In 1237 CE, Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Kayḵosrow II became sultan when his father, Kayqubad I (1219-1237 CE), died. He would reign until his death in...

This year I have explored the coins of Asia Minor or the Anatolian peninsula. Anatolia from Greek Ἀνατολή, meaning "The East" is the...

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi , by Joseph-Benoît Suvée (1795, Louvre), Public Domain image from the wikipedia. Cornelia was the...

While it is possible that one more coin might show up this year, it seems unlikely that I will displace any of the coins listed below, so...

This large Antiochus III Seleucid bronze, called "Denomination A" in SC (Houghton & Lorber) appears to be very rare and the best example of this type (SC 1060). The M control mark is unlisted/unknown until now for this coin and the reverse monogram is associated with a longtime Antioch magistrate who was transferred to Asia Minor c. 203 BC [S.C. Part 1 Vol 1] . Antiochos III Megas (“Antiochos the Great”), was a Seleukid King, born in the period c. 243 - 241 BC, he reigned 2

Image: Emperor Probus, Abraham Bogaert, De Roomsche Monarchy , 1697 Today's coin of interest is a coin of Emperor Probus from AD 280. I...

Walters Art Gallery, Twelve Gods Relief, 1st Century BC - 1st Century AD (Public Domain Image) The twelve Olympians were the major...

Understanding ancient coins can sometimes get very contentious as those studying the coins disagree. One such battle arose over the coins...

Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos baptizes Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus from a 12th or 13th century illuminated manuscript known as the...

"Nile water had always played an important role in the cults of Sarapis-Osiris and Isis. Both he and Isis were believed to summon...

This is the first coin that I have with full obverse bust of Vulcan. I admit, that "dancing chicken" was not the intent of the moneyer,...

The drachms of Cappadocia are the subject of today's post. I have three drachms of Ariarathes IX dated to regnal years A, B, and Δ. Their portraits could hardly be more different: a boy-king, a heavier head from a different hand, and two years later the unmistakable features of Mithridates VI. Read in isolation the coins seem inconsistent; read against Otto Mørkholm’s reconstruction of Cappadocia’s coinage they narrate a single political arc. Die-links, hoard evidence, and

Image of Ceres giving her chariot to Triptolemus published in Les Metamorphoses d'Ouide,1621 With this coin, I am getting back to Roman...

I've always had difficulty passing up a Salus reverse (Goddess of Health) , and even more so in this year of COVID-19. This coin is from...

[photo by Diliff used under CC BY-SA license] The Julio-Claudian dynasty began with the end of civil war and Octavian becoming the...

Base of a funerary kouros, Athens 510-500 BC, with wrestlers – National Archaeological Museum Greece There are coins from Nicaea,...

This year continues to add more coins of Asia Minor than Roman republic to my collection. Today a coin from Phrygia, Laodikeia - also...

Public Domain: Painting by John William Waterhouse (1847-1917) Elpis (ἐλπίς) with a flower in hand is depicted on this Alexandrian...

I tend to shy away from discussion of the price of ancient coins - while the price is relevant, even primary, in defining which coins I...

Compared with a Roman republican denariius, my latest coin seems impressively large and three dimensional. This is not a Macedonian tetradrachm with a portrait of Philip II, father of Alexander "The Great". However, it is not far off, the Greek writing on the back well done and the portrait not unfaithful to the original. So similar that there is one very close sold in 2017 from Numismatik Naumann as: Philip II (359-336 BC) . Tetradrachm. Amphipolis. Le Rider pl. 47, 23; SNG