Sulla80

1 hour ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Next wish, please two goddess again.

PAMPHYLIA, Side, circa 145-125 BC, Tetradrachm, struck under the magistrate Kleuch...

Obv: Head of Athena to right, wearing Corinthian helmet.

Rev: KΛE-YX Nike alighting to left, holding wreath in her outstretched right hand and fold of her drapery with her left; to left, pomegranate

Next: pamphylia

An excellent River God /Aeolis pileon!  Unfortunately, I now need to find an AEOLIS, Gryneion, Mussel coin, @Steve.  I'll add another Gela:

SICILY, Gela, circa 420-405 BC, Æ Tetras (17mm, 3.45g, 12h)

(right) Obv: Bull standing left; olive branch above, three pellets (mark of value) in exergue

(left) Rev: Head of river god right; grain kernel behind

"Æolis comes next, formerly known as Mysia, and Troas which is adjacent to the Hellespont. Here, after passing Phocæa, we come to the Ascanian Port, then the spot where Larissa stood, and then Cyme, Myrina, also called Sebastopolis, and in the interior, Ægæ, Attalia, Posidea, Neontichos, and Temnos. Upon the shore we come to the river Titanus, and the city which from it derives its name. "

-Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book 5, 32.1

One way to have an ancient coin collection and not spend too much money: start a collection of "coins of Tisna".  The coins may not be individually cheap but you will have a hard time finding any...  This type in Asia Minor Coins : Coin ID #7772.  My Notes on this coin can be found here: Tisna River God.  Anyone with coins from Kyme/Cyme will recognize the one-handed cup (oinochoe - wine pourer).

Aeolis, Tisna, 4th century BC, Æ 17.6mm, (3.96g, 5h)

Obv: Head of river god Tisnaios left

Rev: TIΣ/NAION, one-handled cup

The archeological site was first discovered in 1860 by a French sailor M. Guichon. (See: E. Erdan, 2019).

In a 2006 thesis from Istanbul University, The river-gods in Asia Minor in the light of the coins, Zeynep Sencan Altinoluk identified 77 river gods on coins from Asia Minor.

Post coins of river gods, coins of Aeolis, coins with oinochoae, or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

I agree with Phil - I don't think there is a strong norm.  I recently bought a coin that said clearly "16mm (max)" - I like the clarity of this, but don't usually see it.  I have usually put both max and min (e.g. 32mmx39mm) when the coin is very oval.  Most coins I try to record the avg diameter.  Here's one where I felt I needed to share both dimensions.

Caria, Alabanda, Circa 169-161 BC, AR Tetradrachm (32-39mm, 16.2g, 12h), in the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon, Dated CY 1 (168/167 BC)
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, Pegasos springing left; A (date) below throne.
Ref: Price 2460

1 hour ago, AncientOne said:

Next: Head of Tyche

Cilicia. Tarsos circa 164-27 BC. Bronze Æ

Turreted, veiled, and draped bust of Tyche right

TΑΡΣΕΩΝ, Sandan standing right on horned, winged animal, within a pyramidal monument surmounted by an eagle;  monograms to left.

Next: another coin with chipped patina.

53 minutes ago, dougsmit said:

I doubt this one will be the final attempt unless I just give up and recognize that no one cares but me.

I am sure that more than a few of us see our coins differently thanks to your photos and posts - hope you can get the lighting to work better on this one 😀  it looks flat to me - I'd want to create some shadow.

20 minutes ago, Steve said:

Next => another 1/2-ass ... ah, what the hell, 1/2-assed or even a total fricken ass!!

 

... geesh ... okay, or a Kantharos!! (or even 1/2 a Kantharos)

I don't have a hemi-Kantharos, but I do have a hemi-drachm with a kantharos on it....more on this coin: Boeotian Federal Coinage.

Next: another shield (boeotian, gallic, macedonian, roman, ...)

40 minutes ago, Ryro said:

Next: something you get a kick out of owning

Welll...I was a few posts behind, but I do get a kick out of owning this coin of Cleopatra III ruling with her son Lathyros ("chickpea") aka Ptolemy IX Soter II (116-107 BC), Alexandria mint, dated LZ (date) == RY 7 (111/0 BC)

Ptolemy IX was married to his sister Cleopatra IV and then later to his other sister Cleopatra Selene.  In 107 BC Cleopatra III tired of her son and put his younger brother Ptolemy X in charge.

Reference : Svoronos 1668

"In Egypt, Cleopatra, being dissatisfied at having her son Ptolemy to share her throne, excited the people against him, and taking from him his wife Selene (the more ignominiously, as he had now two children by her), obliged him to go into exile, sending, at the same time, for her younger son Alexander, and making him king in his brother’s room. "

-Justin, Epitome, 39.4

It turns out Ptolemy X was not a very grateful son, and he killed his mother in 101 BC.  The people of Egypt eventually turned on Ptolemy X and Ptolemy IX returned as King of Egypt in 88 BC. 

Next: another coin you get a kick out of owning

5 hours ago, shanxi said:

Next: Animal on helmet or shield 

A squawking griffin on the top of Roma's helmet and elephant biga on the reverse.

more on this coin : https://www.sullacoins.com/post/finding-m-caecilivs-q-f-q-n

Next: an elephant or elephant skin headdress

# other coins that show Victory doing what she does best...apparently when she isn't spinning, Victory is celebrating: arms in the air - waving a palm frond & wreath and dancing in front of a garlanded altar with a serpent wrapped around it....

L. Rubrius Dossenus, AR Quinarius 87

Obv: DOS – SEN laureate head of Neptune right; behind, trident.

Rev: L. RVBRI Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm branch; before her, garlanded altar with serpent coiled around top

Size: 1.86g 12.5mm

Ref: Crawford 348/4, Babelon Rubria 4, Sydenham 708

More on this coin in my Notes.

20 hours ago, Alegandron said:

 

Next: AR Pyrrhos - any of his kingdoms...

image, public domain, via archive.org

Since it has been ~11 hours - I will take some liberties with the interpretation of "AR Pyrrhos, any of his kingdoms" and share this coin of Epirote League.  Pyrrhus of Epirus became leader of the League in 297 BC.  When his wife, Antigone,  died,  he married three other women:

- Lanassa daughter of Agathocles, King of Syracuse

- A daughter of King Audoleon of the Paeones

- Bircenna, the daughter of the leader of the Illyrians, Bardyllis

This secured peace with all of Epirus' neighbors.  The other important neighbor, King Demetrius of Macedonia was married to Pyrrhus' sister.  This coin was issued well after the death of Pyrrhus and is federal coinage of the Epirote League.

Epeiros, Epirote Republic, AR Drachm, circa 234-168 BC

Obv: Laureate head of Dodonaean Zeus right; monogram below

Rev: Eagle standing right on thunderbolt, ΑΠΕΙ to left, ΡΩΤΑΝ to right; all within wreath

Ref: Franke, Group II

Next: a coin from any of the neighbors to Epirote

10 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

Next: Tooled beyond recognition.

It is prudent to check out both sides of a coin before buying....this example showing some evidence of "cleaning" on the obverse:

Next: an untooled AE litra from Syracuse

On 6/9/2022 at 9:03 PM, Ryro said:

Next: big ole butt

How about Homer, sitting on his thinking about writing the Iliad and the Odyssey? This coin from Smyrna also has a great portrait of Apollo.

Ionia, Smyrna, c. 125-115 BC. Æ (22mm, 8.63g, 12h). Apollodoros, magistrate

Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right

Rev: Homer contemplating, seated left on his big ole butt, resting chin on hand and holding sceptre

Ref: Milne 197; SNG Copenhagen 1147

Next: a fabulous portrait

3 hours ago, Alegandron said:

Next: horse head

I like the headless horse - I suppose that Carthage would have made sense for this category...

however, I am going to go with this Autonomous coin from Cilicia Aigeai :

Cilicia, Aigeai, circa 164-27 BC, AE 20

Obv: Turreted, draped, and veiled bust of Tyche right

Rev: AIΓEAIΩN THΣIEPAΣ KAI AVTONOMOY, bridled horse's head left; monogram to right

Next: forepart of some animal

Wow - amazing to see the coins that quickly appear in a forum that didn't exist a week or two ago - lots of nice Roman republican denarii and great looking Maxentius from Ostia.

No shortage of items for the RR wish list: L. Livineius Regulus (Crawford 494/30) as shown by @AncientJoe and @jdmKY

L. Servius Rufus....

Codex Vaticanus Latinus 3868, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript of the Latin comedies of Publius Terentius Afer. Public Domain Image via Wikipedia.

This denarius was issued near the end of the Third Punic War in 147 BC by a moneyer who may have been the master of Terence, the playwright, or perhaps his son.  A Gaius Terentius Lucanus is also mentioned by Pliny as the one who popularized gladiatorial art.

C. Terentius Lucanus, 147 BC, AR Denarius, (18mm, 3.74 g, 8h), Rome mint

Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, Victory standing right, holding wreath, above X (mark of value, below victory a bit hard to see on this coin), border of dots

Rev: C.TER LVC, Dioscuri riding right, each holding a spear, ROMA below, line border

Ref: Crawford 217/1; Sydenham 425; Terentia 10

A full write-up in my notes at http://www.sullacoins.com/

Post your 2nd century Roman republican denarii featuring the dioscuri, coins connected to Greek and Roman theater or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

3 hours ago, rNumis said:

Hi everyone - Steve Moulding here. I run rNumis.com. I've just joined and want to say hello. Thanks to @DonnaML for alerting external folks to this place and to @Restitutor for putting this together. It looks great. I look forward to being part of the community.

Cheers,

Steve

Hi Steve - a fantastic resource - thank you!  Here are a few suggestions on user interface - especially as a first time / infrequent user, it wasn't obvious how to navigate. 

- From the home page I think a more prominent link to the two databases (beyond the menu) would be useful for new users.    Maybe something simple and graphical that shares why you would use them:

- (Provenance DB) it be nice to be able to sort by date or weight
- (Provenance DB) when I hit the 5th page it was surprising that I could page beyond - some indication that there are more than 5 pages would be useful.

-(Provenance DB) weight does allow filtering to denomination, but it would be nice to have the option to filter by denomination too (even if that were just an automatic weight filter). 

-(Auction Catalog) it would be nice to have some indication of how many are available online on the front page

Thanks so much for the excellent resource.

7 hours ago, CPK said:

The gold cup and plate are a bit over the top...the ring, though, I have to admit, is kinda neat.

I agree and am surprised the silver was workable.  I initially missed the link with the full story:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/9fj55x/i_made_a_wedding_band_for_a_patron_out_of_an/

that is just amazing....it reminds me of the story of Cleopatra's wager with Mark Antony.

Detail from a painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo  (1696–1770), The Banquet of Cleopatra, public domain image from wikipedia.

Cleopatra bet Anthony that she could spend 10 million sesterces on one dinner.  As the dinner proceeded Anthony remarked that he was surprised that such an ordinary dinner could possibly be so expensive....Cleopatra had him right where she wanted him:

"At this moment she was wearing in her ears those choicest and most rare and unique productions of Nature (the two largest pearls known to the world); and while Antony was waiting to see what she was going to do, taking one of them from out of her ear, she threw it into the vinegar, and as soon as it was melted, swallowed it."

- Pliny, Natural History, 9.58

Lucius Plancus, arbitrator of the wager, declared Cleopatra the victor to quickly save the second pearl from a similar fate. The second pearl was cut in two and became pendant earrings for Venus, in the Pantheon at Rome.

Congrats & Thank you, @Restitutor, you've put together an amazing looking site in days - it has been fun to watch and I am pleased to see the collection of people that have joined.  As this thread demonstrates you have many willing to contribute to the success of NvmisForvms!   

@maridvnvm fantastic control marks on your L Papius - and I like the egocentric collection theme!

Probably not unique, but pretty hard to find and unique in its details : Nepal, Janapada, Shakya Republic, Narhan hoard type, AR five shana, circa 600-500 BC.  Zeno-152179  two crescents with dots punch in the center, many ancillary symbols around and struck over each other, uniface and scyphate.  The capital of Shakya state was Kapilavatsu, about 15 miles west of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.  According to tradition, he lived from 563 to 483 BC.  He is also called Shakyamuni, meaning “sage of the Shakya clan.”

and this one of three that I have found so far (2 in Kleiner & Noe) and this one:

Ionia, Ephesos, struck circa 145-140 BC, AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm (28-30mm, 12.62g, 11h)

Obv: Cista mystica with serpent; all within ivy wreath

Rev: Bow case with serpents; above right and left Dioscuri caps surmounted by stars,

below on the left is EΦE above a coiled serpent.

Ref: Kleiner & Noe Series 29, this coin is a die match for 41-a Plate XV,8. The cast illustrated in Kleiner & Noe came from Herzoglichen Sammlung formerly Gotha, cast collected by L. Strauss and held by ANS.

1 hour ago, NewStyleKing said:

My old Kyme! Sold via Roma to fund NewStyles!

Aeolis Kyme Tetradrachm c 146 BC SOLDObs- The Amazon Kyme facing right wearing taenia
Die flaw on cheek
16.80gm 32 mm
A Stephanophore tetradrachm
Rev - Horse prancing right raised forelock, below one handled cup
Right Field : ΚΥΜΑΙΩΝ
Exergue ΜΗΤΡΟΦΑΝΗΣ magistrate
All within wreath
SOLD

I could use a "jealous" emoji.

44 minutes ago, Ryro said:

Next: freaky looking artistry 

We all know what Roma looks like - this is "Freaky looking Roma" on this coin:

C. Poblicius Q. f., AR Serrate Denarius, Rome, 80 BC

Obv: Helmeted and draped bust of Roma to right; B above, ROMA downwards behind

Rev: Hercules standing to left, strangling the Nemean lion; club at his feet, bow and arrows in bowcase to lower left; B (facing down) to upper left, C•POBLICI•Q•F upwards to right

Ref: Crawford 380/1

Next: Lion

29 minutes ago, filolif said:

Next: Another bankers mark (I love bankers marks)

Here are some bankers marks on a Roman Republican coin about making coins....MONETA with tools from the mint on the reverse. T. Carisius.

Next: Moneta

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

Next: more from the Thessalian League.

Thessaly, Thessalian League, Mid-late 2nd century BC, AR Drachm (4.24g), Her– and Heg–, magistrates

Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right; HP monogram to left

Rev: ΘEΣΣA-ΛΩN, Athena Itonia right; HΓ monogram to inner right.

Ref: BCD Thessaly II 836; BMC 42; McClean 4968

Next: another Greek city "League"