Ancient Coins: Portraits

Have you ever wondered why we´ve been using portraits on coins for so long? The human face is one of the most powerful communication tools we have. If you want to communicate a message all the way to the very last person, as illiterate or alienated that person might be, a portrait is instantly recognizable by any human being.
Today, lets explore some of the most iconic portraits of ancient numismatics, from the 5th century BC, during the classical period, all the way to the 9th century AD at the height of the middle ages.
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A huge shout-out to Savoca Coins for sponsoring this video, stay tuned for their 95th Silver Auction, February 14th, 2021, where the beauties featured on the video will be up for auction! If you are not watching this video on time for the sale, don't worry, head over to www.biddr.com/auctions/savoca/ and have a look at the upcoming auctions, with stunning ancient coins for all budgets.
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100 Greatest Ancient Coins - amzn.to/3hKz1o4
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Greek Coins and Their Values - amzn.to/3mKng4S
Make sure to leave a like and subscribe, so we can keep bringing ancient numismatics to TH-cam!
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Music: Adventurer by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
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Music: Highland Song by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
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Music: Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
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[@druzhynets91]

I'm in love with all those portraits!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

So am I! What´s lovely is that there´s no "Better" or "worse", they are all unique and interesting.

[@BakedPineapple1]

beginner collector here, recently bought my first coin, a Hadrian Denarius. I absolutely love your channel, such great content and really enjoy your narration! looking forward to your next videos!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

And what a great start! Hadrian has a very diverse coinage, welcome to the hobby and thanks for the support! :)

[@HoraceRocketMan]

I love your videos so much

[@MVA74]

Marina aeolis coin has one of the most beautiful portrait ever struck.

[@numismatik]

Love learning new things about ancient coins! Thanks for sharing this video!

[@AndrejBk]

I like portrait on Rhodos drachmas, I would like to get atl leas some nice hemidrachm

[@AshInTrees]

Great content man. I just got my first ancient coin this week, a Sestertius with Marcus Aurelius' portrait and the Hilaritas reverse. Keep up the good work!

[@MrYdna1984]

Interesting topic and well-chosen examples of coins. Congratulations :-)!

[@ryaneckhardtgamble7261]

stunning pieces thank you for showing them

[@Orionstar528]

Oh boy, there are so many amazing auctions this month, I don’t know how I’m going to survive it (I love that Apollo tetradrachm so much)
Ps: so happy to have found your channel, keep up the great work !

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thanks Vicente! Thats really kind on your part. Indeed, I´ve already blown my budget for this month! You guys should be seeing it soon :)

[@Orionstar528]

@@ClassicalNumismatics thank you! Looking forward to see your new acquisitions :)

[@wahidboucheneb698]

Always interesting. Thank you.
I think that a video dedicated to how to retrieve a pedrigree should be interesting (I think that since few years some firm propose for example identification services based on database but there is other possibilities...)

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Definitely in the list of videos to be made soon! Im still studying and developing a consistent technique of looking for pedigrees, and once I have it, I need to develop a way of teaching it in simple terms to people who have never done it, so it still requires some studying on my part. But it is coming!

[@camdenventura5144]

I found a coin of Honorius that looks exactly like the one you showed on vcoins XF NGC genuine. That might be my next coin to get.

[@serhijesperanto9710]

А very useful channel. Thanks!

[@nalatehkittycat36]

I’m not sure if you have much expertise in Imperial Chinese coins but I’d love to see a video on them sometime!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I do not unfortunately! Maybe one day if I get the chance of exploring them a bit I might make a video :)

[@wollin20]

Excellent video, as we few, yet very happy few followers are now accustomed to.
May I suggest to further distinguish portraits on ancient coins into some very distinguishable categories, to make a series of videos about this topic ? : deities (archaic, classical, hellenistic, Roman (several), Gaulic and Celtic, etc., profile and face portraits) and true people (first appearances in Lydia, Lycia, etc) and Roman (somehow idealised first, not so idealised and quite realistic then, and the evolution of style through the end of the second century to the end of the Empire).
I am aware this would be a heck of a job, and I sincerely would'nt be able to do a tenth of what you do, so please, consider this for what it is : a mere suggestion !

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I've been considering this for a while now :)
Particularly so on the evolution of Roman portraits throughout the empire.
The main problem with these topics is getting the footage necessary. Dont worry though, it will come one day :)
Thanks for the ideas!

[@davto3456]

Those holes in coins are pitting corrosion ?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Yes. Probably some chemical on the soil that reacted with the surface metal and caused corrosion.
In the case of these coins though, it looks like it has been properly neutralized.

[@davto3456]

@@ClassicalNumismatics this is the only thing distracting me from buying silver :/ i like Gold because its innert

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

This pitting only happens through a certain time period and with particularly harsh chemicals such as fertilizers used on the fields where these coins are found.
You really dont need to be very paranoic with coins, particularly with silver, it is very innert

[@davto3456]

@@ClassicalNumismatics so i must not stress about my silver coins falling apart or any properties loss

[@davto3456]

@@ClassicalNumismatics and is that coin pure silver? Couldnt the pitting be a result of chemical reactions with for example copper impurities in coin? I heard silver doesnt corrode like this, i tought silver only tone on the surface not deep

[@prajjwalgarag8815]

fake news? Is that a political reference? ;-)

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

It may or may not! :P
Politicians and powerful people lying is nothing new in human history