Type 01: Portrait of Eros

 

This motif is more frequent on coins issued before the period of Roman Provincial coinage, e.g. a portrait of Cupid appears on the obverse of Roman Republic denarii of Cn. Egnatius Cn. f. Cn. n. Maxsumus (75 B.C.).

Venus appears on coins issued by C. Julius Caesar and his supporters (the Julians claimed to be descended from the goddess). Here is the obverse of a denarius of Caesar celebrating his Gallic victories, c. 47 B.C., with a tiny Cupid behind the bust of Venus Genetrix.

 


There is a portrait of Cupid on the rare AR sestertii of C. Considius Paetus (46 B.C., two variants shown here, photos courtesy of Andrew McCabe).

Cupid is likewise on Æ from Tyndaris in Sicily (3. cent. B.C.) and Aphrodisias(-Plarasa) in Caria (1. cent. B.C.), and―chubby-cheeked but surprisingly serious-looking―on very scarce Æ coins of Mithradates Eupator from Amisus in Pontus and Sinope in Paphlagonia.

A tiny Æ from Eusebeia (formerly Mazaca, later Caesareia) in Cappadocia, probably issued early in the 1. cent. B.C., has a head of Eros on the obverse and one of his wings on the reverse. 





 
But the most often encountered portraits of Eros are on Æ of the 2. cent. B.C. Seleucid kings Antiochus VII, rev.: headdress of Isis; Alexander II, rev.: anchor; and Antiochus IX, rev.: Nike.

Obverses of coins of Antiochus VII. This was a huge issue, with many different bust types of Eros, ranging from friendly cherubs...

...to wistful teenagers.

 

 

Alexander II (much scarcer).

 

Antiochus IX.

On Roman Provincials, the portrait of Eros is a very rare type, known only from coins of Aphrodisias(-Plarasa) in Caria and Ilistra in Lycaonia. 

 

* Aphrodisias(-Plarasa) in Caria: Tiny coins of the second half of the 1st cent. B.C. issued either in the joint name name of Aphrodisias and Plarasa, or by Aphrodisias alone, with reverse type of a rose or a double-axe. 

Æ 12, 7 h, 2.51 g. Obv. Bust of winged Eros r. Rev. Double-axe.

 

 

Æ 9, 12 h, 0.78 g. Obv. Bust of winged Eros r. Rev. Rose. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Ilistra (Koinon of Lycaonia), Antonine period.

 

Æ 15, 9 h, 2.75 g. Obv. Bust of Eros l. Rev. Bunch of grapes with leaf (from a private collection, photos by permission).










* The bust of Eros also appears on a small silver gem of the Roman period (1.-3. cent. A.D.) (Gorny & Mosch, auction 208, 2652, photo courtesy of Lübke & Wiedemann KG, Stuttgart).

 

 

 

 

 

 

* A lead tessera of the Greek period with a facing head of Eros and an eagle (or cockerel) with branch on the reverse. Eros has a number of distinctive hairstyles, such as a thick central braid running from front to back (as in some of the images abvove), or (as shown here) with his forehead  fringe bunched into  a central topknot.
 

 

 

 

 

 

* A male bust which may represent Eros can be found on the obverse of a crude lead tessera of uncertain date, probably from Rome, with reverse type of Aphrodite half-clothed and wringing out her hair (F. R. Künker, auction 124, 9457; Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Osnabrück, http://www.kuenker.de/, photos courtesy of Lübke & Wiedemann KG, Stuttgart).

CATALOGUE

Aphrodisias(-Plarasa) / Late 1st cent. B.C. (Double-axe)

Reference: MacDonald, The Coinage of Aphrodisias, type 33
Rarity: Scarce

 

Aphrodisias(-Plarasa) / Late 1st cent. B.C. (Rose)

Reference: MacDonald, The Coinage of Aphrodisias, type 36
Rarity: Comparatively common

 

Ilistra / Antonine period 
References: RPC IV, 3, 7245*; Imhoof-Blumer, Kleinasiatische Münzen, 1 
Rarity: RR