Tag: Greece
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Phrygia, Epikteteis, Æ 19, 200-1 BC
A captivating coin from an intriguing time Phrygia Recently, we looked at a coin from ancient Lydia, a kingdom in the west of modern-day Turkey, which formed after the fall of the Hittite empire. Lydia later fell to the Greeks, Alexander the Great, the Seleucid’s, Rome and Persians. Phrygia was the empire to the east…
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133B.C. – 14A.D. Lydia 21 Æ
A 2,000 year old coin from one of the oldest coin producing places on Earth Map of Lydia from Britannica.com Lydia Founded as early as 1200 B.C. near the end of the Hittite period, Lydia, was a prosperous ancient Kingdom. Sardis was the capital of the kingdom from at least the mid-7th century B.C. The…
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Odessos, Thrace 13 Æ, 400-200 BC
A relaxing ancient coin, with minimal information As I post this, it is the week between Christmas and New Year, the “in-between” time the Norwegians call “Romjul”. What better time to write up a coin depicting someone relaxing. Thrace Ancient Thrace was comprised of many different tribes and kingdoms throughout the Balkan region of modern-day…
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Gela Æ Tetras 420-405 BC
An ancient Greek river god. Gela, a city on the southern coast of the Italian island of Sicily, was founded in 698 by Greek colonists from Rhodes and Crete. The name comes from the Sicilian-dialect word for “winter frost”. This coin features “Gelas”, a local river god. Each river had its own god. Looking at…
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Owl of Athena Æ20
Here is a little coin which really got me interested in Ancient coins: It’s worn, but look at that gorgeous owl! Even more impressive considering this coin was struck up to 133 years before the time of Christ. The closest CoinProject reference I’ve found for this is listed as 133 – 27 BC. Struck in…