The Eagle and Ancient Coins (600 BC - 500 AD)

 

The modern English term ''Eagle'', for the bird is derived from Latin: aquila by way of French: aigle. The origin of aquila is unknown, but it is believed to possibly derive from aquilis (meaning dark-coloured, swarthy or blackish).

                                           

The Shekel of Tyre coin with an Eagle on reverse, 126/5 BC- 65/6 AD

 

Old English used the term ''earn'', related to Scandinavian's ''orn''. It is similar to other Indo-European terms for ''eagle''. including Greek: opvic, Russian: ''orel'' and welsh ''eryr''. In Finland, is a town of Kotka, which literally means ''eagle'' while in Italy is the town of LÁqila, which means the ''eagle''.

In ancient Hindu mythology, Garuda, or an eagle and the Vahana of Lord Vishnu is depicted with an eagle's beak and wings.                                          

Garuda, the Vahana of Lord Vishnu, depicted with an eagle's beak and wings

In Sumerian mythology, the mythical king Etana was saoid to have been carried into heaven by an eagle. The eagle is the patron of the ancient Greek God Zeus. Zeus is said to have taken the form of an eagle to abduct Ganymede. Psalm 103 mentions renewing one's youth ''as an eagle''. Symbolic meaning for ''eagle'' include the pronouncements to the Israelites in Exodus 19:4 Psalms 103:5 and Isaiah 40:31.

                                           

The Abduction of Ganymede (1650) by Eustache Le Sueur

An eagle is considered the ''King of Birds''. The eagles have large hooked beaks, strong muscular legs and powerful talons. Their eyes are extremely powerful, more than two times larger than the human eye, having a visual acuity up to 8 times that of humans. they have extremely large pupils which ensure minimal diffraction of the incoming light. Golden and crowned eagles have killed ungulates weighing up to 30 Kg (66 lb.) and a martial eagle up to 37 kg (82 lb.), 7-8 times heavier than the preying eagle

                                               

               Snake Eagle
 

Eagles are informally divided into four groups. The snake eagles, the fish eagles (both having a large part of their diet, as their names suggest), the Booted eagles, that have feathered legs and the Harpy eagles or the ''giant forest eagles''. 

                                           

              The mighty Eagle

The earliest appearance of an eagle on coins dating back from about 600 BC, an electrum hekte in Ionia, on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea.

                                         

Ionia, Phokaia, 525 BC, Hekte, Electrum, weight 2.5 gm, Obverse : Head of eagle to left , Reverse has an irregular square.

 

A century later, an eagle appears on an electrum stater, possibly from Abydos (near Turkey) 

                                             

Troas, Abydos, late 6th century BC, Stater, electrum, weight 14.1 gm, Obverse has an Eagle standing left, head right, to left dolphin downwards, Reverse has incuse square bisected by a thick line.

A flying eagle is seen on silver nomos issued around 500 BC on a coin issued by the city of Kroton, in Italy. The eagle is an incuse design on the coin.

                                              

Bruttium, Kroton, 480-430 BC, AR Nomos, weight 7.8 gm, Obverse has a tripod with legs terminating in lion's feeet, Reverse has incuse eagle flying left

The eagle is seen on numerous Greek coins. The site of Olympia, where the Olympic games were held every four years starting from 776 BC, issued Elis Olympic stater which often had an eagle, the companion of Zeus.

                                             

State of Olympia with Zeus and Eagle, 276-260 BC.
  

In around 400 BC, Akragas, on the southern coast of Sicily issued a silver Decadrachm. This coin shows the sun god Helios driving his chariot across the sky as an eagle soars above.

                                            

Akragas, Decadrachm Olympic victory, 413 - 406 BC

Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Achaemenid Empire and captured a vast store of the precious metal silver and gold, about 6000 tons, that was stored and preserved for centuries. He ordered this metal to be struck into coins in circulation that lasted for about three centuries in what is known as the Hellenistic era. On the reverse of his famous silver tetradrachm, Alexander placed an image of Zeus enthroned, an eagle perched on his extended right hand. 

                                           

Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander, silver, Decadrachm, 336-323 BC, silver, weight 41.3 gm, lifetime issue, Obverse has Head of Herakles to right wearing lion's skin headdress, Reverse has Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter, below throne monogram M below, in left field bee.  

   

Perseus was the last king of Macedon. The involvement of Rome led to repeated wars. In the war around 168 BC, led to Perseus living the rest of his life as a guest of the Roman Republic. A silver tetradrachm issued for the coronation of Perseus around 179 BC, bears the portrait of the king. On the reverse, an eagle grasps a thunderbolt in his talons, surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves and acorns.

                                             

Macedonian Kingdom, Perseus, 179-168 BC, AR tetradrachm, weight 15.7 gm, Obverse has a Diademed head of Perseus to right, Reverse has eagle with spread wings standing right on thunderbolt, above monogram MA, to right monogram AY, between legs, Mamroth, Perseus

In the Roman Republic, around 210 BC, during the war against Hannibal, a series of gold coins were issued where on the reverse an eagle clutching a thunderbolt appears. These are however very rare as only.                                           

Coin depicting the bearded head of Mars, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet and on the reverse an eagle standing on a thunderbolt.

  

Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty was, the most famous woman of ancient history. One of the rarest coins of her was a silver tetradrachm struck in her honour in the city of Askalon (today Ashkelon, Israel)  around 41 BC. A standing eagle was common on Ptolemaic coins.

                                          

Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, 51 - 30 BC, bronze, diobol, weight 19.9 gm, Obverse has Diademed bust of  Cleopatra right with melon coif hairstyle and Reverse has eagle standing left on thunderbolt, head left, wings closed, cornucopia left.

                       

Cleopatra VII, Egypt, 50-30 BC, Tetradrachm, weight 13.7 gm, Obverse has diademed head of Ptolemy I, right, Reverse has eagle standing left on thunderbolt, headdress of Isis to left, year 15 or 37/36 BC.

   

The silver shekel, famous in the city of Tyre (now Sur in Lebanon) had issued coins that were the only coins accepted by the Temple of Jerusalem for payment of the annual tax required of all the Jews. These bore the image of a pagan god Melqarth, and a living creature, the eagle.

                                            

Phoenicia, Tyre, AR Shekel, 126/5BC - 65/6 AD, weight 14.2 gm, dated CY24 (103/2 BC), Obverse has Laureate bust of Melkart right, Reverse has eagle standing left on prow, palm over right wing, to left DK date above club, monogram to right, Phoenician B between legs.

In the Roman legion, losing an eagle in battle was a disgrace. The eagle was carried on a pole in battle. To retrieve an eagle captured by the enemies, a veteran soldier called the ''aquifer'' (eagle bearer) carried the standard. He wore a lion's pelt draped over his helmet indicating his special status. Legionary eagles and lesser small unit standards called signa appear frequently on Roman coins, common on the denarii of Mark Antony and Septimius Severus, struck around 190 AD.

                                                

Septimius Severus, AR Tetradrachm, 205-211 AD, Antioch mint, weight 14.0 gm, Obverse has Laureate bust right and Reverse has Eagle seen from front, spread wings and head right, standing on the leg and thigh of a sacrificial animal

                                           

Mark Antony, Legionary Denarius, Leg XI, Autumn 32- spring 31 BC, weight 3.6 gm,  Obverse has praetorian galley to right, Reverse has Aquila between two signa, LEG XI across fields,

During the Gupta Empire in India, around 380 to 400 AD, Garuda was frequently depicted on the coins as also on Kumara Gupta coins around 450 AD.

                                              

Gupta Empire, Chandragupta II, 380-414 AD, Dinar, Archer type, gold, weight 8.2 gm, Obverse has nimbate king with long hair standing left, bare chested with necklace holding bow right and arrow left, legend candra below arm, Garuda standard left,  Reverse has goddess Lakshmi seated facing on a lotus, holding a garland and a long stemmed lotus, sri vikrama right, small tamgha in upper field

                                            

Gupta Empire, silver drachm of Kumara Gupta, 415-450 AD, Western India type, weight 1.9 gm, Obverse has profile bust of king to right, Reverse has Garuda emblem in centre, dotted sun to right, Brahmi legend Parama Bhagvata Maharajadhiraja Shri Kumara Gupta Mahendraditya around.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, most of Italy was ruled by the Ostrogoths from their capital at Ravenna. A mint located there continued to strike coins that had eagles appearing on them around 500 AD.   

                                             

Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy, Theodoric I, 493-518 AD, Rome mint, copper, weight 2.5 gm, Obverse has draped and crowned bust right of Ravenna, Reverse has Eagle between two stars 

        

Eagle on Ancient Coins

References

Rosen, Jonathan, Archaic Coins, 

Kraay, Colin, Archaic and Classical Greek Coins

Francisco John, Pythagoras and incuse coins.

Berk, Harlan, 100 greatest ancient coins.