JeandAcre

Sorry to be this late to this party. Very illuminating, only starting with @Roman Collector's formidable OP, and @DonnaML's predictable tour de force. But it's fun that people have been expanding beyond the Roman contexts. Props are due @Nerosmyfavorite68 for including an Islamic example, from the Seljuqs of Rum. The 13th c. CE is pretty early for the Islamic appropriation of the crescent and star motif, but there it is, as a variant, to the left of the (can't keep from going here) Man in the Sun. ...Leading to this remarkably comprehensive and well-documented Wiki article on the evolution of the star and crescent symbol, from the Sumerians all the way to the later Byzantines, with stops conspicuously including the Romans. Often enough, the star represents a sun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_and_crescent So, why not? Here's a Sasanian dirham of Hormiizd IV, 579-590 CE, with the motif showing up on the margins of the obverse, and the common variant in the upper reverse field, to either side of the Zoroastrian fire. Cf. Gobl 200-202. And my example from the counts of Toulouse for which there are pics. Raymond V (1148-1194), from the neighboring marquisat of Provence, but still emphasizing his status as count. Obv. +R. COMES. Rev. The 'Cross of Toulouse,' already established as the family's coat of arms. D / V / X / M. ('Dux Marca'. In Medieval Latin usage, both terms often connoted a territory on the frontier.) Duplessy 1604.

@Finn235, I'm not touching the bone-vs.-somebody-else's-dust issue. (One thing I still need about Protestantism is that it gives you more latitude to distrust organized religion generally. Thank you, where that's concerned, no one ever had a monopoly.) ...That 7-leaf clover is on another level entirely. Call this theology only if you need to. But in that instance, the attribution and provenance kind of speak for themselves.

@panzerman, this is a, well, typically stunning example (for your stuff) of a fantastic issue. As you note, for what's happening dynastically, it's momentous, with repercussions that resonate across Europe over a couple of centuries and change. ...Right, in the painting, Philip wears the badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded in Burgundy. It's still around, but as two separate orders, based in Spain and Austria. Maybe owing in part to the two (eventual) branches of the Habsburgs? The range of the family's rule is staggering. But the coin itself is terrific for underscoring how dramatic the historical transition is. (Right, just starting with cultural and political dimensions. ...Nope, left out economic ones.) It's impossible not to believe you know this, but it's cool enough to be worth noting. The obverse imitates the ones of the English AV nobles, going back to Edward III. But it's an unapologetically free adaptation; even the carrack updates Edward's cogs. Meanwhile, the reverse riffs on the French ecus, also going back to the 14th century. And, Yow, along with the fantastic Arabic date, the legends actually combine late Gothic and Roman letter forms. (Thank you, the 'E's and 'B's.) I can bet money I don't have that I've never seen that before. Even Henry VII's later AR groats and testoons, with the profiles which, for northern Europe, can only be called precociously Renaissance, are paired with the relentlessly late Gothic lettering that goes back to the early 15th century. ...Just, Stupendous. Not making this up: with all the incredible gold you've gotten, nothing has made me sit up in my chair the way this did. Heartiest congratulations.

This will inevitably be a repost; why I was holding back on posting it. But this is my first coin apart from cheap, small, and sometimes electrum fractional dinars from Apulia, Sicily and Andalusian Iberia, c.10th -11th centuries CE. I was thinking that a first gold coin of any more heft than that would have to be of optimal historical significance (...for me). Along with an initially successful invasion of western Yemen, Kaleb continued Aksum's lucrative trade with South Asia, and had diplomatic relations with Justinian I, at a time when Aksum was considered a major power in the broader eastern Mediterranean world. Aksum /Axum. Kaleb, fl. 520-530. AV, loosely based on the tremisis. (...Going back to the later 3rd c. CE, when the Greek legends were also much more consistent. The degradation of the Greek here coincides with the ongoing use of Latin on Byzantine coins. I doubt that's purely coincidental.) Obv. Kaleb crowned, holding what Munro-Hay calls a 'short stick;' two wheat stalks and inner border around. (At top:) Ge'ez rendering of 'Kaleb,' in three letters (KLB); called a 'monogram,' but conforming to traditionally unvowelled Afro-semitic practice, apart from being conjoined. Retrograde Greek, from 4 o'clock: BACILEVS. Rev. Kaleb wearing a headcloth. More retrograde Greek, translated as 'Son of Thezana.' (Cf. Ezana, the first Christian king of Aksum.) Munro-Hay Type 95; Hahn, cf. esp. 354. (Several relatively minor variations.)

@Marsyas Mike, Congratulations on the tetradrachm! You certainly walked into that with a lot more background knowledge than I had. It's fun that the countermarks are probably Phoenician. ...And, elephant in the room time, Very Best of luck with the thankfully minimal crystalization. Knowing nothing about the technicalities of that, here's hoping there's some safe way of addressing that, even if (eventually?) by a specialist. ...Oh, right, I started this, so you're all owed. Sorry. @Deinomenid, the Syracuse AE is Fantastic. The level of contemporaneity is truly great. And on a philosopher's budget, he could easily have spent it! @Anaximander, I've always liked Aeginan staters, but had no idea that the transition to land tortoises was occasioned by an Athenian conquest. Cool! RIght, even if Plato wasn't born there, you've got that much more happening in the way of historical context, along with the (also impressive) contemporaneity. Another solid one, @Phil Anthos. ...Nope, don't think the technology has advanced quite to that level....

I'm really fuzzy on this period. When Albinus was co-emperor with Septimius Severus, was Severus (at least) firmly in control of Egypt?

Yes, the BM is certainly less than foolproof in their attributions. There's this example among their Ife royal portrait sculpture, which is all dated (?) 14th-15th century. This corresponds to the range given by every overview of African art I've ever seen, going back to the 1970s. But this entry even makes reference to the archaeological context. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1939-34-1 Then there's this book, going back to 1989, citing comparable archaeological evidence, but this time dating the Ife sculpture (both brass and terra cotta) with this level of naturalism to c. 1000-1200. On the basis of, Oops, radiocarbon dating. (See esp. pp. 46 and 61.) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0945802048/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Bizarrely, the bibliography includes studies as recent as 2010. Although mention is made of previous attributions which were even more aggregious, I have to wonder if some people just couldn't handle the idea of this stuff being that much earlier than the Renaissance.

Huge thanks for this, @Didier Attaix. (Still waiting for the email to start an account with the the Ancient Artifacts group. ...Guessing that could mean that actual humans are monitoring it. What's not to like?) Except, Yes, your link to Bron's website eventuated in registration, and some email correspondence. (As it turns out, he's not a member of Numisforums.) He's been amazingly expansive, never mind magnanimous in his replies. ...But after a couple of rounds, it's starting to register that it's time to leave off 'wasting the batteries'! One exception might involve sending him links to your two most recent threads, including this one.

Brilliant. Just Brilliant. ...Am I right to think I remember a later Republican denarius commemorating victories over one of the correspondingly earlier kings --also with a camel in the lower field? ...Wishing there were pics of any of my Nabataeans. All much commoner, earlier types, but including some nice examples.

...Thanks to the wild and crazy new technology they have for reading carbonized manuscripts --even on papyrus. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/platos-burial-place-finally-revealed-after-ai-deciphers-ancient-scroll-carbonized-in-mount-vesuvius-eruption This had to call for a repost of my prized archaic-style Athenian tetradrachm, magnanimously priced by @CPK, which was the first purchase from the Cabinet. Earlier than Plato, but not as much so as the papyri in Herculaneum are later. And with enough honest wear to demonstrate a good interval of circulation. ...If anyone felt moved to post anything more nearly contemporaneous to Plato, it would be fun to see.

@lordmarcovan, you sent me to Wiki for narwhals. But Yep, there was a European trade in them going back to the Viking Age. Wish you could stop me: whether owing to false advertising or mere wishful thinking, they were often considered unicorn horns. I guess my weirdest thing (long gone) had to be a wooden cask, c. 1920's but looking more turn-of-the-century, with a tap at the bottom. It was for some kind of vanilla extract. Even with some of the stuff still in it, it was fun to look at, with most of the original paper labels still intact. I don't remember it being more than two feet high. ...From when I was really low to the ground, we would often summer at an old house on an island in Puget Sound, owned by family friends. (How old? The front half eventually collapsed under its own weight. ...As long as it held up, it was a Seriously fun house! Staying there was somewhere on a spectrum starting with 'camping.') The builder had run a still during Prohibition, and the barn across the path to the dock was Stuffed Full of miscellaneous detritus from that. The current owners really didn't care what we walked off with. While my big brother had the wit to opt for bottles, some of them likely valuable, I zeroed in on that cask. My dad probably made me part with it, but it was fun to live with.

Very cool examples, @KenDorney! While not quite on bucket-list level, if I ever landed one Becker and one Paduan, I wouldn't argue. This goes back to some library book I read as a kid, but its take was that Becker's main 'tell' is that his engraving skill actually surpassed a lot of the originals. To your point, the book said that they were collectible in their own right, but I had no idea that it began so soon.

...Rats, no luck from Ilisch with your first one. In this monograph, which is all I know of his work, his format is similar to Kluge, with good, mostly photographic plates on the same page as the text listings. ...Relative to Dannenberg, that helps when you're like me, and don't know what you're looking for in the first place!

Yowie! Late-Breaking news flash! (...Thought this was going to be a day for errands, but there's all week for that.) This is from Dr. Peter Ilisch (sorry, no umlauts:) 'Die Munzpragung im Herzogtum Niederlothringen.' (Jarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde; 100 Special: 2014. Amsterdam: Koningklijk Nederlands Genootschap.) Section 34; 'Luttich /Liege.' P. 225, 34.12. Konrad II, 1027-1039. Obv. Diademed profile to right; IMP CONRADVS. (Using Google Translate from the original German.) Rev. Rider reining the horse with his right hand, his left raised. (From lower left: -S- L [/] A [/] MB [/] T. Citing Dannenberg 1998 (without the initial 'S'.) Here's the article on Lambert, patron saint of Liege, from (sorry, English) Wikipedia. It's an engaging read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_of_Maastricht ...This a Fun one! Hope you keep us posted on when you starting listing these. (Edit:) And, Nope, it's not in Kluge, who has an index of mints at the back.

Aargh, Annes, I wish my 'batting average' would eventually improve! Again, starting from Kluge, I can't find a plate (anywhere) resembling the undeniably distinctive field legend on your first one. One could want to think that the second one, with the legend 'IMP C' (presumably the obverse), would be Conrad II (1024-1039). But again, there's only a vague resemblance in Kluge; from Aachen, with a bird on the reverse, along with the legend PALATV AQVIS --with no correspondence to the legend on your example. (You could wish Kluge would cite Dannenberg; some references are kind enough to do that sort of thing.) Sorry....

Yipe. Just hope that he doesn't mess with anyone's, um, for one, cats. ...They're about to start reintroducing grizzlies into the North Cascades. Grizzlies get to be on their own scale, literally and otherwise. (And they will outrun you!) ...Thank you, the North Cascades aren't just rural; they're the nearest to wilderness anywhere in Washington state. Kind of called for, especially in that case. But, to further wallow in the obvious, when wilder members of our extended family show up in towns, it's always because they've frankly (/been) run out of more appropriate habitat. When that happens, the most I ever learned is to at least be as chill toward them as they are by temperament. ...At least when they're not hungry! If this guy is even still in the neighborhood, both sides are doing something right.

Thanks, @Sulla80, for your post from (...wait for it) yesterday. With that movie clip (heard a review of it somewhere), and another link to your impressive blog --you get No Points for false modesty! Never mind that remarkable coin. Having seen plenty of Hellenistic coins as late as that, I'd never seen anything like this that was issued under Roman Republican rule. I'm still not done with the convergence of cultural and political dynamics. Right, Rome was already busily conquering that much of the eastern Mediterranean. Blah, blah. But as a gestalt, the coin itself effectively inhabits a separate level. From here, the profile of Zeus reflexively evoked Ptolemaic issues. ...And then you get Greek legends, but in Papirius Carbo's name, and with a seated, Woops, Roma on the reverse. ...It's all just too great. ...So there should be a tune, and so forth, to go with this. The coin is recent, not only as a post (in Exonumia) but as an acquisition. But some improvisation is called for. Bristol. Farthing token, 1652. You could look at this post, along with @John Conduitt's very illuminating expansion of the attribution, a little earlier in the thread. And one from what still has to be my all-time favorite album from Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Yeah, kind of sad, but art gets to be sad if it wants to, especially when it's this good.

@Sulla80, having liked to look down my nose at the Beatles for most of my life (after being raised on Sgt. Pepper), some serious rehabilitation was called for! Yes, this has to be one of my favorite tunes. ...Still knew I liked some of the solo stuff of Lennon and Harrison. But, No, the horizons are already expanding beyond that. You're owed some serious thanks.

...And, Yep, gotta post some Tuvan kargyraa, as threatened. The nearest coin for this has been reposted an embarrassing number of times. But it's the best I can do. Bernhard II, Duke of Carinthia 1202-1256. Already an eastern march of the German empire, Carinthia witnessed the Mongol invasion of Austria in 1241, which was repulsed --with help from the Mongol army having gotten word of the death of the presiding Khan back home. I need how the duke is represented, in full mail, brandishing a sword, with a shield with the fess of the Carinthian blazon. 'Mess with me, Watch what happens!' Now, some of the stuff for which that was merely the pretext.

Despite its not technically being one, @ChrisB's example is a good enough demonstration. They functioned a little like lockets, but with multiple little pictures. ...Speaking of snuff, I'm still kicking myself for having missed out on this one. A later example, modified to expand the width. Yes, in this instance, snuff was my first thought. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196267314027

@expat, it's finally landing on me how closely Probus' career and aspirations mirrored those of his namesake. It can't be more apparent that the influence of Marcus Aurelius, not least his ethics, was a very conscious part of his background. Sad that he had a similar profusion of challenges in implementing it on his 'day job' as emperor.

Aaaah, lovely. When it comes to Handel's secular oratorios, I'm a total illiterate. Thanks Lots for expanding my horizons in this direction! And how great is it that your example Just Happens to have Apollo on the reverse? To answer my own ostensibly rhetorical question, Too Great.

The opening credit is Really making me want some Tuvan throat singing. Back before I lost the top and bottom of my range, there was a window when I could do (Very indifferent) kargyraa (the bass kind) and falsetto on the same day. Never made it past doing three notes at a time --only two, mostly-- but it was fun, anyway. ...You all would be cordially welcome to post some, if you happen to be so inclined. Otherwise, it might be the next thing I put here!

@Alegandron, the convergence of your latest two is really resonating. In some utterly inarticulate, correspondingly mysterious way, I get a sense that Highland Scots have a more visceral connection to their deep Central Asian roots than most Europeans. ...Maybe because they settled so early, and then just kind of stayed put? A little like how mountain hillbillies held onto speech patterns verging on Elizabethan longer than anyone else did.

...Aaah, I'm finally seeing it, @John Conduitt. That is a quatrefoil; I was merely looking at the spaces between the borders, which are on the worn side of life. But, yes, any example with a central device in the reverse cross is going to be an ecclesiastical issue. Those don't begin until the reign of Edward III. What led me to Edward IV were the first two, barely /ostensibly legible letters of the obverse, which more closely resemble "ED" than any of the available alternatives over the entire interval. And the style of the crown, which looked more 15th than 14th century. Given the heroic level of wear, I arrived at Edward IV by a simple process of elimination.