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 Replies: 29 / Views: 2,059 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
I never heard that ancients carried coins in their mouths, so I had to look it up. Most of what I found was also along the lines of "I've heard that..." but I did find this interesting reference. https://rg.ancients.info/alexander/fractions.htmlQuote:
Silver fractions were the pocket change of the ancient Greeks before the advent and widespread use of bronze coinage. Some people today contend that the ancient Greeks carried fractions like this in their mouths when going to and from the marketplace, based on the plays of the Aristophanes, including The Birds, c. 414 BC, and Ekklesiazusae (The Assemblywomen), c. 392 BC, both of which survive, and Aiolosikon, which survives only in fragments or later quotes. In The Birds, a character describes himself looking up in surprise and accidentally swallowing an obol. In Ekklesiazusae, a character describes himself going off to market with a jawful of coppers to buy some flour. In Aiolosikon, a character describes himself carrying a two-obol piece in his mouth. But Aristophanes was a comic playwright, and elsewhere in The Birds he talks about purses or money bags. Greek garments didn't have pockets. Instead of people carrying small change in their mouths, which would have been unsafe and uncomfortable, a more credible scenario may have been that they carried coins in purses. So it may have originated as humor that we can't understand today. They did put a coin on or in the mouth of a dead person as payment to Charon, so perhaps it's an allusion to that. Like just in case you died, you went around with a coin in your mouth. Anyway, it's hard for me to consider that bag as "junk silver." There could be some cool varieties in there and a lot of history in that bag. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
10547 Posts |
"Great sacks of silver, Batman"  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2334 Posts |
I agree with your Cool factor!
smat
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3649 Posts |
There's something about seeing a big bag of silver coins (even if it is "junk silver"!) that always makes me smile. Great pic!
Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
Years ago a dealer let me dig in his melt sack similar in size to yours. Almost all foreign. I got a lot of sterling 3 pence and a British Trade dollar for melt price. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
02/14/2024 5:57 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4989 Posts |
You could infuriate the whole group by melting it down and posting a picture of a nice silver bar.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
Love it!! Edit: (not the melting part) Edited by cointagous
02/14/2024 6:57 pm
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Valued Member
United States
207 Posts |
Holy Bag of Silver Batman.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
74267 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
188660 Posts |
Quote:
You could infuriate the whole group by melting it down and posting a picture of a nice silver bar.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36746 Posts |
I love it. Looks like there are some better than just junk silver coins in there.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8516 Posts |
You need one hundred Franklin's.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Valued Member
 United States
416 Posts |
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You need one hundred Franklin's. I have a hundred Franklins, they are in the pic about 2/3 down the first page. They didn't make the cut, they got tossed in the 'modern' plastic bag instead, gotta keep my proportions (yes, I've given this way too much thought). Edited by TimNH
02/15/2024 9:48 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11891 Posts |
Nice stash bruh...  IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: " It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website: https://fairfaxcoins.com |
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Replies: 29 / Views: 2,059 |
First Page
Posted 02/14/2024 4:36 pm
