is my least expensive coin per view.


DYNASTS of LYCIA. Mithrapata. Circa 390-370 BC

AR Stater (24.5mm, 9.80 g, 1h). mint probably Antiphellos Forepart of lion right / Head of Mithrapata left; MITHR-A-P-ATA in Lycian around, triskeles to lower right; all within incuse square. Mildenberg, Mithrapata Mildenberg, Mithrapata 6 Dies 3 and 5, Podalia 60 thru 67 A3 and P5, Falghera Reuter 98 and 99, SNG Copenhagen Supp. 472 same dies, Boston MFA Supp. 229 same dies, Kraay & Hirmer 658 same dies, EF, toned.


"The portraits on coins in the later Lycian series are among the finest of the Classical period. Among the earliest to attempt depictions of their rulers on coinage, the Lycians' first portraits in the later 5th century BC were innovative, but static, idealized forms lacking individual characterization. Over the next half-century, however, the style progressed significantly toward realism, culminating in the issues of the dynasts Mithrapata and Perikles in the early-mid 4th century BC. The coins of Mithrapata came first, depicting on their reverse the profile portrait of a man with distinctive elderly features. Through the relative chronology established in L. Mildenberg's die study, one can even see the portrait become more aged as time progressed, reflecting the realism that had been captured in these issues. The coins of Perikles, Mithrapata's successor, continue this trend, but also have two innovations that set them at the pinnacle of classical portraiture. First, the portrait is moved to the obverse of the coin, emphasizing the importance of the individual. Second, and most prominently, the portrait is not in the traditional profile, but in a dramatic facing state. Obviously influenced by Kimon's facing Arethusa-head coinage at Syracuse, these depict Perikles looking out from the surface of the coin with a serene countenance and his hair flowing around him as if blown by the wind. This depiction captures the essence of the earlier idealized portraits, conveying to the viewer a sense that Perikles was more than a mere man, but retaining the realism in its individualized features. Interestingly, both Mithrapata and Perikles are depicted without any sort of satrapal headgear, which was always included in earlier Lycian portraits, perhaps indicating that they had declared their independence from the Persian king. These astonishing developments in portraiture came to an abrupt end in Lycia when Maussollos of Caria invaded the region circa 360 BC." from the auction catalog ex Triton

 

@4to2centBC

That portrait is simply superb. Wow, there is nothing like a coin portrait completed by a true master of the art.

 

Ditto!!

That's gorgeous!!

 

+1

 

Truly amazing coin/ artistic design!

 

Very beautiful coin! I do have a minor correction in the ethnic inscription you've described. I see an epsilon rather than an iota in the ethnic. I think it's: ME)(PA-ΠATA .

 

You are correct of course. That is the CNG attribution and I believe they used the term "in Lycian" to indicate they were making a translation into English. I can't find half the keys that people use for other languages. For instance, I have no idea how to type a letter with an umlaut over it. Unless I can copy and paste it, I stick with my english keyboard and ethnics used in the catalog description. I will however copy and paste your ethnic and use it to update my gallery listing. Thanks for that. ME)(PA-ΠATA


AR Stater (24.5mm, 9.80 g, 1h). mint probably Antiphellos Forepart of lion right / Head of Mithrapata left; MITHR-A-P-ATA in Lycian around ME)(PA-ΠATA , triskeles to lower right; all within incuse square. Mildenberg, Mithrapata Mildenberg, Mithrapata 6 Dies 3 and 5, Podalia 60 thru 67 A3 and P5, Falghera Reuter 98 and 99, SNG Copenhagen Supp. 472 same dies, Boston MFA Supp. 229 same dies, Kraay & Hirmer 658 same dies, EF, toned.

 

Off topic, but I can help you with this. If you use MSWord, the Greek alphabet can be found at INSERT>SYMBOLS. In fact, the German umlaat can be found there as well! On my cell phone, if I hold the "u" in my keyboard I get a drop down list including ü. I hope that helps!