I think we need our own 'Post an Old Coin and and an Old Tune' thread

[JeandAcre]

Yes, @Phil Anthos, you Nailed it with a Sledgehammer! 

That never wasn't one of my own favorite lines.  Really needing it that your ears were that wide open.  Granted, more fun than it is surprising.

(Edit:) Right, there's another rhyming line (lyrically, this is the high tide of Hip-Hop; they didn't need couplets) that still makes me laugh.  No, not even from schadenfreude.  I have to know you spotted that one, too.  Done now.

(Edit, 14 April 23:)  Reality check: meanwhile, Black Thought has been happily married for years.  It ended happily.

Edited April 15 by JeandAcre

[Roman Collector]

Hadrian, AD 117-138.
Roman fourrée denarius, 2.98 g, 17.7 mm, 7 h.
Rome mint copy, ca. AD 138.
Obv: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head, right.
Rev: AEGYPTOS, Egypt reclining left, holding sistrum and leaning on basket, around which a snake coils. Ibis on left, facing right.
Refs: RIC 296, BMCRE 801-804, RCV 3456, Strack 294.
 

The metal surface of the fourrée has bubbled away from the core and cracked in front of the portrait on the obverse and above the sistrum and in the exergue on the reverse, revealing the plating to be an Eminence Front.

 

 

[Phil Anthos]

Syracuse, Reign of Hiketas

288-279 BC AE22 (22mm, 7.46g) O: Laureate and beardless head of Zeus Hellanios right. R: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt with wings open; A before. HGC 2, 1449; Calciati 313,168; SNG ANS 799; Favorito 50; Sear 1212v ex Classica Antiquities The epithet Hellanios refers to Zeus’ aspect as ‘Bringer of Rain' An unusual depiction of Zeus, looking more like Apollo in his beardless visage. One can easily see why this epithet would play well during Sicilian summers. I think Shirley Manson would like it here in Oregon...

[JeandAcre]

@Phil Anthos, the Garbage had to remind me of growing up wishing that Pink Floyd and Steely Dan didn't have to combine such incredible music with such d--n depressing lyrics!  :<}

But Oh No, I'm not seeing the coin!  Is it just this antiquated machine (never not a first guess)?  Either way, could you humor me and repost it?

[expat]

As it is April and the day of fools,

Tradition has it that Rome was founded on an April day in the 8th century B.C. But April was also the month dedicated to two extraordinary female deities of the Roman Pantheon: the goddess of love Venus and Cybele, the Lady of Nature and Fairs who came to the city from the East.

So here is Cybele

Ref Caracalla AR Denarius, Rome 19 mm. 2,94 g.  
RIC 130a, RSC 97, BMC 280
Caracalla 196-198 AD. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right / INDVLGENTIA AVGG, IN CARTH below, Dea Caelestis (Cybele)  riding lion springing right over water gushing from rocks on left, holding thunderbolt & sceptre, and wearing ”City Wall” crown.

[Phil Anthos]

Ooops.

Zeus Hellanios...

[Phil Anthos]

Today is the 39th anniversary of my first date with my wife. I guess I fooled her pretty good! But I realize most people celebrate this day a bit differently, so in honor of that here's this. Fortunately history has treated Claudius better than his family did...

Claudius / Minerva

41-42 AD AE As (26mm, 10.22g) O: Bare head left; TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TR P IMP P P. R: Minerva advancing right, wielding javelin and holding shield; S-C. RIC 116 / Cohen 84 / BMC 149 / Sear 639 ex Francis J. Rath "No one is free who does not lord over himself."

[Phil Anthos]

Ahhh Lydia!

Nero / Hekate

Philadelphia, Lydia 54-59 AD (19mm, 4.99g) O: Bare headed and draped bust right; NEPΩN ΣEBACTOC. R: Hekate standing facing, wearing polos and holding two torches; TI NEIKANOP ΦIΛAΔEΛΦEΩN. RPC 3041 "I have done everything that I should, but the outcome is in the hand of fortune" ~ Nero

[expat]

The coin that follows could be Constantine II paying tribute to his two brothers with a CAESS reverse, LOL

The video title links the two

Constantine II AE follis. 337-340 AD. CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate head right / PROVIDENTIAE CAESS, campgate with no doors, two turrets and star above. Mintmark: Epsilon SIS double crescent.
Siscia 2.92 g, 19.2mm
RIC VII 216

[JeandAcre]

(Edit: Oh, No,wrong guy:) @expat, the Spin Doctors just might be the last rock 'n' roll that I knew I liked, in real time.  Just, Needing it.  Especially with the video, that I'd never seen.

Edited April 4 by JeandAcre
Well, That was embarrassing. Sorry, @expat.

[JeandAcre]

Well, okay, fine.

Here's a penny of Edward I; much earlier, but from Durham; in the same neighborhood.  (Ecclesiastical mintmark of Bishop Bek; rev. 'DVREMh CIVITAS.')

 

...Where this is going is about my (thank you again, reliably documented) descent from Edward, thanks to his second, record-breakingly cradle-robbing marriage (well, you could wish) to Marguerite Capet, a daughter of his contemporary, Philippe III.

She was 16 when he was, What the, Expletive Of Choice, already in his 60's.

Some Dylan, from the best album he ever, that's, Ever Once did.  If you think I'm wrong, Tell me so.   '...But she breaks just like a little girl.'

 

 

Edited April 3 by JeandAcre
The reverse legend. Nope, Not Legal.

[JeandAcre]

And, Oh No, I already have to do this.

A denier from the south of a different country (...wait for it:)

 

Marquisat de Provence.  Raymond V (also comte de Toulouse), 1148-1194.

Obv.  Crescent and star; 'R. COMES.'

Rev.  'Cross of Toulouse.'  D / V / X / M [ARCHIE?  ...Maybe emphasizing Raymond's military role ('dux') on an eastern border (march / marquisat) of France.  That's just a guess.]  Duplessy 1604. 

And this has to be my favorite J. J. Cale tune.  --Busted; that many of them are that good.  Fine, except, make me pick one, and this will be it.

 

 

[AncientOne]

These guys remind me of JJ Cale.

 

 

Achaea. Elis, Elis. Septimius Severus AE18.  Possibly unique.

Peloponnesus. Obv. - ΛCEPCEBHP.. Septimius Severus laureate, head rt. Rev. - HΛEIWΝ Zeus standing rt. holding eagle in left hand and throwing lightning bolt with rt.

Edited April 5 by AncientOne

[JeandAcre]

And now it's time for a rollicking adventure in the wild frontier of wholesale regression.  (At this level, "midlife" becomes a convenient euphemism.)  The video features clips going back a few years before the track itself, from the Japanese movies that were standard fare for kids in the neighborhood who had cable tv. Yikes.

First, though, the coin. 

(Welf) Duchy of Bavaria.  Heinrich X, 'the Proud,' 1126-1138.  Denar /pfennig of Regensberg.  (Dealer's pics.)

Rev. Warrior with nasal helmet, Norman-style, 'kite-shaped' shield and sword fighting a dragon, to left.
Obv. Duke standing facing, with banner and shield.

Cf. this article (waaaay down; the pages are unnumbered; you'd have to really trawl for it):

https://www.academia.edu/24323600/Medieval_Coins_of_Bavaria  

(Citing Emmerig 71.) 

Now for the Real Sh-t.

 

 

[Roman Collector]

It's difficult to describe the music of Tom Waits. If you know, you know. If you don't know, critic Daniel Durchholz explains, "With a voice that sounds like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car a few times, Waits is something of an acquired taste."

An acquired taste, indeed! When my son was about three and I was playing Tom Waits in the car, he said, "I don't want to listen to Cookie Monster singing anymore."

Indeed, there's a whole genre of Cookie Monster - Tom Waits mashups on YouTube.

Now, I don't have a coin that immediately evokes Tom Waits, but I like to imagine that Maximinus Thrax had a similar voice.

Maximinus I, 235-238 CE.
Roman Æ Sestertius, 26.7 mm, 18.01 gm.
Rome, 236-238 CE.
Obv: MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM, Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: SALVS AVGVSTI SC, Salus enthroned left, feeding snake arising from altar.
Refs: RIC-85; BMCRE-175, Sear-8338; Cohen-92.

[Phil Anthos]

Damn I love Tom Waits! And this song has to have one of the best opening lines ever, especially for a Christmas song.  😉  Great as an actor too. But my favorite Tom Waits quote, the definitive quote imo, is "I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy. " His raw gravelly version of Somewhere from that same album is ironically one of the most beautiful songs I know. 

~ Peter 

[JeandAcre]

You nailed it, @Phil Anthos.  With Tom Waits, you show up for the weirdness, and stay for the poignancy.

[JeandAcre]

Henry III (1216-1272).  Cut halfpenny; second, voided cross type.  North class 3b, c. 1248-1250.  

Obv. Henry crowned, facing.  *h[ENRICVS] REX III.

Rev.  [/]ION [ON / CAR/]LEL.  (Moneyer Jon on Carlisle.)

North 987 (for type); p. 286 (for mint and moneyer); cf. Plate 20: 17.  --Yes, even for this issue, this is a relatively scarce mint.  I Really Need how the two extant parts of the reverse include enough legend to identify both the mint and the moneyer.

From its strategic location on the western, Cumbrian border with Scotland, Carlisle Castle saw plenty of action from the early 12th century, all the way up to, Crikey, the second major Jacobite revolt; Bonnie Prince Charlie, and all that.  Sheer craziness, since the the castle's design and fabric never advanced far beyond the original tower keep and plain curtain wall, going back to (an obviously prescient) Henry I.  Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlisle_Castle; 

https://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English sites/368.html.)

 

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carlisle-castle/

This site funly notes that, along with lots of masonry castles in Scotland, it was built largely of sandstone.

A great example of a castle built from locally sourced sandstone is Carlisle Castle in England. Occupying a 4 acre piece of land, the castle is mostly constructed of grey and red sandstone, and its initial construction began in the 12^th century. It is believed that the Romans initially quarried the Sandstone in the local area, but evidence of it has since been destroyed in the wake of massive removal for building since the Medieval period. Sandstone is
light, and easier to transport, yet durable enough for construction.

https://southbaylapidaryandmineralsociety.com/2016/08/12/british-castles-how-were-they-made-and-what-were-they-made-of/

Right, all of this was really an elaborate pretext for some more Hendrix.  From one of my favorite albums; as such, the earliest one.  

 

 

[Phil Anthos]

The only appropriate image I could come up with for today...

[expat]

Maximianus, AE radiate fraction. 295-299 AD. Cyzicus. IMP C M A MAXIMIANVS PF AVG, radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right / CONCORDIA MI-LITVM, Emperor standing right, receiving Victory on globe from Jupiter, standing left and holding sceptre. KΔ in lower centre. RIC VI Cyzicus 16B.

[JeandAcre]

Wow.  Huge thanks, @Phil Anthos and @expat, for an equally dramatic and mutually enlightening contrast!!!  Phil Swift and the Sealers (never heard of 'em) have to evoke Spinal Tap.  --Nope, had to upgrade my imogee from a smile to a laugh after that. 

@Phil Anthos, is it a safe guess that this is in fact Bauhaus?  Wow.  Fearless, only more so on an artistic level than for the content.   ...I never heard more than random bits of them, but I did eventually acquire an appreciation of Joy Division, as a band who sort of took the Pistols and the Clash to a different level.  ...Fun to compare the longevity of Punk to that of Hip-Hop, each with their myriad permutations.

Edited April 8 by JeandAcre

[JeandAcre]

 

Here’s one that hasn’t even been posted for a minute.

Comte de Tonnerre.  Denier.  According to Poey d’Avant, an early comital issue, c. late 10th -11th centuries.  The reverse evokes issues of the neighboring county of Auxerre.  (Both bordering Champagne and the duchy of Burgundy.)
Obv.  +TORNODORI CASTI.  
Rev.  Cross; in the angles, four seven-pointed stars.  No legend.  
Boudeau 1726 (variant: ‘CAST’); Poey d’Avant, 5855 (this precise legend); Plate CXXXV, No. 18. 
And some from the first reading I ever heard of Rameau's relatively late chamber work, Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts.  C. 1971; Directed by Gustav Leonhardt from a neo-Flemish harpsichord.  (Minus the tonal diversity of French ones; guessing that was for the relative precision.)  Each of the other three musicians, probably all students of Leonhardt, went on to direct their own Baroque ensembles.

 

 

Edited April 13 by JeandAcre
The initial citation of Boudeau was flat wrong.

[JeandAcre]

...Oh, No, but, without adult supervision, I need some more very vintage Gustav Leonhard playing French stuff.  This time only more Galant than Baroque.  You could call it 'proto-Classical,' if you had to, but it's really just a French thing.  Integral to the musical sensibility going back to early contemporaries of Bach.

Right, a coin.  Gots me one. 

Vicomté de Châteaudun.  Anonymous obole, c. 1120-1130.

Obv.  The bléso-chartrain profile which these issues perpetuated from the mid-10th to earlier 13th centuries.  With endless variations, allowing approximate dating in convergence with hoard evidence.  Here, a crosslet and 'S' are in the fields, with an annulet for the eye, and a vertical omega for the mouth.

Rev.  Cross; annulet and 'S' in angles.  +DVNI CS:ASTI-I-I-.  ('DVNI CAST[E]LLI;' 'S's inverted.)  Duplessy 474.

The issue corresponds to the vicecomital reign of Geoffroy III (fl. c. 1110- c. 1145/50).  Geoffroy is among the better documented, correspondingly colorful of the early viscounts.  In 1136, he was briefly “imprisoned by his cousin Lord Urso at his castle at Fréteval;” it took the intervention of his wife, Helvisa, with help from his son and neighboring allies, to secure his release.  (Livingstone, Out of Love for My Kin (Cornell, 2020), 76-7.)  It wasn't the only time Helvisa had to bail him out.  Later, "near death," he  was excommucated for usurping property from a neighboring abbey.  Helvisa promised the abbey full restoration (197).  To Geoffroy’s credit, his “affection for Helvisa is evident in several charters where he refers to her as his ‘venerable wife,’” and the preponderance of her cosignature “suggest[s] that they spent a great deal of time in each other’s company” (198). 

...Right, so here's some Duphly, from his second livre, 1748.

 

 

Edited April 13 by JeandAcre

[JeandAcre]

Ouch, I already needed this. 

Van Morrison is from and of Ulster.  This is the example of James II's 'gun money' that I wound up with.  (One that I posted earlier was sold; the dealer, coolness incarnate,  summarily gave me a full refund.  Why people with more common sense wait to post things that haven't arrived.)  The full 1689 date is clearer in hand.

And the Van Morrison.

 

 

[Roman Collector]

Do you feel like we do about ancient numismatics?

Faustina II, 147-175 CE.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 24.67 g, 31.1 mm, 7 h.
Rome, June 152 - autumn 154 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVG PII AVG·FIL·, bare-headed and draped bust right (Beckmann type 2 hairstyle).
Rev: CONCORDIA S C, Concordia seated left, holding flower and resting elbow on cornucopiae set on globe under chair.
Refs: RIC 1374a; BMC 2175-76; Cohen 57; RCV 4713; Strack 1315.