Oude Munten: Ancient Coin Collection
Welcome to Oude Munten, a catalogue of coins from my personal collection. Here I record each piece with photographs, descriptions, references, and mint locations. I also share short numismatic stories, historical details, and interesting facts about the coins in my collection. The catalogue is a work in progress, gradually refined as the collection is studied and organized.
Islands off Caria. Rhodes. Circa 170-150 BC. Drachm.
Plinthophoric drachm of Rhodos that I recently acquired. On the obverse of this silver coin you can see Helios. Helios is the god and personification of the Sun, he was the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Helios is often depicted with a radiant crown like on this ancient drachm. It is interesting to know that the name of the island Rhodes belong to the goddess and personification of the island who was a wife of the sun god Helios with whom she had seven sons. Lets not delve into Greek mythology (nevertheless, it is interesting piece of the mythology) and will return back to the coin. On the reverse, you can see a rose within an inset square – the eponymous 'plinthos' or 'brick'. Rhodian plinthophoric coinage was minted from 190s down to the early first century BC. In addition, on the reverse we can see the magistrate's name Artemon (ΑΡΤΕΜΩΝ) with abbreviated ethnic R-O (P-O). The name of the magistrate helps to say more precisely when the coin was minted - around 170-150 BC.
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