Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, had conquered Jerusalem in AD 1187. Pope Innocent III launched the Fourth Crusade in AD 1202 with the goal of ...

When you are looking at a coin from "Heraklea" or "Heraclea" or "Heraclia", you have to start by considering "which location". ...

Today's coin of interest comes from the reign of Hadrian (CE 117 to 138). This coin is issued in the name of his wife Sabina, from...

The ancient Romans, celebrated a feast on March 31st, in the Temple of Luna on the Aventine Hill to honor the Moon Goddess, a cult...

The coins of Syrian Antioch show dates from a "Caesarean Era" which honors Julius Caesar and his liberation of the city and generous...

I have been accumulating some interesting, and good looking coins from Asia, roughly areas today that are Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan....

This AR (silver) tetradrachm is from Abydos in Troas, northwestern Turkiye, on the coast at the narrowest point of the Hellespont....

2023 has been a year with many ups and downs - and a surprisingly good year for coins. Although I did add several Roman Republican...

Amasia (variants: Amasea, Amasya, Amaseia) sits on a narrow pass or gorge between two large hills. Cut into the rock faces above the river..

Each week, these notes share an ancient coin, context for the coin, relevant art, modern references and ancient sources. Sometimes we...

An usual location for a Roman Provincial coin of Hadrian is as good a reason as any to add it to a collection. I didn't recognize...

The coin that we share today is from Roman emperor Gordian III and was issued in Odessus, Moesia Inferior which is today the city of...

With the end of the Third Mithridatic War, Rome became the supreme power in control of all the Mediterranean. Pompey celebrated a victory...

Dionysos, god of wine, pleasure, wildness was the son of Zeus and princess Semele of Thebes. His mother was killed by Hera's jealousy...

Hegesidemus writes that in the city of Iasos a boy named Hermias, while riding across the sea on a dolphin lost his life...

Maximinus II is known in coin auctions as Daia, this name perhaps a misspelling from the writing of Lacantius, that is challenged by...

The Phoenician city of Aradus issued attic weight drachms closely imitating the Ephesian types from 171/0 BC (year 89) to 110/09 BC (year...

Perhaps close to Valentine's day it is appropriate to begin with a love story between fish and goats. These passages from Oppian's...

My coin of interest today is a rare civic issue of a small town from the time of the Roman civil wars, perhaps very near to the time of...

Ruins of Nicopolis ad Istrum - public domain image via wikimedia commons. Novius Rufus was a legate (hypateon) or praeses (hegemon) of...