Web Directory: Ancient Coinage

The WildWinds website has been created as a reference and attribution resource in the field of ancient numismatics.

The obol (Greek: ὀβολός, obolos, also ὀβελός (obelós), ὀβελλός (obellós), ὀδελός (odelós). lit. "nail, metal spit"; Latin: obolus) was a form of ancient Greek currency and weight.

Punch-marked coins are a type of early Coinage of India, dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. The first coins in India were minted around the 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and certainly before the invasion of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. The coins of this period were punch-marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana. Several of these coins had a single symbol, for example, Saurashtra had a humped bull, and Dakshin Panchala had a Swastika, others, like Magadha, had several symbols. These coins were made of silver of a standard weight but with an irregular shape.

The Roman follis was a large bronze coin introduced in about 294 (actual name of this coin is unknown) with the coinage reform of Diocletian. It weighed about 10 grams and was about 4% silver, mostly as a thin layer on the surface. The word follis means bag (usually made of leather) in Latin, and there is evidence that this term was used in antiquity for a sealed bag containing a specific amount of coins. It is also possible that the coin was named Follis because of the ancient Greek word "φολίς" meaning a thin layer of metal which covers the surface of various objects, since originally this coin had a thin layer of silver on top.

Celtic coinage was minted by the Celts from the late 4th century BC to the late 1st century BC. Celtic coins were influenced by trade with and the supply of mercenaries to the Greeks, and initially copied Greek designs, especially Macedonian coins from the time of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. Thus Greek motifs and even letters can be found on various Celtic coins, especially those of southern France.

In 1999 a large quantity of forgeries of Apollonia Pontika drachms were dispersed at the New York International Numismatic Convention. I'm calling these the "New York Hoard."

In 1988 a Bulgarian lifeguard discovered a hoard of 150 diobols of Mesembria and Apollonia types. He gave a few to a German tourist to sell in the West. A German dealer bought them for DM 50 (about US $25) each and offered to buy the rest at the same price. The lifeguard smuggled most of the rest of the diobols into Germany but only received DM 30 per coin.

Mint marks are located on the reverse of the coin at the bottom in an area known as the 'exergue'. The exergue is visually set off from the rest of the reverse design by a line. In some cases, part of the mint mark (such as the officina or workshop) may be found in the body of the reverse design or even on the obverse field.

Large database of Roman coins.

The siliqua is the modern name given to small, thin, Roman silver coins produced in the 4th century A.D. and later. When the coins were in circulation, the Latin word siliqua was a unit of weight defined as one twenty-fourth of the weight of a Roman solidus.

The Lipanoff Studio is a workshop of ancient coin copyists in Bulgaria. According to now defunct site they had at GeoCities, they produced ancient coin copies using ancient methods -- hand-tool engraving and hammer striking. This site alternately referred to the studio as "Lipanoff, Todorov & Co." and "Todorov & Co.," with Chavdar Lipanov appearing to be one of the principles. Judging from stylistic similarities, with the Athenian Owl below being the most obvious example, it appears that one or more of the individuals involved with the Lipanoff Studio were former apprentices of the Bulgarian ancient coin replica maker Slavey Petrov.