Category Archives: Elephants on Coins

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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English Gold Coins From Ellerby Hoard Realize $800,000+ in Spink Sale

A group of 264 vintage English gold coins almost entirely certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) realized £754,000 (about $837,000) in a Spink & Son auction. The sale of the Ellerby Area Hoard, found during the remodeling of a historic English home, was held on October 7, 2022. The top lot in the sale was […]

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Foreign Coins Struck by the United States Mint: The Mint in World War II

By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. As with during World War I, the United States Mint played a vital role in supporting the Allied powers throughout World War II. Through the 1874 Act of Congress authorizing the production of foreign coins, the Mint was able to supply 26 countries across the globe: Australia, the Belgian […]

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From the Dark Corner: An “Authenticated” Counterfeit 1694 Elephant Token

By Jack D. Young, Early American Coppers (EAC) …… In my first installment from the Dark Corner, I reviewed a counterfeit that was created to fill a need at the time (possibly the 1970s): the fake struck 1882 Great Britain shilling. Although the “coin” appears to be well made, it does not match up well […]

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Ancient Coins – Elephants on Ancient Coinage

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …..   STRONG, INTELLIGENT AND long-lived – yet surprisingly gentle – elephants have long exerted a powerful hold over the human imagination. Prehistoric cave paintings depict elephants and their extinct cousins, the wooly mammoth and mastodon. Ivory from elephant tusks was a precious raw material in the ancient […]

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The Humble Coinage of the First Seleucid King

Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid Empire, never put his own portrait on the empire’s coinage. Why?   By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek …..   Since coins were one of the most effective tools for mass propaganda in the pre-modern world, it quickly became standard practice for a ruler to put their likeness […]

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Rare Error Coins Emerges From Somalia Elephant Series

German coin dealership Emporium Hamburg has announced that an error coin has emerged from its own 2014 series of 1/50-ounce ‘Somalia Elephant’ bullion coins. This error coin can only be identified as such when placed on precision scales. The piece does not weigh 0.62 g, but 0.5 g, a difference that is not visible to […]

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The Coinage of Ancient Mauretania

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. ANCIENT MAURETANIA WAS a region of coastal North Africa stretching from modern-day Algeria to Morocco. It should not be confused with the modern West African nation of Mauritania (spelled differently). The inhabitants of Mauretania were ancestors of the modern people known as Berbers[1]. The Greeks knew them […]

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The Coinage of Ancient Numidia

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. NORTH AFRICA IN antiquity was a greener place. Climate change and centuries of deforestation and overgrazing have caused extensive desertification of lands that once fed and sustained ancient empires. The kingdom of Numidia, which emerged in the third century BCE in parts of Tunisia and […]

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Coins of the Ludi Saeculares and Rome’s Millennial Games

Coins of the Ludi Saeculares by Steve Benner for CoinWeek ….. Saeculum, an Etruscan word, referred to the length of a human lifetime (100 or 110 years), or the time necessary to replace an entire generation. You may recognize it from the phrase “Novus Ordo Seclorum” (“A New Order of the Ages”), which appears on […]

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NGC Ancients – Bronze Coinage of the Greek Kings of Ptolemaic Egypt

Choice and rare ‘Bronzes’ of ancient Egypt are eagerly sought by collectors By Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… Egypt under the Greek ‘Ptolemaic‘ kings and queens produced a substantial coinage. In all metals, there are numerous designs, mint-designations and varieties that make the series both challenging and fascinating. In previous columns, we offered overviews of […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: Coins of the Kushan Empire

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. During the first centuries of the Christian era, a vast inland empire stretched across Central Asia under the name Kushan. They have been referred to as a super power of their time along with the Chinese, Persians and Romans … Just how and when the Kushan dynasty was formed continues […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series – The Seleucids and Their Coins: Part II

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. Part I Antiochus III When Seleucus III was poisoned by his officers in 223 BCE, his 18-year-old son, Antiochus, inherited an empire that was rapidly falling apart. In a reign of 35 years, Antiochus III tried to emulate the conquests of Alexander, earning the epithet Megas (“the Great”). The […]

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Pobjoy Mint Issues First ‘Big Five’ Elephant 2 oz Silver Coin

First in the series of five new coins featuring the ‘Big Five’ African animals   Pobjoy Mint is delighted to announce the release of the first of a stunning new series of coins featuring the Big Five African Animals. The first coin in the collection features the African Elephant. Issued on behalf of Sierra Leone, […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series – The Seleucids and Their Coins: Part I

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. MURDEROUS AND TREACHEROUS, the Seleucids, a Greek dynasty who ruled much of the Middle East from 312 to 64 BCE, were a nasty lot. But they had exquisite artistic taste, rather like those brutal Italian Renaissance princes who sponsored sculptors, painters and architects who created sublime masterpieces of enduring […]

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Ring in the New Year With the Stack’s Bowers Galleries 2019 NYINC Auction

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to present details of their auction of world coins, world paper money and ancient coins to be held in conjunction with the prestigious New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC). This event will be held January 10-12 2019 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. The ancient and world […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: The Ptolemies, Part II

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series  by Mike Markowitz ….. Ptolemy IV Philopator (222 – 204 BCE) THE LONG DECLINE OF Ptolemaic Egypt began with the reign of Ptolemy IV, who was born about 245 BCE and came to the throne on the death of his father in 221. He is known by the epithet “Philopator” (“Beloved of His […]

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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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2018 African Elephant Gold & Silver Coins Available from APMEX

Holiday-themed Elephant coins also available APMEX, Inc., a leading online Precious Metals retailer based in Oklahoma City, is thrilled to offer the full range of 2018 Gold and Silver Somalian Elephant coins now available to order. In 1999, the Bavarian State Mint, known locally as Das Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt Mint, first manufactured Gold and Silver Elephant […]

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New Atlas Numismatics World & Ancient Coins

By Atlas Numismatics ……   New Inventory These six coins are just a sample of the 546 recent additions to our inventory. We have added new material in Ancient (15), World (530) and US (1). Attractive Caesar Denarius with Cabinet Patina http://atlasnumismatics.com/1043108/ These and the following images courtesy of Atlas Numismatics 1043108 | ROMAN IMPERATORIAL. […]

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CoinWeek Ancients Series: War as Depicted on Ancient Coins

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. FOR MUCH OF HUMAN HISTORY, WARFARE has absorbed our resources, energy and creativity. War is much older than coinage. One of the earliest images of war in Western art is the “Battlefield Palette”, a carved slate from pre-Dynastic Egypt dated c. 3100 BCE[1]. It depicts the aftermath […]

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Why Hollywood Gets Ancient Coins Wrong

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. I have endured what no one on earth has endured before. I kissed the hands of the man who killed my son. I loved my boy from the moment he opened his eyes until the moment you closed them. Let me wash his body. Let me say […]

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Ancient Coins – How Elephants were Depicted on Ancient Coinage

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. STRONG, INTELLIGENT AND LONG-LIVED – yet surprisingly gentle – elephants have long exerted a powerful hold over the human imagination. Prehistoric cave paintings depict elephants and their extinct cousins, the wooly mammoth and mastodon. Ivory from elephant tusks was a precious raw material in the ancient world […]

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NGC Ancient Coins: Unusual Bactrian Portraits

By NGC Ancients …..   The royal busts of the Indo-Greek kings are often adorned with unusual helmets and headdresses Among the most interesting and diverse portraits on ancient ‘Greek’ coinage are those of the Indo-Greek kings of Bactria, a region on the fringe of the Greek world. In addition to the portraits themselves, which […]

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New World Coins – World’s Largest Silver Coin Has Sold at APMEX

APMEX, Inc., one of the nation’s largest Precious Metals e-retailers, recently sold the world’s largest Silver coin — the 2016 Ivory Coast 1.750 oz Silver Elephant Coin. Each coin is an astounding piece of art with a limited mintage of only 15 coins that each feature an antique finish completed by hand. This stunning coin […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: Coins of Julius Caesar

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …. Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, that he is grown so great? —Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2 What makes Caesar so Great? PEOPLE WHO KNOW NOTHING ELSE about ancient history recognize the name Julius Caesar but might be hard-pressed to say what he ever did, […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: Coins of Julius Caesar

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …. Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, that he is grown so great? —Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2 What makes Caesar so Great? PEOPLE WHO KNOW NOTHING ELSE about ancient history recognize the name Julius Caesar but might be hard-pressed to say what he ever did, […]

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JM Bullion and Emporium Hamburg to Launch 2017 Somali Silver Elephant Coin

JM Bullion is proud to be the exclusive home for the launch of the 2017 Somalian Silver Elephant 1 oz. and 1 Kilo coins. These popular annual coin releases are a must-have for both investors and collectors, and the 2017 Somalian Elephant Series is poised to be the best release yet. In the 13 years […]

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Heritage Auctions: $38+ Million Sold in U.S. & World Coins, Currency at ANA

Heritage’s sell-through rate exceeds 95% across the board at World’s Fair of Money auctions Aug. 9-13 Heritage Auctions sold more than $38 million worth of U.S., World & Ancient Coins and Currency at auction at the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) World’s Fair of Money, August 9-13 in Anaheim, California. Sell-through rates exceed 95 percent across […]

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Heritage Auctions: $38+ Million Sold in U.S. & World Coins, Currency at ANA

Heritage’s sell-through rate exceeds 95% across the board at World’s Fair of Money auctions Aug. 9-13 Heritage Auctions sold more than $38 million worth of U.S., World & Ancient Coins and Currency at auction at the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) World’s Fair of Money, August 9-13 in Anaheim, California. Sell-through rates exceed 95 percent across […]

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Gorny & Mosch Auctions: From the Wappenmünze to the German Thaler

The Gorny & Mosch October sale has much to offer. The sessions will present a wide range of numismatic highlights, featuring rarities from the ancient world and showpieces from Germany alike. The Middle Ages are particularly well represented as well. Over the course of its auction week, Gorny & Mosch will conduct three auction sales. […]

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Agora Ancient Coin Auction #36 Now Live

By Agora Auctions…. Agora Auctions sale #36 is live and so is the dedicated Spartan numismatic sale #68. The sale starts at noon on July 14 and starts he same day. Spartan is not using the buy/bid format used in previous catalogs for this sale. This change has allowed them to significantly lower the estimates […]

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Those Darned Etruscans: Coins of the Rasna

CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz… THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN TUSCANY before the Romans are often described as “enigmatic” or “mysterious.” We know them as “Etruscans”[1] from the name that the Romans called them; they called themselves “Rasna.” The last speakers of the Etruscan language probably died out in the first century of […]

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