There are 209761 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribeMaximinus I ?31 of Anemurium, Cilicia. Dated RY 1 = AD 235. AVT K ? IO OVHPON MA?IMEINON, laureate and cuirassed bust right / ???????????, lion advancing right, looking back; star and crescent above, ?? ? (date) below. RPC Online 7011 (temporary); SNG France 711; Ziegler, Anemurion 74. 15.20g, 31mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Minor scrape to obverse edge. Rare; RPC cites only 6 other examples and the first example to be offered at auction since 2010.
Marc Antony and L. Pinarius Scarpus AR Denarius. Cyrene, 31 BC. M•ANTO•COS•[III•IMP•IIII], head of Jupiter Ammon right / Victory, naked to waist, walking right, holding wreath and palm; ANTONIO AVG before, SCARPVS IMP behind. Crawford 546/2a; Sydenham 1280; CRI 390; RSC 1. 3.72g, 18mm, 12h. Mint State. Rare.
Great Britain. Anglo-Saxon AR Sceatta. Secondary phase, series S, type 47. Mint in Essex, circa AD 730-740. Centauress standing left, head right, holding palm frond in each hand / Four heads of wolves in clockwise circle, each with tongue forming whorl. Abramson S100; Metcalf p. 540; North 121; SCBC 831. 1.12g, 12mm. Good Extremely Fine. Rare; an excellent example of the type. Ex Fritz Rudolf Künker 246, 11 March 2014, lot 2661.
Seleukid Empire, Antiochos VII Euergetes AR Tetradrachm. Tyre, circa 135-134 BC. Diademed, draped bust right / BA?I?E?? ANTIOXOY, eagle standing left on prow, TYP monogram on club to left, APE monogram above club, monogram in right field above HOP, control mark between legs. SC 2109.6. 14.11g, 28mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Pleasantly toned. Rare.
Galla Placidia (mother of Valentinian III) AV Solidus. Ravenna, AD 426-430. D N GALLA PLACIDIA P F AVG, pearl-diademed and draped bust right, wearing necklace and crowned above by the hand of God; Christogram on shoulder / VOT XX MVLT XXX, Victory standing left, holding long jewelled cross; star above, R-V across fields, COMOB in exergue. RIC 2012; C. 13; Depeyrot 16/13. 4.44g, 21mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From a private British collection; Ex H. D. Rauch 102, 7 November 2016, lot 603.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Half-length bust of Kore-Persephone to left, wearing kekryphalos headdress, round earring and long-sleeved chiton, in her right hand holding a tunny fish by the tail, and raising a flower to her chin; bust truncation indicated by dotted line between parallel lines / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 75, pl. II, 30; SNG France 205; Boston MFA 1448 = Warren 1519. 16.22g, 19mm. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-90s.
Dynasts of Lycia, Teththiveibi AR Stater. Circa 460-425 BC. Winged lion walking to left on round shield / Tetraskeles within square incuse; Lycian script around. Müseler V, 42; Vismara, Falghera 137; SNG Copenhagen Supp. 426. 8.51g, 19mm. Good Very Fine. Very Rare; in excellent condition for the type. From the A.F. Collection, Germany.
Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' AR Tetradrachm. Susa, circa 324/3 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; A????????? to right, monograms in left field and below throne. Price 3836. 17.21g, 25mm, 10h. Extremely Fine; lustrous metal. Extremely Rare - Price cites only an example in the ANS; no other examples on CoinArchives.
Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Deinomenid Tyranny. Time of Hieron I, circa 470-466 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving slow quadriga to right; above, Nike flying to right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands; ketos swimming to right in exergue / Head of Arethusa right, hair in pearl band, wearing loop earring with single pendant and pearl necklace; ?VRAKO?ION and four dolphins around. Boehringer 408 (V211/R288); SNG ANS 128; Hunterian 20; Bement 1050 (all from the same dies). 17.36g, 27mm, 11h. Good Extremely Fine. Superbly lustrous metal with gold and purple toning. Rare. Ex Ambrose Collection; Ex Triton XV, 3 January 2012, lot 1069.
Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III ‘the Great’ AR Dekadrachm. Babylon, circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned to left, holding sceptre; A?E?AN?POY to right, monogram above M below throne. Price 3600 = Mitchiner, The Early Indo-Greeks and their Antecedents p.11, illustration 4 = NAC 72, 344 = Price, Mnemata, 6 = Coin Hoard 1975 fig. 6, 2; cf. Price 3618A (same obverse die); cf. cf. Prospero 307 (same obverse die); cf. Sotheby’s 19, June 1990, 102 (same obverse die). 41.62g, 35mm, 8h. Extremely Fine. One of the very finest of the exceedingly few surviving dekadrachms of Alexander, engraved in fine style and remarkably well preserved in good metal. From a private European collection. In all of human history, there have been but very few individuals whose accomplishments are recounted again and again undimmed by time, whose legends have grown only brighter with the passing of the years, and whose names can stir fierce emotion and wonder at a distance of millennia. Alexander is perhaps the greatest of all such paragons of humanity, whose life and exploits are the near-incredible stuff of myth and fable. Silver dekadrachms, be they of Athens, Syracuse, Akragas or Carthage, have ever been amongst the most desired and sought-after of ancient coins by virtue of their impressive size and weight, and the large canvas they presented for the showcasing of the engraver's art. Though considered 'rare', the surviving dekadrachms of Syracuse number in the high hundreds or low thousands, and those of Athens in the dozens. Fewer than twenty dekadrachms of Alexander are known to exist today - figurative grains of sand on a beach amidst the hundreds of thousands of surviving tetradrachms, drachms, staters and other fractions. The extreme rarity of Alexander's dekadrachms has therefore contributed an aura of unobtainability to the mystery of this most iconic coinage. Missing from most of the world's major institutional collections, the majority of the examples known today originated from the 1973 'Babylon' Hoard (sometimes also referred to as the Mesopotamia Hoard), and a smaller 1989 find that Martin Price believed to be a part of the original 1973 deposit. The eight coins that are known to have come from these two groups form the backbone of the Dekadrachm corpus. Struck in three emissions from a mint generally considered to be at Babylon, but possibly Susa or Ekbatana, the dekadrachms formed part of a massive conversion of bullion seized from the Persian Royal treasuries at Susa and Persepolis - some 180,000 Attic talents (4,680 metric tons) were liberated from those vaults, converted by decree of the King into ready coinage to meet the expenses of his vast empire and to pay his beloved soldiers. That so few examples of this large denomination survive today is potentially indicative of a special significance or purpose for these coins. It is certainly tempting to think - as many often have - that they represent presentation pieces intended for certain men of rank, and that Alexander, who was well known for his love of giving gifts, may have distributed them personally. In reality though, their low survival rate is probably due to the impracticality of the denomination, since the ubiquitous tetradrachm was the more common and more convenient medium of payment. Regardless of its intended purpose, and though it represents only a small splinter that survives of Alexander's great vision, today his dekadrachms are one of the most tangible artefacts of his reign, and amongst the greatest prizes of ancient Greek numismatics.
Ionia, Ephesos AV Stater. Circa 155-140 BC. Draped bust of Artemis right, wearing stephane, and with bow and quiver over shoulder / Cult statue of the Artemis of Ephesos facing, a fillet hanging from each hand; thymiaterion in inner right field, ?-? across fields. G. K. Jenkins, Hellenistic Gold Coins of Ephesos, in Festschrift Akurgal, Ankara, 1987, p. 134, pl. B, 6 (BM) = R Fleuscher I, Artemis von Ephesos und der erwandte Kultstatue von Anatolien und Syrien, EPRO 35, 1973, pl. 53b; LIMC II, pl. 565, 23. 8.43g, 21mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From the A.F. Collection, Germany. The Hellenistic era gold coinage struck at Ephesos is extremely rare and rarely well preserved. Previously thought to have all been struck during the Mithradatic wars, this is now known not to be the case. Some seem to be dated by the era of the Province of Asia and the dates they bear are too early for them to be Mithradatic War issues. Certain other issues such as the present example appear to be part of an extraordinary issue of gold struck in conjunction with an extremely rare gold stater type of Magnesia in the mid-second century. The style and fabric of both issues seem consistent with an emergency issue struck to meet an immediate expense. The reverse of this coin depicts the famous cult statue of Ephesian Artemis, housed in the great temple of Artemis that is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The original image of the goddess was a wooden xoanon that had represented a pre-Hellenic goddess who the Greeks later equated with Artemis. This first image, which was kept decorated with jewellery, was possibly lost in a flood in the 8th or 7th century which destroyed the temple; excavations have discovered the tear-shaped amber drops of elliptical cross-section which must have dressed it. In circa 550 BC, when reconstruction of the temple was begun (partly financed by Kroisos), it was undertaken in grand style and was supposedly the first Greek temple to be built of marble. The wooden xoanon was replaced by a new ebony or grapewood statue sculpted by Enoidos, which presumably survived until the temple was again destroyed, this time by an act of arson on the part of one Herostratos. The second destruction of the temple coincided with the birth of Alexander the Great; Plutarch later noted that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to save her burning temple. The form of the goddess is distinctly near-eastern in appearance; characteristics such as her legs being enclosed in a tapering pillar-like term are closely related to Egyptian and Hittite images, and the curious feature of the many protuberances on her chest (usually described as breasts or eggs) are decidedly non-Greek in origin, and indeed have defied explanation or identification for centuries, though an association with fertility seems implicit.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Double-bodied winged sphinx standing with head facing atop tunny fish to left, wearing ouraios, hair falling in plaited locks behind / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze -, cf. 128 (hekte); Greenwell -, cf. 101 (hekte); SNG France -, cf. 280 (hekte); Roma VIII, 631; Roma X, 493; Roma XII, 299; Roma XIV, 221. 16.27g, 20mm. About Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-90s.
The Social War, Marsic Confederation AR Denarius. Bovianum(?), 89 BC. Laureate head of Italia left; VITELIV (= ITALIA) retrograde in Oscan script behind / Soldier standing facing, with foot on uncertain object, holding inverted spear and sword, and head right facing recumbent bull to right; I in exergue. Campana group 9b, 141 (D97/R118); Sydenham 627; HN Italy 407. 3.75g, 21mm, 1h. Extremely Fine. Rare.
Bruttium, Kroton AR Third Stater - Drachm. Circa 530-500 BC. Tripod, with legs terminating in lion's paws, with ornaments on and serpents rising from the bowl; QPO to left / Incuse tripod, legs terminating in lion's paws. HN Italy 2076; SNG ANS 298. 2.93g, 20mm, 12h. Near Mint State. Very Rare - the early fractions of Kroton are difficult to obtain, and seldom seen in such high grade. From a private European collection, outside of Italy prior to December 1992.
Herodians, Herod IV Philip Æ12. Caesarea Philippi (Panias) mint, dated CY 37 = 33/4 CE. Bare head of Herod Philip right / L?Z within wreath. Hendin 1235; RPC I 4952; BMC 5; TJC 111; Baramki 3. 1.42g, 12mm, 12h. Very Fine; earthen repatination. Extremely Rare. From the inventory of a North American dealer. Herod Philip was the first Jewish ruler to place his own portrait on coins. Hendin (p. 257) notes: “Philip was able to immortalise his face on his coins largely because so few Jews lived in the territories over which he ruled. Jews would have taken this act as an insult and violation of the Mosaic Law against graven images.”
Sicily, Katane AR Litra. Circa 410-405 BC. Head of Silenos left / KATANAI?N, upright winged thunderbolt flanked by shields at both sides. C. Boehringer, ‘Katanishe Probleme: Silberne Kleinstmünzen’, in T. Hackens and W. Raymond (ed.), Proceedings of the 9th International Congress of numismatics, Luxembourg 1979, Bern 1982, pp. 71-83, 6; SNG Copenhagen 182. 0.77g, 12mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Rare. Ex Roma Numismatics X, 27 September 2015, lot 173.
Maximian AR Argenteus. Carthage, AD 296-298. MAXIMIANVS AVG, laureate head right / FE ADVENT AVGG NN, Africa standing facing with head to left, holding standard and tusk, lion seated to left with head right at her feet, with bucranium to left; S in exergue. RIC 13b; RSC 92. 3.24g, 18mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From a private South American collection.
Augustus AR Cistophorus. Ephesus, circa 25 BC. IMP CAESAR, bare head right / AVGVSTVS, capricorn to right, head turned back to left, cornucopiae on its back; all within wreath. RIC 477; RPC 2213. 12.09g, 26mm, 1h. Good Extremely Fine. Rare. Ex H. D. Rauch 94, 9 April 2014, lot 703; Ex Münzen und Medaillen 81, 18 September 1995, lot 170. The significance of the constellation Capricorn to Augustus is subject to debate, with some ancient sources reporting that it was his birth sign and others relating that he was conceived under the sign - the latter tying in with his official birthday on 23rd-24th September. Although we now view conception and birth as two separate events, the Romans viewed conception through to birth as a continuous process. Under the tropical zodiac, the sun transits Capricorn from late December to late January, marking midwinter and the shortest day of the year. For this reason, often it was considered a hostile sign but Augustus chose to interpret it positively since it had governed two major events in his life - the granting of imperium to him by the Senate in January 43 BC, and the acceptance of the title Augustus on 16 January 27 BC. The capricorn is represented as a goat with a fish tail, and is often thought to be a representation of Pan escaping an attack by the monster Typhon. Having jumped into the Nile, the half of Pan's body which was submerged was transformed into a fish. An alternative interpretation is that the goat is Amalthea, who suckled the infant Zeus after Rhea rescued him from being devoured by his father Cronus. The broken horn of Amalthea transformed into the cornucopiae, which on the present example is carried on the back of the capricorn. It is a symbol of fertility and abundance, and here accompanies the corona civica, awarded to Romans who saved the lives of fellow citizens by slaying an enemy, but in the case of Augustus for having saved the entire Roman citizenry from the horrors of further civil war. In 27 BC, Augustus had declared Ephesus capital of Asia Minor, promoting the city above the former capital Pergamum. The decision to use such striking imagery alongside his birth sign for issues minted in the new capital reinforced Augustus as the head of the new imperial regime.
Diva Faustina I (wife of A. Pius) Æ As. Rome, after AD 141. DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA, diademed and draped bust right / PIET AVG, garlanded and lighted altar with closed doors; SC in exergue. RIC 1191 (Pius); C. 256; BMCRE 1466 (Pius). 12.88g, 29mm, 5h. Extremely Fine. Rare, and in excellent condition for the type. From the inventory of a North American dealer.
Septimius Severus AR Tetradrachm of Antioch, Seleucis and Pieria. Circa AD 202-204/5. •AVT•KAI• C?OVHPOC C? •B, laureate bust right / ?HMAPX•??• V?ATO•?•, Tyche seated to right on rocky outcrop, holding poppy and two grain ears; below, half-length figure of river-god Orontes swimming right. McAlee 656; Prieur 185. 13.72g, 27mm, 12h. About Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From a private North American collection.
Diva Faustina I (wife of A. Pius) AV Aureus. Rome, after AD 141. DIVA FAVSTINA•, draped bust right / AETERNITAS, Fortuna standing left, holding patera and rudder. RIC 349a (Pius); BMCRE 368, pl. 9, 1 (Pius, same dies); Calicó 1743, cf. 1743a (same rev. die). 7.32g, 20mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. A highly attractive example struck from rare dies. Ex Monsieur Note (1910-1982) Collection, France; Privately purchased in Paris, March 1980. Annia Galeria Faustina was born into a distinguished and well connected family; her father Marcus Annius Verus was three times consul and prefect of Rome, and she counted Sabina and Matidia as her maternal aunts. Sometime between AD 110 and 115 she married Titus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius Arrius Antoninus (who would later gain favour with Hadrian, be adopted and succeed to the throne, and be known to history as Antoninus Pius). Her marriage to Antoninus was a happy one and she bore him two sons and two daughters; her namesake, the only one to survive to adulthood, would marry the future emperor Marcus Aurelius. Faustina was by all accounts a beautiful woman noted for her wisdom, though the Historia Augusta criticized her as having ‘excessive frankness’ and ‘levity’. Throughout her life, as a private citizen and as empress, Faustina was involved in assisting charities for the poor and sponsoring the education of Roman children, particularly girls. When she died in AD 140 shortly after her fortieth birthday her husband Antoninus was devastated. To honour her memory he had her deified, built a temple for her in the Forum and issued a prodigious coinage in her name as Diva Faustina. The most fitting and touching act of this grieving husband and emperor was to ensure her legacy of charitable work would be continued: he established an institution called Puellae Faustinianae (‘The Girls of Faustina’) to assist orphaned Roman girls, evidenced by the extremely rare aurei and denarii with the legend PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE (cf. RIC 397-399 [Pius]) and he created a new alimenta or grain dole to feed the poor. Unusually, the posthumous coinage in her name was produced over a sustained period, though this is clearly linked to the significant role she played in the ideological theme of pietas that characterised the reign of Antoninus, and which Martin Beckmann (Diva Faustina: coinage and cult in Rome and the provinces, ANS, New York, 2012) suggests likely included a distribution of the issues with the reverse legends PIETAS and AETERNITAS, being evocative of “the ‘spiritual side’ of Faustina’s divinisation” (p. 19), at a public ceremony in her memory on the tenth anniversary of her deification.
Magnentius AV Solidus. Trier, AD 351. D N MAGNENTIVS P F AVG, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA AVG LIB ROMANOR, Victory, standing right, and Libertas, holding sceptre in left hand, standing left, both supporting trophy on shaft between them; TR in exergue. RIC 252; C. 48; Depeyrot 10/1. 3.86g, 22mm, 7h. Extremely Fine. Very rare earlier variety without crossbar on trophy. Ex Monsieur Note (1910-1982) Collection, France; Private purchased in Paris, 8 October 1968.
Divus Nigrinian (son of Carinus) BI Antoninianus. Rome, AD 284. DIVO NIGRINIANO, radiate, youthful head right / CONSECRATIO, eagle standing facing with wings spread, head turned to left; KA(pellet in crescent)A in exergue. RIC 472(Carinus); C. 2. 3.42g, 25mm, 11h. About Extremely Fine; much silvering remaining. Rare. From a central European collection; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 92, 24 May 2016, lot 2425.
Macrinus AR Tetradrachm of Edessa, Mesopotamia. AD 217-218. AYK M O?E? CE MAKPEINOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / ?HMAP X E? Y?ATOC, eagle standing facing, head right, holding wreath in beak; shrine between legs. Prieur 852. 12.70g, 28mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. Superb style and metal quality. Very Rare.
Irene and Constantine VI AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 792-797. IRI?H A?OVSTI, crowned facing bust of Irene, wearing loros, holding globus cruciger in right hand, cruciform sceptre in left / CO?STA?TINOS bAS' ?, crowned and draped facing bust of Constantine, wearing chlamys, holding globus cruciger and akakia. DOC 3a; Sear 1594. 4.43g, 20mm, 6h. Near Mint State. Very Rare. From a private Swiss collection.
Etruria, Vulci AR Diobol. 5th - 4th century BC. Head of Metus facing, open mouth with fangs / Scarab. EC I, 7 (O1/-); HN Italy 238. 1.53g, 11mm, 11h. Extremely Fine, superb late archaic style. Extremely Rare; one of only six known examples. From the collection of a Swiss Etruscologist, and outside of Italy prior to December 1992.
Sicily, Himera AR Chalkidian Drachm. Circa 530-520 BC. Cockerel standing left / Mill sail pattern incuse design. SNG Lockett 779; Kraay, The archaic Coinage of Himera, 103 (D74/R61). 5.46g, 20mm. Extremely Fine. Beautifully toned and superb for the type. Very Rare. Ex Fritz Rudolf Künker 216, 8 October 2012, lot 126 (hammer: EUR 7,500); Ex Roma Numismatics III, 31 March 2012, lot 48. Himera was one of the first cities to begin coining in Sicily, following the Chalkidian monetary standard of its parent city Zankle. Though it never struck staters, it coined drachms such as the present piece. Colonists from Zankle were joined by exiles from Syracuse, resulting in a city with Chalkidian (i.e. Ionian) institutions but a mixed Doric and Chalkidian dialect. The year of foundation, 648, is inferred from the notice that the city was inhabited for 240 years before its destruction in 409. The city was initially very prosperous and wielded considerable power; its territory stretched over a vast area, estimated at c.700 square kilometers, encompassing numerous rural and indigenous settlements. Its territory was divided to the south from that of Gela and Akragas by the Monte Cassero hills, and in the west at the river Thermos from the territory of the Phoenician city of Soloi. Ruled from very early on by tyrants, the city’s shining moment in history came in 480 BC when it became famous across the Greek world as the site of the great Battle of Himera, supposedly fought on the same day as the Battle of Salamis (according to Herodotus) or at the same time as the Battle of Thermopylae (Diodorus Siculus), which saw the Greek forces of Theron, tyrant of Himera and Akragas, along with Gelon of Syracuse defeat the Carthaginian force of Hamilcar Mago, despite great inferiority in numbers (55,000 Greeks to 300,000 Carthaginians). Diodorus Siculus (XI.1) saw in this victory (combined with the defeat of the Persians at the same time) the derailment of a Punic-Persian conspiracy to destroy Greek civilisation, though this notion has been largely rejected by modern scholars. The city’s end would come seventy one years later at the hands of Hamilcar’s grandson, Hannibal Mago. Hannibal sacrificed 3,000 Greek prisoners at the place where Hamilcar, his grandfather and leader of the 480 expedition, had fallen. The city of Himera was utterly destroyed, even all the temples were flattened to the ground, and the women and children were enslaved.
Cilicia, Kelenderis AR Stater. Circa 425-410 BC. Nude rider, holding whip in his left hand, jumping from horse galloping to left / Goat kneeling to left, head turned back to right; KE?EN and ivy tendril with single leaf above. Kraay, The Celenderis Hoard, NC 1962, -; SNG Levante -; SNG France 55 (same dies). 10.73g, 21mm, 1h. Extremely Fine; lustrous metal. Extremely rare variety with single ivy leaf. From a private North American collection.
Cyprus, Paphos AR Stater. Onasioikos, circa 450-440 BC. Bull standing left on beaded line, winged solar disk above, ankh to left; Cypriot characters 'pa-o' below bull / Eagle flying to left, uncertain Cypriot characters above to left, astragalos below. McClean 9157 = BMC pl. XXII, 2 (same rev. die); cf. BMC pl. XXII, 1 for obverse type with same characters. 11.04g, 21mm, 7h. Good Very Fine; test cut. Extremely Rare. From a private English collection, outside of Cyprus before December 1992. 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) should be redated to before the reign of Stasandros. 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.
Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' AR Tetradrachm. Babylon, circa 324/3 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; A????????? to right, Nike flying right and holding wreath above M in left field, monogram below throne. Price 3678. 16.46g, 26mm, 3h. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare issue from the dekadrachm series.
Seleukid Empire, Seleukos II Kallinikos AV Stater. Uncertain western mint, circa 246-225 BC. Diademed head right / Apollo, nude, standing to left and examining arrow held in right hand, left hand resting on grounded bow; BA?I?E?? to right, ?E?EYKOY to left. SC 720; HGC 9, 299f; CSE 1158; Arthur Houghton, The Tarik Derreh (Kangavar) Hoard in ANSMN 25, 1980, 25-27 and plate 5, 26 (same obv. die). 8.52g, 19mm, 2h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of only four known examples. Originally attributed to Ekbatana by Houghton (ANSMN 25, 1980, pp. 43), this issue has recently been reassessed by Houghton and Lorber in Seleukid Coins and assigned to an unknown western mint. The difficulty in attribution, besides the obvious lack of mintmarks, seems to concern both the style of the portrait and the reliance upon the location of the hoard that contained most of the known examples as a reflection of whence the coins originated. The closest parallel to the portrait of this coin is SC 719, attributed to Laodikeia by the Sea, being particularly similar in the breaks and modelling of the hair. However, Houghton and Lorber separate these two issues by arguing that it cannot be securely attributed to the same mint, given differences of style. Why then can it not be attributed to Ekbatana as Houghton originally suggested? Within the hoard there were three coins of the type, struck from identical obverse dies, all in mint condition. Houghton argued that the proximity of their find-spot to the ancient city of Ekbatana, coupled with a stater identified by Newell as from Ekbatana which similarly lacks identifying marks, is evidence enough to assign this type to Ekbatana. However, it is noted that this is problematic, especially considering the vertical die axes of the coins, and instead decides an unknown mint to be the best option. Seleukos II was born in circa 265 BC, the first son of Antiochos II and his first wife Laodike. In 252 BC Antiochos II repudiated Laodike and sent her to Ephesos in order to marry the daughter of his enemy Ptolemy II and seal a peace treaty that ended the Second Syrian War. In 246 BC, Ptolemy II died, shortly followed by Antiochos II, leaving the dynastic succession in a state of confusion. Antiochos II had begot a son with Ptolemy's daughter, Berenike, and named him Antiochos, however there were rumours that before his death he had returned to Laodike and declared Seleukos II his rightful heir. With his father’s death, Seleukos II became king with his younger brother Antiochos Hierax named joint-ruler in Sardis. Their mother Laodike had Berenike and her son murdered to avoid any competition for the throne, thus sparking the Third Syrian War, also known as the Laodikean War, which saw Berenike’s brother Ptolemy III invade the Seleukid Empire to avenge his sister. This was not the end of Seleukos’ troubles, as his younger brother Antiochos Hierax soon launched a rebellion against him aided by their mother. However, after a victory for Antiochos Hierax at the Battle of Ankyra in circa 239 BC, his usurpation was ultimately unsuccessful and Seleukos II would eventually be succeeded by his eldest son, Seleukos III Soter.
Parthia(?), 'Athenian Series' AR Tetradrachm. Hekatompylos(?), circa 246/5-239/8 BC. Attic standard. 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; monogram of Andragoras(?) behind / Owl standing right, head facing; behind, prow and grape bunch on vine with leaf, A?E before. Roma XIV, 330; Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 1A; SNG ANS 3; N&A 40-42; Mitchiner -. 16.91g, 28mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. From the 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group, present in Germany in 1975, subsequently exported to the USA.
Parthia(?), 'Eagle series' AR Drachm. Ekbatana(?), circa 246/5-239/8 BC. Local standard. 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 / Eagle standing left, head right; grape cluster on vine with leaf above. Roma XIV, 334; Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 2A; SNG ANS 14-16; Mitchiner 26c; N&A 52-57. 3.58g, 15mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. From the 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group, present in Germany in 1975, subsequently exported to the USA.
Licinius I AV Aureus. Siscia, AD 316. LICINIVS AVGVSTVS, laureate head right / IOVI CONSERVATORI AVG, Jupiter standing left, chlamys hanging from left shoulder, holding Victory on globe in right hand, leaning on sceptre, eagle with wreath at feet, X in right field; SIS in exergue. RIC 20; C. -; Calicó 5119; Biaggi 1937. 5.36g, 20mm, 6h. About Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of very few known specimens. Ex E. Bourgey, 10-12 March 1976, lot Q.
Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' AR Tetradrachm. Susa, circa 322-320 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; BA?I?E?? below, A?E?AN?POY to right, monogram to left, ?A below throne. Price 3846. 17.07g, 26mm, 10h. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare - only four examples on CoinArchives. Struck from dies of remarkably fine style.
C. Septimius T. f. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Poseidonios, magistrate. Pergamum, 57-55 BC. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; the whole within wreath / Two serpents standing by decorated bow case; C•SEPTVMI•T•F PRO•COS in two lines above, monogram of Pergamum to left, staff of Asclepius to right, ?OC?I??NIOC below. Stumpf 41. 12.52g, 28mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare - two examples recorded by Stumpf, a further two on CoinArchives. From the A.F. Collection, Germany.
Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 73. T CAES IMP VESP PON TR POT CENS, laureate head right / VESTA, tetrastyle circular Temple of Vesta, a statue of Vesta standing within, holding sceptre, two statues flanking outside. RIC 530 (Vespasian, Rome); BMCRE pg. 18, note † (Vespasian, Rome) & 411 (Vespasian, Lugdunum); Calicó 796 (same obv. die); C. 349. 7.37g, 20mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; only two other examples on CoinArchives. Ex E. Bourgey, 10-12 March 1976, lot E. It is impossible to ignore the importance of the Temple of Vesta to the Roman state. Containing not a statue of Vesta but her sacred fire, the ancient sources tell us that its fate was entwined with the city so closely that if the fire were to be extinguished it would be interpreted as “an omen that portends the destruction of the city” (Dionysius of Halicarnassus 2.67). The Vestal Virgins thus devoted their lives to completing the rituals required to ensure the protection of the flame, and so the city. Their purity and dedication was seen to guard the city from danger, and as a consequence if ever they disregarded their duties or were proven to no longer be virgins, severe punishment was dispensed. Alongside the flame, the Vestal Virgins protected important state documents such as the emperor’s will and items of legendary fame, reportedly including the Palladium, brought from Troy by Aeneas. Although commonly called a temple today this building was not in fact a temple in the Roman sense of the word, being that it was not a space consecrated by augurs that could be used for meetings of Roman officials (and indeed, entry to the temple was restricted to the Vestals and the pontifex maximus). However, the sacred site had been in use since the seventh century BC, although the temple itself was destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. One such occasion was after the fire of AD 64, which saw only four of the fourteen districts of Rome escape damage and the Temple of Vesta burnt to the ground. The final destruction occurred during the reign of Commodus in AD 191 after which it was rebuilt by Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. The version seen on this coin therefore is the Neronian structure, also featured on coins of that emperor (see RIC I, 61). Architecturally, the numismatic imagery corroborates the descriptions given in the ancient literature concerning this temple. Firstly, no matter how many times it was destroyed the temple was always reconstructed in circular form, just like the huts of the early settlers of Rome and a fitting form for the shrine of the goddess of the hearth, home and family as a symbolic representation of Vesta in her guise as Mother Earth. That this was her position in the Roman consciousness is attested by Dionysius of Halicarnassus who stated that the Romans regarded " the fire as consecrated to Vesta, because that goddess, being the Earth and occupying the central position in the universe, kindles the celestial fires from herself " (2.66.3), while Ovid noted that "Vesta is the same as the earth, both have the perennial fire: the Earth and the sacred Fire are both symbolic of home." (Fasti, 6.269-70). The distinctive domed roof of the temple, clearly visible in the present depiction, featured an open oculus. This was perhaps designed in part to vent smoke from the sacred fire while allowing light into the cella, for the ancient sources tell us that in contrast to other temples the cella was fully enclosed to protect the sacred flame from wind and rain. These walls, which hid the sacred fire from the eyes of all except those permitted to enter, and the lack of a statue of the goddess in the temple is noted by the ancient sources such as Ovid: “there is no image of Vesta or of fire” (Fasti, 6.297). This therefore present us with a problem, as the temple seen in this reverse type clearly contains and is flanked by three statues. Philip Hill (The Monuments of Ancient Rome as Coin Types, Seaby, London, 1989) argues convincingly that what we are in fact being shown is the Aedicula Vestae on the Palatine Hill (pg. 32), which was constructed in 12 BC after Augustus gave part of his private house to the Vestals as public property and incorporated a new shrine of Vesta within it.
Q. Servilius Caepio (M. Junius) Brutus Imitative AR Denarius. Uncertain mint, after summer 42 BC (possibly AD 68/9, or later). Bare head of Brutus right; BRVT above, IMP to right, L•PLAET•CEST around / Pileus between two daggers pointing downward; EID•MAR below. Campana, Eidibus Martiis, U1 (this coin); for prototype, cf. Crawford 508/3, CRI 216, and RSC 15. 3.62g, 18mm, 5h. Near Very Fine. Extremely Rare. This coin published in A. Campana, Eidibus Martiis (forthcoming); From a private British collection. In the summer of 42 BC Brutus and Cassius marched through Macedonia and in October met Antony and Octavian in battle on the Via Egnatia just outside Philippi, and won the first engagement. Cassius, as his conservative coins show, remained true to the old republican cause, while Brutus followed the self-advertising line of Antony in the new age of unashamed political propaganda and struck coins displaying his own portrait. Brutus' estrangement from Cassius was effectively complete when this almost inanely assertive coin was struck displaying the pileus, or cap of liberty (symbol of the Dioscuri, saviours of Rome, and traditionally given to slaves who had received their freedom), between the daggers that executed Caesar. In an ironic twist of fate, Brutus committed suicide during the second battle at Philippi on 23 October 42 BC, using the dagger with which he assassinated Caesar. An iconic type from its very inception, the EID MAR type of Brutus was copied and counterfeited probably almost immediately. At least 16 plated contemporary counterfeits are known to have survived - a disproportionately high ratio of plated coins to official issues, surely making the EID MAR one of the most contemporaneously counterfeited coins in history. Struck from dies engraved in a variety of styles, some of which are very faithful to the solid silver counterparts, those plated denarii of Brutus' EID MAR type have occasionally elicited speculation that they may have been produced thus on account of dwindling silver supplies in Brutus' camp. However, none of the plated denarii can be die matched with official, solid silver denarii. Indeed, the wide range of styles on these plated issues is indicative of their true nature as contemporary counterfeits. Whether produced by disaffected, bored or greedy Republican soldiers, or idealistically inclined civilian fraudsters, we shall never know. Of unofficial but solid silver copies there are considerably fewer specimens; it has been suggested by Italo Vecchi that the present coin "is an ancient strike, crystalized and the product of a near contemporary unofficial mint, possibly during the Civil Wars of AD 68-69 in Gaul or Spain", as its crude style bears some resemblance to the issues produced at that time which also feature the two daggers and pileus on the reverse, albeit with the legend P R RESTITVTA replacing EID MAR - however, the possibility of a later renaissance origin cannot be fully excluded.
Kingdom of Macedon, Philip III Arrhidaios AV Stater. Arados, circa 323-316 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with griffin / Nike standing left, holding wreath and stylis; ??????OY to right, monogram to left, Z to right. Price P145; Müller P110. 8.60g, 18mm, 2h. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare; only 2 examples on CoinArchives. From the A.F. Collection, Germany.
North Africa, Carthage AR 1½ Shekel. Akra Leuka, circa 229/228 BC. Laureate head left (Melqart or Hasdrubal), with club over right shoulder / Elephant to right. MHC, Class III, 44 (same obverse die); ACIP 554; AB 486. 11.12g, 24mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. From a private European collection. The city of Qart Hadasht (or Carthago Nova, as it was known to the Romans), literally meaning 'new city' and identical in name to Carthage itself, had been re-founded by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair in 228 BC on the site of a town named Mastia. The site was chosen as it possessed one of the best harbours in the western Mediterranean, thus enabling it to serve as the primary port and capital city of the Barcid dominion in Spain. This new 'empire' had been carved out by Hasdrubal's predecessor and father-in-law Hamilcar Barca, who had sought to replace the possessions in Sicily and Sardinia lost to Rome in the First Punic War, and to serve as a means of enriching and strengthening Carthage for any future war with Rome, a conflict he saw as inevitable. Hasdrubal ably succeeded his father-in-law in expanding the family's territory in Spain and power over the local tribes, but was assassinated in 221. He was succeeded by Hamilcar's son, Hannibal Barca, who was now of sufficient age to command the Carthaginian military forces, and who wasted little time in aggressively expanding Carthaginian influence over the surrounding regions. Barely two years later, Hannibal's army would besiege Saguntum and massacre the population, leading to renewed war with Rome. This bold type has been dated to the early period of Hasdrubal's command in Spain; in contrast to the coinage attributed to Hamilcar, this type makes no reference to the traditional naval power of Carthage, instead adopting the African elephant as the reverse type. Evidently not a war-elephant (note the absence of either a mahout or a fighting tower) it is perhaps best interpreted as a symbol of Carthage or Barcid power in general. Indeed it is known that Hasdrubal favoured diplomacy and the demanding of hostages to further expand his influence in Spain; the club-wielding Herakles-Melqart implies the threat of force rather than its open display. Though Robinson (Essays Mattingly) interpreted the beardless head of Melqart on this coin as bearing the features of Hannibal Barca, the dating of the issue (as per Villaronga, MHC) suggests it is more likely to be Hasdrubal, if indeed an individual commander's likeness is shown.
Parthia(?), 'Eagle series' AR Drachm. Hekatompylos(?), circa 246/5-239/8 BC. Local standard. 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; monogram of Andragoras(?) behind / Eagle standing left, head right; behind, grape cluster on vine with leaf. Roma XIV, 332; Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 2A; SNG ANS -; Mitchiner -; N&A -; CNG 63, 920. 3.16g, 14mm, 6h. Mint State. Extremely Rare. From the 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group, present in Germany in 1975, subsequently exported to the USA.
Octavian AR Denarius. Italian mint (Rome?), autumn 31 - summer 30 BC. Bare head right / Victory standing left on globe, holding wreath and palm; CAESAR DIVI•F across fields. RIC 254a; CRI 406; BMCRE 602 = BMCRR Rome 4338; RSC 65; BN 35. 3.84g, 21mm, 1h. Extremely Fine; attractive old cabinet tone. Very Rare. Ex Dr. Walter F. Stoecklin Collection, acquired before 1975; lot sold with old collector's ticket.
Etruria, Populonia Æ 2.5 Units. Late 4th - 3rd century BC. Head right, wearing Phrygian helmet; VII in front / Incuse spiral, within linear border. EC I, 16.3 (O2/R?, this coin, Uncertain Central Etruria); HN Italy 90 (Uncertain Central Etruria). 2.12g, 17mm. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. This coin published in I. Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage, 2012; From the collection of a Swiss Etruscologist, and outside of Italy prior to December 1992.
C. Vibius Varus AR Denarius. Rome, 42 BC. Laureate and bearded head of Hercules right / Minerva standing right, holding spear and Victory, shield set on ground before; VARVS downwards to left, C•VIBIVS downwards to right. Crawford 494/37; RSC Vibia 23. 4.15g, 18mm, 8h. Extremely Fine; old cabinet tone. Rare; an excellent example of the type. Ex Bernard Poindessault (1935-2014) legacy; ticket included.
Thrace, Ainos AR Drachm. Circa 357-342/1 BC. Head of Hermes facing slightly right, wearing petasos / Cult statue of Hermes Perpheraios on throne, AINION to right, goat’s head right in left field. May, Ainos 449; SNG Copenhagen -. 3.62g, 17mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-90s.
Etruria, Populonia AR Tridrachm. 5th century BC. Boar stepping to right on rocky ground; dotted border around / Blank. EC I, 2.8 (this coin): HN Italy 112; Sambon 19. 16.56g, 28mm. Good Very Fine; minor porosity on edge. Extremely Rare; one of only eight known specimens, of which all but two are in Museum collections (London, New York [2], Florence, Paris, Vatican), and one of the finest of all. From the collection of a Swiss Etruscologist; This coin published in I. Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage, 2012; Ex VCV Collection, Roma Numismatics X, 27 September 2015, lot 10. The earliest struck silver Etruscan tridrachms (as well as didrachms and drachms) seem to be those of Populonia and Vulci, and are attributed to the 5th century BC. They seem to be struck on the 'Chalkidian' silver drachm standard of nominally about 5.8g, a model provided by Etruria's nearest Greek neighbour, Cumae in circa 475-470 BC. This weight standard is also found at other Greek cities important to Etruscan seaborne commerce in the early 5th century such as Himera, Naxos and Zankle-Messana. The coins, of which this type is certainly no exception, are of Greek style with an Etruscan flavour and display a predilection for apotropaic (demon-dispelling) images of exotic animals and monsters.
Numerian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 284. IMP NVME[RI]ANVS P F AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right / VIRTVS AVGG, Hercules standing right, leaning on club with his left hand and resting his right on his hip. RIC 407; C. -; Calicó 4334. 4.66g, 20mm, 5h. Extremely Fine - Good Extremely Fine; pierced in antiquity. Extremely Rare, no other examples on CoinArchives. From the collection of D.I., Germany, purchased before 1992. The great rarity of this coin is in large part due to the brevity of Numerian's reign. In 282, the legions of the upper Danube in Raetia and Noricum rebelled and proclaimed the praetorian prefect Marcus Aurelius Carus emperor in opposition to Probus. Probus' army, stationed in Sirmium, decided they did not wish to fight Carus and assassinated Probus instead. Carus, already sixty, immediately elevated his sons Carinus and Numerian to the rank of Caesar. In 283 Carus determined to take advantage of a succession crisis within the Sassanid empire, and marched east at the head of an army along with Numerian, while Carinus was left in charge in the West. The invasion met with great success, and the army was able to make huge incursions into Persian lands, and even capture the capital Ctesiphon. The campaign came to a premature end when Carus died suddenly (according to some sources, from a lightning strike). Numerian made an orderly retreat from Persia, and subsequently died in mysterious circumstances during the journey west. Amid rumours of murder, the prefect Aper was executed by the man who went on to become emperor. Diocletian, previously an officer under Carus, was acclaimed by the army and proceeded to continue the march west, meeting Carinus' army in battle in Moesia and emerging as victor and emperor. The reverse of this stunning aureus typifies the propagandist nature of Roman coinage, and bestows on Numerian the quality of 'virtus', which encompassed valour, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth - the necessary attributes of a Roman and especially of an emperor. Coupled with the standing figure of Hercules, with his usual attributes of club and lion's skin, this reverse references the military victories that Numerian and Carus achieved in the east and likens them to the completion of Hercules' labours.
Parthia(?), 'Eagle series' AR Drachm. Hekatompylos(?), circa 246/5-239/8 BC. Local standard. 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 / Eagle standing left, head right; behind, grape cluster on vine with leaf, and kerykeion above. Roma XIV, 335; Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 2A; SNG ANS -; Mitchiner 26d; N&A 63-64. 3.65g, 15mm, 6h. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare. From the 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group, present in Germany in 1975, subsequently exported to the USA.
Etruria, Populonia AV 10 Units. Early 3rd century BC. Male head right, X before chin / Blank. EC I, 29.23 (this coin); HN Italy 135; Sambon 7. 0.55g, 9mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From the collection of a Swiss Etruscologist; This coin published in I. Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage, 2012; Ex VCV Collection, Roma Numismatics X, 27 September 2015, lot 26. The third and most extensive coin phase of Populonia consists of gold coins with marks of value of 50, 25, 12.5 and 10 (series 20-36) on a weight standard of a single gold unit of about 0.06g, very close to the standards of the gold litra of Sicily at the time of Agathokles from 304-289 BC, and the Roman gold Mars/eagle issues of c. 211 (Crawford 44/2-4) of 0.056g, one series of which is attributed to a mint in Etruria (Crawford 106/2).
Dynasts of Lycia, Teththiveibi AR Stater. Circa 460-425 BC. Two cockerels facing one another on round shield; monogram between / Tetraskeles, T?XXEF?EBE around; all within dotted border within incuse square. Müseler V, 37; SNG Cop. Suppl. -; cf. Traité II, 328 (tetrobol); SNG von Aulock 4158 var. (legend arrangement). 8.46g, 20mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From the A.F. Collection, Germany.
Civil War, Vindex AR Denarius. Uncertain mint in Gaul, AD 68. AVGVSTVS DIVI F, laureate head of the deified Augustus to left / Victory standing to left, holding shield inscribed CL•V. Martin -, cf. 25 (same obverse die); RIC -, cf. 110; BMCRE -, cf. 57; Nicolas pl. XXII, A26BR. 3.17g, 17mm, 6h. About Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare – the second known example.
Etruria, Populonia AR Unit. Late 4th century BC. Wheel with long crossbar, central pin supported by two struts / Blank. EC I, 19.1-5 (O1); HN Italy 126; SNG Firenze 79-80. 0.61g, 11mm. Very Fine. Extremely Rare; one of fewer than ten known examples. From the collection of a Swiss Etruscologist, and outside of Italy prior to December 1992.
Lucania, Sybaris AR Stater. Circa 530-510 BC. Bull standing left, head right; VM in exergue / Incuse bull standing right, head left. HN Italy 1729; SNG ANS 828-44. 8.24g, 28mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin; light cabinet tone. In remarkable state of preservation - very rare thus. From a private European collection, outside of Italy prior to December 1992.
Etruria, Populonia AR Drachm. Late 4th - 3rd century BC. Hare leaping right / Blank. EC I, 116.3-6 (O2); HN Italy 223; SNG ANS 22. 3.96g, 16mm. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare, one of only five known examples from this die. From the collection of a Swiss Etruscologist, and outside of Italy prior to December 1992. The hare was a popular motif in Etruscan art, particularly on surviving pottery and bronze ware. A bronze statuette sold by Royal Athena Galleries (New York) portrays a standing figure of Turms holding a sacrificial hare and the remains of a knife. The possibility therefore of the hare shown here representing a sacrificial animal or a symbolic attribute of swift-footed Turms (perhaps as the lion-skin diobol [see following lot] relates to Hercle?) should not be ignored, though the depiction of other animals including dolphins and octopodes (see following lots) also cannot yet be satisfactorily explained.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Head of roaring lioness left, tunny fish upward behind / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 39; Greenwell 115; Boston MFA 1414 = Warren 1537; SNG France 178. 16.07g, 19mm. Very Fine. Very Rare. From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-90s.
Spain, Umayyad Caliphate AV Solidus. Time of Suleiman ibn 'Abd al-Malik. Spanish mint, dated AH 98 (AD 716/7).“This dinar is coined in Al-Andalus in the year eight and ninety” around second half of the shahada (“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”) in two lines across field / FERITOS SOLI IN SPAN AN (retrograde) around star of eight points. Bernardi 35Aa, C.0003 (same dies); Balaguer 42 = Walker p.79, C.18 (same rev. die); Morton & Eden 69, 6 (same dies). 4.08g, 14mm. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare. From a private European collection. This extremely rare, one year bilingual type is the first appearance of the Arabic script on a coin struck in Muslim Spain. The Arabic legends are correctly engraved, whereas the Latin inscriptions are abbreviated and the Roman numeral date is entirely missing from this die, clearly indicating that the Arabic version took precedence over the Latin.
Loading...
![Marc Antony and L. Pinarius Scarpus AR Denarius. Cyrene, 31 BC. M•ANTO•COS•[III•IMP•IIII], head of Jupiter Ammon right / Vict](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/cc72347d-a915-4657-ba47-a95300b1d467/718dcab4-db64-4c69-a469-9969089c6a9a/468x382.jpg)
![Numerian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 284. IMP NVME[RI]ANVS P F AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right / VIRTVS AVGG, Hercules standin](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/cc72347d-a915-4657-ba47-a95300b1d467/3e0bbece-0491-4f94-ed0d-b5df06ecf0e4/468x382.jpg)
