Ancient Coin Photos

Crispus (son of Constantine The Great) 

Marcus Aurelius Probus

This is Saint Helena, mother of Constantine The Great

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Here we have a very tiny obol of Alexander The Great! The first photo shows Zeus seated with an eagle on the tip of his outstretched hand.  His left hand is upraised behind him, holding onto a long scepter...  The second photo shows Alexander The Great wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion.  That is the lion Herakles killed in one of his Labors.  Alexander claimed a kinship with Herakles, and that was a large part of this very charismatic warrior's mystique. 

A stern look for a stern time in the Empire, which was far from united and quickly crumbling under one pretender to the throne after another...

A bronze denarius of Aurelianus...

This bronze billon antoninianus of Emperor Probus is special for the detail it shows.  Look at the shield worn over the Emperor's shoulder, with the horse and rider on the shield.  Wow, that is really something special!!  Bronze billon is a silver and bronze mixture, a process which makes the precious metal go a little further by cutting it with a lesser metal.  The general idea behind this process is still in use even today.

A Parthian Tetradrachm, nice and large...  A really great coin!!

A coin from the wine growing regions of Histiaia, Euboia, written about by Homer and reflected in the image of the grape leaves worn on the hair of the Nymph on the front of this coin.  She sits along the edge of a ship on the reverse, with one hand on the cross arm of the mast.  The ship also has a wing along it's edge.  Very symbolic images on a beautiful and rare authentic ancient coin.

An ancient bell, dated to somewhere around 400 B.C.

The following is a precious piece of ancient history.  It is an authentic bronze prutah from the Kingdom of Judaea.  In the spirit of a continual struggle for freedom, Hasmonean rulers formed their own nation, if only for a short period of time...

Here is a wonderful example of ancient Celtic craftmanship, created to separate two cords or ropes, like a very fancy buckle.  Often mistaken for Celtic Ring Money, this item is bronze (and not gold , silver or potin like authentic ancient ring money) and has great value today as an excellent example of the artisans which were ancient Celtic tribesmen.

A tiny obol from Attica, Athens, 450-500 B.C. or so...

This coin is a Rome Commemorative,      

URBS ROMA

with the She-wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus...

Struck in Trier, Germany with a beautiful, almost gun-metal color.  Stunning coin in hand...

Ptolemy II, Philadelphus...Stunning...That is Zeus on the front and an eagle on the reverse...A huge coin of great weight and value... These giant Ptolemy bronzes are some of my absolute favorites of the ancient coin world...

Aretas III (Nabataean King)

Scarce and short-lived Emperor's...

 Of course the animal ancients are some of the best!!

 The following ancient ring is made of bronze or copper.  It is very thin and has three knobs along the outside.  It is believed that these knobs allowed a person to secure several ropes, or cords in this case, onto a central hub with the ends going in different directions.  This allowed the cords to stay separated and remain functional and untangled.   

 This coin shows Constantine I with a Campgate reverse. 

A Classic American Beauty From 1826!! 

The following is a tiny coin of Phoenicia, Sidon.  This is an area just south of modern-day Beirut.  This coin, while the details are difficult, features a king strangling a lion.  There are two Phoenician letters between the figures (ayin-bet).  This is a tiny silver obol that dates to around 500 B.C.  This image, the king wrestling or killing the lion, is the same story we hear again and again.  All of the great heroes accomplished this task, Melquart and Herakles, and even this king it would seem...   

 A few more coins of Judaea. 

John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus.

 This piece is an armour-piercing arrowhead.  It has a short and solid tang with a wider, pyramidal-shaped tipped.  This size and shape allows it to slip through armored devices and kill a soldier.  The force of the impact drives the arrow in with it's shape making it virtually impossible to remove immediately. 

This is a Roman Firestarter 

 A decorative piece of bronze to go on a Roman belt or a piece of clothing.

A small hoard of Widow's Mites 

 The Widow's Mites.  The two tiny coins placed into the donation basket by the old Widow, whom Jesus Christ himself mentions in the Holy Bible.  How she, in all her poverty, with the smallest gestures shows she has given more than any of the rich that day, in all their opulence and fineness. 

 A tiny denomination of coin.  So small that the whole design will not fit onto the flan.  These are also known as Leptons and they feature a star or a wheel on one side and an anchor on the other.  These very coins were struck in the Holy Land just before the time of Jesus.  They were in use during the time of Christ, being spent by the poorest of the poor who tried to scratch out a living in a land surrounded by enemies of Judaea. 

These two Widow's Mites serve as a grave reminder of how important it is that we all have to try hard to get along together on this wonderful spinning orb we call Earth. 

 This next item is an ancient bell, which was made hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ.  This began as a flap of bronze that was folded into this ancient shape by Celtic tribesmen, as well as others who also mimic this efficient style. 

Constantine The Great

This next coin was minted during the first ten years following the death of Constantine The Great, and it commemorates Constantine's Ascension to Divine status.  He is shown on the front wearing his death veil.  The reverse shows the now-sainted Emperor driving a four horse chariot, also known as a Chariot Of The Gods, with the Hand of God reaching down to him from above. 

It is important to note that although we refer to the following coin as a Mercury Dime it is simply a nickname, and it is not because it contains the element mercury (it is 90% silver-10% copper actually) nor is it meant to represent the God with the winged hat.  That is Liberty on the front of this coin wearing a winged Phrygian hat, also called a Liberty Cap.  This image is confused with Mercury who also wears a winged hat, but in true American style this one belongs wholly to "The States"---A Winged Liberty Head Dime!! 

The year is 1863 and the United States was far from united.  Citizens were embroiled in a terrible civil war which threatened to dismantle the very freedoms they fought to preserve.  This next coin is known as a Civil War Token.  It was issued to help take up the slack during money shortages caused by more than just the war.  That is Liberty on the obverse side wearing a Phrygian hat (without those wings which we see above on the so-called "Mercury Dime").  The date is 1863 below, testifying to this monumental period in history.     

This British Halfpenny is what is known as a Conder Token.  It was issued by the Birmingham Coining and Copper Company in 1794.  It is made of copper with writing inscribed along the edge.

This Roman bronze bear head was likely used as a decoration on a chair or a table.  It is dated to about the 2nd or 3rd Century A.D. 

I present to you Magnus Magnentius "The Pretender".  Magnus Magnentius killed Emperor Constans in January of 350 A.D., assuming the title of Emperor in his place. This act earns him the title of The Pretender in history books.  Magnus Magnentius was himself defeated by Constantius two years later, committing suicide at Lugdunum, and reuniting the Empire once again (Under Constantius).

This one is a Spanish copper coin from the 1600's, although it does look like there is a trace of an earlier date on the reverse.  Each side of the coin features a shield of arms, one for Castile and one for Leon.  An authentic relic of the Habsburg Dynasty. 

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