Post Your Oldest World Coin

SilverEagles92

Here's mine:

BS

ATTICA, Athens. Circa 449-404 BC. AR Tetradrachm

worldcoinguy

Tough act to follow BS!

Mine is a 1567 Saxony taler.....

Silvereagle82

Italian States - Venice
Ducat 1356-1361
Doge Giovanni Delfino

JZrarities

I do have a Kroton stater from 510BC, but I like this one better:

Larissa in Thessaly 395-344 BC AR Drachm

theboz11

TAURIC CHERSONESOS. Pantikapaion. Circa 330-200 BC. Æ 19mm (6.52 gm). Beardless head of Pan wreathed with ivy left left / Forepart of lion's head head left, fish below. SNG BM Black Sea 883; Anokhin 125.

Pantikapaion was founded by Greek colonists from Miletos in the late 7th century BC. Situated on the west side of the Cimmerian Bosporus, in what is now the Crimea, it achieved great prosperity through its exploitation of the abundant fisheries of the Straits and the export of wheat from the Crimea. This wealth is attested by its splendid gold coinage commencing in the mid-4th century and by the magnificently furnished rock tombs of its principal citizens in the 4th and 3rd centuries. Later, it was to become a regional capital of the kingdom of Mithradates VI of Pontus (120-63 BC) and later still the seat of the kings of Bosporus (1st cent. BC - 4th cent. AD).

Popcoin

This is the best I can do:

Switzerland / C1500 / Pfennig / Canton of St. Gallen - Silver Bracteate Bear



Larry

Weiss

Trite
Lydia pre-Croesus
610-565 BC
Electrum, 4.74 grams
Weidauer series XVI, 86-89



Anyone got one older than that?

spoon

I think Weiss wins!

I have a ton of medieval European, Islamic and pre-Islamic stuff and a handful of Roman, but my oldest is this:

Nabataea, King Aretas IV & Shuqailat (his queen and daughter), ruled 9BC-40AD, this probably later in his reign. Meshorer 113, I think?

Swampboy

How much further back from Weiss's example can you find a coin?
I love learning about ancientss and this is my oldest....

Phillip II 359-336B.C.






ed. typo

Weiss

<< <i>How much further back from Weiss's example can you find a coin? >>



Kinda depends on what your definition of a "coin" is. People in the area around Lydia were apparently using kind of crude looking but uniform weight lumps of electrum (the natural alloy of gold and silver) for some means of exchange for a brief period before the trite of Alyattes I posted above. But that's kind of like exchanging a one ounce bar of gold for a TV today: It's more of a modified barter system. You're not buying the TV, you're exchanging it for the gold.

To me, and to many scholars the electrum trite is the first real coin. Issued by the government, uniform weight, bearing the royal seal or device. Some of them apparently carried his name, too.

Here's my trite next to my siglos. It was issued by Alyattes' son (some believe), Croesus. He mandated that the gold and silver be refined and issued coins in pure gold and pure silver with set weights and ratios. So some believe those are the first real coins:




There is electricity coming off of these pieces. You're holding one of the defining moments in human history in your hands. Coins. Money. Business, commerce, trade. The revolution began with these. It's awesome.

AuldFartte

Thrace, Cherronesos; Hemidrachm, 400-350 BC

Musky1011

on my sig line

1764 prussia einen reichs thaler

Swampboy

Thanks Weiss. Awesome pieces

This is now bookmarked and in my ANCIENTS folder.

SYRACUSIAN

Tough act to follow BS!






Brett, that's a superb tetradrachm! CNG I assume. Speaking of which, I have their calendar on my wall, and the October coin is a Cromwell shilling that looks very much like yours, in fact I'm almost certain that it's the same coin.

BS

<< <i>Tough act to follow BS!






Brett, that's a superb tetradrachm! CNG I assume. Speaking of which, I have their calendar on my wall, and the October coin is a Cromwell shilling that looks very much like yours, in fact I'm almost certain that it's the same coin. >>

Thanks Dimitri. Yes the Tetradrachm is a CNG coin. I recently sold most of my ancients but this was one of the three I kept.

You are also correct on the Cromwell shilling it's the one from the calender. October is the month of my birthday
so it's an early present to myself.

boiler78

ca 560-525 BC

Hussulo

Celtic Kentish O geometric quarter stater circa 70-60BC.

silverpop

Roman coin 70 A.D

lordmarcovan

I have an ancient Greek coin of Euboia, circa 3rd century BC, I believe. Got it from Ye Deade Kinge. Whatwazzit, O Dead King? I forget. A tetrobol? Dang, I gotta find the thing.

Anyway, this is not a picture of my coin, but it is a Euboia piece with the nymph on the obverse. Mine isn't as nice, but if it was, Dead King Aethelred probably would have kept it for himself and not sold it to me, right?



If my coin is really from the third century BC (I'll let you know when I find it), it would be my second-oldest coin yet. The oldest also came from Aethelred, out of his personal collection. It was a Corinthian stater with a pegasus on it. Beautiful little coin. Alas, I no longer have it.

NJMark1

Damn Forgot what the heck this is and can't find it

Mark

JZrarities

Forgot I had this little picture:

Makarovii

And to think my lowly old coin is an infant in comparison...