There are 171450 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribeMagnus Maximus AR Siliqua. Treveri, AD 383-388. D N MAG MAXIMVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / VIRTVS ROMANORVM, Roma enthroned facing, head left, holding globe and spear; TRPS in exergue. RIC 84b; RSC 20a. 2.05g, 19mm, 7h. Near Mint State. Unusual brockage coin with re-struck reverse. Light iridescent tone.
Octavian AR Denarius. Italian mint (Rome?), autumn 30 - summer 29 BC. Laureate head right / Rostral column ornamented with two anchors and six beaks of galleys, surmounted by a statue of Octavian, naked but for cloak over left shoulder, holding spear in right hand and parazonium in left; IMP CAESAR across fields. RIC 271; CRI 423; RSC 124; BMCRE 633-6 = BMCRR Rome 4349-51; BN 68-71. 3.98g, 20mm, 4h. Fleur De Coin. One of the very finest surviving examples of this sought-after type.
Cyprus, Paphos AR Stater. Onasioikos, circa 450-440 BC. Bull standing left on beaded double line; winged solar disk above, ankh to left / Eagle standing left; ankh to left, 'pa-si o-na' in Cypriot script around; all within dotted square border in incuse square. Tziambazis -; BMC -; Destrooper-Georgiades, p. 196, 13; Gulbenkian 809; NFA sale 2, 1976, 275. 11.12g, 22mm, 10h. Very Fine. The second known example. Of great numismatic and historical importance. From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s. The existence of this issue in name of 'Ona' in the style of the coinage struck in the name of Stasandros illustrates the many problems of attribution in early Cypriot numismatics. We know of coins attributed to a king 'Onasioikos' which utilise the same obverse type of a bull with ankh and solar disk, but with a flying eagle as the reverse design (BMC pl. XXI, 14 = Traité II 1306). This in itself is not unusual, since Cypriot cities often continued the same obverse type under different rulers much as other Greek city-states did. The present coin however, which bears the name of 'Ona'(sioikos), but utilises the same reverse type as the staters of King Stasandros with the only difference being the legend, suggests a more direct link between the two rulers than has hitherto been widely assumed. Indeed, the style of the reverse is so similar to archaic style issues of Stasandros (see following lot, certainly the work of the same hand), that it appears to conclusively demonstrate that this king Onasioikos was the immediate predecessor of Stasandros, since the latter retained the same types as seen on this issue for his first coinage. This theory is supported by the difference in style between the issues of Stasandros - the following lot, the 'earlier' issue, being distinctly archaic in appearance, while the 'later' issue is more classical in style. In a thorough analysis of this mint and inscriptions, A. Destrooper-Georgiades (Le monnaies frappées à Paphos (Chypre) durant la deuxième moitié du Ve siècle et leur apport à l'histoire de l'île” in Proceedings of the 12th International Numismatic Congress, Berlin 2000, pp. 194-8), proposes a sequence of kings based on the available numismatic evidence which securely places Onasioikos prior to the reign of Stasandros, who is in turn succeeded by at least two other kings, Mineos and Zoalios, who are known to history only from their inscriptions on re-engraved coins of Stasandros. The evidence presented by Destrooper-Georgiades demonstrates with a high degree of probability that the issues attributed to Onasioikos bearing the flying eagle reverse (generally dated to 400 BC without supporting evidence) are in fact an earlier issue of the same king named on the present type, and that his flying-eagle coinage should clearly be redated to before the reign of Stasandros. The archaistic appearance of the flying-eagle type weighs heavily in favour of this, since a backwards step from classical style to archaic is counter-intuitive. Destrooper-Georgiades proposes a revised dating of circa 450 BC for the flying-eagle type of Onasioikos, and a period from the mid-fifth century to the first decades of the fourth century for the standing-eagle coinage of Onasioikos, Stasandros, Mineos and Zoalios.
Achaemenid Kings of Persia AV Daric. Time of Darios I to Xerxes II, circa 485-420 BC. Persian Great King or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, in kneeling-running attitude on exergual line to right, holding apple-tipped spear and strung bow; quiver over shoulder / Rectangular incuse punch. Carradice Type IIIb A/B. 8.41g, 15mm. Fleur De Coin. The ancient Greeks themselves believed that the term 'dareikos' was derived from the name of Darius the Great, an assessment that many modern scholars agree with. Others however have generally supposed that the Greek term can be traced back to old Persian 'dari' ("golden") and that it was first associated with the name of Darius only in later folk etymology. Both suppositions may be equally valid. While the Persians had not traditionally used coinage, Cyrus the Great had introduced it to the Persian empire with the conquest of the Lydian Kingdom in 546 BC. The Lydian coinage series featuring a confronted lion and bull type was continued at first, but under the reign of the third Great King, Darios I, the Lydian gold stater was converted into a type bearing the stylised image of the Persian ruler or a hero, a type which would last with little modification until the conquest of Persia by Alexander in the 330s BC. One of the principal motivating factors behind this institution of an official Persian currency was the requirement to pay Greek mercenaries, who were accustomed to receiving payment in coinage, or for official use as bribes and subsidies. Indeed, nothing demonstrates the power of the gold daric more succinctly than when Sparta was waging an increasingly successful war led by Agesilaos II against Persia in Asia Minor (398-395 BC). Unable to defeat the Spartan army, the satrap Pharnabazos sent an Asiatic Greek by the name of Timocrates of Rhodes to distribute ten thousand gold darics in the major cities of mainland Greece and thus incite them to war against Sparta. Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos quickly entered into conflict with Sparta, precipitating a messenger to be sent to Agesilaos ordering him to return to Greece. The recall was a bitter disappointment to Agesilaos, who wryly observed that “but for ten thousand 'archers', he would have vanquished all Asia”.
Crusaders. Cyprus, Richard I 'the Lionheart' Æ Tetarteron. King of England, 1189-1199. Crowned facing bust, holding cross-tipped sceptre and globus cruciger / Cross on three steps; arms ending in R E X. Metcalf, Lusignan p. 2; Bendall, "A Cypriot Coin of Richard I Lion-heart?", NumCirc April 2002, pp. 62-63; Schultze, A Cypriot Coin of Richard I Lion-heart", NumCirc February 2003, pp. 6-7; Bendall, "Richard I in Cyprus Again", NumCirc April 2004, pp. 85-86. 0.88g, 17mm, 11h. Very Fine. Very Rare, and in excellent condition for the type.
Carausius BI Radiate. London, no mintmark, October AD 290 - March 293. IMP C CARAVSIVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right / MONETA AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae: S-C across fields. RIC 470; Webb 521 (same obverse die as previous coin). 5.13g, 24mm, 7h. Extremely Fine.
Karia, uncertain mint AR Trite. Circa 500 BC. Forepart of lion with open jaws standing left before sunburst; in front, forepart of boar with legs extended left / Irregular rough incuse markings. Cf. Roma Numismatics III, 287 (stater). 3.36g, 15mm. Unpublished and Unique. The ancient district of Karia in south-western Anatolia was one of the most thoroughly Hellenized areas in Asia Minor, with Greek cities along its Aegean coast; a mountainous interior surrounded by Ionia, Lydia, Phrygia and Lykia was populated by the non-Greek Karians, mentioned by Homer (Iliad 2.867ff) who considered themselves autochthonous, formerly calling themselves Leleges - the pre-Hellenic population of the Aegean who inhabited its islands and served in the navy of Minos. They claimed kinship with the Lydians and Mysians, with whom they shared a common worship. By 546, under Cyrus II the Great, most of Asia Minor was incorporated into the Achaemenid empire and Karia was placed under Lydian satrapy. However, the region was allowed the freedom to trade so long as it paid tribute to Persia. Electrum and silver coinage had already been circulating in Ionia and Lydia for at least one hundred years on various weight standards. This Karian coin seems to be on the Persian silver standard, theoretically about 10.9 to 11.2 grams, struck just before or at the time of the Ionian revolt (499-494), in which the Karians took part. The iconography used by its issuing authority seems to have been stylistically influenced by the uncertain mint Karian mainland lion/incuse staters (ACGC 99; Traité II 1, 735 pl. 19, 11; SNG von Aulock 2077; 284, 13; BMC Ionia, pl. 21, 1) on the Aeginetan silver standard of about 12.2 grams, and the lion/incuse staters (ACGC 100; Rosen coll. 613; SNG Kayhan 930; SNG Keckman 64 [Kaunos] also on the Persian standard). This remarkable new addition to the archaic coinage of western Anatolia (a word symbolically suggesting “east” or “[sun]rise”) depicts a totally original scene: a lion and a boar facing left before a sunburst. In myth the lion has always been associated with the sun and it was believed to be able to gaze at the sun without blinking, as can be seen on the electrum 1/3 staters (trites) attributed to Alyattes; Weidauer group XV, 63-75; ATEC group d, 14-25), which are characterized by a sunburst on the forehead of the lion. The boar is a primordial symbol of strength, fearless aggression and resolute courage, whose ferocity aroused fear, admiration and reverence amongst the peoples of Anatolia. It was the slayer of Adonis and an attribute of Demeter, goddess of the earth and of fertility. Both these symbols were widely used as coin types throughout Ionia, Lydia, Lykia and the Aegean islands.
Theodosius II AV Tremissis. Constantinople, AD 408-420. D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM, Victory walking right, her head turned left, holding wreath in her right hand and globus cruciger in her left; star in right field, CONOB in exergue. Depeyrot 70/1; RIC 213. 1.47g, 14mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.
Cyprus, Paphos AR Stater. Stasandros, circa 440-425 BC. Bull standing left on beaded double line; winged solar disk above, [ankh to left] / Eagle standing left; ankh to left, 'pa-si sa-ta-sa-to' in Cypriot script around; all within dotted square border in incuse square. Babelon, Perses 749a; BMC pl. XXI, 9; Tziambazis -. 10.93g, 24mm, 12h. Very Fine. Extremely Rare. From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s. The similarities in style and fabric of this coin with the preceding lot attributed to Onasioikos indicate that it was the first known issue in the name of Stasandros, who has evidently succeeded Onasioikos as king. Both sets of dies are very clearly the work of the same engraver(s).
Julius Caesar AR Denarius. Rome, 40 BC. Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, moneyer. Laureate head of Caesar right / Signum, aquila, plow, and decempeda; TI•SEMPRONIVS above, GRACCVS below, Q•DES downwards to left, S-C across fields. Crawford 525/4c var. (no S-C on obverse); Sydenham 1128a; CRI 327 var.; Gorny & Mosch 219, 353 (same dies). 3.90g, 19mm, 10h. Good Extremely Fine. Extremely rare variety of a very rare type. A superb portrait coin of Julius Caesar.
Constantius I, as Caesar, AR Argenteus. Siscia, AD 294. CONSTANTIVS CAESAR, laureate head right / VIRTVS MILITVM, the four tetrarchs sacrificing over tripod before city enclosure with eight turrets. RIC 44a; Jelocnik 9b; RSC 315†c. 2.69g, 18mm, 12h. Near Mint State. A magnificently well detailed coin, engraved in exceptionally fine style.
Kingdom of Macedon, Philip V AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Alexander III. Pella, circa 180 BC. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; club in left field, AΛEΞANΔPOY before, B below throne. Price 636; Müller -; Roma e30, 91. 16.67g, 30mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Good style. Extremely Rare; one of only two examples on CoinArchives. This coin is part of the final issue of 'Alexanders' in Macedonia, as outlined by Seyrig (H. Seyrig, 'Monnaies héllenistiques, 5. Philippe V ou les Bottiéens', RN 1963, 14-8, pl. ii). Price notes: "It represents a revival of the coinage that is much later than the groups of the early part of Antigonos' reign. Seyrig showed that the style of the head of Herakles on these later issues compared closely with that on bronze issues in the name of Philip V, dated from the use of the same symbol and monograms as are found on the silver tetradrachms to the later years of his reign. The Alexander issue is not, however, marked with the controls of the royal coinage of Philip, and was presumably struck to make a particular payment for which this type of coinage was stipulated. The letter B which occurs on the Alexanders of this group may be related to the name of the Bottiaeans of the Emanthian plain around Pella, who at this time struck fractional coinage parallel to the royal issues of Philip V. This suggestion is strengthened by the symbol of the prow (Price 640-2) which echoes the reverse type of the coinage of the Bottiaeans." F. W. Walbank (Philip V of Macedon, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 265) notes however that there is now evidence of at least three other regional issues - those of the Amphaxians, coined at Thessalonica, and those of two Paeonian peoples, the Doberes and Paroreians. Additionally, many cities minted in their own names including Amphipolis, Aphytis in Chalkidike, Apollonia, Pella and Thessalonica. Walbank concludes that this represents a concession of the king's centralised political authority and an unprecedented devolution of minting authority. Rather than necessarily indicating weakness or insecurity though, Walbank makes that case for this devolution being a method of achieving some consolidation following the absolutist policies of the Antigonids, who had ever restricted coining rights, even to the great trading cities on the coasts. He proposes that the success Philip achieved in this policy should be measured by the prosperity of Macedon and the loyalty of its people to the king; the state of the Macedonian state on the eve of the Third Macedonian War indicate that this concession "weakened neither nation nor monarchy".
Ionia, Klazomenai AR Tetradrachm. Circa 160 BC. Laureate head of Zeus right / Amazon standing facing slightly left, wearing short tunic and boots, one breast exposed, holding long sceptre and bipennis, short sword at side; palm branch at feet, ΔIOΣ ΣOTHPOΩ EΠIΦANOYΣ flanking, KΛAZO in exergue. Seyrig, Revue numismatique, 1971, p. 24-25; Gemini II, 2006, lot 115; cf. for similar but with additional monogram: NY Sale XXVII (Prospero Collection), 512 = A. Meadows, ‘The Hellenistic Silver Coinage of Clazomenae’, in ‘Ancient History, Numismatics and Epigraphy in the Mediterranean World’, p. 248, 1, pl. I, 1a = Coin Hoards VIII, 471 (Tartous, Syria, 1987), pl. LXIV, 1. 16.89g, 36mm, 12h. Very Fine. Excessively Rare, the finest of only five surviving coins from this entire issue, and just one of two in private hands. Until 1987 the coinage of Klazomenai was believed to have come to an end at the close of the 3rd century BC with a fairly unremarkable issue of Alexander-type tetradrachms. Although the present type featuring Zeus and an Amazon was known since at least the 1970s with the publication of a specimen by H. Seyrig, the ethnik was missing and it was not until the discovery and publication of another specimen by Kinns and Price that the type was attributable to Klazomenai. Since then a further two specimens were identified by Meadows, all of which (and also the present piece) are struck from the same obverse die. Meadows further noted that the reverse portrayal of what is clearly an Amazon, heavily armed and with one breast exposed, despite initially appearing inexplicable, may be rationally explained by the fact that the city was located in the centre of an area that was widely believed to have once been the realm of the Amazons. Indeed, a great many of the neighbouring cities such as Kyme, Ephesos, Smyrna and Myrina among others, claimed to have been founded by eponymous Amazons. He proceeds to hypothesise that the type was the product of a territorial war between Klazomenai and neighbouring Temnos in circa 175-150 BC. He concludes: “in such circumstances, the choice of Zeus Soter Epiphanes as a coin type may well have had a polemical function within the land-claim being made by Clazomenae. So too, perhaps, did the reference to an Amazonian past”. However, Meadows does not account for the extreme rarity of the coinage. Indeed, he notes that if the Alexander-type coins of Temnos from this period and the Zeus-Amazon coinage of Klazomenai are connected, that this would explain why Temnos had issued such a seemingly large coinage at so late a date. Yet the question of why a Klazomenian war-coinage, which would have necessarily equalled that of their adversary, is so poorly represented today goes unanswered. An alternative explanation for this issue may lie in the legend of the coin, which names Zeus as ‘Manifest Saviour’. Evidently the issue is connected with an epiphane of the god to the Klazomenians which led to a military victory (the war with Temnos can hardly have warranted ascribing the epithet of Soteros to the god, since the war ended in an apparent stalemate that was resolved through mediation by the city of Knidos). This coin may possibly represent a celebratory issue struck in honour of a festival of which all record has now vanished. Certainly, Zeus does not appear before on the coinage of Klazomenai, and the issue bears many similarities to other festival coinages such as the Hyakinthotrophia coinage of Knidos c. 200 BC, the Athena Nikephoros issue of Pergamon c. 165 BC, and the festival of Apollo at Daphne issues under Antiochos IV at approximately the same time (166/165 BC). The victory which was ascribed to Zeus and which occasioned this coinage cannot be identified from the surviving information. It may have been connected to the victory achieved by Eumenes II over the Galatians in 166 who had been lately conducting damaging raids throughout the region.
Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 454-404 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl / Owl standing right with head facing, olive sprig with berry and crescent in upper left field, AΘE to right; all within incuse square. Kroll 8; SNG Copenhagen 31; Dewing 1591-8. 17.22g, 25mm, 4h. Fleur De Coin.
Elis, Olympia AR Stater. 'Zeus' mint, 107th Olympiad, 352 BC. Laureate head of Zeus to left; behind, vertical thunderbolt with wings above and volutes below / Eagle, with closed wings, standing to right on Ionic column capital; F-A across fields. Käppeli F84 (this coin) = BCD Olympia (Leu 90) 133; Seltman - (cf. obverse CE). 11.73g, 24mm, 6h. Near Extremely Fine. Unique. Ex Hess-Divo 311, 22 October 2008, lot 379; Ex BCD Collection, Leu 90, 10 May 2004, lot 133; Ex R. Käpelli Collection, Lucerne 1963, F84; Ex R. Jameson collection (not in catalogue); Ex Jacob Hirsch stock, Naville - Ars Classica XVI, 3 July 1933, lot 1292. The obverse of this coin displays the subtly placed letters F-A before and behind the neck of Hera, an abbreviation of FAΛΕΙΩΝ, i.e. [coin] of the Eleans. Yet Olympia had not always belonged to Elis; though it had been theirs since the beginning of the eighth century BC and they had organized the first of the Olympic festivals, their power diminished and it fell into the dominion of the nearby city of Pisa. It was during this time that the first temple of Zeus was constructed at Olympia by the Sikoudians, allies of the Pisatans, which was built of limestone, brick and wooden columns. With Spartan assistance, the Eleans reconquered Pisatis in 580 BC and destroyed the city of Pisa, thus also bringing the sanctuary of Olympia back under their control. Yet The Eleans, much as they might have wished it, could not destroy all traces of the former inhabitants. The sacred temple of Zeus at Olympia could not be pulled down and so remained as a reminder of the occupation of Olympia which had lasted for nearly a whole century. In 476 the Greeks convened an arbitration court in Olympia to act as a mediator between the cities of the Greeks in cases of disputes to try to end the inter-city warfare that kept the Greeks divided and fractious. In commemoration of this newly found place at the heart of Greek politics the Eleans erected a massive new temple to Zeus built of marble (which would later house the gold and ivory statue by Phideas), which became the primary ‘Zeus’ mint of Olympia. The humble old temple of the Pisatans was rededicated to Hera, who had no important cult at Olympia until then. It was in this rededicated temple that the 'Hera mint' coins were supposedly struck. The impressive obverse head of Zeus shares many stylistic similarities with that found on the famous coins of the Arkadian League; some of the dies from that issue are nearly identical to the present one (see BMC 48, Boston MFA 1260 and Käppeli 85). It is also reminiscent of some of the early tetradrachms of Philip II of Macedon, though it surpasses all of these in elegance.
Augustus AR Denarius. Emerita, circa 25-23 BC. P. Carisius, legate. IMP CAESAR AVGVSTVS, bare head right / P CARISIVS LEG PRO PR, trophy of Celtiberian arms, consisting of helmet, cuirass, shield, and javelins, erected on heap of round shields, lances, and other arms. RIC 5 var. (obv. leg.); RSC 403; BMC -; BN 1055; C 403. 3.86g, 19mm, 4h. Fleur De Coin; light golden tone. Rare; in outstanding condition for the type, and one of the finest known examples of the type, easily surpassing the few recorded on CoinArchives.
Seleukid Empire, Cleopatra Thea Eueteria AR Tetradrachm. Sole reign. Ake-Ptolemais, dated SE 126/125 BC. Diademed and veiled bust of Cleopatra Thea right, wearing stephane / BAΣIΛIΣΣHΣ KΛEOΠATΡAΣ ΘEAΣ EΥETHPIAΣ, double-cornucopiae tied with fillet, monogram to right, [date IΠP (= year 187) in exergue]. SC 2258.2; BMC 1 = LSM, NNM 84, 7; Houghton, CSE 803; Seyrig, Tresors II, 30.242; Spink 3014, 87 (same obverse die). 16.74g, 30mm, 12h. About Extremely Fine. Excessively Rare; the fifth known example. The life of Kleopatra Thea Eueteria (“Kleopatra the Goddess of Plenty”) would have been worthy of immortalisation in Shakespearean tragedy as few but the lives of the Ptolemies are; such was the complexity of her life and the constant intrigue that surrounded her, it is most surprising that she has never been the subject of major artistic work or representation in historical fiction. Born into the Ptolemaic royal family of Egypt in circa 164 BC, Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II, who were brother and sister. It seems that early in her life she had been betrothed to her uncle Ptolemy VIII Physcon, who was the rival King of Egypt in an uneasy triumvirate. However in 150 BC she was married to the usurper king of the Seleukid Empire, Alexander Balas, at a sumptuous ceremony in Ake Ptolemais; this marriage would produce a son, Antiochos VI Dionysos. In 145 though, her father invaded Syria, defeated Balas in battle and remarried her to Demetrios II, the son of the former king deposed by Balas, only to die himself a few days later in uncertain circumstances. With the death then of her father Ptolemy VII Philometor, Cleopatra Thea's erstwhile fiancé Ptolemy Physcon married her mother Cleopatra II, and six years later replaced her with her daughter Cleopatra III, Cleopatra Thea's sister. Cleopatra bore her new husband Demetrios II two sons who would later grow up to be kings themselves: Seleukos V Philometor, and Antiochos VII Grypos. In 139, Demetrios II was captured while fighting the Parthians, and held hostage. With the loss of the king, Demetrios’ younger brother Antiochos VII Sidetes assumed the throne, taking Cleopatra Thea as his wife the following year. She bore him too at least one son, Antiochos IX Kyzikenos. In 129, in a bid to destabilise the Seleukid Empire, the Parthians released Demetrios II to reclaim his throne and wife from his brother. Conveniently, that same year Sidetes was killed in battle against the Parthians, and thus Demetrios regained his throne, taking Cleopatra as his wife once more. By now though the empire was a shadow of its former self, and Demetrios faced difficulties maintaining his control over his reduced territories. Recollections of his old cruelties and vices, along with his humiliating defeat and apparent good treatment in Parthia, caused him to be detested. Ptolemy Physcon, now at odds with his former wife Cleopatra II, who had fled Egypt to the court of her daughter and son-in-law, set up the usurper Alexander II Zabinas in opposition to Demetrios. Alexander defeated Demetrios in battle at Damascus in 126, and fled to Ptolemais whereupon Cleopatra closed the gates against him. After this final desertion by his wife, he was captured, possibly tortured, and died a miserable death on a ship near Tyre. This coin was struck in the brief period after the death of Demetrios and before his eldest son Seleukos V became king in 125. During that time Cleopatra held the reins of empire and ruled as Queen in her own right, issuing this very brief (and today extremely rare) coinage. Seleukos V was murdered on his mother’s orders soon after his accession, and then from 125 to 121 BC Cleopatra Thea ruled jointly with Demetrios’ younger son Antiochos VIII Grypos, who was still a teenager at his crowning. Defeating Alexander II Zabinas in 123, the victorious returning king was offered a poisoned cup of wine by his mother, who apparently feared losing her control over him, but the suspicious Antiochos instead forced her to drink it herself. So perished Cleopatra Thea, though her influence was yet felt for many years: while Antiochos Grypos proved a competent king, reorganising the state and providing stability and financial recovery, all this would end in 114 when Cleopatra’s son by Antiochos Sidetes, Antiochos Kyzikenos, returned to Syria to claim the throne, sparking renewed civil war.
Kings of Parthia, Orodes II AR Tetradrachm. Seleukeia on the Tigris, 48/7 BC. Diademed bust of Orodes II left, wart on forehead / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΑΡΣΑΚΟY ΕYΕΡΓΕΤΟY ΔΙΚΑΙΟY ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟYΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ, king seated right, receiving palm from Tyche standing left, holding sceptre, AV and monogram in exergue. Sellwood 46.1; Shore -; Sunrise 367 (this coin). 14.98g, 29mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Attractive old cabinet tone. Ex Sunrise Collection; Privately purchased from William B Warden, 1990.
Carausius BI Laureate. London, March - October AD 290. IMP CARAVS P F AV, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / SECVR-IT PERPET, Securitas standing left, leaning on column, hand raised to head; MIXXII (sic) in exergue. Williams, Carausius, A consideration of the historical, archaeological and numismatic aspects of his reign, BAR 378, Oxford 2004, pl. 6, 15-16 (this coin). 5.68g, 21mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Unique.
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra VII AR Tetradrachm. Askalon, Year 64 Era of Askalon = 41/40 BC. Diademed bust of Cleopatra right, wearing necklace, hair plaited in rows and tied at back in a chignon / [ΙΕΡΑΣ ΑΣΥΛΟΥ] ΑΣΚΑΛΩ[ΝΙΤΩΝ] "Sacred and Inviolate of (the people of) Askalon", eagle standing to right, palm over left wing; monogram and dove to left, LΞΔ to right. Unpublished, but cf. Svoronos 1883 (year 52) and 1885 (year 55) = BMC Palestine 20, p.108; cf. Naville XVI, 1933, 1473 (year 66). 12.70g, 28mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Unique, unpublished and of considerable historical and numismatic interest. A marvellous example of Cleopatra's excessively rare 'Greek' silver coinage. Only three other tetradrachms issued by Cleopatra at Askalon are known to exist. That they are so exceedingly rare can only be explained if they were issued occasionally and in small numbers. The dating of the Askalon tetradrachms of Cleopatra was for many years calculated incorrectly due to the extreme rarity of the coinage and the paucity of information available. BMC Palestine initially assigned the example with the date LNE (year fifty-five) to 30/29 BC, on the basis of an era assumed by Svoronos, following Feuardent, to have begun in 84 BC. These tetradrachms bearing Cleopatra’s portrait would therefore have been struck when the queen, born in 69, would have been about forty years old. Svoronos, who saw the portrait as representing a woman of middle-age, clearly regarded this as appropriate. Indeed, Agnes Baldwin Brett (A New Cleopatra Tetradrachm of Ascalon, American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 41, 3) relates the anecdote that on the BM specimen, “Cleopatra so resembles an aged woman – children would call her a witch or a hag, with her beak of a nose and deeply wrinkled neck”. However, the V. Adda collection example (formerly S. H. Chapman collection; presented in Naville XVI 1933 1473) displayed a year 66 date which required the redating of the series: if the coins had been dated from Svoronos’ hypothetical era beginning 84 BC, the Naville specimen would have been struck some ten years after Cleopatra’s death in c. 19 BC. Now reckoned from the year of autonomy of Askalon in 104/103 BC, the present piece dated to 41/40 BC must have been struck when Cleopatra was twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. Much has been written concerning the differences in appearance of the queen on her various coinage issues, and the apparent inconsistency in depicting both her age and beauty. Collectors often wonder at her plain appearance on the surviving coins both in her sole name and those issued jointly with Marc Antony, an appearance which seems at odds with her famous seduction of two of the most powerful men in history – first, Julius Caesar in 48/47 BC when she was twenty-one, then Marc Antony in 41/40 BC, the year this coin was struck. Surviving busts of Cleopatra certainly are more flattering than her coinage; the exaggeration of certain features on the coinage can often be explained by deliberate emphasis on attributes associated with strength and power, notably the angular jaw and chin, and distinctive Ptolemaic nose. Moreover, while Svoronos erroneously assumed that the Askalon coinage emanated from a mint under Cleopatra’s direct control (an error subsequently perpetuated), in fact Askalon was an autonomous city under the protection of the Ptolemies, issuing coinage in their name only sporadically, apparently coinciding with important events and occasions (see A. Baldwin Brett, A New Cleopatra Tetradrachm of Ascalon, American Journal of Archaeology 41, 3, pp. 452-463). Cleopatra should therefore be expected to have had limited or no direct influence over her own image as portrayed on the coinage. Indeed, a further factor contributing to a stylised form of portrait may be found in the occasion for the striking of this issue, if it was produced in haste. Given the dating, the most likely events that would have occasioned its striking are either the conclusion of the alliance between Cleopatra and Antony in 41 BC, or more likely, the immediate threat posed to the city and its environs in 40 BC by the Parthian invasion of Syria led by Quintus Labienus and Pacorus. They had already forced the capitulation of Antioch, Phoenicia and Judaea, and were prevented from besieging Tyre only by the lack of a fleet; it would not be until the following year, 39, that Publius Ventidius Bassus would be dispatched east with 11 legions to drive back the invaders. It is possible therefore that this issue may have been produced in anticipation of anticipated warfare, as an appeal to Cleopatra for protection while advertising the city’s loyalty to the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Cnaeus Pompeius Junior and M. Minatius Sabinus AR Denarius. Corduba, 46-45 BC. CN•MAGN IMP•F, head of Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus right / Personification of Corduba, turreted, standing right amidst heap of arms, holding transverse spear in left hand and welcoming a Pompeian soldier who debarks from stern of a ship; PR•Q to left, M•MINAT SABIN in exergue. Babelon Minatia 2 and Pompeia 11; C. 5; Sydenham 1036; Buttrey, ANSMN 9, 1960, p. 76, type A and pl. VII, obv. 3, rev. c; CRI 49; Crawford 470/1a. 3.91g, 19mm, 9h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare, and in exceptional condition for the type. The eldest son of Pompey Magnus, Cnaeus Pompeius (also commonly referred to as Pompey Junior) and his brother Sextus grew up in the long shadow of their father’s fame as the greatest general of his age. The elder Pompey had seemed to hold the whole Roman world in the palm of his hand, yet in the struggle for mastery of the Republic against his former friend and ally Caesar, Pompey was forced to abandon Italy with his family, and was utterly undone at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. Defeated, Pompey and his family took flight to Egypt where the general believed they would be safe, since the boy king Ptolemy XIII was indebted to the friendship and the help Pompey had given to his father. Upon their arrival in Egypt however, Pompey was treacherously murdered by a former comrade on the orders of the Egyptian king, who had been advised that this would forestall further civil war, and ingratiate him with Caesar. Stabbed to death by sword and daggers, his head severed and his unclothed body thrown into the sea, Pompey died the day after his sixtieth birthday. Horrified, his family put back out to sea. Cnaeus and Sextus joined the remainder of the resistance to Caesar in Africa, and after the defeat at Thapsus the brothers escaped to the Balearic islands, whence they crossed over to the Spanish mainland with Titus Labienus, a former lieutenant of Caesar. Struck at Corduba, which became the Pompeian military headquarters, this coin is laden with symbolism. The reverse is as imaginative and unusual as any reverse in the Republican series, and propagandises the welcome received by the brothers in Spain, which readily provided them with the means with which to continue the fight against Caesar. The obverse bears the first securely datable portrait of their dead father Pompey Magnus, whose success in bringing the Sertorian War to a close in 71 BC would still have been remembered in Spain. The legend names ‘Cnaeus Magnus Imperator, son’, a pious statement that the authority behind the striking of this coinage is that of the wronged and murdered Pompey Magnus, on whose behalf the resistance to Caesar was taken up by his son. This coin must have been struck only shortly before the Pompeian and Caesarian armies met on 17 March 45 BC; the extreme rarity of the issue argues for a limited production run. At the Battle of Munda, some 70,000 troops commanded by Cnaeus, Sextus, and Titus Labienus met Caesar’s battle-hardened veteran force of 40,000. The result of the contest was a decisive victory for Caesar; Labienus was killed along with around 30,000 Pompeian troops, and the brothers Cnaeus and Sextus were once again forced to flee. Cnaeus was quickly captured and executed, but Sextus would survive his brother in Sicily for over a decade.
Herennius Etruscus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 250-251. Q HER ETR MES DECIVS NOB C, bare-headed and draped bust right / PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, Herennius Etruscus standing left, holding standard in his right hand and spear in his left. Calicó 3312 (but with a photograph of a coin of Hostilian in error); C. 32; RIC 148a; Trau 2806 (same obverse die); Nomos 13, 282 (same dies). 3.17g, 19mm, 6h. Very Fine. Extremely Rare.
Viking, St Peter Of York Penny, two-line type (c.910-920).Obv: SCI IIT R in two lines; branch above, key below, 'propellor' symbol in lower left fieldRev: Small cross pattée; +BoRACE C around.VF, slight nibbling to edge at 1-2 o'clock on reverse.18mm, 1.22gN. 553; S. 1006.Found at Scarning, Norfolk and recorded with Portable Antiquities Scheme: NMS-BDD828; Coin register 2013, no 94; EMC 2013.0245
Aethelred II Last small cross type penny (1009-1017), London, Beorhtferth.Obv. Diademed bust left. +ÆÐELRÆD REX ANGLO around.Rev. Small cross pattée. +BRHFERD MO LVND around.VF, the bust a little weak. Peck marks on reverse.S. 1154; N. 777; R. P. Mack, Mack Collection. Ancient British, Anglo-Saxon and Norman Coins, Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles 20 (1973),no. 1024 (this coin).21mm, 1.25g
Cnut Quatrefoil type penny (1018-1024), Lincoln, Aethelmar.Obv. Crowned bust left within a quatrefoil. +CNVT REX ANGLORVM.Rev. On quatrefoil with pellet at the apex of each cusp, long cross voided, each limb terminating in three crescents. +EÐELMER MO LIN.Very fine. N. 781; S. 1157; EMC 2006.0016 (this coin). Recorded with PAS: DENO-00C081.19mm, 1.03g
Five assorted coin weights 16th/17th Century.Three square coin weights, one with the left facing bust of Charles 1st, the other two with worn impressions. Also two later circular weights one brass weight of George III used for weighing a Guinea of the period and one copper alloy circular weight of James 1st with a ewer, sword and crowned 'I' denoting James 1st. Square weights approx 14 mm, circular weights approx 19 mm
A collection of Commemorative coinage, to include; The Royal Mint Coronation Anniversary silver proof set, The British Historic coin collection, The Royal Mint Golden Jubilee Collection and Westminster Golden Jubilee set, all with certificates of authenticity and within capsules and fitted case, together with Roman bronze coins with certificates of authenticity, etc (a lot)
Anne- Shilling, dated 1705, second bust, plumes in angles, ref Spink 3588, together with a George II shilling, dated 1758, ref Spink 3704, a George III half penny, dated 1807, ref Spink 3781, A Victoria Old Head half crown, dated 1894, ref Spink 3938, a Jubilee head florin, dated 1887, ref Spink 3925, a young head groat, dated 1848, ref Spink 3913, and old head Maundy fourpence, dated 1896, ref Spink 3944, a 1951 Festival of Britain crown and a nine coin 1953 Coronation set
A Jersey £10 silver 5oz proof poppy coin, dated 2011, 'The Royal British Legion 90th Anniversary', 65mm, within capsule and fitted case, with certificate of authenticity, together with a Jersey £5 cupro-nickel proof '100 poppies' coin, within capsule and fitted case, with certificate of authenticity (2)
Loading...
