UkrainiiVityaz

Cointalk - Signed up when I was living in Ukraine in 2008, never been banned but got a warning once. I thought Peter Davis did a really good job when he was more active in the running of the forum early on - since then it has hit the fan. CCF - was never on there, but heard they had a forum "mom" and "dad" moderators which seemed a bit juvenile for my tastes. Facebook - signed off and deleted my account back in 2013 - TMI for me, don't care to hear about politics, people's leaky bums etc. Also briefly dabbled with a paper money forum, but again the political farks took over and I left that.

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Italians being Latin, just couldn't have ugly coinage.

Silly collectors, how can you have beauty on coins without Dania representing Denmark: She even appears on medallic plaquettes for Carlsberg Brewery in Kobenhavn designed by Chaplain and minted in Paris to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the brewery: Forgive the swastikas, they were later hijacked by a bunch of idiots to the south in Germany

A Katangan cross from the late 19th century, these traded as a form of currency in southern Africa in what is now Congo.

These are commonly referred to as tiger tongues, they are molded in silver and traded in SE Asia until the mid 20th century.

Olbia - Олбия Some of the world's earliest coinage may have in fact had it's origins as amulets or offerings to a god. However they began to be issued, with eventuality they soon saw service as a medium of exchange. The curious aspect of the Delfin, or Dolphin money from the city state of Olbia in Southern Ukraine is of course the shape of the pieces, which were modelled on the Black Sea dolphins. Inasmuch as dolphins were rather prominent on later ancient coinages from Syracuse and Calabria, these pieces are unique for their shape. The earliest pieces seem to have had a bit more detail to the designs, as dorsal fins and eyes are featured. Later pieces were produced perhaps in a bit more of a mass production scenario, and lost some of the details. Later pieces also featured some alphabetic characters, most notably OY. Another form of currency were small spearpoints, these of course had a very utilitarian purpose for anybody during that time and as such they possibly were used as a form of money in trade. The number of them found in archaeological digs in Ukraine suggests that perhaps they were also used as a primitive form of money. The smaller of these two points is 18mm long, the larger of the two is 22mm long. They appear to have been cast in some form of a mold, then any spurs etc. were filed off during the manufacturing process. The longer of the two appears to have been filed for smooth edges, whilst the other one is a bit more aerodynamic.

Tyra - Тира Tyra is in the SE corner of what is now Ukraine - near the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, and is one of the oldest known continously occupied cities in the world. It is believed that the original settlement of the area at the mouth of the Dnestr river began in the 6th century BC, it's prominence at the end of the river where it empties into the Black Sea gives it an advantage in trade. Coins from Tyra date into the 3rd century BC, but curiously they are difficult to find as they are never found in any quantity. As the Roman Empire expanded eastward and absorbed Thrace their client states in the region began minting coins in the names of the Roman Emperors. This coin was minted in the reign of Antoninus Pius(138-161 AD) and bears his portrait and name. The reverse of the coin has Hercules standing with a club and lion skin and the legend "TYPANWN" for the city name. Even during the Roman era there doesn't appear to have been a large output of coinage from Tyra, and this example is only the third one I have seen in ten years of searching for one. The city of Bilhorod-Dnestrovskyi is one of those places that has changed hands many many times over the years, it has been a part of the Greek Empire, then Roman, Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, then the Ottoman Empire, part of Moldavia in the 18th century, then absorbed into the Russian Empire, then in 1918 was awarded to Romania and became "Cetatae Alba" - literally meaning White City, then in 1940 was taken by the USSR and became a part of Ukraine. There are historical excavations going on in the vicinity of the Fortress of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi - a fortress that dates into Byzantine times. This is not a particularly pretty coin - but I have family ties to Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi and coins minted there are quite rare.

I've made three purchases from sellers in Ukraine in the past few months, even with the war everything has come through securely but slowly.

SICILY, Syracuse. Reign of Agathokles, c. 317-289 BC. AR 8-Litrai (6.85g). Head of Athena wearing Corinthian helmet left / Pegasus flying left, triskeles below. SNG ANS 684. A fascinating aspect of this coin is it's remarkable similarity to the well known Corinthian Staters from the same era. Like their modern descendants, ancient minters knew a good thing when they saw on it, and if they could improve upon the design all the better. What distinguishes this piece from the Corinth issues is the presence of the Sicilian "Triskeles" on the reverse of the piece under Pegasus. This "Triskeles" is symbolic of the island of Sicily. Probably close to a favourite, definitely in my top 2-3.

I've owned it a long time, but they are fairly inexpensive and I think it is possible to get some slightly earlier examples.

English crown from Charles II dated 1676 and minted at the Tower mint in London.

A winged thunderbolt: This hemi-litron was issued during the reign of Agathokles from ca. 317-289 BC and portrays an image of Artemis or Diana, the Goddess of War -notice her quiver of arrows behind her neck. The legend Soteira translates as "saviour" The winged thunderbolt on the reverse with the monarchs' Agathokles name and title is a famous design.

Casting spurs that were never removed from the blank flan: This coin is a hemi litron from ca. 405-395 BCE. Curiously this is a cast piece, and the casting spur was never removed from the coin, making for a very dramatically formed coin which probably did not circulate for long, but may have been saved as a curiousity or perhaps never circulated at all. This piece has a portrait of Arethusa on the obverse and a dolphin and clam shell on the reverse. Circa 410 BC. Hemilitron (3.21 gm; 18 mm x 14 mm). Head of Arethusa left, hair in ampyx and sphendone, in field right, laurel twig; whole in linear circle / ΣΥΡΑ Dolphin right, below, pecten. Calciati II, 55, 24. SNG ANS 418. This piece, though unsigned, may have been created by one of the greats of Syracuse minting, as it displays superior skills in artistic approach and engraving.

My oldest dated Christian era coin - a 1508 denar from Hungary.

I am getting the hang of the new forum, but still think a domain name would be a good idea.

I'd contribute the 29$ I did not this year send to the former site given the immodest moderation issues.

Ancient Egyptian scarab in faience - when I bought this years ago they were fairly easy to find and not very costly.

Gallia Belgica - potin coin, kind of interesting figure of priest etc on front and wolf slaying prey on reverse.

Skythian spearpoints from Kherson in now Russian occupied southern Ukraine. These are from 3-4th century BCE and may have possibly circulated as a form of currency.

Okay, I would like to see Etruscan coin!

These are my kitties, Alyona Marina and Adora Kakeshkina - Adorechka is my mewmismatist kitty. Last photograph my two boy kitties Lyosha Pushkin and Lyov Tolstoy. And coin from Miletos

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Tyra - Тира Tyra is in the SE corner of what is now Ukraine - near the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, and is one of the oldest known continously occupied cities in the world. It is believed that the original settlement of the area at the mouth of the Dnestr river began in the 6th century BC, it's prominence at the end of the river where it empties into the Black Sea gives it an advantage in trade. Coins from Tyra date into the 3rd century BC, but curiously they are difficult to find as they are never found in any quantity. As the Roman Empire expanded eastward and absorbed Thrace their client states in the region began minting coins in the names of the Roman Emperors. This coin was minted in the reign of Antoninus Pius(138-161 AD) and bears his portrait and name. The reverse of the coin has Hercules standing with a club and lion skin and the legend "TYPANWN" for the city name. Even during the Roman era there doesn't appear to have been a large output of coinage from Tyra, and this example is only the third one I have seen in ten years of searching for one. The city of Bilhorod-Dnestrovskyi is one of those places that has changed hands many many times over the years, it has been a part of the Greek Empire, then Roman, Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, then the Ottoman Empire, part of Moldavia in the 18th century, then absorbed into the Russian Empire, then in 1918 was awarded to Romania and became "Cetatae Alba" - literally meaning White City, then in 1940 was taken by the USSR and became a part of Ukraine. There are historical excavations going on in the vicinity of the Fortress of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi - a fortress that dates into Byzantine times

Hemilitron (AE 17mm) 344-317 bc. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ head of Persephone l., wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace, hair tied with fillet. Rv. Forepart of Pegasos left; below Σ. 4,83gr. Head of Persephone. SNG ANS 530; SNG Cop.734; Laffaille 224; Virzi 1493; Calciati II 184,79An unusual depiction of Pegasos on a bronze from Syracuse, this coin is roughly from the time of Timoleon or the Third Democracy.