Category Archives: Sicily

Ancient Greek Coins – Agathokles’ Victory

Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BCE. Silver Tetradrachm By Russell A. Augustin – AU Capital Management, LLC …… Agathokles was the last of the larger-than-life rulers of Syracuse, but he was not merely given the right to the throne. He was born in Thermae in 361 BCE to a Greek manufacturer of pottery, but he quickly […]

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The Coins of Carthage During Hannibal’s War With Rome

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. BORN IN 247 BCE at Carthage (near modern Tunis in North Africa), Hannibal Barca[1] is remembered as one of the greatest military commanders of ancient history. His father, Hamilcar Barca[2] (lived 275-228 BCE), led Carthaginian forces in Sicily during the 23 year-long First Punic War, defeating a revolt by […]

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The Coins of Carthage During Hannibal’s War With Rome

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …..   BORN IN 247 BCE at Carthage (near modern Tunis in North Africa), Hannibal Barca[1] is remembered as one of the greatest military commanders of ancient history. His father, Hamilcar Barca[2] (lived 275-228 BCE), led Carthaginian forces in Sicily during the 23 year-long First Punic War, defeating a revolt […]

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Harlan J. Berk’s 221st Buy or Bid Sale is Now Live

By Harlan J. Berk, Ltd ……   Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. has just launched sale 221 on their website with paper catalogs following in a few weeks. This catalog has a large number of affordable lots along with a few fantastic highlights worth noting. The entire sale consists of 580 ancient coins, 53 world coins […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: Coins of the Iconoclasts

By Michael T. Shutterly for CoinWeek ….. The Iconoclastic Controversy was a period of near civil war in the Byzantine Empire that began in about 726 CE and lasted until about 787. It was revived in 814 and finally concluded in 843. The Controversy involved a religious dispute between Iconodules (“image servants”), who venerated icons […]

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The Archaic Smile on Ancient Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues, You can tell by the way she smiled… — Bob Dylan, “Visions of Johanna”, Blonde on Blonde (1966) ANCIENT GREEK COINS struck before 500 BCE are called “archaic” by numismatists. Actually, archaic features continue to appear on coins for […]

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Trees on Ancient Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. MOST ANCIENT PEOPLE lived close to nature. Long before they built temples of stone, they worshipped their gods in sacred groves[1]. Greeks myths describe trees inhabited by supernatural spirits called dryads[2], who could take the form of beautiful young women. The ancient Mediterranean world was a much […]

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Fantastic Ancient Sicilian Gold Coin With 18th Century Pedigree in Stack’s Bowers ANA Auction

By Jeremy Bostwick – Senior Numismatist & Cataloger, Stack’s Bowers …… In addition to an exemplary live session of ancient coins, the upcoming Stack’s Bowers Galleries Official Auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money will feature the magnificent “Collection of a Gentleman“, an advanced cabinet of Greco-Roman denominational rarities. Assembled over the course of […]

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Coinage in the Roman Provinces: ANS Conference Highlights, Part 2

By Lucia Carbone for American Numismatic Society (ANS) …… Link to Part 1 The second day of the ANS conference, March 24, 2021, chaired by Pere Pau Ripollès, focused on “new” coinages in the Roman provinces, namely coinages that featured the names of Roman magistrates. H. Güney focused on the bronze coinages issued in the […]

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Steve Benner: Ten Coins I’d Love to Own

By Steve Benner for CoinWeek ….. Like most coin collectors, I have a list of coins I want to own. The list I plan to cover in this article will be personal and not just a list of the most famous ancient coins, so I won’t be listing decadrachms, octadrachms, or even pentadrachms. It’s not […]

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Steve Benner: Ten Coins I’d Love to Own

By Steve Benner for CoinWeek …..   Like most coin collectors, I have a list of coins I want to own. The list I plan to cover in this article will be personal and not just a list of the most famous ancient coins, so I won’t be listing decadrachms, octadrachms, or even pentadrachms. It’s […]

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Ancient Coin Highlights of the Heritage January 2021 NYINC Auction

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. In recent years, Heritage Auctions has become a major player in the ancient coin market. Traditionally in America, the most important ancient coin auctions of the year take place in January, in association with the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC). This year is no exception, even though the […]

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The Coinage of Rhegium

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. FOR CENTURIES, THE narrow Strait of Messina that separates Sicily from the toe of Italy has been a crossroads of history. The town of Rhegium[1] (or Rhegion, today Reggio di Calabria) located on the Italian side of the Strait, was one of the first Greek […]

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Plants and Trees Featured on Ancient Greek Coins: Catawiki

By Willem Knapen – Numismatist, Catawiki …… Coins were the medium par excellence for bringing classical civilizations together and allowing cities to grow, and often featured the faces of rulers that were or felt responsible for this growth, in which cases coins were an excellent means of propaganda. The Persian satrap of Mysia, Tissaphernes (circa […]

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The Coinage of Achelous, Water God of Ancient Greece

By Steve Benner for CoinWeek ….. The god Achelous was associated with the Achelous River, the largest river in Greece. This river still flows from the Pindar Mountains through western Greece and down into the Ionian Sea. It formed the border between Akarnania and Aetolia for part of its length. Like other river gods, Achelous […]

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Coinage of King Pyrrhus – CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. EPIRUS IS A rugged corner of northwestern Greece and southern Albania. It emerged as an independent kingdom in the fourth century BCE, a time when other contemporary Greeks regarded the region’s tribes as “semi-barbarian”. About 319 BCE a prince of Epirus was born, named Pyrrhus, whose father was a […]

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Byzantine Coinage of the Empress Irene – CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. ATHENS IN THE eighth century was a provincial small town living on memories of past glories. But its aristocrats were proud of their daughters, reputedly the most talented and beautiful women in the Eastern Roman (“Byzantine”) empire. When Emperor Constantine V needed a bride for his son and heir, […]

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One of a Kind: Some Unique Ancient Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. “This is a very rare coin; only two examples known! Unfortunately, the only guy in the world who cares has the other one.” — Classic Numismatic Joke (source unknown) “Unique” means one of a kind. The ultimate rarity. The rarest anything can be. This designation, […]

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Mythical Monsters on Ancient Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed. ― G.K. Chesterton, a la Criminal Minds (CBS, 2007) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY IS FILLED with monsters. For the civilizations of the ancient […]

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NGC Ancients – Coins From the Strait of Messina

Ancient Coins issued from colonies bordering the Strait of Messina are numerous and interesting Strait of Messina Coins By Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… The Strait of Messina, which separates Italy and Sicily and is just two miles wide at its narrowest point, has been the scene of many historic events. Countless armies have crossed […]

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Ancient Greek Coins – The Eagles and Coinage of Akragas

By Russell A. Augustin, AU Capital Management, LLC The Colosseo Collection …… Akragas was a wealthy and powerful Greek state on the southern coast of Sicily, second only to Syracuse in importance. The city was famous for its lavish building projects, proudly displaying its wealth in the form of numerous massive temples, many of which […]

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NGC Ancients: Classic Greek Coins, Part II

David Vagi continues his discussion of the designs of select ancient Greek coins in the second of a multi-part series By David Vagi – Director, NGC Ancients …… With this article we advance in our survey of Greek silver coins to Southern Italy and Sicily, a region the Romans called Magna Graecia (“Greater Greece”). The area […]

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Ancient Coins on Modern Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. COINAGE IS CONSERVATIVE. IF a denizen of ancient Rome picked up a modern American dime, he would recognize familiar symbols: a torch, an olive branch, oak leaves. He could even understand the Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM (“Out of Many, One”). Similarly, if that ancient Roman picked […]

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NGC Ancient Coins: The Second Punic War

Coins are the most abundant relics of the Second Punic War One of the most interesting and most challenging themes in the world of ancient coins is the Second Punic War, a monumental conflict in which Romans and Carthaginians battled each other for nearly two decades. At stake was supremacy over the Western Mediterranean. After […]

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Silver Tetradrachm Coins of Ancient Sicily: NGC Ancients

Silver tetradrachms of Sicily are highly sought after by ancient-coin collectors Collectors have long agreed that many of the most impressive ancient coins were produced in Sicily. With its advantageous location between Italy and North Africa, this island was a cultural crossroads of the Mediterranean. It also was the site of frequent warfare among those […]

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Ancient Coin Profile – Lovely Leontini Tetradrachm

By Chris Chatigny, Numismatist & Cataloger of the World Coin of the Week – Lovely Leontini Tetradrachm ​The Stack’s Bowers Galleries New York International Auction is rapidly growing, as rarities from around the globe and the ancient world are consigned. Today’s preview coin is a Tetradrachm  from the Magna Graecia colony  named Leontini. The colony is located […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: Coinage of the Normans in Sicily

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …. FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS, THE Norman conquest of England in 1066 is one of the most memorized events in Western history. But few have ever heard of the Norman conquest of Sicily. Descendants of ferocious Vikings who settled in the French province of Normandy, the warlike Normans were eventually Christianized. […]

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