Posted 04/12/2017 12:44 am
I'm a huge fan of many different ancient silvers. A few of my favorites:
1) Rome, denarius of emperor Caracalla:
Arguably one of Rome's most evil tyrants, Caracalla murdered his own brother to take control of the empire for himself. He also handed excessive power to the military, bought their loyalty through hefty bonuses, and taxed those bonuses from the people, using the army basically as loan sharks when needed. His coins are quite common, but this is the only one I have ever seen that fully captures his trademark vicious sneer.
2) Parthia, Mithradates II 121-91 BC
Parthia was a Persian empire that originally began as a small breakaway kingdom from the Greek Seleucid Empire, but rose to become a major world power under Mithradates II. He was also the individual responsible for the trade agreement with Han China that would eventually become the Silk Road.
3) My avatar:
An enigmatic coin produced in or near Gujarat in india, probably in the 8th through 10th centuries AD. The Silk Road had become saturated with Sassanid Persian silver coins, which found their way to India. The native Indians stylized and over-engineered the design elements to make them more sturdy and Indianized, ultimately resulting in their degradation into abstract shapes.
1) Rome, denarius of emperor Caracalla:
Arguably one of Rome's most evil tyrants, Caracalla murdered his own brother to take control of the empire for himself. He also handed excessive power to the military, bought their loyalty through hefty bonuses, and taxed those bonuses from the people, using the army basically as loan sharks when needed. His coins are quite common, but this is the only one I have ever seen that fully captures his trademark vicious sneer.
2) Parthia, Mithradates II 121-91 BC
Parthia was a Persian empire that originally began as a small breakaway kingdom from the Greek Seleucid Empire, but rose to become a major world power under Mithradates II. He was also the individual responsible for the trade agreement with Han China that would eventually become the Silk Road.
3) My avatar:
An enigmatic coin produced in or near Gujarat in india, probably in the 8th through 10th centuries AD. The Silk Road had become saturated with Sassanid Persian silver coins, which found their way to India. The native Indians stylized and over-engineered the design elements to make them more sturdy and Indianized, ultimately resulting in their degradation into abstract shapes.
Edited by Finn235
04/12/2017 01:08 am
04/12/2017 01:08 am
