Post it and pick it!

[Phil Anthos]

Taras, Calabria

276-272 BC (Period VII - The Pyrrhic Hegemony) AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.44g) Apollo(...) magistrate. O: Helmeted warrior on horse cantering left, carrying two javelins and a large round shield decorated with eight-rayed star; ΞΩ behind, [AΠOΛΛΩ] (magistrate) below. R: Taras (of the plump Dionysiac type) astride dolphin left, holding bunch of grapes in extended right hand, distaff over left shoulder; ANΘ to right, TAPAΣ below. D'Andrea XLII, 1203; Vlasto 789-91; Evans VII, F2 or F6; Cote 413; SNG France 1920; McGill II, 84; HGC I, 887; SNG ANS 1131-1133; HN Italy 1013 ex Numisantique The helmeted warrior shown here behind a large shield is a definite departure from the typical image found on this coinage. The earlier naked skirmishers have been replaced by the fully armored cavalryman presented here. This was of course a gradual process, but the evolution becomes more apparent on later issues where the rider is clearly depicted wearing a cuirass. This plump rendition of Taras also differs greatly from previous images and is actually meant to represent a young Iacchus, the son of Dionysus and Persephone. Similar images can be found on kraters and terracotta votives found in the region. The attributes of Dionysus which he carries show the foreign influence of the chthonic cult of Dionysus upon the city of Taras. This relatively new mystery cult was introduced along side the earlier ouranic cults of Poseidon and Apollo, and the inclusion of Iacchus here represents a distinct link to the Mysteries of Eleusis. The distaff, in this context, is probably a reference to Ariadne, a wife of Dionysus, but its’ phallic nature also symbolizes the god of ecstasy Himself. Next: dove

[John Conduitt]

Series BI A/C Type 27 Primary Sceatta, 675-690

Essex or East Anglia. Silver, 13mm, 1.12g. Diademed and draped bust right within ouroboros (symbol depicting a serpent eating its own tail). Dove standing right on cross pattée, annulets flanking all within ouroboros; three annulets below (SCBC 777).

Next: snakes

[Phil Anthos]

Athens, Attica

Eleusinian Festival Coinage 340-335 BC AE 16 (16mm, 3.65g) O: Triptolemos seated left in winged chariot drawn by two serpents, holding grain ear in right hand. R: Pig standing right on mystic staff; EΛEYΣI above, bucranium in ex. SNG Cop 415; Agora 38h; Sear 2586v The Sons of Dysaules The story of Triptolemus being charged with bringing agriculture to man has been well told. That of his brother Eubouleus perhaps less so. Eubouleus was a swineherd whose pigs were lost when the Earth gaped open to swallow up Persephone. Pigs were sacrificed during the Eleusinian Rites in a women’s mystery ritual known as the Thesmophoria. The piglets would be washed in the sea during the Procession and then brought back to the Sanctuary and ritually slaughtered. It is interesting to note that in ancient Greek religion pigs were thought to be able to absorb miasma from humans, making this an even more appropriate offering. Next: triga

[expat]

Volusian, AR Antoninianus, Antioch.. AD 251-253. 22 mm, 4,30 g
IMP C V AF GAL VEND VOLVSIANO AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right, three dots beneath bust / ADVENTVS AVG, Volusian on horseback, riding left, holding spear and raising right hand. RIC IV 224a; RSC 2a.

NEXT; Emperor obverse and reverse

[Phil Anthos]

Triga?

[Octavius]

Nero sestertius with DECVRSIO reverse of Nero on horseback.

I think we missed triga for next?

Edited May 6 by Octavius

[expat]

Sorry, didn´t notice I was looking at the wrong page. Carry on with triga

[DonnaML]

Here are photos of not one but two trigas, the only two Roman Republican coins depicting them. Next will be: Roma with winged helmet, preferably one with stylized representation of griffin's/eagle's beak. (See second photo below.)

Roman Republic, C. Naevius Balbus, AR Serrate Denarius, 79 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Venus [or Juno, see BMCRR p. 366] right, wearing diadem, necklace and long earring, hair long, S • C [Senatus Consulto] behind / Rev. Victory, naked to waist, driving triga right, with rightmost horse turning head back towards the others; control-number CLIII (= 153, with L in form of upside-down T); in exergue, C•NAE•BALB [AE and LB ligate]. Crawford 382/1b, RSC I Naevia 6 (ill.), Sydenham 760b, Sear RCV I 309 (ill.), Grueber, BMCRR 2926-2976 (this control-number at BMCRR 2964), RRM I Ch. 6 at pp. 28-31 [Michael Harlan, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012)]. 19 mm., 3.92 g.*

* The moneyer is “not otherwise known” (Crawford p. 398), although he has been speculatively identified with the Sullan cavalry officer named Balbus, mentioned by Plutarch, who reached Rome in time to stop the Samnites’ advance on the Colline Gate. (Harlan at 28.) The deity on the obverse has most often been identified with Venus (Crawford p. 398, Harlan p. 30, RSC I p. 68. Sear RCV I p. 130), particularly given her claimed resemblance to Venus as depicted on earlier coins by Gaius Norbanus (Crawford 357) and Lucius Cornelius Sulla (Crawford 359) (see Crawford, id.).  If she is Venus, the depiction could be another allusion to the Sullan victory at the Colline Gate, which took place near the Temple of Venus Erycina. (Crawford and Harlan, id.) However, Grueber identifies the deity as Juno (see BMCRR p. 366), given the similar head expressly identified as Juno Moneta on a later coin of L. Plaetorius (Crawford 396).

This was a large issue (as was the next issue, the denarius of Ti. Claudius Ti.f. Ap.n. Nero, Crawford 383, which also bears the “Senatus Consulto” authorization).  According to Crawford, there were 280 obverse and 311 reverse dies of this issue in two subtypes, the first bearing the letters of the Latin alphabet on the obverse as control marks (type 382/1a), and the second bearing the letters of the Latin alphabet and the numerals from I to CCXXX on the reverse (type 382/1b, represented in this coin). See Sear RCV I at p. 130:”This and the following type represent further large outputs of coinage specially authorized by decree of the Senate, doubtless necessitated by the extensive military operations during the dictatorship of Sulla.” Specifically, according to Harlan (p. 29), this issue and the next were minted for the use of the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius (see Crawford 374/1, the Pietas with elephant reverse) for paying his troops in Sulla’s campaign against the rebellious Sertorius in Spain.

Sear also notes at p. 130 of RCV I that the three-horse chariot (triga) depicted on the reverse “is rarely depicted on the Republican coinage, the only other example being on a denarius of Ap. Claudius Pulcher issued in 111/110 BC” (Crawford 299/1). My example, with Roma wearing a winged helmet on the obverse:

Harlan also states at RRM I pp. 30-31 that “[t]his is the second and last time that the triga appears on Repblican coinage.” At p. 31, Harlan cites Dionysus of Halicarnassus, who said that “the triga, used long ago by Homeric heroes, was completely out of fashion with the Greeks” by this time. The triga’s current use in Rome in the late second and first centuries BCE, when it was no longer used by the Greeks, “was only found in the celebration of the Ludi Romani, a religious and ceremonial survival of the games originally held by the dictator Aulus Postumius to commemorate [his] victory [over the Latins] at Lake Regillus” in the 490s BCE (famously aided by Castor and Pollux). Id. As the Roman practice in these games is described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (7.73.2), the “third horse, joined to the team by a trace, runs alongside the two horses yoked together in the usual way” -- explaining why the third horse on the reverse looks back at the other two. According to Harlan, “Naevius’ imagery is intended to recall that ancient victory which established Roman imperium, echoing the caput rerum theme found on the coinage of Aulus Postumius Albinus [Crawford 372/1]. Victory driving the three-horse chariot shows that all efforts to dispute Roman rule were fated to end in Roman victory.” (Emphasis supplied.)

By contrast, as stated above, it is reasonable to interpret the first depiction of a triga, on Crawford 299/1a-1b, as representing the triumvirate of moneyers that issued the type. Indeed, as also noted above, there is a possible explanation for the only subsequent depiction of a triga (on the C. Naevius Balbus denarius, Crawford 382/1) that is much simpler than Harlan’s complicated theory of a symbolic represenatation of Roman imperium: assuming that the AP•CL who was one of the three moneyers named on Crawford 299 was the Appius Claudius Pulcher who was later Consul in 79 BCE, the fact that Crawford 382/1 was itself issued in 79 BCE strongly suggests that its otherwise unique depiction of a triga was no coincidence, but was a tribute to Appius Claudius Pulcher and his earlier issue as moneyer. See Yarrow, supra,  Section 2.1.1 n. 26 at p. 219: as an example of a moneyer’s issue having some “close connection with the consul” of that year (see id. p. 69), pointing out that “[Crawford] 382/1 copies the reverse of 299/1 in the very year the moneyer of 299/1 became himself consul.”

Edited May 6 by DonnaML

[Octavius]

RR denarius of Servillius with winged, helmeted Roma obverse, with wreath.

next , Victory holding wreath...

[ambr0zie]

14 mm, 1,56 g.
Cappadocia, Caesaraea-Eusebia. Nero 54-68. AR hemidrachm. 59-60.
[NERO CLAVD DIVI] CLAVD F CAESAR AVG [GERMANI], laureate head of Nero to right / Victory seated right on globe, holding wreath in both hands. BMC 409; RIC I Nero 617; RPC 3645.

 

Next - any silver provincial coin. 

[AETHER]

Tiberius, A.D. 14-37.
Denomination: AR Drachm.
Diameter: 18 mm.
Weight: 3.6 grams.
Obverse: Laureate head right.

Reverse: Mt. Argaeus, surmounted by radiate and naked statue, holding globe and scepter.

Reference: RPC 3620; BMC 11.

Next; same

[expat]

NEXT: Gordian III

[John Conduitt]

Gordian III Antoninianus, 241-243

Rome. 20mm, 5.57g. Bust of Gordian III, radiate, draped, cuirassed, right; IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG. Apollo, nude to waist, seated left, holding branch in extended right hand and resting left elbow on lyre, P M TR P IIII COS II P P (RIC IV, 88). Found near Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Next: lyre.

[Phil Anthos]

Teos, Ionia

320-294 BC AR Diobol (10mm, 0.92g) Mentor magistrate. O: Griffin seated right, with left forepaw raised. R: Lyre; MENTΩP (magistrate) downward to right. Kinns 95; SNG Kayhan 611v; Imhoof 126A ex MRB Coins Next: an insect, not a bee

[Ursus]

2 hours ago, Phil Anthos said:

Next: an insect, not a bee

Thie insect on this reverse (right of Athena's forehead) is usually described as a fly but might actually be a cicada:

Mysia,  Lampsakos, diobol, ca. 400–300 BC. Obv: Janiform female heads. Rev: Head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian helmet, ΛΑΜ around, fly right. 10mm, 1.2g. Ref: SNG France 1190; Baldwin 1924, group B, type I,19.

Next: more unusual critters

[Phil Anthos]

Another insect misdescribed as a cicada...

Taras, Calabria

272-240/35 BC (Period VIII - The Roman Alliance I) AR Didrachm (18.5mm, 6.50g) Iopyros magistrate. O: Nude youth on horseback right, placing wreath on horse's head; ΦI behind, I-ΩΠ-YPO-[Σ] (magistrate) below. R: Taras riding dolphin left, holding cornucopiae and trident; bee behind, Τ-ΑΡΑΣ below. D'Andrea XLIV, 1371; cfVlasto 855; Evans VIII, B2; McGill II, 99; Cote 490-92; cf HGC I, 889; HN Italy 1029; SNG Cop 919; SNG Cop 919 ex Dr. Busso Peus; ex Germania Inferior Numismatics Evans calls the insect on this reverse a cicada, a very important symbol in ancient times (see J.C.B Petropolous’ marvelous work ‘Heat and Lust; Hesiod’s Midsummer Festival Scene Revisited’, a very insightful look at ancient agricultural and fertility practices). However Vlasto lists this as a bee, and I tend to think this is likely. It sure looks more like a bee to me. Next: let's continue with more unusual critters

[Roman Collector]

Bears are unusual on ancient coins. I wish this one were more visible.

Septimius Severus, 193-211 CE.
Roman provincial Æ 25.0 mm, 11.27 g, 7 h.
Moesia Inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Lucius Aurelius Gallus, legatus consularis, 201-204 CE.
Obv: ΑVΤ CΕΠΤ• CΕVΗΡ ΠΕΡ, laureate head, right.
Rev: VΠ ΑVΡ ΓΑΛΛΟV ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ / ΠΡΟC ΙCΤΡ, AIMOC across left field, mountain-god Haemus reclining right on wooded rock outcropping, resting right arm above head and cradling scepter in left arm; below, bear right, chasing leaping stag.
Refs: AMNG I 1315; Varbanov (2nd ed.) 2721; HrHJ 8.14.43.3; Moushmov 1023.

Next: another bear. 

Edited May 7 by Roman Collector
I have OCD

[expat]

Just for a laugh, here is a bear stylised as the city of Berlin for its 750 th anniversary

Carry on with bears

[Octavius]

RR denarius Regulus c. 42 BCE...

Obverse: Bare head of Livineius Regulus to right.

Reverse: L•REGVLV[S] Bestiarius standing left, spearing lion leaping right; behind, another man standing right, fighting with sword and shield against a panther leaping left; to upper left, bear sitting right .

next,  lion.

[expat]

Lysimachos, Kingdom of Thrace, AE 20mm, 5.20 gr. Generous flan. Lysimachia mint. 305-281 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, above and beneath lion leaping right, spearhead and M on O monogram below. Mueller 74.

NEXT: Thracian

[Phil Anthos]

Lysimacheia, Thrace

309-220 BC AE 21 (21mm, 8.14g) O: Wreathed and veiled head of Demeter right. R: Nike standing left, holding wreath; ΛYΣIMA[XEΩN] around to left. SNG Cop 905; Sear 1621; BMC 3, 6 ex Romae Aeternae Numismatics Next: Sicily

[Edessa]

Sicily, Syracuse. Civic issue, Time of Timoleon, 344-336 BC. AE Litra (29mm, 34.78g, 10). Obv: ΣYPA; Head of Athena left in crested Corinthian helmet bound with olive wreath. Rev: Starfish or 8-pointed star between two swimming dolphins. Ref: CNS II 62; BMC 287; SNG ANS 454-469; SNG Cop 720; SNG Morcom 697; HGC 2, 1436. Ex Nilus Coins, May 2009.

Next: Italy

[Octavius]

Sestertius of Marcus Aurelius with reverse of Aurelius lifting Italy up as the restorer or rebuilder of Italy.

Next, town or city in Italy , but not Rome or Sicily...

[Shea19]

City/Town in Italy (Aquileia):

Maxentius, AE Follis (25 mm, 6.13) Aquileia, 308-309. IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG Laureate head of Maxentius to right./Rev.CONSERV VRB SVAE / AQS Roma seated facing within hexastyle temple, holding globe in her right hand and scepter in her left; at her side, shield; in pediment, crescent. RIC 121(a)

Next: Temple

[DonnaML]

Philip I AR Antoninianus, 248 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Radiate, draped, & cuirassed bust right, IMP PHILIPPVS AVG / Rev. Hexastyle temple with statue of seated Roma on pediment in center, holding long scepter in left hand and [unidentified object] in upraised right hand, SAECVLVM NOVVM [ = new century or era]. 22x25 mm., 2.90 g. RIC IV-3 25b, RSC IV 198, Sear RCV III 8963 (ill. p. 154). Purchased from CGB.fr., June 2023.*

*This type, together with the SAECVLARES AVGG types issued the same year in the names of Philip I, Philip II, and Otacilia Severa, “belongs to the extensive series, in all metals, commemorating the celebration in AD 248 of the thousandth anniversary of Rome’s founding.” Sear RCV III p. 153. As Sear also explains (see id. p. 154), “This is a simplified depiction of the temple of Roma, part of Hadrian’s remarkable double-temple of Venus and Roma completed under Antoninus Pius in AD 141."

Next, another hexastyle temple.