Le più belle rappresentazioni di guerrieri

[Eolo]

9 hours ago, King John said:

Coins of Thessaly, the BCD Collection
Mopsion
Circa 350 BC. Tetrachalkon (Bronze, 22mm, 7.86 g 9). Laureate head of bearded Zeus facing, turned slightly to right; to right, thunderbolt. Rev. MOYEI - WN Mopsos, nude, standing facing, his head turned to right, raising club in his right hand and extending his left to fight a centaur, rearing to left, raising boulder over his head with both hands and preparing to throw it. Moustaka 19. Rogers 412. Very rare. Lovely dark, red-brown patina and well centered. Nearly extremely fine. A note from BCD : The bronzes of Mopsion are practically impossible to find in nice condition and without flaws or corrosion. They are also very rare and desirable because of their spectacularly eloquent reverse. The nicest one to come up for auction realized $18,000 (Triton X, 9 January 2007, 182) but this writer has some reservations concerning its authenticity.

Ciao, 

spertacolari, sia il dipinto che la moneta.

Pensa che ansia pagare 18000$ per un esemplare e poi avere dubbi sulla sua autenticità!

buon mercoledì 

A.

[King John]

GALLIENUS (253-268). Antoninianus. Rome.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG. 
Radiate head right.
Rev: APOLLINI CONS AVG / Z. 
Centaur standing right, holding bow.
MIR 735b.
Condition: Very fine.
Weight: 2.67 g.
Diameter: 19 mm.

[King John]

Valens (AD 364-378). AV solidus (22mm, 4.47 gm, 6h).  Constantinople, AD 364-367. D N VALENS P F AVG, peal-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust of Valens right, bust seen from front / VIRTVS RO-MANORVM, Valentinian and Valens standing facing in military dress, heads turned towards each other, each holding spear in outer hand and together supporting globe on which stands Victory, who reaches out with wreathes held in both hands to crown them, CONS flanked by palm branches in exergue. RIC IX 5b2 (R2). Cohen 75. Extremely rare reverse type! A pleasing Extremely Fine. Aside from a very limited emission for Valentinian I and Valens, this attractive reverse type seems never to have been repeated in the Roman series. 

ILLUSTRAZIONE: La battaglia di Adrianopoli che ebbe luogo presso  l'omonima città, sita nella provincia romana di Tracia, il 9 agosto 378 e che si concluse con l'annientamento dell'esercito romano guidato dall'imperatore d'Oriente Valente ad opera dei Visigoti di Fritigerno.

Modificato 12 Aprile, 2017 da King John

[apollonia]

Questo denario è già stato presentato qui, ma volevo sottolineare l’aspetto artistico della moneta riassumendo in italiano il commento inviato per e-mail dagli esperti della Nomos sull’esemplare che sarà presentato nella prossima asta.

Il denario è considerato un esempio per dimostrare come certi popoli europei, che noi usualmente chiamiamo Celti, avessero accolto e fatta propria l’arte ‘classica’. D’altra parte noi possiamo renderci conto di come il mondo classico vedesse i Celti da ritratti come questo, di un uomo che chiaramente non è romano, dai capelli, barba e lineamenti totalmente diversi da quelli di qualsiasi romano o greco. Egli è chiaramente un guerriero gallico (secondo alcuni addirittura Vercingetorige) e c’è uno scudo gallico nel campo dietro di lui. Sul rovescio potrebbe essere raffigurato lo stesso guerriero che combatte su un carro da guerra, chiaramente una biga greca o romana. Il ritratto e la biga sono raffigurati in modo così accurato da dimostrare che l’incisore deve averli ripresi dal vivo.

Ciò di cui è interessante rendersi conto è che questo Gallo non è presentato meramente come un nemico sconfitto, ma mostra vera nobiltà e potere ed è, in breve, un valido avversario degno di rispetto.

[King John]

@apollonia

bel commento davvero! Magari il Gallo raffigurato sulla moneta poteva avere queste fattezze:

[King John]

Leo II and Zeno. AD 474. AV Solidus (21mm, 4.44 g, 6h). Constantinople mint, 5th officina. Pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear and shield / Leo and Zeno, nimbate and enthroned facing, each holding mappa in right hand; cross behind, [star above]; Є//CONOB. RIC X 803; Depeyrot 98/1. VF, holed, deposits. Very rare.
From the Bramhall Collection. Ex Robert Bridge Collection (with his ticket).
Among the most pressing concerns of the aging emperor Leo I was finding a successor. He made his first attempt in 470 AD, when he hailed Patricius, the son of the magister militum Aspar, his Caesar. When Aspar was murdered the following year, Leo turned to his immediate family for a replacement. His eldest daughter, Aelia Ariadne, had married an Isaurian soldier named Zeno, and they had produced a son, Leo II. When the elder Leo’s health began to falter, he raised his eponymous grandson to the rank of Caesar in October 473 AD, then Augustus in January 474 AD. Leo I died a few days later, and the sickly seven-year-old Leo II was now sole emperor. Leo’s widow Aelia Verina arranged for Leo II to appoint his own father, Zeno, co-emperor on 9 February 474 AD, an arrangement that lasted until Leo II died in November of the same year. Afterward, the Zeno ruled as sole emperor. This solidus was struck during their brief joint-reign.

Illustrazione: soldato bizantino del V-VI secolo

[King John]

CLASSICAL COINS 
MYSIA 
CYZICUS 
 Stater, electrum, about 460-430 BC. EL 15.99 g. Nude hoplite running ( Knielauf ) l. on tunny, holding sword in its scabbard in his l. hand, Corinthian helmet with crest on his outstretched r. hand. Rev. Four-part incuse square. Von Fritze VII, 9, 114. SNG BN Paris 260. Boston 1483.
Rare . Excellent early classical style. Crescent-shaped punch mark on obv. Extremely fine
Provenance : Auction NAC 78 (Zurich 2014), 285.

[King John]

Greek Coins 
Islands off Caria, Cos 
 Triple siglos circa 470, AR 16.44 g. KOS Naked discobolos, his body inclined to l., about to throw the discus; behind, tripod. Rev. Crab in the centre of diagonally divided incuse square with partially dotted borders. Traité II, 1737 and pl. CXLVIII, 10 (this coin). BN, Cabinet des Médailles et Antiques, Les Monnaies Guide du Visiteur, pl. XII, 1381 (this coin). Schefold, Meisterwerke 446 (this coin). Boston 2014 (these dies). SNG Fitzwilliam 4759 (these dies). Barron, Essays Robinson, p. 78, 6 bis k (this coin).
Extremely rare and among the finest specimens known. Struck on unusually good metal
with a superb old cabinet tone, two minor die breaks, otherwise good very fine Ex M&M 77, 1992, 126 and Sotheby’s Zürich 26 October 1993, 55 sales. From the duplicates of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.

[King John]

KELTEN 
GALLIEN 
Bellovaci AE (2,73g). 1. Jh. v. Chr. Vs.: Nach rechts laufen­der Krieger mit zurückgewandtem Kopf. In den Feldern Kringel. Rs.: Pferd n. r., darüber Kranz. De la Tour 7258; D & T 291; Scheers, Gaule Belgique Serie 163 Klasse 1. Grü­ne Patina, ss Ex Slg. Eugen Wankmüller.

[King John]

Celtic Coins
Atrebates
Estimate: CHF 1'200.00
-. -. Stater (Gold, 5.20 g 4), Southern Mint, c. 10-42. Vine leaf between VI RI. Rev. C O F Celtic horseman to right, holding spear and shield; below horse’s hooves, two platforms. Allen & Haselgrove, dies Aa. BMC 1159-63. S. 121. VA 520. Nearly extremely fine.
Ex SBV 33, 22 September 1993, 9.

[King John]

ASIA MINOR. Uncertain (possibly Kyzikos). Hemiobol (Circa 525-475 BC).
Obv: Head of Attis right, wearing Phrygian cap.
Rev: Incuse punch.
Pecunem 15, lot 168; CNG E-213, lot 151; otherwise unpublished in the standard references.
Condition: Near very fine.
Weight: 0.34 g.
Diameter: 7 mm.

ILLUSTRAZIONE: PARTICOLARE DEL FREGIO DEL PARTENONE

[King John]

THE SOCIAL WAR. Marsic Confederation. 90-88 BC. AR denarius (19mm, 3.96 gm, 12h). Military mint in Campania, ca. 88/7 BC. Draped bust of a Dioscuri right, wearing laureate pileus surmounted by star / Italia driving biga right, holding shield, spear, and reigns; below, two pellets and bucranium. Sydenham 633a. HN Italy 417. Campania 153. Very rare. Toned. A little unevenly struck, otherwise Good Very Fine. Ex SC Collection. The Marsic Confederation was a coalition of Italian cities that raised a revolt against Rome in 91 BC. The Social War was an odd sort of rebellion in that the object was not to destroy Rome or shake off the Roman yoke, but to gain the legal rights and protections of Roman citizenship. The Marsic Confederation was headquartered at Corfinium in central Italy, renamed Italia by the rebels, where most of the coalition's coinage was struck. This type, depicting a single Dioscourus (Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twins, were usually shown together) and a personified Italia driving a biga, is one of the rarest of the series, with only two other examples having been offered at public auction in the past decade.

IMMAGINE: GUERRIERO SANNITA

 

[King John]

Greek coins
Locris, Scarpheia
Bronze, 3rd to 2nd century BC, Æ 2.88 g. Head of Demeter r. Rev. Ajax striding holding spear and shield. SNG Copenhagen 81. BCD Lokris 159.2. SNG Copenhagen 81.
Very rare. Very fine

[King John]

MYSIA, Pitane. 4th-3rd centuries BC. Æ 9mm (0.78 g). Head of Zeus Ammon right / [Π]-I-Σ-O-Σ, pentagram with pellet in center. SNG France 2253-5 var. (rev. legend); SNG Copenhagen 535 var. (same); BMC 4, note. VF, dark green patina. Rare with this reverse legend.
From the D. Alighieri Collection.
The vast majority of Pitane’s coinage of the “Zeus Ammon / pentagram” type features an ethnic on the reverse. This rare specimen probably carries the name of a magistrate.

 

ILLUSTRAZIONE: I GRECI STUDIANO LA GEOMETRIA

Modificato 17 Aprile, 2017 da King John

[King John]

Severus Alexander Æ28 of Seleukeia ad Calycadnum, Cilicia. AD 222-235. Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust r. / Infant Zeus seated facing on throne, head l., raising r. hand; around him, three Curetes, each wearing military outfit, striking shields with swords. SNG France 1004 var. (illustrated specimen with countermark; same dies); SNG Levante -; cf. SNG von Aulock 5831 (Caracalla) and 5834 (Macrinus); cf. SNG Copenhagen 212 (Macrinus); Waddington 4467. Dark green patina, Good Very Fine. Very Rare. The Curetes were dancing divinities associated with the worship of Cybele but their specific role was to serve as the protectors of the infant Zeus while he was hidden away on Crete accompanied by the clashing of swords on shields drowned out the cries of the infant.

ILLUSTRAZIONE: I CURETI

I Cureti erano un gruppo di divinità minori della religione greca, facente parte del corteggio di Rea, moglie di Crono. Furono più volte identificati con i Coribanti.

Indicati come popolo dell'Etolia nel IX libro dell'Iliade di Omero, sono più spesso collegati al mito della nascita di Zeus: la madre Rea, al momento di partorirlo, per paura che anche l'ultimo dei suoi figli potesse essere inghiottito da Crono, fuggì a Creta; qui trovò i Cureti, cacciati dalla loro terra, l'Eubea, dal padre e approdati su quest'isola insieme alla madre Calcide. Quando Rea partorisce Zeus, essi sono pronti a proteggere il bambino dalla famelicità di Crono. Le loro danze e il frastuono delle armi battute contro gli scudi riescono a nascondere i vagiti del piccolo Zeus.

[King John]

THRACE, Mesembria. Elagabalus. 218-222 AD. Æ 28mm (13.93 g). Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / Two Curetes, helmeted and clad in short tunics, holding aloft short swords and shields. Mouchmov -. VF, brown surfaces, a little rough. Scarce.
The Curetes share some of the attributes of the Korybantes, dancing divinities associated with the worship of Kybele, but their specific role in Greek mythology was to serve as the protectors of the infant Zeus while he was hidden away on Crete, safe from his murderous father Kronos. Their militant dancing, accompanied by the clashing of swords on shields, drowned out the cries of the infant. The Curetesí dance was later reenacted by young men at Greek festivals and games, in a display probably very similar to the sword dances practiced by later peoples such as the Cossacks of Russia.

[King John]

Augustus, with Divus Julius Caesar. Silver Denarius (3.7 g), 27 BC-AD 14. Rome, 17 BC. P. Licinius Stolo, moneyer. AVGVSTVS TR POT, emperor, laureate, wearing short tunic and cloak, on horseback right, holding patera. Reverse P STOLO III VIR, flamen's cap (apex flaminis) between two studded sacred shields (ancilia). RIC 344; BMC 76; RSC 439. Very Rare. Well struck and well centered on a slightly rough flan. Lightly toned. Extremely Fine. The ancilia was a sacred bronze shield believed to have fallen from heaven during the reign of Numa Pompilius, 715-673 BC, the legendary second king of Rome. His consort, the nymph Egeria, prophesied that wherever the shield was preserved the people would be the dominant people of the world. In order to disguise the identity of the sacred shield, eleven copies were made, and all were carried by the twelve Salian "leaping priests of Mars" during public festivities, especially the Secular Games. The shields were destroyed by fire when the Regia burned in 36 BC, and were reconstructed probably in 17 BC as part of the New Age celebrations that Augustus and Agrippa inaugurated. Estimated Value $8,000 - 9,000 Ex Lanz 154 (11 June 2012), 290.

Illustrazione: uno degli Ancilia,  i dodici scudi (ovali e tagliati sui lati) sacri utilizzati dai fratelli Salii  nelle loro processioni e nei loro riti della Roma arcaica.

Modificato 18 Aprile, 2017 da King John

[King John]

RÖMISCHE MÜNZEN 
MÜNZEN DER RÖMISCHEN KAISERZEIT 
Antoninus I. Pius, 138-161 
 Æs, 144/146, Magnesia ad Maeandrum (Ionia), Grammateus Diophantos; 23,94 g. Drapierte Büste r. mit Lorbeerkranz//Krieger mit Speer und Schild geht l., Kopf r., r. liegender Krieger. RPC Online 1021 (temporary number); Schultz 102 A.
Von allergrößter Seltenheit. Wohl das zweite bekannte und besterhaltene Exemplar. 
Grüne Patina, fast sehr schön
Exemplar der Sammlung Dr. Rainer Pudill.
Erworben am 16. Juni 2010 bei T. Vossen, Kerkrade.

[King John]

CILICIA, Myriandros. 343-332 BC. AR Obol (10mm, 0.64 g, 9h). King of Persia (Artaxerxes III?) seated right on throne with back terminating in griffin’s head, wearing double crown, holding a lotus flower and lotus-tipped scepter / Youthful male head (Artaxerxes IV?) left, wearing earring and double crown. Göktürk 35; SNG France 429; SNG Levante –. Near EF, slightly off center, minor double strike on reverse. Rare and with exceptional detail for issue. Although this issue has long been known, it was only in 2000 that the types were properly interpreted (Frank L. Kovacs, “Two Persian Pharaonic Portraits,” JNG [2000], pp. 55-60). Kovacs argues that the crown being worn by both the figure on the obverse and reverse is none other than the atef crown of the Pharaohs, a composite headdress signifying their rule over Upper and Lower Egypt. Logically, this coin would have to date to the Thirty–First Dynasty, when Egypt was ruled by the Achaemenids following the overthrow of Nektanebo II, the last native pharaoh of Egypt. Kovacs suggests the figure on the obverse is Artaxerxes III Ochos, and that on the reverse is Artaxerxes IV Arses. The issue may have been struck to commemorate Artaxerxes IV’s elevation to crown prince (circa 343-338 BC) or on his succession (336 BC).

 

Modificato 18 Aprile, 2017 da King John

[King John]

Classical Numismatic Group > Auction 105	Auction date: 10 May 2017
Lot number: 202
Lot description: MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 450-330 BC. EL Stater (15.5mm, 15.97 g). Nude hero (Herakles or Jason?), wearing conical hat, holding club in right hand, animal skin draped over left arm, kneeling right on tunny right / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze I 167; Greenwell 68; Boston MFA –; SNG BN –; BMC 71; Gillet –; Gulbenkian 637; Jameson 2200 = Pozzi 2185; Myrmekion 45–51; Rosen –; Weber –. VF.  The identification of the hero on the obverse of this issue is uncertain. In older references he was identified as Herakles, but this was based on examples on which the conical hat was not visible. The use of this headgear makes it unlikely that it is Herakles that is depicted here. As an alternative, Jameson suggested the hero Jason, in which case the animal skin would be the Golden Fleece. That hero's hat, though, is traditionally depicted as a much more broad-rimmed device (see, e.g., AGCG 374), unlike the narrow hat on this issue. Most modern references simply refer to the figure as a hero.  Estimate: 5000 USD

[King John]

THESSALY, Methylion. 4th century BC. AR Obol (12mm, 0.71 g, 6h). [EY]P, Nike advancing left, holding tainia in both hands / [ME]ΘY[Λ]–[IE–IΩN], warrior seen partly from rear, nude but for Corinthian helmet, advancing left, holding shield in left hand and spear in right. Heyman 3 = Boston MFA 909 (same dies); BCD Thessaly II 466 (same dies). Fine, corroded surfaces. Typical grade for this extremely rare issue. From the BCD Colleciton.A note from BCD from the Triton sale: Schwabacher in NC 1939, pp. 10-12, describes one more of these coins that he saw in the Athens market in 1937, and illustrates it on pl. I, 13. It appears to be from the same dies as this coin. The letters on the obv. could be, according to Schwabacher, an epithet of Nike or of the games where she will crown the victor.

 

[King John]

Pamphylia. Aspendus. Silver stater (10.88 gm). Pamphylia, Aspendus, Ca. 420-370 BC. Two wrestlers grappling, the one on the left holding in both hands the left arm of the one on the right, which has seized his opponent's right shoulder; the wrestler on the right also raises his right leg against the left thigh of his opponent / [ΕΣΤF]EΔΙΙΥΣ, slinger in short chiton slinging right, triskeles before, all in dotted square border. SNG von Aulock 4538 (same dies). SNG Copenhagen 186 (same obverse die). SNG Berry 1218 (same obverse die). Toned nearly mint state.
Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994-2008, no. 77. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, October 1992.
Very few Aspendian staters show the two wrestlers in a truly active pose. This example is possibly the finest of its type. 
Estimate: US$7500

[King John]

UNCERTAIN. 3rd century BC-1st century AD. PB Tessera (19x15mm, 4.85 g). Nude wrestler or athlete leaning right, bent at the waist with arms dangling down. Rostovtsew & Prou -. VF, yellow patina, double pierced. Attractive style.
Lead coins were issued in several areas of the ancient Greek world. Most prominent among the issuers are Alexander Jannaeus of Judaea and the rulers of the Nabataean kingdom. Yet unique lead objects from other areas are periodically seen as well, sometimes directly copying one or both sides of an official coin, sometimes bearing completely unknown fantasy types (for example, CNG 85, 330 and BCD Thessaly 1305). These enigmatic pieces are frequently identified as distribution tokens or entry tickets, an untenable attribution given the lack of precise provenance. Other possible uses for the objects abound, including: tokens, bullae, weights, contemporary or modern counterfeits, funerary money, test-pieces or strikes, and even circulating coinage. Of these suggestions, a use as a token or test-piece is often most likely. As tokens, the objects may have initially served as proof or guarantee of some sort. As test-pieces, the objects would have served to demonstrate coin designs for approval prior to mass striking, as pattern coins do in the modern world.
The figure on this particular specimen bears a resemblence to the left wrestler on staters of Aspendos.

[King John]

Trajan. AD 98-117. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.04 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 110. Laureate bust right, slight drapery / Dacian standing left, hands bound, shields, swords, and spear around. RIC II 99; Woytek 289a; RSC 121. VF, toned.

[King John]

ROMAN & BYZANTINE COINS 
Caracalla, 198-217, Philippopolis. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 31mm, 19.14 g 1), in honor of the Alexandrian Pythian games, 215. AΥT K M AΥΡ CEVH ANTΩNEINOC Laureate head of Caracalla to right. Rev. KOINON ΘΡAKΩN AΛEZANΔΡIA EN ΦI - ΛIΠΠO // ΠV-ΘIA Boxer, nude but for wrappings around both of his arms, standing right, his right arm outstretched and his left by his side. Varbanov 1460. Rare and attractive with a dark green patina. Nearly extremely fine.

 

 

Modificato 21 Aprile, 2017 da King John