Ryro

I'd always been happy with my example.. until I saw @Octavius's🤩

CONSTANTINE I THE GREAT (306-337)2.2 gr 18 mm Commemorative series. Follis. Kyzikos. Obv: VRBS ROMA. Helmeted and cuirassed bust of Roma left. Rev: SMKE. She-wolf standing left, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus; two stars above. RIC 91.

next: a coin that you cleaned that you feel improved it

Whichever makes me sound more pompous, but with some flare. 

Numismatist extraordinaire or collector of classics thingys 🤪

Seriously, why should there be a dividing line between the two? They seem to intersect and overlap

Lol. Good thread idea!

In my defense is just such a cool, pivotal and embarrassing time for Rome. Coins of Pertinax, Diddius Julianus and Pescennius N are a must, regardless of what they look like... but mine really look like chewed silver bubble gum

Coingrats! Wild looking lettering, style and design.

Poor Drusus. A victim of his father's own apathy of ruling. 

I had been following this thinking it would get caught up in a bidding war, as strigils usually go for mucho denero. But surprisingly won(!), what I believe to be an implement used by the ancients to scrape/cleanse their bodies. And when an athlete would use a strigil after an athletic competition the sweat/dirt/oil/grime that the athletes would scrape would be sold for high prices. It was believed that the sweat and dirt would give men virality and help the women to get pregnant among other things. 

A few ancient images of strigils and their use:

(Ah, yes. The important strigiling of ones butt) 

I could be way off in left field and it's merely a spoon or some sort of tool. Though this piece appears to have an image on the bottom of an athlete using the strigil to clean himself. He appears to be standing left and scraping his shoulder off: 

Simply listed as: Ancient Lead Applique 42,2 g. 63,5 mm.

Other strigils that aren't mine:

Embarrassingly a few years ago I picked up this fake off of ebay (I was refunded once I asked to return the item due to a few signs of fakery).

Does anyone have any strigils to share, strigils on coins or artifacts, thoughts, or anything that cleanses your dirty body/mind?

LYCIA. Xanthos. Hemiobol or Tetartemorion (0.6 g. 10 mm.) (Circa 410-400 BC).

Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right within dotted border.

Rev: Helmeted head of Athena left within dotted border.

SNG von Aulock -; cf. BMC 109 (Obol). Toned

Next: Athena with full crest 

9 hours ago, Meander said:

Incredible golden labor!

Here is my bronze rarity:

PONTUS (Bronze, 12.68g, 31.2mm) Sebastpolis, Gallienus (253-268) AE Year 266=263/4 AD. Obv: AYT KAI ΠO ΛIK ΓAΛΛIHNOC - Bust laureate, draped, cuirassed right, with oversize, elaborately rendered shoulder flap of cuirass, flanked by two folds of cloak falling from a round clasp.

Rev: CEBACTO HPAK around clockwise on right, ET (ligate) S - ΞC around counterclockwise on left - Herakles standing left, nude except for lion skin flying out from his back and hanging down beside his left leg, capturing the Ceryneian hind, which rears up left beside him, by grasping its horns and placing his right knee on its back

Amandry/Remy 72 (D20/R54). SNG von Aulock 134.

*Only 2 examples on AC search

Demetrios I Aniketos 200-185 BC.

Obol AR, 12 mm, 0,49 g, fine

Next: Baktrian 

Egypt, Alexandria AE Drachm (Bronze, 23.98g, 33mm) Antoninus Pius (138-161)Alexandria RY 12 = 148/9 AD.

Obv: AVT K • T AIΛ A∆P •ΑΝΤѠΝΙΝΟC ЄVCЄB •, Laureate head of Antoninus Pius to right.

Rev: L / ΔѠΔЄΚΑΤO, Serapis seated left, pointing to Cerberus seated at feet and holding scepter, within distyle temple with large globe in pediment.

Reference: Dattari (Savio) 3058; RPC IV.4 Online temp. 13643

Next: Cerberus

Don't know that it's not a dragon, but past 6 hours if not;

CARNUTES (Beauce region) (2nd - 1st centuries BC) Gossip with the diabolical head and the wolf (?)

16.4mm, 3.81g. R3

LT.manque - DT.2612 - BN.? - PK.43 var. - BMCC.S285

Obv: head on the left, a drop-shaped globule in the mouth.

Rev: Stylized and gendered (if you don't know what that means, look closer) wolf on the left, the tail between the legs.

Unearthed Sept 2021 Burgundy region of France

Next: spooky imagery

2 hours ago, Furryfrog02 said:

Now I am on the hunt for one with Priapus *ahem* pointing right so that I can have them touch tips. I am a horrible person... 😛

Indeed, you are, sir! Why would any self respecting man want to... do... that?🤔

ah, makes sense. Kind of a rocky 2 vibe😉😉

CARIA, Halikarnassos

(reassigned from Kindya)

499-497 BCE

AR hektai, 1.78 gm, 11 mm, Milesian standard

Obv: head of ketos right

Rev: geometric pattern within incuse square

Ref: Konuk

Next: more monsters

1 hour ago, Roman Collector said:

What a fun subcollection, @Ryro! Almost as much fun as a collection of Venus Victrix coins. 

You might find these pages from Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon to be of interest. Ithys does mean "straight," especially in a geometric sense. This is contrasted with orthos, which means straight, too, but more in the sense of "correct" and with more moral overtones (though the semantic Venn diagram overlaps considerably between the terms. Ithyphallos itself referred to the phallos carried in the festivals of Bacchus. Ithyphallikos referred to a poetic meter or poems in such meter that were performed at the festival of Bacchus.

I don't have any Priapus coins. All I have is this microphallic Jupiter -- a sort of anti-Priapus, if you will.

Gallienus, AD 253-268.
Roman billon antoninianus, 3.10 g, 20.1 mm, 6 h.
Rome, AD 261.
Obv: IMP GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: IOVI VLTORI, Jupiter standing, head right, holding lightning bolt in right hand, cloak flying right; S in left field.
Refs: RIC 220F; Göbl 383x; RCV 10247; Cohen 404 var.

Funny how the "king of the gods" is more itty than ithy. Zeus the ultimate grower not a shower:

Ah, Priapus. The original exuder of BDE:

"Etymology

Late Latin ithyphallicus, from Greek ithyphallikos, from ithyphallos erect phallus, from ithys straight + phallos phallus"

Huh, I always assumed ithy meant something like, "massive, hard, or erect" nope. Just straight. 

And is it just me or does the term ithyphallic come off as overly sanitary? Cause we like ancients we can't use words like, erection, or Zeus forbid, hard on?

The auction house gave my new straight dicked coin a pretty awesome header. The coin has one too😉

★ Size Matters ★

MYSIA. Lampsacus. Domitian, 81-96. (Bronze, 15.5 mm, 4.16 g, 6 h). ΔΟΜΙΤΙΑΝΩ ΚΑΙϹΑΡΙ Laureate head of Domitian to right. Rev. Λ/Α-Μ/Ψ/Α Ithyphallic Priapus on basis to left. RPC II, 890. SNG Copenhagen 235. SNG France 1270-1 ( same obv. die ). Very rare. Slightly off-centre, otherwise, nearly very fine.

From the collection of a scholar.

Other hard on coins:

And my little red rooster for good luck:

So please share your phalli... on coins, Hermes, charms, thoughts or anything to keep it straight. 

1 hour ago, Spargrodan said:

Thanks @Ryro you have enough to form a little shield wall and phalanx. Is there any good place to read more about the iconography of these coins and what it means?

Thanks! I would love to read it if anyone has it. I would be very interested to read about the one with a Seleucid anchor and the reasoning behind that? I have one with a mouse somewhere. I'll add it if I can find pics.

Another stunner @Spargrodan! Very nice toning as well. 

Here are a few shield coins of the besieger (look to the left bushel of the helmet for the hidden iconography, crescent swords, lagobolon, stars, grapes, axes, etc):

13 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

The term "Diadochi" is vague since it literally means "successors", so in some sense we're all Diadochi. 🙂 The term is used differently and, as far as we know, they did not carry membership cards.

It's always a bit awkward when you have to correct a friend, especially in an area that they specialize in. @kirispupis I thought you knew and I was gonna sponsor you and invite you to the next meeting...

Way to go on the saweet new Nero!

Here's my latest:

Nero (AD 54-68). Æas (10.59 gm). Lugdunum, AD 67. IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX TR PPP, bare head of Nero right, globe at point / S - C, Victory flying left holding in both hands shield inscribed SPQR. RIC 544. BMCRE 387.

Next: coin showing two or more emperors 

Shhhh, we don't want too many people knowing how cool these are...I mean lame. Herakles is total lame sauce. Shhhhh.

Excellent coin BTW. And sorry for the delay. It didn't tag me despite you putting the @ next to my name. 

Caledonian and Erymanthian piggies:

And for fun, here is a recent ebay purchase with all of the labors. The first Pic is the obverse of these:

MELDES, MELDI (Meaux region, Northern Gaul)(1st century BCE, around 60-40 BCE) EPENOS,

CELTIC IMITATIONS OF MAGNA GRAECIA, AE, 16.6mm, 2.8g.

Obv: Male head facing left, “EPENOS” to left, long, curly hair.

Reverse legend: EPHNOS.

Reverse description: Horse galloping to the right, wavy tail, surmounted by a facing bird/winged rider(?) with outstretched wings, a ringlet pointed below; legend under the horse globule surmounted by a crescent.

No. in reference works: LT.7617 - DT.587 - BN.7616-7630 - RIG.163 - Sch/GB.512

Unearthed 2023 Burgundy region of France. Purchased from Normand-tik.

The bird which surmounts the horse may be a distortion of a winged rider, present for example on certain Gallic silver and bronze coins. The attribution of this coinage is confirmed to the Meldes despite a very important distribution map on the territories of the Suessions and the Bellovaques. These coins were first reported in Meaux with ROVECA epigraph coins. B. Fischer proposes a ligature between an I and the P; which would give a legend EIPENOS, EPIENOS or even EPLENOS; she opts, in view of various examples of epigraphies, for the legend EPIENOS.

History: The Meldes are only mentioned once in Caesar's work. This small people lived between the Seine and the Marne in the Brie plain with Meaux as its capital. The Meldes emancipated themselves late from the tutelage of the Suessions and the Remes at the time of the Gallic War. Having become independent in 57 BC, the Meldes chose to ally themselves with the Romans. Caesar had sixty ships built among the Meldes, in 55 BC, for the expedition to Brittany. Caesar (BG. V, 5).

Next: a coin that you like that most others won't

33 minutes ago, Severus Alexander said:

I recently added the same type @Ryro!  As you say, his importance is outsized compared to the length of his reign, plus I love this type with the wolf gnawing on something... so I'd been trying to get one for while.  Finally managed to snag one in a group lot.  (Yes, why did they group it?!? Crazy.)  I don't have my own photo yet, so here it is, cropped out of the group:

 

Your collection of Argeads is admirably complete, my friend!  Pre-Alex III, I only have Philip II and Archelaos. 😞  Who are the next two or three "most essential," would you say?  (Talking primarily historically, though also to some extent numismatically.)

Way to go! Great minds think alike or fools never differing 😉 either way we both have a very important coin with a RAD reverse (Your club above the gnawing pup is a beauty as well).

In regards to historical importance I think you've got to put Alexander l (that meadizing SOB) up pretty high. Him playing friendly with the Persians might look bad in hind sight, but it kept him in charge, Makedon on the map, and makes for a great story ark with his namesake and great great Great grandson coming along to make up for it, and then some, by conquering ALL!

Amyntas lll also brought a lot to the table. Not just him being Al the thirds grandpa, Philips dad and such. But he also taught Philip ll the importance of diplomacy and gave him the training that he would need to unify and conqueror Greece by sending him to Illyria and Thebes. Philip ll utilizing these lessons would lead to one of the greatest quotes of all time:

Last, and most important, for both history and numismatics, the grandaddy of all Argeads, the original man's man (turned into a god), HERAKLES! Right up there with Zeus, Nike and Athena the late addition to mount Olympus may be on more ancients than any of them!

I was gonna do a thread about these, but they're modern and now is a fine spot to show off my $37 ebay find. 12 coins, each, featuring a labor:

23 minutes ago, Phil Anthos said:

Perhaps they don't want to cast doubt on similar but legitimate coins.

~ Peter 

If the use of the words, to "CAST" doubt, is intended, great pun. And if not, still worth a mention

It was with a bit of irony and luck that I was able to win this very rare type celebrating the building of Carthage on arch enemy and ultimate destroyer, Rome's supposed 2777 birthday!?

★ The Building of Carthage ★

PHOENICIA. Tyre. Elagabalus, 218-222. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 26 mm, 13.55 g, 11 h). IMP CAES M AV ANTONINVS AVG Laureate and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus to right, seen from rear. Rev. TVRIORVM ΔΕΙΔΩ The building of Carthage: Dido standing, left, wearing peplos, holding small sceptre in left hand and torch in right, surveying construction, in front of city gate flanked by two towers; on top and below, mason above gate, with pick-axe digging before gate, above, murex shell in upper central field, palm tree to right of Dido. Rouvier 2375–6. RPC VI 8613 (temporary). Very Rare and with a most interesting mythological scene on the reverse. Well centered and with nice details. Nearly very fine.

Dido was the, possibly mythical, first queen and founder of Carthage.

She supposedly founded it in 814 BCE (making Carthage older than Rome itself, as Rome was 753 BCE). 

Unfortunately most of what we know of her is found in Virgil's Aeneid, which was written well after Rome's total destruction of Carthage. Though the story of Romans sowing the earth with salt is made up, after the needless third war against Carthage they did raise the city to the ground. 

Carthage made some amazing coins and who knows the art and history that we lost with its destruction. 

Here are a few coins from there before it's destruction:

Carthage, billon dishekel (8.19g) SNG Cop. 351; Ex-Forum 73094.aVF, scratches 

ZEUGITANA Carthage Late fourth–early third century BC. Æ 19.3 (6.69 gm). Palm tree / horse head right. SNG Copenhagen 102 

Though only one sided, how about the artistry of the horse!?

CARTHAGE. Circa 300 BC. AR Three-quarter Shekel(?) (18mm, 2.80 g,). Carthage mint. Wreathed head of Tanit left / Horse standing right, head left; Punic ‘ayin below. MAA 37 variante; CNP 102a; SNG Copenhagen 143. Obverse eroded. Rare 

And here a coin from what had been Punic Sicily until Rome took over and shared their amazing artistry😉

Sicily, Syracuse Roman Occupation, Bronze, After 212 BC, AE (g 7,04 mm 2o), Head of Zeus r., dotted border, Rv. ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, Isis standing l., holding istrum and sceptre. Dotted border. CNS II, n. 240 SNG Copenhagen 904 SNG ANS 1065. 

Thanks for taking a look and please share your coins of Carthage, or thoughts on what history would look like if Carthage had won and raised Rome to the ground!