The coin shared today is a brockage of the Roman Republican denarius shown above. A brockage happens when a newly minted coin sticks to...

There are a few Roman republican coins with images of ships on them, here are two variants (control mark) of one of these coins: C....

Coins linked to Lucius Cornelius Sulla are one of the primary themes of my collection. The reverse on this coin references games that...

Asclepius (a.k.a. Aesculapius), son of Apollo and god of medicine, was one of the deities imported to Rome from the East. Asclepius was...

Coins related to the time of Lucius Cornelius Sulla have been a key theme in my collecting the past couple of years. Continuing from my previous post , Sulla went off to fight Mithridates after damaging the Roman republic with his attack on Rome and the senate. He reclaimed from Marius the right to lead Roman legions against Rome's formidable enemy: Mithridates. Mithridates, king of Pontus, seized Asia and put to death all Roman citizens in it. He was a man about whom one ca

It was "Christmas in July" when this “Star of Bethlehem” coin arrived this week. Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch. AE Trichalkon, Q....

I have been reading the The Sunrise Collection, Assar's intro on Parthian coins. The most referenced resource for Parthian coins is...

Bankers' marks were a way to differentiate official coinage from counterfeit, and perhaps had other purposes that are lost (at least to...

In a previous post , I shared a coin from Brutus, that celebrated his family history of tyrannicide. This week, a much humbler coin, linked in time to an equally compelling story (and to Julius Caesar). This coin is an anonymous denarius which also has variants that are signed by Gargonius, Ogulnius and Vergilius . Anonymous issue , 86 BC, AR Denarius Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right, thunderbolt below, border of dots. Rev: Jupiter in quadriga right hurling thunderbolt, b

Here are three silver drachms from Illyria, one from Apollonia (AΠOΛ on reverse) and two from Dyrrhachion (ΔYP on reverse or straight...

This coin from Emperor Valerian was minted in his first year of reign. The portrait stype is much better than average for this emperor....

I was a little worried about the fragility of this coin when I bid on it and was pleasantly surprised see that, in hand, the flan crack...

The year 102 BC falls at the climax of the Cimbrian War (113–101 BC), one of the most dangerous military crises the Roman Republic had faced since Hannibal’s invasion a century earlier. Beginning around 113 BC, massive migrations of Germanic and Celtic peoples - principally the Cimbri, Teutones, and Ambrones - had swept southward from northern Europe, crushing Roman armies in a succession of catastrophic defeats. The Battle of Aurasio The Battle of Arausio in October 105 BC:

This unusual coin from Ariabia Felix is from the late 1st century or early second century AD. There doesn't seem to be much info on these...

This coin struck me as unusual, and I couldn't decide which way was "up" - so I didn't hesitate to pick it up. All three images below are...

My collecting focus has been the Roman Republic and especially the time period around the career of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix . I have...

Technology over the ages in health and social media illustrated with Roman Republican coins. Roma: Tempio della Concordia al Foro Romano [Temple of Concord in the Roman Forum], Rome, Gelatin silver print, image public domain from the National Gallery of Scotland I am starting my blog with a post on a Roman Republican coin that I purchased a few years ago. So much of what could be found in ancient Rome has carried forward to the today from Roman roads to social media. Social m

While you can spend thousands of dollars on a highly prized ancient coin, you can also get an interesting coin for under $5. This coin...

The Humiliation of Valerian by Shapur I, French 15th Century, Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program When I first...

This Italian "medalet", 20mm, 11h, 3.7g, by an unknown artist is from the 18th to early 19th century, apparently issued for the Grand...