Mesembria, originally a Thracian settlement known as Menebria, became a Greek colony when settled by Dorians from Megara at the beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading centre from then on and a rival of Apollonia (Sozopol). Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, and an agora. A wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city from the 5th century BC and gold coins from the 3rd century BC. The town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage. It is now the city of Nesebar in Bulgaria. If you're European you might know it better as the city just south of Sunny Beach. I don't actually remember when I bought this coins, but I've always really liked the design. The Crested Helmet is, of course, one of the most recognizable ancient Greek symbols, and I also like the symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing reverse with MEΣΑ inside the spokes of a wheel.
This is a fine little bronze issue struck in Antioch in modern day Syria under Flavius **Delmatius**, a Caesar of the Roman Empire and member of the Constantinian dynasty. Delmatius was the nephew of Constantine I. His father, also named Flavius Delmatius, was the half-brother of Constantine and served as censor. He was the brother of Hannibalianus. On 18 September 335, Delmatius the younger was raised to the rank of Caesar, with the control of Thracia, Achaea and Macedonia. He died in late summer 337, killed by his own soldiers. It is possible that his death was related to the purge that hit the imperial family at the death of Constantine, and organized by Constantius II with the aim of removing any possible claimant to imperial power other than the sons of the late emperor. ------- **Obverse:** FL DELMATIVS NOB C **Reverse:** GLORIA EXCERCITVS, two soldiers standing facing each other, each resting on spear and shield, a standard between them 15mm and 1.35g
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Sure, that sounds awesome 🙂 where're you going to scrape data from? Does PCS or FirstCycling have an API to hook into?
**Obverse:** IMP CM Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, cuirassed bust with radiate head right **Reverse:** DACIA , Dacia standing left, holding draco standart ---- I have a couple of these silver coins celebrating the (re)conquest of Dacia, modern day Romania, under Trajan Decius. Dacia had been invaded by the Carpi from the 230s and forward, until the Philip I sent Decius to deal with them around 245 AD. He finally stabilized the area around 248 AD, and his troops then acclaimed him emperor. A short civil war ensued, Philip was killed near Verona in AD 249, and Decius was recognized by the Senate. He would rule for only a couple of years as he and his son were killed by Goths at the [Battle of Abritus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Abritus) in 251 AD. Dacia is holding a so-called Draco-standart, which was apparently a dragon-like battle-standard used by the Dacians. When they attacked on horseback, the flow of air would create a sort of frightening howl. Dacian horsemen were also used in the legions, and famously a company of Dacian horsemen with a Draco-standard were stationed in the UK close to Wales. Some people believe that the legend of King Arthur the Dragon grew from these Dacian knights being the only law and order around after the Romans left. Who knows, maybe they inspired the Welsh dragon too.
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Thank you! Just printed on a regular printer, cut out, and applied with milk 😁
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Alright, sounds fine then :) I know many authentic coins can seem cast, especially on pictures. When you have them in hand they usually seem fine.
That aside, I've always really liked tetrarchy-coins. There's just something about the regularity of portraits and the style which speaks to me, and underlines that the Tetrarchy was a definite and important break from the chaos of the 3rd century.
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Nice obverse. Where did you get it?
To me it looks a little bit like a cast copy, but it's always hard to tell from a picture and if you know it's from a legit source I am sure it's fine.
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
That's a lot of special equipment & artillery. I wonder if they're doing a combined push & interdiction campaign in the south and how that would work.
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Jeg overvejer Terry Pratchett som det næste, jeg skal bare lige finde ud af, hvor jeg skal starte, nogen forslag?
Jeg synes der er stor forskel på tidlig Pratchett og sen Pratchett. De tidlige bøger er klassiske og tydelig satire over fantasygenren, men er ikke så medrivende på personsiden, synes jeg. Historierne er bedre i de senere bøger, og hans Tiffany Aching-serie er decideret glimrende som børne-ungdomslitteratur. Så det kommer nok lidt an på hvad du leder efter.
Rent kvalitetsmæssigt vil jeg rate de forskellige story-archs sådan her:
- Tiffany Aching (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight, og The Shepherd's Crown)
- Moist von Lipwig (Going Postal, Making Money, Raising Steam)
- City Watch (Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch , Thud! og Snuff)
- Witches (Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum)
- Death (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time)
- Rincewind (The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery)
Men - der er også en point i, at man i de første bøger får en masse worldbuilding som de senere bøger så bygger på. Så selvom jeg personligt synes Rincewind-archen er den svageste rent litterært, så er der også en værdi i at læse bøgerne i den rækkefølge de er skrevet.
Du kan også følge nogle af de forskellige online-guides:
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Jeg har tænkt mig at give Baldurs Gate 3 et skud I denne uge. Ellers har jeg spillet lidt brætspil, fx Neanderthal af Eklund. På TV ser vi Babylon Berlin for tiden, det er overraskende godt.
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The obverse (front) reminds me a little bit of this coin, with three emperors standing. But I don't see the usual M-reverse, I don't really know if it's a match.
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Hi :)
So the first coin is definitely not Roman - but I am not certain what it is, as it's not my specialty. I think it's an indian coin from the Mughal empire. Weight and diameter, both to .1 digits, would make it easier to get closer. That would technically make it a modern coin, although it is of course still quite old. Think 15-th 16th century. But similar coins were also struck up until the 19th century.
The second coin is in a little bit too bad of a shape for me to really recognize. I think it's unlikely that it's Roman, but if it is I'd guess the byzantine empire from around the 6th century, as it looks vaguely like the crude coins struck by the caliphate after they conquered the levant from the Byzantines.
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Thank you! This was cabbage which I'd left around for the winter, and it'd just started sprouting these small leaves in the early early spring. Tiny and very colourful.
EvilCartyen Now • 66%
If I could I wouldn't be posting this thread, would I ;)
... to post race threads & result threads for at least all WT-races. Does anyone have the skills to run a bot like this? I often want to throw a quick comment as a race is going on, but creating a race thread or a result thread is a LOT of work and it keeps me from engaging. I think this is what we need to make this community grow.
This is a follis - at this point in time a small bronze coin with thin silvering - stuck in Thessalonica in Greece in AD 324. 18mm and 3.3g. **Obverse:** CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left **Reverse:** VOT/·/X in three lines within wreath, TSBVI I have it noted down as RIC VII 128 - which I suppose is true enough, but RIC (Roman Imperial Coinage) is a reference which few people have actual access to, so many dealers and collectors just accept whichever number is noted down at face value and don't double check :) VOT X on the reverse refers to a vow to rule for 10 years. In reality, Constantine II was only ruler for 3 years - 337 to 340. This coin was struck when he was 8 years old.
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Haven't really made many mistakes in my life, so.... red door!
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Back to the interdiction campaign?
**Sappho** from Mytilene on Lesbos is probably best known for giving her name to being a *lesbian*, but in fact wrote not (only) about love between women, but about love in general. In these fragments about the love of a young man, Atthis. ------ ### On Love and Desire (fragments) I …..You burn me….. II Remembering those things We did in our youth… …Many, beautiful things… III …Again and again…because those I care for best, do me Most harm… IV You came, and I was mad for you And you cooled my mind that burned with longing… V Once long ago I loved you, Atthis, A little graceless child you seemed to me VI Nightingale, herald of spring With a voice of longing…. VII Eros, again now, the loosener of limbs troubles me, Bittersweet, sly, uncontrollable creature…. VII ………..but you have forgotten me… VIII You and my servant Eros…. IX Like the sweet-apple reddening high on the branch, High on the highest, the apple-pickers forgot, Or not forgotten, but one they couldn’t reach… X Neither for me the honey Nor the honeybee… XI Come from heaven, wrapped in a purple cloak… XII Of all the stars, the loveliest… XIII I spoke to you, Aphrodite, in a dream…. XIV Yet I am not one who takes joy in wounding, Mine is a quiet mind…. XV Like the mountain hyacinth, the purple flower That shepherds trample to the ground… XVI Dear mother, I cannot work the loom Filled, by Aphrodite, with love for a slender boy… ------ The verse measure - the **Sapphic stanza** - consists of three 11-syllable verses of dactyls (long-short-short) and trochees (short-long) followed by a short five-syllable final verse. What greater honor can there be for a poet than to have a type of verse named after you? She was one of the 9 poets who were studied in the classical academies for almost 1000 years. Plato, who lived 200 years after Sappho, called her 'the tenth muse', and Horace - 500 years after her death - considered her almost divine. The poet Catullus, who is still read in our time, became widely famous for his translations of Sappho's poems. Unfortunately for all of us, the vast majority have been lost. However, in the last 15 years more and more fragments of her poems are coming to light due to new technology for analyzing fragile papyrus fragments. New poems by Sappho are therefore periodically published - approximately 2600 years after they were written. Isn't it wonderful how her poetry can create an emotional connection to a woman who lived before the Romans even got out of bed? ### The Coin The coin is a silver Diobol struck 400-350 BC in Mytilene. 10mm, 1.31g. **Obverse:** Laureate head of Apollo right **Reverse:** MYTI. Head of Aphrodite or Sappho right; uncertain symbol to left; all within incuse circle Personally, I find it appropriate that we do not know whether the reverse features one of the greatest love poets of all time - or the god of love she usually invokes in her poems.
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Right. Well, it shows the right way up in all other photo clients, desktop, web, android.... so it's not like I can even edit and flip it :/
EvilCartyen Now • 66%
All kids are real kids. Maybe the kids you know are just dumber than this guys kids 😂
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https://www.comptoirdesmonnaies.com/
Small coin shop in Boulogne sur Mer, just happened to pass by it with the kids.
coinweek.com
A perspective from coinweek on ancient coin collection, specifically I suppose on choosing a collection focus. My own collecting is not focused per se, I collect what I find cool. Still, over the years some themes have emmerged: * I like coins of **Philip I the Arab** because they are affordable in good grade and have many cool reverses * I like **small greek coins** because they often feature interesting gods and other themes and the variety is so great * I like coins from **Rhodes** as they feature a rose and generally look nice
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Thank you!
EvilCartyen Now • 100%
Haha, I think it looks delicious! I fried it up alongside some bacon and cheddar cheese and used it as a filling in a quiche.
**Miletos** was a Greek city in the area that was called Ionia in antiquity, and which is today part of Turkey. The ruins can be visited near the village of Balat, which lies approximately halfway between the holiday islands of Samos and Rhodes. Like so many other cities in the area, Miletos was founded in prehistoric times, when the Greek tribe called the **Ionians** colonized the area around 1000 BC. The period from around 1100 BC to 800 BC is often called "The Greek Dark Ages" - and it was indeed a dark time following the total collapse of the Mycenaean civilization. But after darkness comes light, and from 800 BC and henceforth the Greek cities of Anatolia were very successful in at least one thing; they had children and the children survived. It is believed that the population increased by a minimum of 4% each year. ### Let's go somewhere nice... All those people needed a place to live, and for the Greeks the solution was clear; colonization. From the 8th to the 6th century BC the Greek peoples - the Ionians, Dorians, Achaeans & Aeolians - founded thousands of cities around the Mediterranean (Fig. 1).  More city-states means more trade, and with more trade comes prosperity. And with prosperity comes the energy and time for other pursuits than toiling for your daily bread. ### The birth Thales - and philosophy And so, in Miletos around 624 BC, Thales was born - a man who can without exaggeration be called one of the most important people who ever lived. You see, Thales had a theory: *Everything - EVERYTHING - is made of water!* The earth obviously floats on water, and earthquakes are when the earth is moved by waves. Blood is water, and without blood you die, trees are water, because they grow when they are watered. If you burn off gas, it turns into water, and fog condenses into water. Metal is also a type of water, because when it is heated it melts, and water can clearly condense into earth - you could see this in real time when you looked at the river Meander and how the water over the years condensed and created new earth. To our modern minds, it seems absurd, of course. But you need to understand that Thales is the first (at least in the Western tradition) to even consider explaining nature without referring to gods and mythology. Who tried to explain nature *with nature*, so to speak. And he attempted to do this without having *a single scientific or philosophical concept* at his disposal. What an intellectual effort In that sense, he is the **first philosopher -** and the **first scientist**. And by the way, he is also considered to be the **first Greek mathematician**. ### The Coin The coin here is a small 9mm silver coin from Miletos, a diobol, with a roaring lion on the front and a sort of star pattern on the back. It weighs only 1.16 grams. **Obverse:** Forepart of lion left, head to right **Reverse:** Stellate pattern within incuse square It was struck somewhere between the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th century BC. - that is, while Thales was alive. SNG Kayhan 462-75
I do most of my macro photography with a Nikon d3300 and an old manual lens, a 55/f3.5 Micro-Nikkor P Auto from 1972.
Well, upload won't work it seems.... Sorry
Currently on holiday with the family in France, came across a coin shop and went in to ask if they had ancient coins (not many do). To my delight they did, although in a fairly middle quality. Still, it was priced fairly and to reward the guy for pulling out the stuff for me I bought this Philip I antoninianus with a victory reverse for 30 euro.
No story today :) Just the coin: -------------- **Obverse:** Radiate head of Helios facing slightly right **Reverse:** APTEMΩN / P-O, rose with bud to right, hook to left; all within incuse square. Struck 170-150 BC in Rhodes. Struck to the so-called Plinthophoric standard, under the magistrate Artemon. 13.1mm, 1.16g. Jenkins 50; SNG Helsinki 658. VF
If you're not an experienced collector of ancient coins - or not yet a collector at all - finding and buying coins can be a fairly daunting task. As a new collector you should: * **Avoid Ebay until you're more experienced**. It is full of fakes, and positive feedback is meaningless. While you *can* find good deals there, you won't know them unless you have lots of experience. * **Use only trusted sellers** such as those on [vcoins](https://www.vcoins.com/en/) or [MA-shops ](https://www.ma-shops.com/). Vcoins is generally more used in the US, MA-shops is often used in Europe - but many sellers are present on both platforms. They typically all offer a lifetime 100% money back guarantee if a coins is found to be fake after they've sold it to you. Here are some good deals from vcoins to get you started: **Under $30** * This [Licinius I follis](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/tom_vossen/165/product/licinius_i_308324_ad_ae_follis_372_gm_24mm_heraclea_mint_struck_313_ad_ric_73/1909884/Default.aspx) has a pleasing obverse and reverse and a fair price point. * This [Sasanian drachm of Khusro II](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/zurqieh/171/product/sasanian_kingdom_khusru_ii_ad_591628_ar_drachm/1876143/Default.aspx) is a nice large silver coin of one of the most famous Sasanian kings. * This [Constantine I follis](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/tom_vossen/165/product/constantine_i_the_great_307337_ad_ae_follis_224_gm_20mm_cyzicus_mint_struck_3245_ad_ric_34/1909905/Default.aspx) features the popular camp gate reverse. * This [Kyzikos silver hemiobol](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/aegean_numismatics/1/product/mysia_kyzikos_480450_bc_silver_hemiobol/1871479/Default.aspx) has a nice stylized lion reverse and is **really old**, only maybe 150-200 years after the invention of coinage. **$30-50** * This [silver diobol from Miletos](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/savoca_gmbh__co_kg/234/product/ionia_miletos_late_6thearly_5th_century_bc_ar_diobol/1855516/Default.aspx) features a lion mostly on-flan and a really pretty incuse reverse pattern. Also very old :D * A [nice portrait of Aurelian](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/tom_vossen/165/product/aurelian_270275_ad_ae_antoninianus_361_gm_21mm_siscia_mint_struck_272274_ad_ric_225/1907348/Default.aspx), one of the most overlooked emperors. * Speaking of portraits, this [Gordian III](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/tom_vossen/165/product/gordian_iii_238244_ad_ar_antoninianus_345_gm_24mm_rome_mint_struck_240_ad_ric_71_corr/1906989/Default.aspx) has a nice quality to it. * A passable [Hadrian denarius](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/gert_boersema/25/product/hadrian_ad_117138_ar_denarius_18mm_323_g_rome_mint/1905091/Default.aspx) * A [provincial Augustus from Syria](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/zurqieh/171/product/syria_antioch_augustus_ae_22/1894322/Default.aspx) **$50-100** * An [evocative portrait of Trajan](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/zurqieh/171/product/roman_imperial_trajan_silver_denarius/1906398/Default.aspx) * A [heavy syrian silver tetradrachm of Trajan Decius](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/zurqieh/171/product/syria_antioch_trajan_decius_249251_ad_ar_tetradrachm/491393/Default.aspx) * A [lovely Maximinus Thrax](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/tom_vossen/165/product/maximinus_i_thrax_235238_ad_ar_denarius_293_gm_19mm_rome_mint_struck_236_ad_ric_14/1906745/Default.aspx) * A [decent Philip I antoninianus with an Annona reverse](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/london_ancient_coins/89/product/philip_i_244249_ar_antoninianus__r_annona/1806739/Default.aspx) * A [chunky Marcus Aurelius sestertius](https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/savoca_gmbh__co_kg/234/product/marcus_aurelius_161180_sestertius_rome/1900487/Default.aspx) to hold while you read the Medidations perhaps. In general, it is important to do a bit of research before making your first purchase, mainly by comparing coins at the same price point and decising which coin looks better to you. Condition is typically more important than rarity, but there's no formal system to classify what looks good to you. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you set your own goals :)
... after today he has won stages in four consecutive grand tours: 2 in TdF, 3 in the Vuelta, and one in the Giro.
**Diocletian**, Roman emperor from 284-305, was born Diocles - a Greek name - in the year 244 in Dalmatia, now the Balkans. Like so many others from the minor nobility he became a soldier - and at the age of 40 he was general of the 'Proctores Domestici', the cavalry unit belonging to the emperor's household. When the ruling emperor, Carus, was struck by lightning during a campaign against the Persians his two sons Carinus & Numerian inherited the throne. Numerian "mysteriously" died on his way to Rome, and it totally had nothing to do with Diocles being responsible for his safety at all. I swear, total coincidence. He didn't even want to be emperor. But, you know, when the army insists it'd be rude to refuse... **The Battle agains Carinus** Carinus was of course not happy, and he gathered an army and marched against Rome and Diocletian, as he now styled himself. The battle stood at Margus in Moesia (now Serbia), and initially it looked like Carinus' larger and more experienced force would make short work of Diocletian's army. But as they were preparing to flee the unexpected happned; Carinus was killed by one of his bodyguards, as revenge for Carinus seducing his wife. After this, Diocletian was hailed as emperor by the army which had nearly defeated him. **The Tetrarchy** As emperor, Diocletian was a great reformer. He had (correctly) identified that it was impossible for one man to hold together the vast Roman Empire, which was now both threatened on all fronts and by internal discord. His solution was not new; he divided power between 2 senior emperors, each with an adopted junior emperor under him. From 286-305 he thus ruled alongside Maximian 'Herculius', with Galerius and Constantius I 'Chlorus' as junior emperors. And then he abdicated, retired, and moved into a villa in Dalmatia to grow cabbages, a villa which nowadays forms the center of the city of Split in Croatia. Maximian also retired, in Campania south of Rome. **His Final Years** Diocletian is the only emperor of the third and fourth centuries who died a natural death, and he is the only emperor at all who voluntarily abdicated. And that is perhaps the greatest proof of how great a ruler he really was. After 50 years of chaos and civil war under 27 emperors, Diocletian ruled for 21 years before abdicating. Sadly, his system, the Tetrarchy, collapsed almost immediately. The Roman Empire was again thrown into civil war - and Diocles died sick, tired and broken on December 3rd 311. **The End of Realistic Portraiture on Coins** With Diocletian the era where coins reflect what an emperor looked like in reality is definitely over. Due to hyperinflation, portrait quality had steadily declined as early as under Gallienus, and coins under Carus, Carinus, Numerian and Diocletian have virtually identical portraits. Not even after Diocletian's coinage reform - where this follis is from - are there any attempts to make the emperors look distinct. In fact, realistic portraits are now a thing of the past for the next thousand years, after which the Renaissance kings begin to look to the rulers of antiquity as models - and to imitate their coins. **The Coin** This coins is a follis, a large coin measuring 28mm and weighing 10 grams. The reverse features the spirit of the Roman people - Genius Populi Romani. It was struck in Heraclea, now the small town of Marmara Ereğlisi in Turkey, about 90km west of Istanbul. **Obverse:** IMP C C VAL DIOCLETIAN P F AVG, Laureate bust right **Reverse:** GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, Genius standing left, holding patera and cornucopia RIC VI 19a
**Ephesos** was founded in the 10th century BC, in prehistoric Greek times, on the remains of the city of Apasa, which had served as the capital of the Arzawa Kingdom (Hipster Kingdom: Lasted for 800 years, you've never heard of it, inhabited Western Anatolia before it became cool). **Artemis Ephesia** Apasa had been the center of the worship of a Mother Goddess - Apasa may even mean 'Place of the Mother Goddess' - and this continued in Ephesus. But this time in the form of Artemis Ephesia - The Ephesian Artemis. Those of you who know Artemis probably know her as the twin sister of the sun god Apollo, the slim, lithe and athletic virgin moon and hunter goddess whose attributes are the bow and arrow. But **Artemis Ephesia** looks... completely different. She is actually - probably - identical to the mother goddess who was worshiped in Apasa before the Greeks came along. She's... a bee goddess! On her chest she has a cluster of bee eggs (or breasts) and her legs are bound together in a chrysalis. In Ephesus also stood one of the seven wonders of the world - the Temple of Artemis - whose priestesses were called Melissae - 'bees', a word that recurs in both the Latin name for lemon balm and the other herbs in the Melissa genus (because they attract bees), and in the name of Melissa, of course. **Herostratic Fame** The Temple of Artemis was built in 550 BC. and was burned down in 356 BC. - on the same night that Alexander the Great was born - by a man named Herostratus. If the name means something to you, dear reader, then it is only because of that. He burned down the Temple of Artemis to become famous - for good or for evil. An early example of "there's no such thing as bad press". The Ephesians executed him, of course, and were forbidden to mention his name under penalty of death. But the historian Theopompus wrote it all down, and Herostratus did become (in)famous. Although 'herostratic fame' is not exactly desirable. **The Coin** The coin here was struck sometime in the period 375-325 BC, so both Herostratus and the little Melissas - busy-bee priestesses - may have held it in their hands. It is 11mm and features Artemis on the front, and a bee on the back - and the letters E - Φ for Ephesus.
