The Restored Smackdown VII: Opposites

Only 16 entries... deadline 8 pm EST tonight! If you've only posted one pair, you have a second entry available.

If you haven't posted any entry, what's stopping you?

Pish, you could develop that further with Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who's name means 'Born in the Purple'. I dont know how common the guy's coinage is though.

Okay. Here's my first entry (there might or might not be a second).



Entry #1 by january1may

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

[usually attributed to They Might Be Giants]


The "medieval" period is often considered to end in 1453, when the last piece of the Byzantine, or Eastern Roman, Empire was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. (I would've said "usually considered", but it's also common to use the 1492 date.)
Of course, the Eastern Roman Empire had existed for over a millenium prior to that date; and while the Ottoman Empire didn't survive for such long a period, it did continue for almost half a millenium (more than that if you count the part before they conquered the Byzantines).
And as it happens, these two coins - separated by over fifteen centuries - are the only ones I have of either. (In fact, I'm not even sure the former counts!)





Arcadius AE4, Salus Reipublicae type. Constantinople mint.
Supposedly 388-392 (when Arcadius was Augustus in the East but not yet emperor), so might not actually be Eastern Roman as such (but it's my only Constantinople mint anyway).






Ottoman Empire, 1 kurush, Mehmed V, 1327//1 [1909 AD].
"Istanbul" mint (technically, the city wasn't renamed yet).


...Looks like I'm the first participant to actually enter a relatively recent coin I didn't consider the possibility of my Arcadius example not actually counting as "Byzantine", though (only just realized it when making this post).

My next pair...

Anastasius....491-518..AD..
36mm x 18.81g..

Lucania, Thouriol,,400-350..BC.
AR.Triobol..10x12mm .09g

1.Roman,Greek
2.Large to smalest
3.Newest,Oldest
4.Brozne,Silver

pishpash, that coin is what brought me to Ancients, I wanted one for years, this coin found me early this year.

Thanks January1may, spelling is not my strong suites..
The Gold coin was a steal, I have a guy in my coin club that travels all over the world. He got a deal and passed it on to me, Less than $300.

Okay. I'll try to get entry #2 in time :-)


Entry #2 by january1may

There were different reasons and ways over time to make coins that were far from round.
Some people made coins in a very particular not-round shape that symbolized something from the local surroundings.
Meanwhile (okay, in a different time), other people just banged a piece of silver with a hammer to make a blank for a coin and hoped for the best.
What approach is more primitive? One would probably say it's the second one (though it's debatable). But in fact, the second setting is a good two millenia later than the first one. (I admit: I fudged the details a bit in the description above.)
And here are the coins I'm talking about...





Olbia dolphin "coin", circa 5th or 4th century BC (I have no idea when exactly)





Russia kopek, Peter I (either very late joint rule or very early sole rule - opinions differ), circa 1696 AD; there are other fun things about it, but I'll ignore them right now as most of them aren't visible in the photos


...Hope I was successfully able to post this entry
I might post the size values (i.e. millimeters) when I get around to measuring the coins (which probably won't be for a few days). That said, the Peter I kopek is pretty darn huge as they go (most examples are far smaller).

FR, I'm making a summary of entries for convenient reference (to be posted at 8 pm), but need clarification from you regarding the nature of oppositeness of your second entry (long week, tired, maybe I'm just not getting it)