Diomedes Ancient Coins

Lucania, Sybaris. AR Obol, circa 530-510 BC - Obv: Bull standing to left, head to right, Rev: Large M V One thing I have noticed is that there are different kinds of coin collectors. For some collectors it is about the coin itself - what mint at what date by what engraver. For others it is about how the coin connects with history, stories and myths, both to validate them and to evidence the period. The collectors of the former persuasion are more detailed, precise and more l

Knights of Rhodes (Knights Hospitaller). Philibert of Naillac. 1396-1421. AR Gigliato (27mm, 3.73 g). Grandmaster kneeling left, holding patriarchal cross set on base; coat-of-arms to right / Cross fleurée; each bar ending in shield with arms of the Order of St. John. This is a coin of Phillibert de Naillac, grand master of the Order of the Knights the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights Hospitaller, in 1376. The order was founded in Jerusalem

Historia Numorum - Barclay V. Head The joy in handling a Greek coin, apart from its aesthetic value, is feeling a connection with the people who may have handled it over 2,000 years ago.  To understand these people, you need to understand the context of the coin. Using ancient texts such as Herodotus, Strabo or Diodorus is a starting point but leveraging the knowledge and interpretation of scholars from the late Victorian age onwards provides you with a wealth of additional i

LYDIAN KINGDOM. Alyattes or Walwet. Countermarks. Sardes, uninscribed issues. Obv: Head of lion right, mouth open, mane bristling, radiate sun above eye. Rev: Two square punches of different size, side by side, with irregular interior surfaces. Whilst this coin is known as a trite, or third-stater, it is estimated that there are only around 100 surviving examples of full staters, which would indicate they were fairly uncommon in antiquity (or were significantly recycled). In