By Jeremy Bostwick – Senior Numismatist & Cataloger, Stack’s Bowers …… Continuing to preview the stunning rarities in the August 2023 Global Showcase auction from Stack’s Bowers Galleries, we feature a coin of colossal importance among the ancients in the sale. We are not overstating its historical standing and significance when we say this is […]
The post EID MAR Denarius of Brutus Offered by Stack’s Bowers appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. There was something of Jekyll and Hyde in Pompey. One side, the bright side, shows him as a great man who was brilliant, patriotic and talented. The other, the dark side, shows him as a willful monster: cruel,arrogant and overbearing (Fields, 4). ROMAN ARISTOCRAT AND general Gnaeus […]
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By Eduardo García-Molina – American Numismatic Society (ANS) …… While Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout: New Vegas is more than a decade old, it’s still hailed as one of the best games in the long-running Fallout franchise and an exemplary role-playing game in its own right. Thanks to the rise in popularity of incredibly long YouTube retrospectives, […]
The post Numismatics in Videogames – Caesar in Fallout: New Vegas appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Michael T. Shutterly for CoinWeek ….. On September 2, 31 BCE, a great fleet under the command of Octavian, the great-nephew and posthumously adopted son of Julius Caesar, faced the fleets of Caesar’s former close companions Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium. Octavian (or rather, Octavian’s friend Marcus Agrippa) won […]
The post CoinWeek Ancient Coins – The Legionary Denarii of Mark Antony appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. An interesting group of Roman Republican coins, serrati (saw-edged) denarii have proved to be an enigma for numismatists for hundreds of years. As H. Mattingly states in his seminal 1924 piece on serrati, these Roman coins are completely different than Macedonian, Syrian, and Carthaginian serrati. Firstly, the Roman host […]
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By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. Let’s take a tour through the auction records to get a sense of the value of an ancient coin. The coin in question is quite interesting. It is an arresting denarius of Augustus struck between 18 and 19 BCE at the Spanish mint of Caesaragusta, modern-day Zaragoza. On the […]
The post A Look at the Ancient Coin Market Through Recent Auction Results appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Liv Mariah Yarrow for American Numismatic Society (ANS) …… I never had the pleasure of meeting Charles Hersh during his lifetime. But over these last few weeks, I’ve been meeting the man, his brilliance, his meticulous research habits, and a little of his personal tastes, all through his papers on deposit here at […]
The post Hersh’s Die Study of the Denarius of Gaius Antonius appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles,) who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates as “Claudius the Idiot,” or “That Claudius,” or “Claudius the Stammerer,” or “Clau-Clau-Claudius,” or […]
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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz ….. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. —Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II (1597) ROMAN EMPERORS RARELY wore an actual crown. They are more commonly shown wearing a laurel wreath or a diadem, the jeweled headband that was an ancient emblem of royalty. But the mortality statistics […]
The post Short Timers on Ancient Coins: The Briefest Reigns of Roman Emperors appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Russell A. Augustin, AU Capital Management, LLC …… The Secular Games at the Circus Maximus were some of the largest and most memorable celebrations in antiquity. They were held on two different cycles, first on the “saeculum”, thought to be the longest possible length of a human life (between 100 and 110 years) and […]
The post The Grandeur That Was Rome – The Secular Games of the Circus Maximus appeared first on CoinWeek.
Auction 95 – A Roman Denarii Collection features 523 lots and closes on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, beginning at 04:00 p.m. (Central European Time), exclusively online. This sale features an important collection of silver Roman denarii: Roman Republican, Roman Imperatorial and Roman Imperial. It represents a good selection of denarii, most of them with excellent […]
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By David Hendin for CoinWeek ….. Books and articles have been written about the Roman numismatic commentary on the Flavian victory over the Jews at Jerusalem in 70 CE and Masada in 73 CE. The earlier relationship between Judea, its neighbors, and Rome is memorialized by two Roman Republican denarii. I wrote about them in […]
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By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. As a collector, you have many different options when deciding on your collecting strategy. And while everyone starts in a different place, most run into the two main questions of quality or price. But it is important to realize that there are no correct answers to these questions, and […]
The post Uncirculated Ancient Silver Coins for Under $1,000 appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. Over the roughly one thousand years that followed the overthrew of the last king in 509 BCE, Rome underwent many cultural revolutions. Some of the most notable changes include the rise of the Triumvirates and the overthrow of the Republic, the increasingly autocratic nature of the subsequent Empire, and […]
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In this series, short videos realized by our curatorial team will examine coins in the American Numismatic Society’s (ANS) collection, carefully selected for their historical fame and significance. Intended for a wide audience of experts and non-experts alike, these videos will feature multimedia materials that contribute not only to the understanding of the historical and […]
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Ancient coins are represented in The Bacchus Collection of Roman Republican Denarii, a collection now being offered as one of Heritage Auctions’ Month-Long auctions at Coins.HA.com. Bidding will culminate with a live auction to be held beginning at 8 PM CT on Sunday, October 25. The Roman Republic represents the period in Roman history prior […]
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By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. The year: 70 CE. The location: Jerusalem. The future emperor Titus’ legions unleashed their pent-up rage on the Jewish people as fires raged and the Second Temple crumbled. Projected by the spear tips of some 60,000 soldiers, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who believed that Roman Imperium […]
The post Judaea Capta: Subjugation and Defeat on Ancient Roman Coins appeared first on CoinWeek.
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. yimakh shemo ve zikhro יִמַּח שְׁמוֹ וְזִכְרוֹ (“Let his name and his memory be erased”) — ancient Hebrew curse ANCIENT COINS OFTEN took a beating in circulation, remaining in use for decades or even centuries. But some surviving coins seem to have been deliberately defaced […]
The post Money People Hated: Damnatio Memoriae on Ancient Roman Coins appeared first on CoinWeek.
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 […]
The post Coins of the Ludi Saeculares and Rome’s Millennial Games appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. Seemingly in accordance with human nature, people began producing counterfeits immediately after the first coins in the world were struck. The drive to create forgeries is perhaps older than recorded history and unfortunately finds a ready home within coinage and numismatics. As collectors, we are naturally wary of modern […]
The post Collectible or Not? A Study of Ancient Coin Fourées appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. A BRILLIANT ORGANIZER and commander, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa[1] engineered Octavian’s rise to supreme power in the waning days of the Roman Republic. Agrippa’s two sons with his wife Julia, Octavian’s only daughter, were Gaius Caesar[2] (born 20 BCE) and Lucius Caesar[3] (born 17 BCE). Gaius and Lucius would […]
The post The Gaius & Lucius Denarius of Augustus – CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, TRAVEL was hazardous and uncomfortable, even for the elite. Yet remarkably, the Roman emperor Hadrian spent half of his 21-year reign on the road, visiting almost every province of the vast empire. The mint celebrated these grand tours with extensive coinage in gold, silver and […]
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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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By Jeremy Bostwick – Senior Numismatist & Cataloger, Stack’s Bowers …… Juba was born in North Africa around 48 BCE, named after his father, Juba I, the king of Numidia. Shortly after the younger Juba’s birth, the elder Juba was defeated by Julius Caesar, after he had allied himself with Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) […]
The post Juba II: A North African Prince at the Nexus of the Roman World appeared first on CoinWeek.
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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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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By Everett Millman – Gainesville Coins …… One of the many fascinating aspects of coins from Ancient Rome is that they are found over a very large geographical area. You’ll find them scattered across Europe, Britain, and North Africa in addition to Rome proper. This is evidence of the great territorial expanse of the Roman Empire […]
The post Metal Detecting Brothers Unearth Ancient Roman Coins in Belgium appeared first on CoinWeek.
CoinWeek Ancient Coins Series by Mike Markowitz…. Throughout the history of ancient coins two contradictory concepts have competed with each other. According to one concept, a coin is a piece of precious metal whose value is essentially equivalent to the value of the bullion from which it was made, and the stamp on its face […]
The post What Were They Worth? The Purchasing Power of Ancient Coins appeared first on CoinWeek.
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. FEW TOPICS IN CLASSICAL NUMISMATICS provoke more ferocious argument than the grading of ancient coins. Among collectors of classic American coins the 70-point “Sheldon Scale”[1] is universally accepted as a standard. Machine-made modern coins in the highest grades have literally, never been touched by human hands. Ancient […]
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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz…. Oderint, dum metuant (Let them hate, so long as they fear). — Caligula THE ANNALS OF THE ROMAN HISTORIAN TACITUS (56 – 117 CE) survived in one damaged medieval manuscript at the Monte Cassino monastery[1]. The section covering the reign of Emperor Caligula is missing, and we […]
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By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …. Those very things that procured him ill repute bear witness to his greatness… Antony was thought disgraced by his marriage with Cleopatra, a queen superior in power and glory … to all who were kings in her time. Antony was so great as to be thought by others worthy […]
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Roman Coin – Sextus Pompey; 42-40 BCE, Denarius By Russell A. Augustin, AU Capital Management, LLC ….. The title used on this Roman coin, praefectus classis et orae maritimae ex senatus consulto (“commander of the fleet and of the sea shores by decision of the Senate”), is a well-aimed insult to the other triumviri who […]
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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. Muse, sing in honor of Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, lord of Kyllene, lord of Arcadia with all its sheep, bringer of luck, messenger of the gods. His mother was Maia with the wonderful hair, a shy and shamefaced nymph who stayed in her […]
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By Joël van Dam – Owner of Joëlnumismatics, for MA-Shops.com …… Family Theme Types The iconography of coins from antiquity had two main purposes. On the one hand it made clear which authority had minted the coin. On the other, it spread a message that was hidden in the iconography. In the early Roman […]
The post MA-Shops: Silver Denarii Coins from the Late Roman Republic appeared first on CoinWeek.
By CoinWeek News Staff …. Neighbors complained that the yard next door was unkempt and a public nuisance, so the authorities in Mezdra, Bulgaria began to clear the overgrown lot. During the process of uprooting one particularly old plum tree, a cache of well-patinated Ancient Roman silver coins was discovered in the tangle of […]
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The coinage of Nero spans his long reigns as Caesar and emperor Nero is among the best-known of all Roman emperors – but not for good reasons. During his eventful reign, from 54 to 68 CE, Nero had relatively few accomplishments, yet is credited with a long list of failures. The fact that he ruled […]
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Many dating back to the time of Mark Antony and Cleopatra By CoinWeek News Staff …. As reported in the UK press last week, a 35-year-old metal detectorist discovered a surprisingly large hoard of ancient Roman silver coins on a farmer’s field in Dorset County, England. The hoard of silver denarii, dating back nearly 2,000 […]
The post Metal Detectorist Finds Once-in-a-Lifetime Hoard of Rare Ancient Roman Coins appeared first on CoinWeek.
Overview: Caligula long ago entered the popular imagination as an archetype of the sadistic and depraved Roman emperor. From a distance of almost 2,000 years, it is hard to say to what extent the stories of incest, madness and murderous sociopathy that have come down to us are accurate or exaggerations of political expediency. But […]
The post Ancient Coin Profiles: Roman Imperial Silver Denarius – Caligula & Agrippina the Elder appeared first on CoinWeek.
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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The Paul Balla Collection is a true labor of love, assembled with care and connoisseurship, with each Roman Emperor represented by multiple reverse types and portrait styles, several of them quite rare and seldom offered. The first offering from this collection is our first all-ancients Monthly Internet Auction, comprising 303 individual and group lots drawn […]
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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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By Atlas Numismatics …… New Inventory These six coins are just a sample of the 738 recent additions to our inventory. We have added new material in Ancient (37), World (751) and US (13). Beautifully Toned Alexander III Tetradrachm http://atlasnumismatics.com/1040195 This and the following images courtesy of Atlas Numismatics 1040195 | GREEK. KINGDOM OF […]
The post New Ancient, World Coin Inventory from Atlas Numismatics appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Atlas Numismatics …… New Inventory These six coins are just a sample of the 738 recent additions to our inventory. We have added new material in Ancient (37), World (751) and US (13). Beautifully Toned Alexander III Tetradrachm http://atlasnumismatics.com/1040195 This and the following images courtesy of Atlas Numismatics 1040195 | GREEK. KINGDOM OF […]
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The business of a sphinx is to be mysterious By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …. …somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs…[1] — W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming” (1920) IN […]
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CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz …. Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. –The Meditations, 2:1 OF ALL THE ROMAN EMPERORS, Marcus Aurelius comes […]
The post Philosopher King: The Coinage of Marcus Aurelius appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Chris Chatigny, Numismatist & Cataloger – Stacks Bowers …… For our second preview for the upcoming Stack’s Bowers Galleries January 2017 New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) Auction, we are excited to showcase a gorgeous ancient coin: a silver denarius of Brutus. This coin was struck under the authority of Marcus Junius Brutus the […]
The post Stack’s Bowers Ancient Coins: Stunning Denarius of Brutus appeared first on CoinWeek.
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …. THE RICH VOCABULARY OF NUMISMATICS has many terms to describe the things we see on coins. When a coin depicts two heads side by side, the usual description is “jugate busts”. The word derives from the Latin iuga, meaning “yoke”. Think of a pair of oxen yoked together. Jugate […]
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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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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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By Everett Millman – Gainesville Coins ……. Unlike perhaps any other location on Earth, the United Kingdom has an incredible abundance of gold and silver treasure from both its medieval period and the earlier times when Ancient Rome controlled the British Isles. Due to this rich and diverse history, people are digging up valuable treasure […]
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Perhaps no epoch in history has been so admired as the Roman Empire of the 2nd Century CE – Rome’s ‘Golden Age’ – during which the Romans achieved a balance of political stability and economic and intellectual success that had never before existed Rome’s Golden Age is famously described by the historian Edward Gibbon. In […]
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Perhaps no epoch in history has been so admired as the Roman Empire of the 2nd Century CE. The Emperors are depicted on these ancient Roman coins. During this time, Romans achieved a balance of political stability and economic and intellectual success that had never before existed Ancient Roman Coins Rome’s Golden Age is famously […]
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By David Vagi, Director of NGC Ancients…. NGC offers premium access to an incomparable online resource that allows you to search through ancient coin auction prices realized and upcoming auctions from more than 80 auction firms. Ancient coins have come a long way in the last 20 years. A large number of scholarly books have […]
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