Sulla80

My first ancient more than 40 years ago was a Valerian sestertius...this led to Gallienus (post-Shapur humiliation of his father) which led to a fascination with Roman Egypt and the coins of Gallienus (usurpers, and family...) - here's a favorite plate coin from the Dattari collection:

@DimitriosL, thinking about your questions which I didn't address in my previous post. @Octavius @Ursus, @Tejas have clearly illustrated the amazing portraits that can be found on this small silver format - I do wonder if the better portrait artists might have been assigned to the large bronzes having gained experience on the antoniniani and certainly gold coins like @panzerman's would have had best trained artists. If the coins in the market today might be a reasonable indicator of the number of coins issued during Trajan Decius' reign there are (very roughly) twice as many sestertii as aureii and 5 times as many antoniniani as sestertii. I would look to @Valentinian and others who could critically evaluate my crude assumption about relationship between issued and marketed coins: simple counts in ACSearch show ~200 aureii; 500 Setstertii; 2500 Antoniniani for Trajan Decius (with quite a few of the earlier Trajan's coins in the mix). The simple math says : more people would be needed to make dies for Antoniniani than for the other types. Is it knowable how die makers learned their craft and were applied in mints? perhaps not, but it seems that patterns could emerge from the data, and one could even look for indicators of style that might show how a given die maker moved between metal types. Perhaps as AI tools for querying portraits emerge, we might see tasks like this (die studies of various types) become less daunting/tedious. "How close to life?"...perhaps unknowable, but a systematic study of sculpture, portraits, and coins seems like a reasonable way to go. You might enjoy this site: Daniel Voshart's Roman Emperor Project https://voshart.com/roman-emperor-project Using the neural-net (Machine Learning) tool Artbreeder, Photoshop and historical references, he created photorealistic portraits of Roman Emperors from 800 busts for 54 portraits.

A great set of Trajan Decius portraits in this thread - here's one for the pile from a Tetradrachm of Roman Egypt (first year of reign). EGYPT, Alexandria. Trajan Decius. AD 249-251. Potin Tetradrachm. Dated RY 1 (AD 249/50). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / Sarapis standing facing, head right, holding scepter; L A (date) across field. Köln 2815; Dattari 10493; K&G 79.18; RPC IX 2253 https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/2253; Emmett 3644.1.

A very nice website @kirispupis, and I can relate to your story of the collection that started from one event of interest and started to spread....Congrats on the online collection. I especially like the way you did the coin map.

Thanks @Parthicus - I had this one (Artabanus III) mis-identified. This coin of Artabanus IV is not as easy to mix up 🙂 Parthia, Artabanos IV, circa 10-38, Drachm, BI 18mm, 3.49g, Mithradatkart Obv: Diademed bust of Artabanos IV to left; to left, star-in-crecent Rev: Blundered legend consisting entirely of pellets Archer (Arsakes I) seated right, holding bow; below bow, blundered legend of Mithradatkart; behind, monogram Ref: Sellwood 63.13. Cf. Shore 347

I also tried to add a coin of Tigranes II struck over Arados (they seem to have only 4 with images in the database) - if anyone finds a way to contribute - I would be interested to learn more. https://www.sullacoins.com/post/tigranes-ii-overstrike

Here's another Artabanus drachm - this one came with a flip that mentions Argos Sale #25? Any one heard of Argos Ancient Coin Auctions? https://www.sullacoins.com/post/a-fierce-parthian-portrait

This is not quite right either : Bahri Mamluk Hajji II 2nd reign AE Fals 3.43g haxagram 1389-1390 CE

A maintained version of this writeup can be found here with additional coins and references: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/a-fierce-parthian-portrait @Parthicus has a great coin as his avatar - one that I have admired since I first saw it - I am not sure how many years ago, he posted in a Top 10 list. A tetradrachm of Artabanos II, who reigned during the time of Augustus. His coin is one that Sellwood identified as 63.5 from the month Gorpaios (August) identified by the monogram under the horse on the reverse and year 27 AD identified by the Seleucid era date T Λ H around the king's head on the reverse. After many years of admiring - I found one to buy (they don't show up very often, especially not in a price range that I am willing to spend). This coin differs in the date: July, 27 AD and Sellwood number: 63.4. Artabanos has been assigned a variety of suffixes by various authors from Artabanos II to III to IV....as decoded here by Chris Hopkins @ Parthia.Com Kings of Parthia, Artabanos II (or III or IV), Circa AD 10-38, BI Tetradrachm (27mm, 13.24 g, 12h), Seleukeia on the Tigris mint, dated Holöos 338 SE (July, AD 27) Obv: Diademed facing bust Ref: Artabanos on horseback left, receiving palm from Tyche standing right; T Λ H (year) oriented around Artabanos, monogram (month) below horse Ref: Sellwood 63.4 (Artabanos II); Shore 336 (Artabanos II), Sunrise 411 (Artabanos IV) We have a letter from Artabanus that defends the election of a treasurer in Susa in the Louvre - with this as the concluding sentence: "...we decide in general that the [illegality which] has been pointed out be expressly forgiven, no denial or investigation either general or specific being required (?). Year 268 Audnaeus 17" Image CC BY-SA 3.0 from Wikimedia Commons. See details here: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010575713&seq=432 C. B. Welles, "Letter of Artaban III, King of Parthia, to Seleucia on the Eulaeus (Susa), validating the election of the city treasurer. Audnaeus 17, A.D. 21", Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (Chicago: Ares, 1979), pp. 299-306. The Encyclopedia Iranica has a nice overview for Artabanos II: "Artabanus II was brought to the throne by a wave of “national consciousness” among the Parthian nobles, who disapproved of Vonones, installed with Roman backing in A.D. 8/9, and, in their eyes, “made soft” by long residence in the West. " -Encyclopedia Iranica https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/artabanus-parth#pt2 Post coins you took a long time to find, coins of Artabanus II (III or IV) or Parthian tetradrachms, or anything else that you find interesting or relevant.

@Roman Collector, I enjoy your annual tradition - Although I am not a big football fan, this year I can say that I was disappointed that the Lions didn't make it to the superbowl. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to watching the game with a crowd this afternoon and hoping that the KC Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes do well. As my coin selection has probably already made clear I am generally looking for coins that are "not the usual suspects" - so here's my Suberb Owl from the Seleucid empire...one of the few coins that I have issued by a BAΣIΛIΣΣA (Queen Cleopatra Thea). Best Wishes for a Suberb Owl Day 🙃

Here's a little Roman Dragon .... happy new year...

Shajara_al-Durr deserves her own post which I will certainly write up when I find acoin of hers 😃. In the mean time here is a worldhistory.org writeup that could also be titled "from slave to sultan" : https://www.worldhistory.org/Shajara_al-Durr/)

@DonnaML, Thank you for highlighting and I am glad to see that someone is reading what I posted. As you correctly note: I placed a citation in the wrong place - the murder of Turanshah (1250) is described rather than that of Qutuz which came after the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. I have corrected in the OP and added a couple of additional details. Overall my abbreviated history and selected quotes from Peter Thorau's book only lightly touch on the dense events.

Clearly I underestimated the coin cabinets of the NF crowd - enjoyed all the relevant coins and additional information! and @Parthicus - I enjoyed the pun 😁 Here's one more for the "pile", an AE fals from Baybars: Mamluks, al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars I AH 658-676, Æ Fals 2.41g 20mm, no date, no mint (Damascus?).

I enjoyed this ironic taunt from Baybars to count Bohemond: - Peter Thorau, 1995, "The Lion of Egypt : Sultan Baybars I and the Near East in the thirteenth century"

a countinuously maintained version of this post is avialable on SullaCoins.com with additional references, coins and images. https://www.sullacoins.com/post/from-slave-to-sultan "Lion Passant" is sometimes used to describe the lion on this coin - there are only about a dozen on ACSearch and this coin is in pretty nice condition for the type. The lion (any image) unusual on an Islamic coin. - Peter Thorau, 1995, "The Lion of Egypt : Sultan Baybars I and the Near East in the thirteenth century" Here's my recently acquired dirham of Baybars I. Islamic, Mamluks. al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars I. AH 658-676 / AD 1260-1277. AR Dirham (21.7mm, 2.28g, 3h). al-Quahira (Cairo) mint. Dated in marginal legend on the reverse. Obv: Naskh legend: al-Salihi | al-sultan al-malik | al-Zahir Rukn al-Dunya wa al-Din | Baybars qasim amir al-mu'minin (The good | Sultan, Prince, | Manifest Pillar of the World and of the Faith | Baybars, associate of the Commander of the Faithful); below, lion passant left flanked by three pellets Rev: Naskh legend: la ilah illa Allah | Muhammad rasuluallah | arsalahu bi'l-huda (There is no diety except God | Muhammad is the messenger of God | He sent him with guidance); marginal legend, counterclockwise from the top gives mint and year struck. Sultan al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari, known more concisely as Baybars I, was a formidable figure from the 13th century. He ruled as the Sultan of Egypt and Syria from 1260 until his death in 1277. Baybars I was born in 1223, north of the Black Sea, a Kipchak Turk. After the Mongol invasion of Kipchak in about 1242, he was sold into slavery. - Peter Thorau, 1995, "The Lion of Egypt : Sultan Baybars I and the Near East in the thirteenth century" He eventually become a Mamluk guard, a military class composed of enslaved people who converted to Islam and were trained as soldiers. Baybars' military skill and leadership set him apart, and when he graduated from his military training he became commander of bodyguards for of Ayyubid Sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb. The Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) Baybars defeated the crusaders in February 1250, as commander of the Ayyūbid army at the city of Al-Manṣūrah. In this defeat Louis IX of France was captured and returned in exchange for a large ransom. The Mamluks killed the Ayyubid sultan, Al-Muazzam Turanshah, on May 2, 1250. - Peter Thorau, 1995, "https://archive.org/details/lionofegyptsulta0000thor/page/38/mode/2up" After the death of the Ayyubid sultan, Shajar al-Durr, the respected wife of Turanshah's predecessor, al-Salih, was named as sultan. She was quickly married and by outward appearances was replaced by "the first" Mamluk sultan: Izz al-Din Aybak. It seems she retained the authority. (a version of this story here which could also be titled "from slave to sultan" : https://www.worldhistory.org/Shajara_al-Durr/) - Peter Thorau, 1995, "https://archive.org/details/lionofegyptsulta0000thor/page/44/mode/2up" There is at least one coin of Shajar al-Durr, held by the British Museum (not my coin): Image from the The Trustees of the British Museum under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Baybars, with a dispute between Mamluk groups, left for Syria where he stayed until 1260 when the third Mamluk sultan, Qutuz, brought him back to Egypt. Defeat of the Mongols Baybars is perhaps best remembered for his decisive victory at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, where his forces defeated the Mongols, effectively halting their westward expansion into the Islamic world. After this victory he overthrew the third Mamluk sultan, Qutuz, and became the fourth. There were several reported reasons for Baybars and Qutuz to quarrel - I will share one version here: - Peter Thorau, 1995, "https://archive.org/details/lionofegyptsulta0000thor/page/78/mode/2up" Baybars united Syria and Egypt under his rule. He was a patron of Islamic scholarship and arts, commissioning the construction of mosques, schools, and other public buildings throughout Egypt and Syria, many of which still stand today. His established a postal system, improvements in public safety, and the promoted trade. In 1277 he died in Damascus drinking a cup of poison intended for someone else. - Peter Thorau, 1995, "https://archive.org/details/lionofegyptsulta0000thor/page/268/mode/2up?q=death" Baybars was buried in Damascus under the dome of the Al-Ẓāhirīyah Library. The mausoleum chamber of Baybars in Damascus, photo by Francesco Bandarin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, via Wikimedia Commons. A pile-on post of the coins of Baybars I seems unlikely - post any coins you feel are relevant Louis IX of France? other participants in the seventh crusade? Islamic coins with images? anything else you find interesting or entertaining.

That's an amazing find....looks like another coin of TOPIAITΩN..and certainly looks very branch-like.

A fantastic coin from Toriaion, Lycia, @kirispupis. Amazing to have the only coin from Toriaion to have survived 2000 years! I will add a picture of the countermark attributed to Toriaion: Leu 2022, and another from Künker 2021 Frogs apparently not the most reliable advisors reminding me of the story of Batrachomyomachia Here are a few guesses for your puzzling reverse - none very satisfying for what I see on your coin. I tend to lean toward some sort of plant or octopus....

entertained by the thought of "ancient chewing gum" - I found another brand that came with larger "tears" and seemed much fresher / more flavorful than my airport purchase.

Great coin, Al - with Tigranes' involvement in the Mithridatic Wars it was on my wish list for a long time. I eventually picked up this coin which is a bit messy with die break and double strike. and this interesting coin has an almost identifyable undertype - I think it is a coin of Aradus (Astarte/leaping bull) overstruck by Tigranes II - this coin from his conquest of Syria and Phoencia between 83 and 69 BC. Arados continued to stike tetradrachms independently throughout the reign of Tigranes, so these coins were probably captured and overstruck from circulation on the mainlaind. Perhaps used to pay troops along the way (although there are other possibilities). Note the nose, lips and chin at the top of Tigranes head.

Here's an ugly version of Al's sestertius.

A nice overview with great coins @Roman Collector, are the two coins in the article yours? Although Jerome Mairat's thesis is referenced, I am surprised that there isn't a nod to the new RIC V.4 on The Gallic Empire. Available from Spink: https://spinkbooks.com/products/roman-imperial-coinage-volume-v-4-the-gallic-empire-by-jerome-mairat The "double sestertius" is a coin that gets my attention...it was a denomination that was first issued by 3rd century AD Emperor Trajan Decius and then Postumus as usurper in Gaul. Notes, and more relevant coins here: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/postumus-romano-gallic-emperor

On my way to India this past week, I had a short layover in Athens. Sadly, on this trip, I only saw the Athens airport, where I picked up some unusual chewing gum. "Chios Gum Mastic" is the dried resin of the mastic tree which is in the same family as the pistachio. Pistacia lentiscus is the source of this resin which has been harvested on the island of Chios for more than 2500 years. The resin is harvested by slicing the bark to initiate the formation of tears of resin. Chewing these little resin pearls they become a white chewing gum that has a pine and cedar flavor. Ancient Medicine Pliny in book XII.XXXVI of Natural History discusses this mastic: "the kind most highly praised is the white mastich of Chios, which fetches a price of 10 denarii a pound, while the black kind costs 2 denarii. It is said that the Chian mastich exudes from the lentisk (mastic tree) like a kind of gum." In another chapter, he lists 22 remedies of the mastic in Book XXVI.28 of Natural History beginning with: "The seed, bark, and tear-like juices of the lentisk are diuretics, and act astringently upon the bowels: a decoction of them, used as a fomentation, is curative of serpiginous sores, and is applied topically for humid ulcerations and erysipelas; it is employed also as a collutory for the gums." Galen cites in his "Method of Medicine" Book VII.11 multiple uses of Chian mastic including use in a cure for kakochymia (an imbalance or unhealthy condition) in the walls of the stomach. The best remedy being made by mixing aloes with "cinnamon, balsam wood, hazelwort, spikenard, saffron and Chian mastich." Pistachia Lentiscus Source: Plate 130 from the work "Medicinal-pflanzen" (medical plants) by H. A. Köhler, published in 3 volumes Modern Medicine The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recognized Chian mastic as an herbal medicinal product in 2014 (See: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/herbal/mastic). And modern publications describe various antiinflammatory effects of the gum: "There is now substantial evidence to suggest that mastiha demonstrates a plethora of favorable effects, mainly attributed to the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties of its components. The main use of mastiha nowadays, however, is for the production of natural chewing gum, although an approval by the European Medicines Agency for mild dyspeptic disorders and for inflammations of the skin has been given. " -"Overview of Chios Mastic Gum ( Pistacia lentiscus) Effects on Human Health", Soulaidopoulos et al., Nutrients, 2022 Jan 28;14(3):590, doi: 10.3390/nu14030590 Chios is an island, east of Athens in the Aegean sea. I have two coins that were attributed to Chios when I purchased them and minted in the name of Alexander the Great. Researching these coins turned up some differences from the dealer attributions. A Chios Drachm Die Study Robert Bauslaugh did a die study of these posthumous issues from Chios in 1979. (See: Bauslaugh, Robert. “THE POSTHUMOUS ALEXANDER COINAGE OF CHIOS.” Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society), vol. 24, 1979, pp. 1–45.) Bauslaugh's study showed heavy die linkage in these coins (a small number of dies used) which enabled a solid sequencing. Initially, based on the attribution, I took this coin for one of Barslaugh's series 2B which is linked with Price's 2318 - there are other coins of this type attributed by CNG e.g. this one from 2011: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1048166. A look at the plate coins from Bauslaugh's article raised many questions about my first coin - the style of my coin is just not right and the "grapes" are missing....so what's going on? Then I found a few other coins in ACSearch with the same die that are attributed to Mylasa and an look at Margaret Thompson's 1986 article on the “The Armenak Hoard (IGCH 1423)” quickly confirmed that my coin is not from Chios at all - but rather from Mylasa (Price 2488). The style of coins in Thompson's article are a better match for my coin. Alexander III 'the Great' (336-323 BC), AR Drachm, 4.23g 17mm, Mylasa, postumus issue from 300-280 BC. Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin. Rev: AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left on throne, holding eagle and sceptre. Control: Monogram in left field. Ref: Price 2486 These coins were assigned to Mylasa in 1981 by Price in her article “The Alexandrine mint of Mylasa,” Quaderni Ticinesi X. Price was less certain about the city (putting a question mark next to this mint assignment and referencing Thompson. Mylasa was located about 300km south east of Chios in ancient Caria (modern Turkiye). Looking at my second coin attributed to Chios - more questions come up: why isn't this coin in Baulaugh's die study? It didn't take long to find another article on these coins by Catherine C. Lorber, “The ‘Pseudo-Chios’ Mint: A New Drachm Mint in Asia Minor.” The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 180, 2020, pp. 21–38. Coin 83 resembles my coin, although Lorber describes a M in the circle for this coin and my variantion does not show up in the publication, so I am uncertain about my attribution to pseudo-Chios mint. Any suggestions from NF experts in postumous Alexanders would be most welcome. I find few other examples of this particular coin from N&N London which are variously attributed to Chios, or an unknown, Ionian mint, or Pseudo-Chios. Alexander III 'the Great', postumous AR Drachm, Chios, circa 290-275 BC. (4.07g. 19.5mm.) Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress Rev: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding eagle and sceptre; AΛEΞANΔPOY to right, X within vine wreath in left field, bunch of grapes below. Post your coins of Chios, pseudo-Chios, or anything else that you find interesting or entertaining.

Thanks for sharing @Roman Collector my favorite time period. I agree with @DonnaML that (especially for a find of 175 denarii) it is impressive how much money they seem to have spent on the museum & displays.

As always an interesting post and coin @Parthicus! Here's a different Tancred - this coin appealed because a Norman King ruling in Sicily writing in Arabic & Latin seemed an interesting combination. Tancred, King of Sicily, reigned 1189-1194, Æ Follaro Obv: +ROGERIVS:; in center, REX; dots above and below Rev: Arabic (Kufic) legend on two lines - المالك تنقرير (al-malik Tanqrir; the King, Tancred) Notes: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/normans-in-sicily and one from the same Tancred as the OP Leu describes as: "This is probably the earliest issue struck under Tancred, the Prince of Galilee, and it bears the image of Antioch's patron saint St. Peter, who was the first Patriarch of Antioch according to early Christian sources and the 9th century Liber Pontificalis." CRUSADERS. Antioch. Tancred, regent, 1101-1112. Follis (Bronze, 23mm, 4.96g, 6h) Obv: Nimbate bust of St. Peter facing, raising his right hand in benediction and holding cross in his left. Rev: KЄBOI / ΘHTOΔV / ΛΟCOVT/ ANHPI ('Lord, help your servant Tancred' in Greek) in four lines; below, cross. Edited October 16, 2023 by Sulla80