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Show me your HERCULES/ HERACLES coins


Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

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Was just admiring the next Christie’s antiquities auction and found a nice Hercules bust that would fit perfectly in my living room. Circa 2nd-3rd century AD, 10 1/2 in. high, estimated between 15,000-20,000 USD… but my wife didn’t allow me to sell my car to acquire it…

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At least I have some coins featuring the old Hercules / Heracles on it. I do not remember showing this one on NF. (Aureolus for Postumus)

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I think I can see some similarities with one of the most famous ancient sculpture: it is a colossal copy made after a smaller Lysippos original, and intended to adorn the Baths of Caracalla. The sculpture was discovered and removed from the baths in 1546, entering the famous collection of Alessandro Farnese. It now resides in the Museum of Naples.

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Do you have Hercules coins in your collection ? Please post them here !

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Thanks for sharing the rad bust that's going up for sale and cool coin!

Here are a few examples from all over:

 

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Pyrrhus

(278-276 BCE) Sicily, Syracuse, AE 23mm 10.25 gr, head of young Herakles left, wearing lion's skin, rev. Athena Promachos advancing right w/owl to right of foot

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Alexander III

(336-323 BC).Uncertain in western Asia Minor.Drachm.

Obv : Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.

Rev : AΛEΞANΔPOY.
Zeus seated left on throne, round shield in left field, grape bunch below throne.
Price 2705.

Condition : Somewhat porous.Some scratches on the reverse.Nicely toned.Very fine.

Weight : 4.1 gr
Diameter : 18 mm

Purchased from Biga December 2021

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Philip III Arrhidaeus Uncertain mint in Western Asia Minor. (323-317 BCE)/ Or Antigonus Gonatas (288-277 BCE)
Bronze Æ Half-bronze unit, (PB, 16) No. v19-0059  

16mm, 12 hours. 4.11g. No. 110 in the reference books: Cop.- - MP.2803 pl. 110

Obverse, Three-quarter-front head (Herakles?) to the right placed in the center of a Macedonian shield.

Reverse, Macedonian helmet; in the field on the right, a caduceus; monogram in the left field.

Caption setback: B-A Ex: Savoca

 

Edited by Ryro
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Kings of Characene. Hyspaosines
Charax-Spasinu mint
Dated SE 189 (124/3 BCE)
AR Tetradrachm 31mm, 16.20 g, 12h
Diademed head right /
Herakles seated left on rock, holding club on knee; monogram to outer left, ΘΠP (date) in exergue.
Assar fig. 13; Alram 491 var. (date); Sunrise 463; cf. DCA 479 (for type; date unlisted)

 

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Kings of Paeonia, Lykkeios
circa 359-335 BCE
AR Tetradrachm 22 mm, 13.19 g, 6 h
Astibos or Damastion
Laureate head of Apollo to right.
Rev. ΛYKK-EIOY Herakles standing left, strangling the Nemean lion; to right, bow and quiver.
Paeonian Hoard 72. Peykov E1030

 

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Crete, Phaistos
Circa 330-320 BCE
AR Stater 23 mm, 11.84 g, 11 h
Herakles standing front, head to right, resting his right hand on club set on ground and holding bow in his left; to left, lion's skin hanging from tree; to right, coiled serpent above laurel branch.
Rev. Bull walking to left; all within laurel wreath.
Le Rider, Crétoises, pl. III, 22 (same obverse die). Svoronos, Numismatique, 17. SNG Copenhagen 512
Ex CNG 2022
Ex Trausnitz Collection
Ex Obolos 2021
Ex Künker 2005
Ex Künker October 2001

 

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BITHYNIA, Herakleia Pontika.
Dionysios, 337-305 BCE
AR Drachm 4.4 gm, 12h, 18mm
Obv: Head of young Dionysos, left. Rev: Naked Herakles erecting a trophy.
SNG.vAul.6936

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Two that are familiar to most members here, and one on a Dombes jeton :

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Roman republic, anonymous didrachm (heavy denarius) - Rome mint c. 269-266 BCE
No legend, Diademed head of young Hercules right, with club and lion's skin over shoulder
ROMANO, She wolf right, suckling Romulus and Remus

7.29 gr

Ref : Crawford # 20/1, RCV # 24, RSC # 8, Albert # 30

 

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Gordian III, Antoninianus - Rome mint, 4th emission, AD 12-239/05-243
IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, Draped and radiate bust of Gordian right
VIRTVTI AVGVSTI, Hercules standing right, leaning on club set on rock
5.41 gr
Ref : RCV # 8670, Cohen # 404, RIC # 95, Michaux # 385

 

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1648 - Gaston d'Orleans (1627-1650), Jeton, argent - Atelier de Trévoux
. GASTON . FILS . DE . (croix de l'Ordre de St Esprit) . FRANCE . ONCLE . DV . ROY. Ecu d'Orléans couronné entouré des colliers des ordres du roi
CONSILIO . DEXTRAQVE PARI. Mercure debout de face, la tête à droite et Hercule marchant à gauche. A l'exergue 1648 ("à celui dont la prudence égale la valeur")
Ag 6.07 gr, - 27 mm
Ref : Feuardent # 10863

Q

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Hercules battling the Nemean lion, issued by Maxentius only for Constantine - possibly alluding to a reported tale of Galerius having Constantine fight a lion as a training exercise while hie guest/hostage in the east. This Nemean lion reverse was also issued for Constantine as augustus with a different reverse legend, but this type for him as caesar is much less common.

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RIC VI London 91

Hercules with a less common attribute of his bow and arrows (for killing the Stymphalian birds). Nemean lion now reduced to a rather crudely depicted lion skin.

 

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Here is a not so common coin from city of Blaundos in Lydia.

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12 mm, 2,04 g.
Lydia, Blaundos. Ӕ. Circa 200-0 BC.
Head of Herakles right, bearded / MΛAYNΔE ΘEOTIMIΔO (or MΛAYNΔEΩN ΘEOTIMIΔO), club
IMHOOF LS S50,4(1) / COLL IMHOOF(1); BMC 16 S42,5(1).

A very common but interesting Gordian III

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23 mm, 3,27 g.
Gordian III 238-244. AR antoninianus. Rome. 241-243. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / VIRTVTI AVGVSTI, Hercules, naked, standing facing, head to right, resting one hand on hip and other on club set on rock; lion skin beside club. RIC IV 95; RSC 404.

My personal favorite 

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10 mm, 0,90 g.
Lucania, Herakleia. AR diobol. 432-420 BC.
Athena with Attic helmet to right, ornamented with Hippocamp / HE, Herakles kneeling right, wrestling the Nemean lion.
Van Keuren 38; SNG ANS 35; HN Italy 1360.

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Here's another Herakles on  Herakleia coin.

I  only  got this  one quite recently, but the strange thing was the auction docs failed to  mention the small but perfectly legible and  pretty rare full  signature of Aristoxenos on the  helmet.  (Between the plume base and Scylla's tail). So probably the only  coin for which I  underpaid this year!

Stater, c. 390-330 BC, head of Athena right, wearing crested Athenian helmet, decorated with Scylla hurling stone, A before, rev. Heracles stood right strangling the Nemean lion with both hands.

 

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P. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. 100 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.78 g, 12h). Rome mint. Bareheaded bust of Hercules right, seen from behind, wearing lion skin headdress, club over shoulder; shield and control mark to left / Roma standing facing, holding spear, being crowned by Genius of the Roman People, holding wreath and cornucopia; •/S between; all within laurel wreath. Crawford 329/1a; Sydenham 604; Cornelia 25; RBW 1186 var. (control). 

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Roman Phoenicia. Tyre. Trajan, AD 98-117. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 14.79g, 6h). Dated Cos 5, RY 15 (AD 110/111). Obv: Laureate head of Trajan right; below, club and an eagle standing right. Rev: Laureate bust of Melkart-Herakles right, lion's skin tied around neck. Ref: Prieur 1515. Ex CNG e213 (1 Jul 2009), Lot 338. Ex Goldberg Pre-Long Beach (30 Jun 2022), Lot 2321. 

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Maximianus Herculeus 286 - 310 AE Antoninianus (pre-reform)
Siscia 1. officina, 290 AD.
Obv. IMP CMA VAL MAXIMIANVS PF AVG, radiate head right.
Rev. CONSERVATOR AVGG, Emperor, holding sceptre, and Hercules, shouldering club and lion's skin, standing face to face, sacrificing at altar. A in left field. Mintmark dot XXI dot HP dot.

RIC V-II, Siscia 582 var. (reverse type, obv. legend and bust type), unrecorded; Cohen:-. RIC 582 has obv. legend only P AVG, and bust type cuirassed.

“HP = First letters of HP-KOY-LI, = of Herculius, name of Maximianus (so-called coded coins)

In this series Hercules usually leans on his club, with no lionskin. This variant with the club over his shoulder was unknown to Cohen. However the lionskin is probably constant in this variant, and has simply not been mentioned in the few descriptions. Certainly the lionskin is regular in the type IOV ET HERCVL CONSER AVGG, which shows a similar Hercules with shouldered club. Voetter, Gerin Cat., p. 280, 65, records a coin like this, with P F in obv. legend, Hercules shoulders club (no mention of lionskin), but officina letter B in right field, not A in the left field. Apparently omitted by RIC. Voetter 66 is similar to this coin, except for P not P F in obv. legend; this is RIC 582 citing Voetter.” -“ -Contributed by Hans-Joachim (in a description on Wildwinds), December, 2004.

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A denarius of Trajan with Hercules: from the time of his first war with the Dacian King Decebalus.

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Trajan AR Denarius. Rome, AD 101-102

Obv: IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG GERM, laureate head right

Rev: P M TR P COS IIII P P, Hercules, naked, standing front on low base, holding club downwards in right hand and lion-skin over left arm

Ref: RIC 49

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I didn't see one like this posted yet. One of my favorite Heracles coins:

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Nero
Magistrate Ti. Cl. Mnaseas
54-68 AD
AE15
Sardes, Lydia
Obverse: EΠI TI MNACEOY CAΡΔIANΩN, draped bust of Herakles right
Reverse: CEBACTH, Nike walking left, holding wreath and palm branch

 

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