Marcus Licinius Crassus

In 53 BC, the richest man in Rome led an army of around 40,000 men into the desert to conquer Parthia. Within days, most of them were dead or captured, his son's head was on a spear, and a legend would later claim the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat. Eager for glory, Crassus ignored advice many times before the battle of Carrhae. His invading force of seven legions of Roman heavy infantry was lured into the desert. Waiting near the town of Carrhae was Surena, a young Parthian noble who showed up with a force of around 10,000 mounted archers and about 1,000 cataphracts, heavy cavalry. He also brought something Crassus never imagined. A camel train loaded with arrows. The Romans formed a giant square, locked shields and waited for the enemy to run out of arrows. They didn't. Every time the archers emptied their quivers, they rode back to the camels to reload and came back full. Men were pinned to the ground through their feet. Hands were nailed to shields. Crassus sent his son Publius with cavalry and infantry to break out. The Parthians fled. Publius chased a feigned retreat. Once he was far enough from the main army, the Parthians turned and surrounded him. The Parthians rode back past the Roman square with Publius's head on a spear.

That night the army abandoned around 4,000 wounded men and slipped away to Carrhae. The Parthians killed the wounded the next morning. Surena offered to talk. Crassus didn't trust him, but his exhausted soldiers threatened him until he agreed to go.

At the meeting, a fight broke out and Crassus was killed. Around 20,000 Romans died and another 10,000 were taken prisoner. Plutarch says Crassus's head was used as a prop in a performance of a Greek tragedy at the Parthian court. The molten gold poured down his throat story comes later, from Cassius Dio, and he reports it as something that was said. It stuck. The only coins attributed to Marcus Licinius Crassus are Syrian tetradrachms, and some Syrian bronzes dated to the 12th and 13th years of the Pompeian era.

Marcus Aurelius bronze portrait

A magnificent bronze portrait of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161–180), discovered in 1974 at the Roman auxiliary fort of Lugio (modern Dunaszekcső), on the Danube frontier in Hungary. Dated to AD 161–169, the head is about one and a half times life-size. It ranks among the finest surviving bronze portraits from Roman Pannonia. Cast using the lost-wax technique, probably in a workshop in Italy or the eastern provinces, the portrait depicts the emperor in his forties. The head was found in a small brick building, possibly a military shrine, and originally belonged to a larger imperial statue.This gold aureus was struck in Rome around 177. It sold for $25,200 in 2023.

Louis the Pious counterfeit solidus valuable

This counterfeit solidus of Louis the Pious (814–840), was discovered in Norfolk in 2024. The imitation was based on a very rare original coin minted by Louis the Pious in about 816. A similar fake coin sold for £36,000 ($48,627) in 2024. 22 imitation solidi have been found in the U.K. Probably minted by Vikings, the fakes chart the route of the Viking Great Army.

The Vikings traversed rivers and Roman-era roads to cross England as they gained control of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria by 880. Louis the Pious succeeded his father, Charlemagne, as sole Holy Roman emperor in 814.

Extremely rare, a genuine high grade example sold for 120,000 euros, or about $141,495, in a 2025 auction. It is the best of the four known. Norfolk was the northern half of East Anglia, a kingdom ruled by the Anglo-Saxon Wulfing or “wolf clan” dynasty. The 'heathen force' of Vikings attacked Norfolk in 865. Edmund, the final king of East Anglia, was killed by the Vikings in 869.

The St Albans Hoard

In October 2012, a novice treasure hunter who bought a basic metal detector returned to the shop in Hertfordshire weeks later, clutching part of England's finest ever hoard of late Roman gold coins. Wesley Carrington took his new metal detector out into a field near St. Albans and struck ancient gold. He showed stunned staff at the store 40 gold solidi, before asking: 'What do I do with this?' They contacted local experts and together got the permits they needed, headed back to the scene and found another 119 coins. The find of such a large hoard of solidi is very rare, as the coins were not in regular circulation due to their extremely high value.

The man had bought a Garrett Ace 150, retailing at around £135 and described as "the ideal metal detector for parent-child expeditions or for adults interested in exploring a potential hobby". After finding an old spoon and then a half penny, Carrington's machine beeped again. He dug seven inches down to uncover a gold coin with a Roman figure on it. Others followed.

The hoard is a nationally significant find. The coins are a rare example of the solidus, dating from the last days of Roman rule in Britain. The last consignments of them reached UK shores in 408 AD. St Albans was the site of the Roman town of Verulamium.

The coins were bought by the local council for £98,500 in 2015 and are now on display at the Verulamium Museum.

As rich as Croesus

The phrase "rich as Croesus" is a famous idiom that describes someone who is extremely wealthy. It refers to the legendary King Croesus of Lydia, who was known for his immense wealth and extravagant lifestyle. His wealth came from the River Pactolus in which the King Midas washed his hands to rid himself of the 'Midas Touch'. Croesus is credited with issuing the first true gold and silver coins with a standardized purity for general circulation.

Lydia was a hugely rich and powerful state when Kroisos became king about 561 BCE. According to Herodotus, Kroisos donated 4.5 tons of gold for construction of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The Latin form of Kroisos’ name is used today. Kroisos inherited a coinage system based upon the use of electrum. The most common examples of early Lydian coins are electrum trites (one-third staters) that weigh about 4.7 grams. The electrum coins were first struck during the reign of Kroisos’ father, Alyattes (c. 618 – 561 BCE). Kroisos continued to strike them during the early years of his own reign.

Kroisos launched his own coinage about 550 BCE by minting nearly pure gold staters and nearly pure silver staters, each weighing around 10.7 grams. The Prototype stater is extremely rare, with about a dozen known. The example shown sold for $150k against a $50k estimate in January 2012.

Kroisos struck gold coins under two different weight standards after the Prototype issue. His first series were “Heavy Standard” weighing about 10.7 g. Kroisos replaced the Heavy Standard gold coins with a series of Light Standard gold coins, based upon a weight of 8.05 g. Silver equivalents are known for each denomination of Kroisos’ gold coinage.

Scholars argue that the gold standard of Croesus was introduced in stages, designed to recall the circulating electrum staters. Once a sufficient number had been recalled, the new light stater appeared. Though the light stater was produced for a longer period than the heavy stater, the light stater is actually the rarer coin. This NGC Gem MS light stater sold in April 2018 for $180k.

See ------ Alyattes of Lydia

Gold Treasure of Nagyszentmiklos

The Gold Treasure of Nagyszentmiklos is the largest known hoard of early medieval gold vessels. The Treasure of Nagyszentmiklos was discovered accidentally in the Banat region of the Habsburg Empire in 1799. Its total weight is about 10 kg.

Remarkable for its quality and precision of craftsmanship, studies over the last few decades have revealed that the treasure was gathered over a long period of time, from the late 7th to the late 8th century AD, and seem to confirm its links to the Avar culture.

Decline of Roman coinage

The decline of Roman coinage was driven by currency debasement.

Emperors progressively reduced the precious metal content in coins and this brought severe inflation and the erosion of trust as people recognized the lower intrinsic value of the coin. This weakened the entire Roman economic order. The debasement of coinage was a major contributor to Rome's decline and fall. For the first 90 years of the Roman Empire the purity of Rome’s silver coinage was 98% or higher. That standard was kept by emperors Augustus, Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41) and Claudius (41-54), and the first decade of Nero's reign (54-68). The Great Fire of Rome in 64 marked the start of a debasement that brought Rome’s silver coinage to unfathomable depths.

Nero took the easiest path to raising cash – re-coining old money. Nero's reformed coinage was created by recycling older, purer silver, with Republican denarii targeted for reminting. Nero reduced the weight of the silver denarius from 1/84th of a Roman pound to 1/96th, lowering its silver content from 98% to 93%.

A pre-reform denarius of Nero, about 98% pure silver.

At the same time the weight of the denarius fell 12.5%, further reducing silver content. Nero reduced the weight of aurei from 7.8 g to 7.3 g. Post-reform denarius of Nero, about 93% silver.

Nero was overthrown in 68, giving rise to the Year of Four Emperors in 69. Vespasian (69-79), reduced the purity of the denarius to about 90%.

In 107 Trajan (98-117) reduced the purity of the denarius to 88%. From there the purity slid until 148, when Antoninus Pius (138-161) removed 5%. The denarius was now about 84% or 83% pure. The denarius reached about 71% purity near the end of the reign of Commodus (177-192) The aureus was now 7.15 to 7.30 gm.

Under Septimius Severus (193-211) the purity of the denarius dropped to about 57%. Over the next four decades, the purity of imperial silver coinage continued to slide, dropping steadily until it had reached about 41% purity under Trajan Decius (249-251). Under Trebonianus Gallus (251-253) and Aemilian (253), it sank to about 35% pure. By 268, the double-denarius had slid to a silver content of 5% or less – in some cases dropping to about 2.5%. The "silver" coin was effectively copper with a thin, easily worn-off plating.

Roman military victories on coins

Rome’s territorial expansion was synonymous with military conquest. Coins served as both the messenger and message in ancient Rome. The first Roman coins explicitly glorifying conquest were a novelty for the time. AEGVPTO CAPTA (Egypt Captured) was a series of coins struck in 28-27 BCE by Octavian. The Nile crocodile was a symbol of ancient Egypt.

The dupondius of Nimes continued to be struck for several decades, from 29 BCE up to 10 CE. The obverse portrays Augustus and Marcus Agrippa. The reverse is a crocodile chained to a palm tree.

The dupondius was a low value copper coin, used in everyday transactions.

DACIA CAPTA (Dacia Captured). Under Trajan, the Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent. Trajan’s campaign over the Danube brought Rome both new territory and the gold mines of Dacia. The conquest of rich Dacia (101-102 and 105-106 CE) was the last major territorial addition of the Empire.

Parthia Capta. Rome fought many wars against the Parthian Empire but had few triumps. One of the few Roman leaders to humiliate the East was Emperor Trajan. His 115-117 CE campaign was celebrated with PARTHIA CAPTA (Parthia Conquered) coinage.

The Armenia Capta gold aureus of Lucius Verus, issued in A.D. 163 in Rome made 14,000 Swiss francs ($13,963 U.S.) in 2019 against an estimate of 7,500 francs. In 163, the Roman general Marcus Statius Priscus invaded Armenia and captured the capital Artaxata. The second coin was issued in Rome, sometime in early 218. It features a bust of Macrinus on the obverse, and the reverse shows Victory seated. The reverse proclaims a victory over the Parthians, which is ironic, since Macrinus agreed to a humiliating peace treaty. 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,946 U.S.) against an estimate of 5,000 francs.

Treasure at Bulgaria’s Kaliakra Fortress

Researchers working at the site of the Kaliakra Fortress on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast in 2018 found a small clay pot containing close to 1000 objects, including silver and gold coins and jewellery. The items in the clay pot included 873 silver and 28 gold coins, 11 appliqués and buckles, 28 silver and bronze buttons, 11 gold earrings, two rings, one of them gold, and four beads made of precious stones and gold. The discovery was beneath the floor of a room that was burnt in the 14th century.

Kaliakra is a long and narrow headland in the Southern Dobruja region of the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Ottoman coins make up about 60 per cent of the hoard. They are from the time of Sultan Bayazid Yildirum (1389-1402), and his predecessor, Murad I.

This is the third treasure to be found at the site, following two finds in earlier years, one of 60 coins, and another of 80 coins. In 2014, three gold coins, dating from the Nicene dynasty in the 13th century were found.

Trajan’s Column on coins

This Roman gold aureus depicting Trajan’s Column (dates to 112-114) is one of the most famous and sought-after coins of the ancient Roman Empire. It is exceedingly rare with only two examples known. One is on display in the Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History in Lausanne, Switzerland and the other is in the British Museum.