Tag Archive for: Antiquity

Human Faces Part 1: The Father of the Gods, Zeus, in Olympia

Why is it that for centuries – or rather thousands of years – the head has served as the motif for the side of a coin? And why has this changed in the last 200 years? Ursula Kampmann poses these questions in her book ‘MenschenGesichter,’” from which the texts for our new series are taken.

Agrippa’s Meeting of Kings at Tiberias

Josephus tells us of a most interesting meeting in Tiberias, apparently convened by Agrippa I (37-44 CE), grandson of Herod the Great, probably around 42 CE…

The courtesan Laïs in Corinth

Sex sells. That is common knowledge to the yellow press and tour guides alike, as early as ancient times. Already the Corinthians cashed in on that and promoted a tourist attraction of a particular kind: the tomb of the famous courtesan Laïs…

Manual to identify Roman coins

England’s Portable Antiquities Scheme is the most successful program on coin finds world-wide. No other country has won so many supporters to …

How to detect forgeries

Part 3: Electrotypes
The last two parts on news from the forgery front have dealt with fakes that have been produced by newly cut dies and with cast fakes. This part is dedicated to a third kind of fakes: the electrotypes.
You will surely recognize …

The Laurion silver

But one day, one noon, I believed I had found it. I was at Sounion all by myself; the summerly sun was burning; the wounded pines dripped resin…

80,000 Euros for a work of two Sicilian die cutters

For an impressive amount of money some extraordinary Greek coins were auctioned at Gorny & Mosch’s, Giessener Münzhandlung on October 10. One of them is a remarkable tetradrachm from Syracuse whose story you will read here…

Was king of east Kent son of badger killer?

On 20 December 2012 an exceedingly rare gold coin of the Cantiaci tribe was found south of Canterbury in Kent. The coin is a gold quarter stater attributed to Sego, an elusive king who probably ruled in east Kent shortly after the birth of Christ.

TRAIANUS – OPTIMUS PRINCEPS, DACICVS

In A. D. 107, Rome was celebrating a huge triumph. Emperor Trajan had returned from his successful campaign against the Dacians. Not only coins recall his victory but likewise a tiny emission of rare medallions one of which will be auctioned off as part of sale #224 of Gorny & Mosch to be conducted on 13 October, 2014.

Gallienus and the East

On February 15, 2018, Münzen & Medaillen GmbH offers an impressive series of coins of Gallienus stemming from the Markus Weder collection. Claire Franklin-Werz is telling the story of their historical background.