|
|
| index | greek | roman | other ancients | byzantine | medieval | angel | early modern | modern | royal | silver |
Greek Gold CoinsCoinage was invented in the seventh century BCE in the Black Sea region northeast of Greece, where the alluvial flow of gold and silver mixed together yeilded the metal known as electrum. Gold and Silver had been used by the earliest Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations as a store of wealth, and a medium of trade. But this naturally occuring electrum was first coined by the kings of Lydia, Miletos, Ephesos, Phokia, and then Lesbos and Kyzykos. These coins undoubtedly were responsible for a boom in trade both between city-states, and in the rapid escalation of local markets. Herodutus famously refered to the Lydians as a nation of shopkeepers. The largest unit of trade was the "Stater" which was a translation of the semitic "Shekel," a unit of weight used in the semitic East. Weights varied from between 14 and 16 grams according to local standards. These staters were broken down into trites (thirds) hektes (sixths) and various smaller units. Croesus of Lydia was the first king to separate the electrum to issue gold and silver coins circa 545 BCE. He was conquered by Darios of Persia who issued his own gold and silver coinage. Coinage spread quickly in the early fifth century BCE through the Greek city states. Most of the trade coinage was silver, while gold was most often reserved for emergency issues associated with war. THE COINS: The Dawn of Coinage: click on the coins to see the image enlarged. |
Grading: Many coins have been graded at NGC by David Vagi, the head of the new ancients department. Though this service has not yet been embraced by some dealers, I believe it is a crucial step towards bringing uniformity and objectivity into the grading and authentication process. Ancient coins are works of art; no two are alike, and a grade is just a subjective guideline. At the same time, I credit NGC with developing a nuanced grading system that tends to give a more comprehensive grade than a simple numerical value. In the long run, it is inevitable that collectors will benefit from this developement. CH: choice, MS: minst state, AU: about uncirculated, XF: extremely fine, VF: Very Fine. Important additional grades are given to the strike and surface of the coin. Two additional notations of importance for ancient coins: "Fine Style" coins are often recognized by this notation. In all art, style is at least as important as condition. Ancient celators (die engravers) ranged from journeymen who simply knew how to operate the equipment to world famous artists hired expressly to dignifiy particular issues. For obvious reasons, great works of art are valued differently than pedestrian utilitarian issues. |
| ARCHAIC GREEK COINS: THE LION AND THE BULL. When the waves of Aryan speaking, sky-God worshipping Achaean hordes left the Russian Steppes and reached Greece and Italy around 1800 BCE, they waged war with the indigenous Siva\Dionysus fertility cult worshipping, Indus speaking tribes that had migrated from India through Crete a millenium earlier. The Indus name for Divinity is "Go" the bull, from which we derive our word "God." The Aryan tribes used the symbol of the Lion to represent the power of their Royal houses. Lydian coinage depicts the roaring lion and the cowering bull, an image that recalls myths such as Theseus (the royal Achean) slaying the Minotaur (the Cretan Bull God). |
 |
 |
KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes II. Circa 610-560 BC. EL Trite – 1/3 Stater (4.72 g). Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion right, chevron-style mane, sun (early style) with four rays on forehead / Two incuse square punches. Weidauer group XV, 59-75. |
 |
 |
KINGS OF LYDIA. Croesus, 561-546 BC. AV Stater. (8.09 g) time of Croesus to Kambyses 561-525 Roaring lion confronting bull/ two incuse punches. A magnificent example of the first gold coinage in world history. Boston 2073; SNG Berry 1138 |
 |
 |
Kings of Miletos. (650-575BC) EL Stater. (14.07g.) |
 |
 |
MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 500-450 BC. EL Stater (15.96 g).
NGC graded: AU, strike 5/5, surf 3/5 |
| Acheluos, is an ancient River God deriving from the Shiva|Dionysus fertility cults that predate the Achaen invasions. The Greek word Lwos means both destruction and liberation (destruction of societal strictures and liberation from the same): the function of Shiva/Dionysus. Just like Nandi - the attendant and disciple of Shiva - Acheluos transforms himself either into a bull-headed man (in Ovid) or, as commonly depicted in Greek coinage; the man-headed bull. He assumes this latter form when he fights and is defeated by Hercules the Achaen Hero, just as the Minotaur is defeated by Theseus. |
 |
 |
Mysia, Kyzikos (C 450-400 BC) El Stater (16.06g.)
NGC Graded AU, Strike 4/5, surf 3/5 |
 |
 |
MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 500-450 BC. EL Hekte – 1/6 Stater (2.68 g). Lion at bay left on tunny left / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze I 83; SNG France 212; SNG von Aulock 1187-8. Very Rare. NGC graded Ch XF, strike 5/5, surf 3/5 |
 |
 |
IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. EL Hekte (2.58 gm). Head of a roaring lion left; seal to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 38 (dies a/b); BMC Ionia -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock, SNG Kayhan - Extremely rare early archaic lion, only four specimens cited by Bodenstedt, all in museum collections. |
 |
 |
LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 521-478 BC. EL Hekte (2.56 gm). Head of roaring lion right / Incuse head of calf right. Bodenstedt Em. 13 Boston MFA 1679; SNG Copenhagen 301. lovely toning and strike NGC graded: AU strike 5/5, surf 5/5, Fine style noted......................... $3800 |
 |
 |
LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 412-378 BC. EL Hekte (2.57 gm). Forepart of winged lion left / Sphinx seated right within linear square. Bodenstedt Em. 63 (dies a/a); Boston MFA 1696. Rare NGC graded Ch XF, strike 4/5, surf 4/5 |
 |
 |
LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 377-326 BC. EL Hekte (2.53 gm,). Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple crested Attic helmet / Head of Hermes right, Petasos hanging behind head. Bodenstedt Em. 86 BMC Troas pg. 163, 71; SNG Copenhagen 319; Provenance CNG (Triton). astonishing portrait of Athena. |
Pantikapaion: was probably founded by colonists from Miletos in the 7th C. BCE. By the mid 4th C. it had become the seat of power in the Black Sea Region. It achieved great prosperity through its fierce warriors, indigenous gold mines and the exploitation of the abundant fisheries of the Straits and the export of wheat from the Crimea. Her splendid gold coinage (which commenced in the mid-4th century BCE) depicts the head of the god Pan (a pun on the name of the city) and on the reverse the griffin, which Herodotos describes as being the guardian of the sources of gold. The griffin combines the panther and the eagle, animals indigenous to the Black Sea area and totemic for peoples who worshipped Pan/Dionysus/Siva religion that spread from the Indus Valley at least 1000 years before the Aryan (Hellene, Scythian, Achaean) hordes conquered the West bringing their Sky God pantheon.. |
 |
 |
BLACK SEA, Pantikapaion Sold |
| The Aechemenid or Persian Empire was forged by Cyrus the Great (liberator of the Jews of the Babylonian captivity) in about 550 BCE. Darios I conquered Croesus of Lydia and adopted his system of gold and silver coinage. The Persians dominated three continents spanning from Parthia and Bactria (modern day India) through Mesopotamia to the Black Sea Region and down through the Fertile Crescent. The last Achemenid King, Darios III, was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. |
 |
 |
PERSIA. Artaxerxes II-Darius III. Ca. 375-336 BC. AV daric (8.33 gm).
|
| MACEDONIA: Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BCE) inherited a war torn country from his brother Pedikas III. From his years as hostage of neighboring Thebes he learned the military strategy based on the phalanx whose manoevers were hidden by rows of warriors bearing "sarissas" - immensely long spears. A gifted warrior and statesmen, Philip, by a combination of strategic alliances and dramatic wars, managed to conquer Macedonia, Illyria, Epirus, Thrace, Thessaly and all of Greece save Sparta. He then set his eyes on Persia, but was murdered on the eve of his planned invasion. His Son Alexander, who was tutored by Aristotle, inherited the throne and conquered Persia and then India, extending his Empire throughout most of the known world. |
 |
 |
KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III the Great, 336-323 BC. AV Distater (17.17 g) Aigai/ pella(?) mint. Lifetime issue, struck circa 332-323 BC. Head of Athena right, / ALEXANDROU, Nike standing left, vertical thunderbolt in left field, LO monogram below left wing. Price 191; Very Rare. struck in high relief, Certainly amongst the finest, if not the finest extant. |
 |
 |
KINGS of MACEDON Alexander III the Great, 336-323 AV Stater (8.52 gm) Babylon mint, Early posthumous issue, circa 311-305 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian helmet / BA-ΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, Nike standing left, holding wreath and stylis, H in left field, monogram in wreath below. Price 3749; Muller 732. Pleasing style. Rare in perfect MS condition. NGC graded MS, Strike 5/5 Surf 5/5 |
 |
 |
SELEUKED KINGS of SYRIA Seleukos I (Nikator) 312-281 BC, in the name of Alexander the Great. Babylon mint. struck circa 311-300 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with serpent, single-pendant earring, and necklace / BA-ΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, Nike standing right, holding wreath in extended right hand and cradling stylis in left arm; monogram in wreath under left wing, HP monogram below right wing. SC 81.8 var. (opposite position of controls); Price 3715 var. NGC graded: CH AU ** strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted......$7750 |
 |
 |
SELEUKED KINGS of SYRIA Seleukos I (Nikator) 312-281 BC. NGC graded CH XF strike 4/5, surf 4/5 |
 |
 |
KINGS of MACEDON Philip III. Laureate head of Apollo right, with the features of Alexander the Great/ FILIPPOU, charioteer (Pelops - the derivation of the name Philip) driving biga right, tripod below horses. Early Alexander portrait. Excessively Rare - the finest of two or three known. Superbly realized with realistic features in high relief, in relation and distinction to the idealized Kolophon portrait below - though, quite possibly by the same artist. A coin of great historical and numismatic interest. NGC graded Choice AU ** strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted.............POR |
 |
 |
KINGS of MACEDON Philip III. Laureate head of Apollo right, with the features of Alexander the Great/ FILIPPOU, charioteer (Pelops - the derivation of the name Philip) driving biga right, tripod below horses. Thompson, Philip 12, Le Rider pl. 93, 26;
with a superb portrait of Alexander, |
 |
 |
KINGS of THRACE. Lysimachos. 323-281 BC. AV Stater (8.39 gm). Byzantium mint 225-205 BC. Diademed head of deified Alexander right, wearing horn of Ammon / BASILEWS LYSIMAXOU, Athena seated left, holding Nike, with shield, spear behind; SNG COP 1086. Superb portrait of Alexander the Great - clearly from a contemporary marble. Extremely rare. |
| PTOLEMAIC EGYPT: After the death of Alexander the Great, his generals (referred to as his bodyguards) split up his empire in a series of wars. Lysimachus got Thrace. He produced a series of gold staters that became a standard of trade coinage that endured for 300 years. Seleukos Nikator (the victor) won the Eastern Empire, making his capital Antioch; and Ptolemy Soter (the savior) took Egypt. The Seleuked dynasty figures prominently in the old testament Books of the Maccabees. Their gold coinage is quite rare. The Ptolemies presided over a tremendous period of cultural prosperity that included the founding of the college at Alexandria, which hosted the brightest scholars and philosophers of the day, and the famed library which imported and commissioned copies of all the important literature of the era, including the translation of the Old Testament know as the Septuagint. This translation provides us with the earliest extant version of the five Books of Moses (Pentateuch). Ptolemy I himself wrote the difinitve history of Alexander's campaigns. The Ptolemies produced a prolific gold coinage, as Egypt lay in the center of the trade route that included the gold mines of Guinea West Africa, and Kush (Auxum/Ethiopia). Yet their coinage seems to have been used exclusively within Egypt. |
 |
 |
PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM. Ptolemy I. Soter (the savior) under Magas, ca. 300-298 BC. Gold stater (7.11 gm). Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΕ, deified Alexander standing left in elephant quadriga, holding thunderbolt, ΙΠΠΟΚΡ monogram. Naville 243 Svoronos 102. The first coin ever to use the image a living king.
Extremely rare. |
 |
 |
Unpublished, signed by the artist: A (rather than D), as determined by D. Vagi at NGC. Studies to follow. PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I or II 300-246 BC. AV Pentadrachm (17.83 gm,). Obverse die signed by the artist A. Alexandria mint. Diademed bust of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis; tiny A (signature) behind ear / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; monogram to left. Excessively Rare. The first gold portrait coin signed by an artist.
With an exceptional portrait. |
 |
 |
PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos, Arsinöe II. 285-246 BC. AV Oktadrachm (27,77 g.) struck after 265, Alexandria mint. ADELFWN Busts of Ptolemy II, draped and diademed and bust of Arsinoe II, veiled and diademed, jugate to r. Rev. QEWN Draped and diademed bust of Ptolemy I and veiled and diademed bust of Berenice I, jugate to r. Svoronos 603. SNG Cop. 132.
Superb style and strike in high sculptural relief. |
 |
 |
PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT Diademed veiled head of Bereneke II rt/ Cornucopia flanked by stars |
 |
 |
PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT PTOLEMY IV 221-205 BC AV Oktodrachm (27.79g) Alexandria mint. Bust of Ptolemy III with the crown of Helios, the Trident of Neptune and the Aegis of Zeus/Cornucopia with diadem. Basileous Ptolemaiou. SNG Cop. 196 Svor. 1117 . without the usual die rust, mirror-like fields, light even wear. |
 |
 |
PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT Veiled head of Arsinoê II, with diadem and stephane, and in left field, K. R: Double cornucopiae, bound with fillet; Arsinoê Philedephou. Svoronos 1498-9; SNG Cop. 321-2; SNG Delepierre 3063 (as head of Cleopatra I); Dewing Coll. 2762. Certainly amongst the finest extant. NGC graded MS ** Strike 5/5, surf 4/5 |
WESTERN GREEK GOLD: As mentioned, western Greek Gold, was often a product of emergency war issues, minted to pay off armies. Carthage, Epirus, Syracuse, and Calabria all minted gold pieces, often in conjunction with wars waged against a new rising power in the region: Rome. Dionysus I of Syracuse (432-367 BCE) engaged in numerous wars during his long reign. He was reputed to be a bloodthirsty tyrant of literary and artistic pretensions. He invited Plato and Philistus to his court; he wrote his own plays and poetry, and he hired the greatest artists of the day to carve dies for his coinage. Among the most beautiful acheivements of clasical Greek art are some of the dies carved by Euainetos such as the 100 litrae featured below: |
 |
 |
SICILY, Syracuse, Dionysus I
|
 |
 |
SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios . 405-367 BC. AV Dekadrachm - 50 Litrai (2.89 g). Struck circa 400-370 BC. Head of Anapos left; ΣYPAKOΣIΩN around/ Horse prancing right on exergual line inscribed [ΣYPA]KOΣIΩ; within incuse square. Bérend 10.3; SNG ANS 347; Boston MFA 436 = Warren 354; de Luynes 1239; Jameson 1918; Weber 1610. Fine style, high relief. Without the die rust and die breaks that plague this issue. NGC graded: CH AU, strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted......... POR. |
 |
 |
SICILY, Syracuse. Timoleon and the Third Democracy. 344-317 BC. AV Hemidrachm – 30 Litrai (2.15 g). Struck circa 344-339/8 BC. Head of Zeus left, wearing laurel wreath; [ZEY]Σ EΛEY[ΘEPIOΣ] around / Pegasos flying left; ΣYP-A-K-OΣIΩN around, AP monogram before, Garraffo pl. 1, 8 SNG ANS 493 corr.; SNG Lloyd 1440 ; Rizzo pl. 58, 1 Jameson 851 . As nice as this coin comes. NGC graded AU, strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted..............POR |
 |
 |
SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BC. AV Tetrobol – Dekadrachm (2.83 g,). Struck circa 305-289 BC. Head of Apollo left, wearing laurel wreath / Charioteer, driving galloping biga right; triskeles below horses, monogram in exergue. Bérend, l’or pl. 9, 11; BAR Issue 30; SNG ANS 706 var. (Φ in exergue); SNG Lloyd 1474 var. (T in exergue); Jameson 859 var. (Φ in exergue); Gulbenkian 33.Ex James A. Ferrendelli Collection Triton VI. Very rare, and certainly amongst the finest extant. NGC Graded: CH AU **, strike 5/5, surf 4/5, fine style noted ..... POR |
 |
 |
SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron II. 274-216 BC. AV 60 Litrae - Dekadrachm (4.26 gm) Wreathed head of Persephone left, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace; / Charioteer in galloping biga left, holding reins in left. |
| Carthage was founded by Semitic Phoenician (Punic) traders around 700 BCE. By the third century BCE, the Punic goddess Tanit\Astarte (the consort of Baal) and the horse had become the standard types of Carthaginian coinage and remained so for the balance of the city’s existence. Tanit is always depicted on the coinage wearing a wreath of grain just like her Greek counterpart Demeter. According to Virgil's Aeneid, the Phoenician colonists who founded Carthage were told by Juno (or Tanit) to establish the new colony at the place where they discovered a horse's head in the ground. Carthage waged a series of successful wars in Sicily and Italy ( notably under Hannibal - or Hani-baal) until it was destroyed in 146 BCE after the third Punic War by the Romans. |
 |
 |
ZEUGITANA. Carthage Wreathed head of Tanit left, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace / Horse standing right; three pellets on exergue line. Jenkins & Lewis Group VI, 317 var. (same obverse die, no pellets); MAA 13; SNG Copenhagen 138 var. (one pellet on reverse). well centered on a choice flan. NGC graded CH XF: strike 5/5, surf 4/5 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
KINGS OF PONTUS- Mithridates VI 120-63 BC AV Stater (8.37g) Tomis mint, Struck 89-72, in the name of Lysimachus. Deified Alexander (with the features of Mithridates?)/Athena seated, with Nike. NGC graded CH VF, strike 4/5, surf 4/5 |
For info, comments, purchase requests contact: Jeff Kahn at Jkahn21@nyc.rr.com
Rare Gold Coins | Greek Gold Coins | Medieval Gold Coins | Roman Gold Coins