As
a youth, Alexander was taught by Aristotle. Upon the
assassination of his father in 336BC, Alexander became the King of
Macedonia at age 20. His army quickly conquered the Greek states and he
then set off across Asia.
With brilliant military and political tactics he soon
conquered
Egypt,
where he founded the city of Alexandria, and the Persian
Empire.
He
continued conquering all in his path. In 326BC he reached
India. There his army, weary from the endless
fighting,
tropical rains and from being away from home, mutinied, refusing to go
any further. Alexander
was forced to return to Susa, the capital of the former Persian
Empire.
He died three years later, after a prolonged banquet and drinking
binge.
Until his reign, Greek coins did not show mortals. But Alexander sought
to
proclaim himself as a God. On his coins Alexander portrayed
himself
as Hercules, dressed in a lion's skin. The obverse of this tiny (11mm)
scarce Hemidrachm, or half drachm features the head of Alexander
dressed as
Hercules. The reverse shows Zeus seated. This
attractive
silver coin was struck between about 336BC and 310BC, during
his
lifetime or shortly after his deat and is guaranteed to be genuine
and date between about 336 and 310BC.
Modern Greek Coin Set includes
Alexander the
Great portrait
(reduced
size image of card)The story of the Widow's Mite can be found in the Bible in
Mark
12:41-44. For Jesus, the widow's small offering of her only
two
small coins was worth far more than the large contributions of the rich
who gave only a small portion of what they had. The mite,
also
known as the lepton, was the smallest denomination struck in ancient
Judea. It was a crudely made copper coin.
Most display an anchor on one side and a wheel on the other. The coin
was
first struck during the reign of Alexander Janeaus, and continued to be
used
during the time of Christ. The minters were paid by how many pieces
they
produced, not how well they produced them. As a result the
coins
tend
to be poorly struck and are off center, and every coin is
different. The coin comes mounted on a card that describes
its
historical significance.
This
bronze 12 Nummia
coin of Emperor Heraclius was one of the last Byzantine coins minted in
Alexandria, Egypt before it fell to the armies of the newly organized
armies of Islam. Heraclius became Emperor of the (Eastern) Roman
Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, in 610AD, when he overthrew
the unpopular and incompetent Phocas. The empire was torn by
internal dissension and was being attacked by its enemies.
Early
in Heraclius’s reign Damascus, Jerusalem and the Holy Land was lost to
the Sassanid (Persian) Empire. Heraclius stripped the
churches of
Constantinople of their gold to finance an expanded reorganized
military. After years of war he defeated the Sassanians in
628AD
and regained the lost territories. The victory was to be
short-lived however. The nearly constant warring between
Byzantine and Sassanid Empires left them both weakened and
vulnerable. The Arab tribes, united and filled with religious
zeal under the newly established Islamic religion, soon conquered the
weakened Sassanians and defeated the larger but exhausted Byzantine
army. By the time of Heraclius’s death in 641AD Syria and
Jerusalem were lost as well as most of Egypt to the armies of
Islam. Alexandria fell the following year. The coin
pictures Heraclius, and his son, Heraclius Constantine on the
obverse. The reverse has the Alexandria mint name and the
denomination in Greek. 
These 13th
century silver coins of the
Crusaders have something for
everyone. They are Crusader copies of Islamic coins that
feature
a
Star-of-David! The coins were struck by the Crusaders at Tripoli
(Tarablus, Lebanon) from about 1220 to 1240AD. In order to
simplify
trade with neighboring Muslim kingdoms, the Crusaders simply copied the
then widely circulating coins of al-Zahir Ghazi that had been struck in
Aleppo (Halab, Syria). The Crusader versions however used
fictitious
dates and blundered legends. We offer both the silver 1/2
Dirhem
and 1
Dirhem. The 1/2 Dirham is a smaller, though much scarcer, coin. The
coins grade Very Good or better, however they are poorly struck, with
part of the design either off the flan or not
struck-up.
They are
interesting and historic coins from the Holy Land.
James
(Jaime) I, known as
James The Conqueror, was the most renowned
medieval King of Aragon (Spain). He ascended to the throne in
1213 at
the age of five. He was trained and educated by the Knights
Templars.
He was fearless warrior and capable monarch that greatly expanded the
Aragon Kingdom during his 63 year reign.. This base-silver
Denar
was
struck by James in Valencia. The coin features a crude
portrait
of the
monarch.
Jalal
al-Din Mangubarni (Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu,
Jalal-ud-din Mangubirni) achieved almost mythical proportions in his
fight against Ghenghiz Khan.
He assumed
command over the Khwarizm Empire in 1220AD, a kingdom in Afghanistan
and Iran, after the Mongols executed his father. He assembled an Afghan
coalition that decisively defeated the Mongols under Ghenghiz Khan.
However the coalition quickly collapsed in arguments over the division
of the spoils. The Mongols then went after him, forcing him
to
retreat to the Indus River. Tradition has it that though he
was
outnumbered 50 to one, he continued his fierce attacks
against
the Mongols. Eventually the Mongols closed in, and only he
and a
few followers were able to escape across the river into
India.
There he assembled a new army, which was financed by raids on the
treasuries of nearby kingdoms. This base silver Jital was
minted
by Mangubarni, probably in Nandana, while he was in India, between 1221
and 1224AD. In 1224AD he and his army left India.
He gained
control over parts of Iran, and the Mongols resume their pursuit of
him. He was pursued through Iran, Iraq, Georgia and into
Turkey.
In 1231 he was probably by Kurdish bandits who did not know who he
was! Coins of Mangubarni are rare, however we recently
purchased
a group so can offer them at a reasonable price - until we run
out. The coins grade Very Fine, though may have spots.
The Golden
Horde were the successors of
Ghenghiz Khan that ruled much of Russia, Central Asia and Eastern
Europe from the mid-13th century until the early 15th
century.
Following the Black Death in 1346 and internal fighting the horde
declined and disintegrated. Though the Horde may have been
golden, these coins are crudely made, undated, bronze Puls. ANCIENT SILVER PORTRAIT DRACHM FROM INDIA
THE STRANGE MEDIEVAL MONKEY
DIRHAM OF
YEMEN
ANCIENT
AND MEDIEVAL COINS OF AFGHANISTAN
ANCIENT
AND MEDIVAL COINS OF IRAQ
ANCIENT
AND MEDIEVAL COINS OF INDIA and PAKISTAN
MEDIEVAL COINS OF
THE MIDDLE EAST
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CHINESE
COINS
TABLE OF
CONTENTS FOR THE INTERESTING STUFF CATALOG
INDEX OF
COINS AND BANKNOTES IN THE INTERESTING STUFF CATALOGSECURE
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