Category Archives: hippocampus

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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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 – Roman Republican Silver Serrati Coins

The reason for the serrated edges on some silver Roman Republic denarii is not known   By Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… The edges of most silver denarii of the Roman Republic have no particular features beyond those imparted by the flow of metal during the striking process. There is, however, a group of coins […]

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NGC Ancients: Sea Creatures on Greek Coins

An ancient people’s reliance on the sea is reflected in money Finely engraved images of animals and mythic creatures are commonplace on ancient Greek coins. The spectrum is incredible, ranging from imaginary creatures to the kinds of animals the ancients encountered in everyday life. Among the most frequently shown are aquatic creatures. This is hardly […]

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For Coins, This Is a Postmodern Era (or, R.I.P. The Modern Era: 1932-1982)

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek …. Don’t worry. This isn’t an essay on literary theory, or some nostalgic lament. Instead, we’d like to take a moment to explain something critical to our understanding of the stylistic and political implications behind what’s known as the Modern Era of U.S. coinage, and how that […]

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Collecting Classic Gold Commemorative Coinage (1903-1926)

By Jeff Garrett for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) …… This is a great time to collect one of the most interesting and attractive United States coins series My last article focused on classic commemorative silver coins struck from 1892 to 1954. As enumerated, there are many compelling reasons to collect this long-ignored series. Nearly all […]

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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series – Coinage of the Phoenicians

By the third millennium BCE, a unique culture was emerging on a narrow strip of the eastern Mediterranean coast that would have an enormous impact on Western civilization. CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….   A SEMITIC PEOPLE, the Phoenicians developed remarkable proficiency in shipbuilding, seafaring and trade, as the prophet Ezekiel (lived […]

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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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