Ancient Gold Coins

CELTIC GOLD - the Celts are mainly known to western students as foils to the Romans through Caesar's Gallic Wars, and Claudius' descriptions of his wars in England. However they represent an ancient culture that originated in the Aryan migrations that emanated from what are now the Russian Steppes as early as 2800 BCE, and possibly well before that. Their coinage is largely imitative of that of Philip II of Macedon, as many Celts served as mercenaries in the Macedonian army. The notable exception is the coinage of the Durotriges (the Druids) which is unlike any other coinage.

Celtic North East Gaul. AMBIANI.
Gold stater (6.21 grams) 19.22 mm.
Obverse: Plain. Reverse: Celticised horse right. A relatively plentiful issue, though hastily struck and engraved to pay the Celtic forces fighting against Caesar. Lustre in the recesses, well struck and centered, showing full designs: exceptional quality for this normally degraded issue.

Good Extremely Fine...............$1750

Celtic Britain, Catuvellauni, Cunobelin AV Stater. Wild Style, ca. AD 20–43. / CVNO, horse leaping right, branch above/CA—MV flanking grain ear with volutes at bottom. Provenance: Wolfshead Gallery. Very Rare

with a hyper-realistic style wholly exceptional to the entire Celtic series
Near EF...................................$3,600

Celtic Britain, Durotriges (the druids)
AV Stater. Uninscribed. Circa 65-58 BC. Chute type. Supposedly a devolved head of Apollo right / Disjointed horse standing left; But what this depicts, is anybody's guess. Hobbs 36; Van Arsdell 1205-1. Provenance: Tkalec.
Entirely exceptional for this normally degraded issue.
Good EF......................................$5,600

Though much of the Keltic coinage graphically simplifies the figure of the horse, the Corieltauvi were the first to construct the horse image out of symbolically charged building blocks, such are the Lunate Crescents, as pictured below. This imagery is unlike any other in coinage - or art - until perhaps the twentieth century.

Celtic Britain, Corieltauvi-
AV Stater - 4 domino type, Circa 45-10BC

17-19mm, (5.3g ) plain./
Disj. horse l., domino-like design ab. with 4 pellets, 4 armed spiral bel.
VA829-3, S393, BMC3185
Ex. R. Harris collection
Extremely Rare and certainly amongst the finest known

EF.................................$2050

Celtic Britain, Trinovantes, Addedomaros
Av Stater. Circa 40-37 BC (5.60 g)

Running horse rt. wheel below, cruciform wreath. Rare.

Van Arsdell 1605-1

unusually well struck and centered
EF ...................................sold

Celtic Britain, Corieltauvi,
Volisios Dumnocoveros
AV Stater, C. 30-45 AD 19mm (5.07gm)

(V)OLI(S)IO(S) in two lines crossed by vertical wreath with Triskeles,
Lunate Horse with pellet triad under head,
DUM NOCO VER OS (fully struck) around
VA 978, BMC 3330-36 Povenance: Chris Rudd, who writes: "A sensational specimen, exceptionally beautiful..." This coinage was struck at the time of the Claudian Invasion.

Exceptional EF ..............$4800

INDIAN GOLD COINAGE: When Alexander marched through the Eastern world he was careful to respect the local deities, but he inevitably exported Greek culture including athletic and dramatic theater, architecture, literature, urban planning, and coinage. The Sassanians, Baktrians, Kushanas, all produced gold coinage, especially at the apex of their respective cultures. The Kushanas of present day Northern India through Pakistan and Afghanistan and into Iran, produced a coinage with an intriguing mixture of Greek, Hindu and Buddhist imagery...

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Vima Kadphises. Circa AD 100-127/8. AV ¼ Dinar (1.90 g,). Mint I (A). . BACIΛЄV[C OOHMO KAΔ]ΦΙCHC, crowned and diademed head right within window viewed in perspective / “Maharaja rajadiraja hima kathphiśasa” in Kharosthi, totem of Śiva: trident-rudder with ax and goat skin(?) on shaft; to left, tamgha; to right, Buddhist triratana (“Three Jewels”). MK 9 (O2/R4); Donum Burns 74.

SUPERB EF...................$2200

Mithra is amongst the oldest of the Indo-European sky-god pantheon. He is a God of harvest, livestock, prosperity, truth, contracts, wealth, and gold. Later, his association to the Sun becomes appropriated by the Romans in the mystery cult of Sol Invictus; and his function as The Redeemer and Savior of Man (from the primal force of Evil), is closely paralleled in the Messiah or Christen cults of the Fertile Crescent in the first century CE.. The root MI in the Proto Indo language means "to bind," just as Yog(a) does in the later Sanskrit and our word Religion does in Latin. Miiro is the Avistan (Kushanian) version of this word.

INDIA, Kushan Empire: Huvishka 150-191 CE. AV dinar (8.02gm), obv: King's bust left, nimbate, holding sceptre and mace, Bactrian legend around: þaonanoþao oo...hþki Koþano. (king of kings Huvishka of the Kushans) Rev: Mithra standing left, radiate, holding sword and granting blessing, Legend at right: MIIPO, Kanishka tamgha at left. Very Rare and Unpublished: see Göbl 281 for obverse, Göbl 137.1 for reverse. Exceptionally fine style, perfectly centered on a large flan, some striking weakness on the reverse.

EF ..................................$3600

INDIA, Kushan Empire. Kanishka II. C. AD 225-240. AV Dinar (7.90 g). Mint I. 6th emission. PAONANOPAO (KANHP)KO KOPONO, Kanishka standing facing, sacrificing over altar to left with standard; trident; Brahmi "Ha" right of altar and "Vi" right of scepter / APΔΟXÞΟ, Ardoxsho seated facing on throne, with investiture garland, cornucopia; “La” in Brahmi right of feet, tamgha to left. MK 541/4/3 Donum Burns 598. Extremely rare.
Near EF, toned..............................$2250

India, Kushan Empire. Vasudeva II, c. 290-310 AD. Gold Dinar (7.99 g). India, Kushan Empire. Vasudeva I, c. 192-225 AD. Gold Dinar (7.97 g). Nimbate king in military attire sacrificing left at lit altar, holding trident. Reverse: Shiva facing, with trident and wreath, Nandi bull behind, tamgha at left; OhPo at right. MACW 3393. great style on a large flan. Lustrous.
EF......................................sold

INDIA. Later Kushans. Shaka. Circa 310-345 AD. AV Stater (21mm - 7.81 g g). King standing left, sacrificing at altar; trident standard behind, symbols in field / Goddess Ardoksho enthroned facing. Göbl, Kushan 581; Donum Burns 751-753. , broad flan, well struck, some reddish toning.

Superb EF...............................$1850

INDIA; Vijayanagar, Devaraya I. 1377-1404 AD. Gold Pagoda

(3.43 gm) 10 mm. Siva and Parvati seated facing / Devanagari legend. Mitchiner, South 881 and 1090; Cf. Friedberg 381.

Well struck on a full flan. Nicely centered.
Choice EF.

JUDAEAN COINAGE. There is, alas, no gold Judaean coinage. For most of the period beginning with the founding of coinage in the late 7th century BCE, Judaea was under control of first the Persians and then Alexander and the Seleukids. There was a brief period after the Maccabean War that Judaea controlled its own fate, but then they fell under the control of the Romans. Only during the Jewish war of 66 AD and then the Bar Kochbah revolt of 135 AD (that led to the diaspora) did the Judaeans strike their own silver coinage. Here below are two magnificent selahs from the bar Kochbah revolt overstruck on Roman tetradrachms of Antioch. They depict the only contemporary image of the second temple, with beautiful clear Paleo-Hebrew (circa 1000-700 BCE) lettering.

BAR KOCHBA REVOLT 132-5 AR Sela (tetradrachm) Year 2 133-134 YRUSLM Facaded of the temple, ark of the covenant within, lily above./W (year) B (2) LHR (Freedom) YWRAL (Israel) - lulav (palm frond) with etrog (citron). provenance Antiqua Mild 15 Rare (12 examples cited)

Beautifully struck and centered, on excellent metal, amongst the finest extant.
EF....................................$8,200

BAR KOCHBA REVOLT 132-5 AR Sela (tetradrachm) Year 2 133-134 WMOUN (Shimon - the high priest?) Facade of temple, ark of the Covenant within, rosette above/ W (year) B (2) LH (freedom) YWRAL (Israel) - lulav (palm frond) etrog (citron). provenance Antiqua. Rare. Mild 32. Rare. (5 examples cited)

Beautifully centered and struck, on excellent metal, amongst the finest extant.
Good EF..........................$9,200

AKSUM lay in Africa in modern daty Eritrea and Ethiopia, right in the middle of the trade route between Rome and India. It also seems probable that they had a considerable source of gold, probably in Eritrea. They produced an extensive gold coinage between the third and seventh centuries, consisting mostly of gold units of about 1.5 grams, but also the larger, rarer "half aureus" pieces as illustrated below.

KINGS of AXUM. Endubis.

Circa 270-290 AD. AV Half Aureus (2.68 gm,). ENDYBIC BACILEYC, draped bust with cloth cap right flanked by grain ears; crescent and pellet above / AZWMITW BICI DAXY, bust as obverse. Munro-Hay 1; Anzani 1; BMC Aksum 1- Provenance: Ponterio. Rare
EF.............................$2,300

For info, comments, purchase requests contact: Jeff Kahn at Jkahn21@nyc.rr.com
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