#ancient coins

[pothos-hemitheos]

the ancient greek twink strikes again

[twofielder]

Got another scarce Macrianus! I now of the two known obverse dies and 2 of 3 die pairings for Macrianus from Antioch Pisidia.

Roman Province - Pisidia

AE23 - 5.48g

Macrianus 260-261 AD

Antioch Mint

Obverse IMP CAE T FOL ION MACPIANOS

Bust of Macrianus right, radiate, draped, cuirassed, from behind

Reverse ANTIOCHI CL S R

Vexillum with Eagle flanked by standards

RPC X 63358

Bonus pic of this coin in my Antioch Pisidia subset (not sure if I shared this here yet?). Every small AE obverse die used in Antioch Pisidia from Philip I through Claudius II, 244-270 AD.

[textdividers]

inspired by this webfind

Thematic Divider "Beautiful coins"

Description: 3 sets of 2 images each showing a row of evenly spaced ancient coins found where today is Switzerland. The first two images show gold coins, the other four images are of a dark metal material, possibly silver. Each set has 8 coins in the top image and 16 coins in the bottom image.

Upper Rhine, Helvetii, Stater

This gold coin is an imitation of a stater from the Macedonian King Philip II. It was issued by the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii, who settled in the area of present-day Switzerland and southern Germany. The coin originated in the upper Rhine region. The head of the Greek god Apollo on the obverse is still fairly close to the original. And also the reverse shows elements that are very accurately done, such as the rest of the Greek inscription 'Philippoy.' Nevertheless the biga, the two-horse chariot, already clearly reveals the Celtic character of the coin. The image is stylized, especially the faces and bodies of the horses.

Bisopric of Lausanne, Aimon de Cossonay, Denier

The denier was the succession coin of the denarius that Charlemagne had introduced as standard coin of his empire toward the end of the 8th century. Since then, 240 Carolingian denarii were struck from one pound of silver (of about 408 grams). In German lands, the denarius developed into the pfennig, while in France it was called denier, and in Italy denaro. The territories of modern Switzerland belonged to the realm of Charlemagne too. The little town of Lausanne, where this denier was struck, already had a mint at that time. Some 550 years after the coinage reform of Charlemagne, Lausanne still minted deniers geared to the Carolingian example. The issuer of this piece was Bishop Aimon de Cossonay, who presided over the Bishopric of Lausanne from 1355 (until 1375). The obverse depicts a church with five pillars, the reverse a cross.

Holy Roman Empire, Fraumünster Abbey of Zurich, Elizabeth of Spiegelberg, Bracteate

The early coins from Zurich mostly depicted the patron saints of the city, Felix and Regula. Later issues, however, show the 'portrait' of the respective abbess. This coin depicts a schematic picture of Abbess Elizabeth of Spiegelberg (1298-1308). She wears a nun's veil, but also a necklace as a worldly attribute. This demonstrated the double position of the abbess of Zurich: clerical principal as well as feudal lord.

[markantonynumber1fan]

MY FIRST ANCIENT COIN!! MARK ANTONY LEGIONARY DENARIUS!! Not in the best condition but I’m still so so happy!!

[twofielder]

do you have any seleucid coins???/????? ALSo what are your top 3 favorites in your collection

Hmmm had to dig into the extras from group lot buys and apparently I have just one Seleucid coin at the moment. This Antiochus III AE:

I used to have an Antiochus I tetradrachm but I sold it last year:

Post by @twofielder · 2 images

💬 0  🔁 1  ❤️ 4 · Coin of the Day #161 (10/12/2024) · Ooo… big and silver and old??? Seleucid Empire AR Tetradrachm - 26mm 15.00g Antioc

Picking out my top 3 is realllly hard lol but these 3 are definitely up there:

Nero Ara Pacis AE As

Unique obverse die of Macrianus from Antioch Pisidia

And my largest ancient: a 40mm AE of Gallienus from Apollonia Mordiaeum Pisidia

Honorable mention to all the goofy portraits of Gallienus from Antioch Pisidia

[twofielder]

Need to just get back into posting things periodically. Coin of the day is probably done for good but I’ll hopefully post new acquisitions and random stuff more regularly.

This is one of my best group lot cherrypicks ever. The rarest first century emperor with a legionary countermark? Yes please thank you.

Roman Province - Syria

AE28 - 12.13g

Otho 69 AD

Antioch Mint

Obverse IMP M OTO(sic) CAE AVG

Head of Otho right, laureate

countermark: XII in rectangle [Legio XII Fulminata] (GIC 737ii, RPC 869)

Reverse S C

laurel wreath

RPC I 4320

[sellos]

[thepaintedfence]

The Coins That Rebuilt a Lost Dynasty

A silver coin, barely the size of a thumbnail. A king's profile on one side, the traditional seated archer on the other. Around the edge, one royal name returns again and again: ARSACES.

That name appears on Parthian coinage for nearly five centuries, under dozens of different kings. So how does anyone know which Arsaces is which?

Surely there's a royal chronicle somewhere, an official king list, court records, something written down at the time.

There isn't. Not as a continuous surviving Parthian court history. Historians have had to reconstruct much of the order of Parthian kings from the coins themselves, checked against scattered Greek, Roman, and Babylonian evidence. Tiny changes in portrait, headdress, mint marks, and royal titles separate one ruler from another; dated issues and hoards help anchor the sequence where they survive. During the political crises of the first century BC, coins are sometimes the strongest evidence that a particular claimant ruled at all.

Honest uncertainty: Parts of the Parthian king-list reconstruction remain genuinely disputed among specialists. Successions and dates, especially in the first century BC, are still debated. This isn't a fully solved puzzle.

Small silver pieces. A lost archive. A dynasty rebuilt.

→ The full king-by-king reconstruction lives in the Parthia series: [link]