Etcherdude Posted May 31, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted May 31, 2022 @Severus Alexander, that Gallienus truly qualifies as bizarre. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted May 31, 2022 · Member Share Posted May 31, 2022 I bought one really bizarre coin lately. Orielensis reattributed it from the dealer's attribution. Marc Breitsprecher thought it looked like Mr. Bill, hence the picture. I think it looks much more like the Patrick Troughton era Dr. Who characters, the Cybermen. My Cyber-bishop. Description from Orielensis: Regensburg, anonymous joint episcopal and ducal issue, AR pfennig, c. 1315–1374 AD. Obv: Head of bishop within arcade. Rev: Heads of bishop and duke facing within double arcade. 17mm, 0.90g. Ref: Emmerig 248. Marc B. got the general time period right. I spotted that the headgear of the Cyber-bishop didn't jive with coins of the duke. 12 2 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted June 2, 2022 · Patron Share Posted June 2, 2022 Well, how is a head on a platter for bizarre? Someone else posted one like this one but I love the serpent consuming man on this. And to finish things up, how about a winged elephant? I wouldn't want to walk under him. 15 1 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegandron Posted June 2, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted June 2, 2022 This is a cool coin featuring Metus... but with the Die Break, makes her really intimidating! (BTW, blank reverses in Etrurian coinage is a hallmark of theirs.) 20-Asses: (Similar to a Roman AR Didrachm / Heavy Denarius)Etruria, Populonia3rd Century BCSilver 20-Asses8.1g, ovoid 16.6mm x 20mmObv: Facing head of Metus, hair bound with a diadem, X:X belowRev: blankSambon 47; HN Italy 152 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamnaskires Posted June 2, 2022 · Member Share Posted June 2, 2022 (edited) Thought I’d contribute again to the bizarre thread. This one may not be quite as strange as the Phraates II situation I wrote about earlier, but it’s still just weird. I’ve written about the following at CT and CCF in the past, so this is an abbreviated version with just a few examples provided. One of the most bizarre occurrences in ancient coinage, IMO, happened with the transition of power in Elymais, from the previous Kamnaskires royal family to the Arsacids (the Parthian royal clan). As might be suggested by the iconography on coins such as the sampling below, the wresting of control by the Arsacids may not have sat well with the local populace. We don’t know the names of the first several kings of the Arsacid family (the coins of this period don’t have individual rulers’ names), and so coins from this period are designated as being issued by the “Uncertain Early Arsacid Kings” of Elymais. Note the stark contrast, as seen in these coins below, between the strong obverse portraits and the - shall we say - "less-than-strong" reverse portraits. The obverses, perhaps representing the current Arsacid king, are stylized in accordance with the Iranian revival in Parthia at that time – a deliberate, probably politically-motivated reaction against Greek cultural influence. But, despite the stylization, those obverses are bold and are generally well rendered. The reverses, though, reflect what was likely a slow (decades-long), methodical erasure of the iconography and legends of the preceding Kamnaskirid coinage. Presumably the iconography was associated with that lineage, and spoke to its authority. It is not known, with certainty, whether the reverse bust represented a god (as most people assume) or the progenitor of the Kamnaskirid line – but, either way, it must have been a powerful symbol associated with that dynasty’s authority. Eventually the degenerated bust and legend became just independent abstract lines – the representation (portrait) of the reverses degraded completely. But, in these presumably earlier coins of the Arsacids in Elymais, the abstraction of the reverse bust is just getting underway – we see in these the beginning of the erasure of the Kamnaskirids from the collective memory of the populace. There has been speculation that an abrupt rupture – eliminating the iconography in one fell swoop – would have been politically inexpedient. It would not have gone over well. Either the above theory is correct – or perhaps we may be looking at results of “take your kid to work” days at the Elymaean mint. Pop worked on the obverses, junior on the reverses... Edited June 2, 2022 by Kamnaskires 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirityoda Posted July 8, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 8, 2022 Carved skeleton cent off Ebay... 12 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewomack Posted July 9, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 9, 2022 I just put this in another thread, but I think it may belong here as well This was the dealer's verbiage: Mittelalter Deutschland. Pfennig (1441). Leichte Prägeschwäche. Sehr schön-vorzüglich. Augsburg-Bistum u. Stadt (gemeinschaftlich). 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Julius Posted July 9, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 9, 2022 (edited) I've never understood why someone could hate Faustina II so badly! Could be a weight or a game piece but someone wanted to mark this as... not a coin. Edited July 9, 2022 by Orange Julius 7 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prieure de Sion Posted July 9, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 9, 2022 Hmmm bizare... I like this "bizarre" Plautilla Coin from 202/205 AD with Concordia Felix. On the front, Plautilla looks like an elf from Lord of the Rings at first glance. On the back, you might think Caracalla from Skeleton is standing opposite her. The coin is bizarre but also somehow funny. I find this provincial bronze, which I bought at Roma, with Tiberius on the front and Livia and Dursts on the back, bizarre. The stamp cutter was everything (beard cutter, blacksmith, potter, tanner, baker...) - but he was not a gifted stamp cutter. If I were Tiberius and had seen these grimaces - I would have taken him to Capri. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted July 9, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 9, 2022 Genuine Thasos Tetradrachm depicting Dionysus on the obverse & Heracles on the reverse. 9 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etcherdude Posted July 9, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 9, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, Al Kowsky said: Genuine Thasos Tetradrachm depicting Dionysus on the obverse & Heracles on the reverse. Though the Celtic coin is abstract, the artist didn't omit the important part(s). Edited July 9, 2022 by Etcherdude clarification 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prieure de Sion Posted July 9, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 9, 2022 8 hours ago, Al Kowsky said: Genuine Thasos Tetradrachm depicting Dionysus on the obverse & Heracles on the reverse. Can't see the different... ^^ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzerman Posted November 28, 2022 · Member Share Posted November 28, 2022 Some wierd ones from my coll. and ugly to boot.... Celyon/ Chola Kings/ Vijaya Bahu I 1055-1110 AV Kahavanu ND 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted November 29, 2022 · Member Share Posted November 29, 2022 16 hours ago, panzerman said: Some wierd ones from my coll. and ugly to boot.... Celyon/ Chola Kings/ Vijaya Bahu I 1055-1110 AV Kahavanu ND I was the underbidder on that coin, so if you still think its ugly, I don't mind taking that load off of you 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzerman Posted December 1, 2022 · Member Share Posted December 1, 2022 Another weird coin/ but I really am glad to have it.... Mysia/ Kyzikos EL Mysihekte 1/12 Stater ND struck circa 525BC Maned Boar riding a Tuna 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzerman Posted December 3, 2022 · Member Share Posted December 3, 2022 Visigoths Kingdom/ Hispania AV Triens ND Cordoba Mint Tulgan 639-42 Portrait looks like Booboo the Clown! 5 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzerman Posted December 3, 2022 · Member Share Posted December 3, 2022 Kolchis/ Black Sea Region/ Eastern Celts. Basternae AV Stater ND (200-150BC) Vani Mint Unknown Ruler obv: Stylized Alexander Head rev: Stylized Athena 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted December 3, 2022 · Supporter Author Share Posted December 3, 2022 Stylized German bear as a cityscape. Silver commemorative of 750 Years Berlin 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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