The newest addition to my collection is tied to Alexander the Great at a turbulent time near the end of his life or shortly after his...

This note will start with a drachm from Cappadocia, a key point of conflict between the Roman republic and the Kingdom of Pontus. There...

My coin of interest today is a mysterious AE from the late first century with no shortage of competing views on whose portrait appears on...

The history of the Roman Republic has no shortage of dramatic figures and events, and yet the story of Cato the Younger (Cato Minor)...

Although countermarked Byzantine coins are not usually something I seek out, I couldn't resist this one. It was described in the auction...

Ann Johnson writes about the challenges of differentiating provincial coinage of Caracalla and Elagabalus: Johnston, A. (1982). Caracalla...

My denarius of interest today was issued by a relative of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The relationship between this moneyer and the dictator,...

The struggle for power was intense in the years after the death of Alexander III the Great, as the diadochi, his generals and successors,...

"Good things come in small packages" - this is certainly the thought I have today with this 0.56 gram coin. Although unusual for Greek...

My coin of interest today comes from Asia minor, the west coast of modern Türkiye, just south of Pergamon and east of Kyme. This coin has...

When my focus shifted to the Roman republic, I sold most of my late roman bronzes. I kept a few that I particularly liked. My coins of...

The question often posed by family members caught up with me this morning: "Is your collection done?" A fair question, but not one I have...

Severus Alexander was the last Severan emperor. He ruled from AD 222-235, at age 13 succeeding his first cousin Elagabalus. Julia Maesa,...

Image source: Promptuarii iconum insigniorum, AD 1553 I've been looking for this coin for about a year (since April/May 2020) to...

Coins from Moesia Inferior don't make either edition of Harlan J. Berk's 100 Greatest Ancient Coins , maybe the next edition. There are...

Cowrie shells appear as items of value and ceremony in the far western inland of China during the Neolithic era. Use became widespread...

Researching ancient coins and the people behind them, my knowledge of ancient geography is regularly challenged. Today's post shares 4...

Heinrich Kiepert, Paphlagonia, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Paphlagonia was in northern Anatolia and was bordered by Bythnia to...

"If we set aside the language of Seleukid royal discourse, it is far from obvious how we should discriminate between legitimate kings and...

In the second major battle of the second Punic wars, the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, defeated the Romans on Lake Trasimene. Quintus...