AncientCoinnoisseur Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 (edited) Many of us have a PFP coin. Show us yours and tell us why you chose that one in particular! I’ll start: CAMPANIA, Neapolis, c. 300-275 BC, AR Didrachm (19mm, 6.96g, 5h). Obv: Head of nymph to right (siren Parthenope), hair in band, wearing triple-pendant earring and pearl necklace; X behind. Rev: Man-headed bull (god Achelous) walking to right on exergue line, being crowned with wreath by Nike flying to right above; EYΞ (EUX) below, [NEO]ΠOΛΙΤΩΝ (NEOPOLITON) in exergue. Sambon 477; HN Italy 579; HGC 1, 453. Toned, about VF. Ex. Bertolami Fine Arts E-Auction 73, Lot 37 (14.09.2019). I chose this because it was one of my very first coins and the most beautiful I had at the time. I am also fascinated by the history of Neapolis, and the siren Parthenope (here thought to be depicted), who — according to the legend — founded the city. The man-faced bull (god Achelous, thought to be depicted on the reverse) is also another iconic design. From Wikipedia: Parthenope was the daughter of the God Achelous and the Muse Terpsichore. Her two sisters were called Ligeia, and Leucosia. According to Greek legend, Parthenope cast herself into the sea and drowned when her songs failed to entice Odysseus. Her body washed ashore at Naples, on the island of Megaride, where the Castel dell'Ovo is now located.Her tomb on the island was called "constraction of sirens". When people from the city of Cumae settled there, they named their city Parthenope in her honour. Bonus colored version (I might redo it though, since I’m not completely satisfied with her face): —— EDIT: Updated version: —— What is your profile-pic coin? 🙂 Edited August 7 by AncientCoinnoisseur Added the updated version 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 15 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted August 5 · Supporter Share Posted August 5 I chose Faustina Sr not only for the portrait and hairstyle, but simply because there are not many Empress profile pics Faustina Sr AR Denarius, RIC 361, RSC 101a, BMC 417, SEAR 4583. DIVA FAVSTINA, with elaborate hairstyle and draped bust right / AVGV-STA, Ceres standing left, long hair tied behind, raising right hand & holding long torch with left. Rome mint, A.D. 141. 3,0 g - 15 mm 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 Not a coin, but a marble bust ... This is a bust of Constantine from the Prado museum in Madrid. I've never been there myself, but have tried to gather photos of all the busts of him. I'm not sure where the bust was originally found, but the style of it looks very close to his coins from Rome c.312-318 AD, so I'd assume an Italian origin of that sort of date. Certainly this is a younger portrait of him given the short hair and facial features. The specific photo of the bust I use as my avatar is the sepia toned one above. Sadly I never recorded who the photographer was - I tried a few years ago to find the photo again and wasn't able to. I used the photo, extending the sepia color scheme, to make the cover below for one of my albums, although nowadays my collection has mostly been moved into Whitman boxes. I'll eventually write a book on Constantine's coinage, and this was a mock up for a potential cover. 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientCoinnoisseur Posted August 5 · Member Author Share Posted August 5 2 hours ago, Al Kowsky said: Nice one, I still don’t own any Celtic coins! One day I’ll have to pick one up though, their style is quite unique! 1 hour ago, expat said: I chose Faustina Sr not only for the portrait and hairstyle, but simply because there are not many Empress profile pics Faustina Sr AR Denarius, RIC 361, RSC 101a, BMC 417, SEAR 4583. DIVA FAVSTINA, with elaborate hairstyle and draped bust right / AVGV-STA, Ceres standing left, long hair tied behind, raising right hand & holding long torch with left. Rome mint, A.D. 141. 3,0 g - 15 mm Cool choice (and cool coin!) I still don’t own a Faustina either! 1 hour ago, Heliodromus said: Not a coin, but a marble bust ... This is a bust of Constantine from the Prado museum in Madrid. I've never been there myself, but have tried to gather photos of all the busts of him. I'm not sure where the bust was originally found, but the style of it looks very close to his coins from Rome c.312-318 AD, so I'd assume an Italian origin of that sort of date. Certainly this is a younger portrait of him given the short hair and facial features. The specific photo of the bust I use as my avatar is the sepia toned one above. Sadly I never recorded who the photographer was - I tried a few years ago to find the photo again and wasn't able to. I used the photo, extending the sepia color scheme, to make the cover below for one of my albums, although nowadays my collection has mostly been moved into Whitman boxes. I'll eventually write a book on Constantine's coinage, and this was a mock up for a potential cover. Nice bust! And yes, I can see the resemblance: 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heliodromus Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 15 minutes ago, AncientCoinnoisseur said: Nice bust! And yes, I can see the resemblance Thanks! Here's a side by side of a very close coin of mine from Rome 312-313 AD. Big nose, pointy chin, goofy haircut - it's all there! 14 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambr0zie Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 (edited) The coin I am using as a profile pic has no special significance for me, but I simply loved the artistry on a very small coin (5 mm diameter) I also miss the days when I had long hair and used a similar hairstyle. Edited August 5 by ambr0zie 15 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry G Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 (edited) Here's mine! A pretty rare antoninianus of Vabalathus: Vabalathus - AETERNIT AVG IM C VHABALATHVS AVG - Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust r. AETERNITAS AVG - Sol standing, facing left, holding globe and raising hand, A in exergue Antioch Edited August 5 by Harry G 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maridvnvm Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Ancient Coin Hunter Posted August 5 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted August 5 Currently it is this Probus Antoninianus. I bought it last year and thought the helmet with crest and overall martial look was nice, plus the reverse is Sol (not) in a quadriga....as conservator of Probus. 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salomons Cat Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 5 hours ago, AncientCoinnoisseur said: Show us yours and tell us why you chose that one in particular! The latest coin in my collection features Maximinus Thrax, dated 235 AD. Before him, there were 25 other Roman emperors, which means that the selection of emperors who were not cold-blooded psychopaths was quite limited. I couldn’t identify with Trajan’s haircut. Hadrian was cruel at times, too. And I can’t compete with Nerva’s nose. Antoninus Pius was too boring. So, I somehow ended up with Marcus Aurelius. 19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_v_a_n Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 Here is mine tet. I choose this one because this is my best result with colorising. 18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongShanks Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 I just love how the gorgon/Aegis is one of the truly great mythological symbols on ancient coinage, by itself or on an emperor's breastplate (never on helmets though, not sure why.) This is my best gorgon, but I have lots more.... Neopolis, Macedonia, 500-480 BC, AR Drachm 17mm 4.08g. 12h, aEF, nice silver tone Obverse: Gorgoneion, with tongue sticking out, tusks, tight rowed hair, and wrinkled nose Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square References: HGC 584; SG 1305v(lgd); Dewing 1063cf(denom); SNG ANS 420 acquired from Jencek at vcoins on Jul 26, 2008 16 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryro Posted August 5 · Supporter Share Posted August 5 I always like when these threads come around and give us a chance to learn more about each other's collecting tastes. Mine is simple, it's got a great image of a Macedonian shield on it from one of Macedonia's largest enemies at the time, Paeonian. I have a healthy collection of MSCs and am hard sought at this point to get many new ones. KINGS OF PAEONIA. Patraos, circa 335-315 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 23 mm, 12.79 g, 6 h), Astibos or Damastion. Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. ΠΑΤΡΑΟ-Υ Paeonian horseman, wearing crested helmet and full armor, galloping to right and spearing fallen enemy, who defends himself with a spear in his right hand and a shield on his left arm; below the horse's tail, monogram of ƎM; all within shallow round incuse. Paeonian Hoard 400 (same dies). Peykov E2140 (same reverse die as illustration). Test cut on the edge and with two punch marks on the obverse, otherwise, very fine. 14 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinoLR Posted August 5 · Member Share Posted August 5 My profile pic is not a coin from my own collection. Arabia, Lihyan, AE tetradrachm. AE 20 mm, 10.15 g, 9 h. Late 4th - 3rd c. BC (?). Obv. : stylized profile of Athena right, double crescent on cheek. Rev.: stylized owl facing, in l. field stylized olive-sprig, in r. field ☉E, 4 pellets. I could have taken one of my coins, I find many of them nice, handsome and/or interesting. But I specially like this Lihyan AE tetradrachm found on the ground in Hegra, Saudi Arabia. Hegra was an ancient oasis North of Dadan, near al-Ula, known worldwide for its monumental Nabataean rock-tombs (even mentioned in the Quran !). But the local Nabataean period, roughly one century from the Nabatean takeover of the city c. 9 BC to the Roman annexation c. 107 AD, is just a short period in Hegra's eight centuries long history: the oldest coins found there date back to the 4th c. BC, the latest to c. 400 AD. Before the Nabataeans, Lihyanite Hegra minted coins imitating Athenian owls, as did the Philistian cities (Gaza, Raphia, Ashqelon), Egypt and Qataban in South Arabia... The first ones in the early 4th c. BC were close imitations of Greek style in good silver, but later the weight was reduced and silver turned to billion, eventually to copper alloy. The style evolved into a "picasso style" (M. Huth). This coin is supposed to be a tetradrachm but it is copper alloy and only 10.15 g, the Attic design is much stylized and simplified, resulting in this strange profile looking like contemporary art. As found, before cleaning - After cleaning Most of Liyanite coins are imitative and heavily stylized Attic owls like this one. There are many different kinds which can be dated 4th to 1st c. BC, but this coinage is still to be catalogued. I'm working on it... 14 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croatian Coin Collector Posted August 6 · Member Share Posted August 6 (edited) The coin I am using as my profile picture is a Roman Silver Argenteus of Diocletian (minted in Siscia in 294), I chose it because Diocletian was born in what is now Croatia (Salona (today it is called Solin) to be exact),and because the mint city Siscia (today it is called Sisak) is my ancestral hometown. Edited August 6 by Croatian Coin Collector 20 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordinary-Ride-1595 Posted August 6 · Member Share Posted August 6 05A2F912-711B-4C84-ABC4-0352372693A2.mp4 This coin is an Alexander tetradrachma catalogued as P213a. It was minted in Pella and is one of less than 100 known Alexander tetradrachms with Heracles facing left. This particular one is quite rare as only one other has made it to the auction market and that coin was the cover of the second edition of *The 100 Greatest Ancient Coins*. There’s a theory that these coins were minted by die engravers who previously engraved Philip II tetradrachms which commonly face both left and right. I chose it as my PFP because I think it’s a cool coin. 12 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qcumbor Posted August 6 · Supporter Share Posted August 6 Mine is the reverse of a romanocampanian didrachm (heavy denarius according to @Alegandron 😉), featuring the Lupa Romana suckling Romulus and Remus, celebrating the founding of Rome. I couldn't find something more obvious 😄 Roman republic, anonymous didrachm (heavy denarius) - Rome mint c. 269-266 BCE No legend, Diademed head of young Hercules right, with club and lion's skin over shoulder ROMANO, She wolf right, suckling Romulus and Remus 7.29 gr Ref : Crawford # 20/1, RCV # 24, RSC # 8, Albert # 30 Q 16 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIF Posted August 6 · Supporter Share Posted August 6 (edited) It's fun seeing bigger versions of everyone's avatar and not only learning about the coin but the reason it was chosen. I went the unimaginative route and selected one of my finest coins. I'd like to change my avatar periodically but I've been using this for so long that it now feels integral to my identity 😏. Occasionally I switch the avi to the coin's reverse. Hard to believe I bought it more than ten years ago now. Time flies. SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles (317-289 BCE) struck 310-305 BCE AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?) Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram Ref: Ierardi 12 (O2-R8); SNG Copenhagen 573 var., SNG ANS 637 I love a fine style coin... but I'm also a big fan of abstract art. Celtic coins such as @Al Kowsky's avatar are very appealing. I'll take a Parisii AV stater is someone is giving one away 😄. Of the coins posted so far, the one that sparks my imagination the most is @ambr0zie's fractional. That face-- it's not about the style (or not entirely), it's the off-centeredness, the wear and surfaces, just the whole vibe. I could see taking a very high res picture of that side of the coin and blowing it up into a print, framing it simply, and hanging it on the wall as art. Kinda creepy looking, but compelling. Edited August 6 by TIF 13 1 2 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcat7 Posted August 6 · Member Share Posted August 6 (edited) There is a story as to how I came to own my (Avatar) coin , but I chose to use it simply because 'I like it'. 600-550 B.C. MYSIA 1/24 Stater EL 0.50gm., 6mm. Kyzikos Hurter & Leiwald 2.2;, Von Fritz 1.9, SNG France, Roser 419 (Prov. Ex CNG Auction 335, Lot 166 24/09/2014) Obverse: Head of Tunny Fish Reverse: Quadripartite Incuse Swastika Edited August 7 by Topcat7 13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor jdmKY Posted August 7 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted August 7 When I decided to concentrate on Imperatorial coins I initially thought that I’d try to get an example of every type issued by Brutus. It didn’t take too long for me to see the impossibility of that idea, but I have acquired a dozen that are associated with him. This denarius of L Servius Rufus from 41 BC is arguably a tribute to Brutus and the Republican cause. Judging by the portrait on the EID MAR this certainly does appear to be Brutus. The reverse shows the Dioscuri and an observant contributor pointed out a strong indication of a die clash on the reverse. All in all, I think this is a pretty interesting coin. 8 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn235 Posted August 7 · Member Share Posted August 7 Mine is my personal favorite Gadhaiya coin, and one that marked a "tipping point" between when I thought they were neat and wanted to get a few, and when I realized that I was seeing things that had not yet been recognized and resolved to solve the mystery India, anonymous Ca time of Chhittaraja, 950-1050 AD AR proto Gadhaiya Paisa, Finn Series 1.3.1 I'll spare the details of what I've discovered about the evolution of the Gadhaiya through these types of coins - what drew me in was the charmingly simplistic art style, clearly executed by someone of some talent, and well-struck in high relief on a wildly irregular flan. I'm not learned enough in art theory to really articulate why I was so drawn to it - it just spoke to me! I've purchased a lot since, and my collection of them may be the largest in private hands - possibly the largest, period. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edessa Posted August 7 · Supporter Share Posted August 7 I chose this one due to the character of the hippocamp. If a hippocamp existed, it would look exactly like this. Calabria, Tarentum, circa 465-455 BC. AR Stater (20mm, 8.04g, 6h). Obv: ΤΑΡΑΣ; Taras astride dolphin left, extending both arms, scallop shell below. Rev: Hippocamp left. Ref: Vlasto 134 (same dies); Cf. Fischer-Bossert 107; Cf. SNG ANS 840. Nice Very Fine, wonderful toning. Ex Christie’s (11 Dec 1992), Lot 607. Donation by Stanley D. Scott to benefit the renovation of the new ANS headquarters, Ex Gemini Auction V (6 Jan 2009), Lot 315. 6 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greekcoin21 Posted August 7 · Member Share Posted August 7 Quote Kings of Paphlagonia, Pylaimenes III, 108-89BC. A example appears in Nomos 15 lot 128 back in 2017, I was amazed and wanted a decent example I had to wait till 2022, Leu WA 20 lot 2027 and was able to acquire the coin. ( I do apologize for my poor photo skills coin better in hand). 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spargrodan Posted August 9 · Member Share Posted August 9 (edited) I chose this coin because it looked the best as a thumbnail. Also I just started to collect ancient coins again after selling all my entire collection so I didn't have many other choices. But my current favorite is another coin that after trying didn’t look as good as this one as a thumbnail sized avatar. So I stuck with this one. Macedon, Kassander AR Tetradrachm, Amphipolis, 305-297 BCE., 17.14g, 27.00 mm. 9h. Obv. Head of beardless Heracles right wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus seated on stool-throne left, eagle on outstretched right hand, scepter in left hand. Symbols (Left Field): Λ, (Left Field): torch, (Beneath Throne): monogram Price 484 Edited August 9 by Spargrodan 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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