Inflation for the moment seems to be relaxing a bit, the price of gas, one of the more daily visible symbols, was $3.30 a gallon yesterday at a gas station near me, a big improvement from last summer when they spiked up to about $5. This, along with an article by Kevin Butcher, triggered thoughts about inflation, monetary policy, and politics. Admittedly this note wanders from anything directly relevant to ancient coins and into a sidetrack with wishful thinking for modern po

Page of the Rajatarangini in Sarada script (Public Domain Source: River of Kings, 1935) Having just returned (and still jet-lagged) from...

My coin of interest today is a rare civic issue of a small town from the time of the Roman civil wars, perhaps very near to the time of...

Marseille Greek Colony, P. Puvis de Chavannes, 1869, oil on canvas, commissioned in 1867 by the city of Marseille for the west wing of...

In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian the title of "Augustus" and he became the first Roman Emperor, effectively ending the Roman...

Ruins of Nicopolis ad Istrum - public domain image via wikimedia commons. Novius Rufus was a legate (hypateon) or praeses (hegemon) of...

The capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty (Алматы), formerly known as Alma Ata, has a name derived from the word Apple (Алма). "Apples,...

Roman republican denarii are pretty easy to attribute - for most types, there are lots of them, and there's been a lot of research...

My coins of interest today recognize the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games). This post explores the origins from the time of the Roman...

This small illustration of ringdoves in the tree trunk and lotus blossom incorporates the influence of Chinese naturalism. The text was translated into Persian from Arabic for the Ilkhanid ruler Ghazan Khan (reigned 1295–1304). This page from a Persian manuscript Manafi‘ al-Hayawan (The Benefits of Animals) of Abu Said Ubaid-Allah ibn Jibrail ibn Bakhtishu (died 1058–68), c. 1300. Iran, Maragah, Ilkhanid period (1256–1353). Public domain via archive.org. "Under the power of t

These coin are not pretty by most standards, but they are interesting for the history they witnessed ~2100 years ago during the First Mithridatic War. When paying your soldiers, money should look like money. It doesn't hurt to put your face on it ensure people don't forget who paid them. It is can't hurt to link yourself with a great ruler and a god or goddess. The first two coins today were minted to fund Mithridates' war and his troops. The third was minted under Roman cont

Both coins shared today are sometime labeled by auction houses as "castrensis moneta mint in Italy?". The description is one that...

Ruins of Herod's Castle in Fortress Massada, Israel, used under license from Shutterstock. Vespasian and his sons used their success in...

"CXXXII. The offering is to be made in this way: Offer to Jupiter Dapalis a cup of wine of any size you wish, observing the day as a...

This week's post assembles relevant coins from Macedonia with answers to a quiz. Kings of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' (336-323...

Wandering again from Sulla, and the Roman republic, I stumbled on a debate amongst botanists about Tiberius' favorite food. The ancient coins for today feature the emperor Tiberius. The two coins that began these notes were issued in Roman provinces. The first coin was issued during his reign in the Iberian peninsula, in what is now Spain. Tiberius was the second emperor, followed by Caligula, then Claudius. SPAIN, Calagurris, C. Celer and C. Rectus duoviri, AE As, 14-37 AD O

This week a short post to share this coin - a rare and unusually well preserved tetradrachm from Gallienus' 15th and final regnal year....

The modern countries, bordering the Mediterranean, west of Egypt, in northern Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia)...

Livy in mentions Phalanna in his account of the Third Macedonian War against the Romans (171–168 BC). After four days attacking and...

These notes were originally written for the tetradrachm from Antioch, that is found at the end of this text, with a fabulous Tyche. The Seleucid empire was crumbling at the end of the second century and the beginning of the first. My most recent coin, a Tetradrachm of Antiochos VIII Epiphanes, prompts me to revisit and rewrite these notes. The portrait of Antiochus VIII is fairly recognizable, and not surprisingly he had the nickname Grypos (Greek: Γρυπός, "hook-nose"). Befor