Ancient Coins: Lesbos, Mytilene, Greece, Rome, Carthage, England

 

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Top: Edgar reigned between 959 and 975 AD. Courtesy of British Museum London

Silver, Stater Denarius, Silver Tetradrachm, Brass Sestertius

Mytilene was the capital of the island of Lesbos. It was one of the mints that struck electrum coins for a very long time. This hecte from Mytilene is made of electrum. It was minted around 500 BC, the time of the Ionian revolt (500-493 BC), which was crushed by the Persian King Darius I.

• Lesbos Uncertain (BC 550-500) BI - African108 viewsca 500-480 BC. BI 1/12 Stater (0.90g). Head of African left / Quadripartite incuse punch 
• Lesbos Uncertain (BC 550-500) BI - African228 viewsca 550-500 BC. BI 1/12 Stater (?) (0.80g). Head of African right / Quadripartite incuse punch.

 

The Image of General Hanibal Barca, from both sides of the coins used in Carthage during his lifetime.

 

The elephant is on one side and he is on the other side. Carthage was founded (traditionally by Dido) from Tyre in the 9th cent. B.C. The city-state built up trade and in the 6th and 5th cent. B.C. began to acquire dominance in the W Mediterranean. Merchants and explorers established a wide net of trade that brought great wealth to Carthage.

 

The state was tightly controlled by an aristocracy of nobles and wealthy merchants. Although a council and a popular assembly existed, these soon lost power to oligarchical institutions, and actual power was in the hands of the judges and two elected magistrates (suffetes). There was also a small but powerful senate.

 

• Right: Henry VIII Gold Medal, I545 AD.
• Right: Henry VIII Gold Medal, I545 AD. As a consequence of Henry VIII's break with Rome, he claimed to be the 'Supreme Head of the Church in England'. This medal by Henry Basse records the King's full titles, in Latin on the obverse, surrounding his portrait (left), and Greek and Hebrew on the reverse.
• Second from the Right: Silver Stater 525 BCE.
• Top: Silver Stater 525 BCE. The Greek city of Caulonia in Italy, where this was minted, honours the Delphic god Apollo for his role in the city's foundation. Source: Ashmolean Museum Oxford.
• Bottom:  Silver Tetradrachm 460 BCE. Minted at Naxos in Sicily, a Centre of viticulture, this coin celebrates the wine god Dionysus with a figure of Silenus drinking. Source: Ashmolean Museum Oxford.
• Middle: Oxford Crown of King Charles I, 1644 AD.

• Middle: Oxford Crown of King Charles I, 1644 AD. The obverse, seen here, shows the city of Oxford depicted beneath the king's horse; the legend on the reverse summarizes Charles l's war aims as support for the Protestant religion, the laws of England and a free Parliament.

• Second from the Left: Julius Caesar, Silver Denarius, minted at Rome, 44 BCE.

• Top:  Julius Caesar, Silver Denarius, minted at Rome, 44 BCE. Portrait of Julius Caesar, dating to the year of his assassination. Source: Ashmolean Museum Oxford.

• Middle: Octavian, Silver Denarius, minted in Italy. Portrait of Octavian at the time of his victory over Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE. Source Ashmolean Museum Oxford.

• Bottom: Nero Brass Sestertius, minted at Rome. The coin depicts the arch erected at Rome under Nero between AD 58 and AD 62, to celebrate victories against the Parthians, a warlike people from a region southeast of the Caspian Sea. Source: Ashmolean Museum Oxford.

• Left: Silver Decadrachm, 390 BCE.
• Top: Silver Decadrachm, 390 BCE. This coin was minted in Syracuse in Sicily, and depicts a charioteer crowned by Victory, illustrating the cultural importance of games. Source:  Ashmolean Museum Oxford.
• Middle:  Silver Tetradrachm, minted at Alexandria, Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy I, 310-305 BCE. The Macedonian dynasty of the Ptolemies ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander to that of Cleopatra in 30 BCE. Source:  Ashmolean Museum Oxford.
• Bottom: Silver Tetradrachm, minted for Lysimachus, 280 BCE. The Macedonian Athena is shown here, in the ideological service of another of Alexander's successors, Lysimach. Source:  Ashmolean Museum Oxford.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Second from the Right:  The Image of General Hanibal Barca, from both sides of the coins used in Carthage during his lifetime
• Second from the Left: Commodus, Brass Sestertius, minted at Rome, 172-3 AD. The bountiful emperor to be Commodus as Caesar, making handouts of cash to his people.

• Left: Trajan, Brass Sestertius, minted at Rome, 106 AD. Trajan riding down an enemy, celebrating his conquest of Dacia in AD 106. The subjection to Rome gave the country its modern name (Romania). Source: Ashmolean Museum Oxford.

• Right: Maues, Silver Tetradrachm, minted at Taxila (what is now northern Pakistan). Maues was an Indo-Scythian king in the early 1st century BCE. Zeus holds a sceptre on the obverse, with Greek legends declaring Maues King of Kings.

Maues, Azilises,Azes, Canute, Offa, Alfred

 

 

Top: Maues, Silver Tetradrachm, minted at Taxila (what is now northern Pakistan). Maues was an Indo-Scythian king in the early 1st century BCE. Zeus holds a sceptre on the obverse, with Greek legends declaring Maues King of Kings.

 

 

Azilises, Silver Tetradrachm, minted at Taxila. Azilises was king of the Indo-Scythians in the mid 1st century BCE. An Indian goddess is flanked by two elephants, surrounded by Kharoshthi legend declaring Azilises king of kings.

 

 

Top: Azes, Silver Tetradrachm, This coin of the Indo-Scythian king Azes second half of the 1st century BCE. Depicts Zeus wielding a thunderbolt surrounded by Kharoshthi.

 

Top: Canute (Reigned 1016-1035 AD). Courtesy of British Museum, London.

 

 

Top: Offa (Reigned 757-796 AD.). Courtesy of British Museum, London.

 

 

Top:  Alfred (Reigned 871-899 AD.). Courtesy of British Museum, London.

© Nok-Benin 2004