Alexander the Great Tetradrachms

When Philip II rose to power in 359 BCE, he recognized the importance of coinage. Philip’s coins became very popular throughout the ancient world. His son, Alexander the Great refocused the silver mintage on a tetradrachm based on the Athenian weight standard that could be used throughout Greece. For more than two hundred years, Alexander the Great Tetradrachms would be minted at a prolific rate, sourced from mines in Thrace and Macedonia as well as the new bullion from the Persians.

Primary design elements would remain very consistent. The obverse depicts Herakles (Hercules to the Romans). Herakles was Zeus’ son and was able to attain divine status through 12 labors. This coin represents the first of those labors, the slaying of the Nemean Lion. The reverse shows Zeus wearing a crown.

A single coin represented about four day’s pay for a common laborer, so Alexander also minted bronze coinage for small transactions.
See ----->Alexander the Great's gold distater

Mycenaean Greece: The legendary world of Agamemnon

The Schloss Karlsruhe Museum is hosting the exhibition "Mycenaean Greece: The legendary world of Agamemnon." Over 400 exhibits were loaned from Greece, many of which are shown for the first time outside of the country.

Mycenae Lion Gate

Paris, the son of king of Troy, Priam, kidnapped Helen, incurring the wrath of the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon. The events depicted in Homer's Illiad led to the Trojan War, which took place from circa 1260 to 1180 BC.

Button from the 16th century BC

Gold cup was found by Heinrich Schliemann in one of the shaft graves of Mycenae.

“Eyes of Agamemnon” mask.

Mycenaean Earring

Neolithic stone mask found

A 9,000-year-old stone mask used in ancient rituals aimed at protecting a family’s prosperity has been uncovered by Israeli archaeologists. It is thought that Neolithic masks were used in religious and social ceremonies and in rites of healing and magic.

Treasures of Pompeii

The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town near modern Naples. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Pompeii was burned and buried in ash, while nearby Herculaneum was destroyed by the pyroclastic flow. The area was buried under 4 to 6m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice from the eruption. Pompeii was lost for 1500 years until its rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years later in 1748. Discoveries continue to this day.

The objects that lay beneath the city have been well preserved for thousands of years.

Marble statue with traces of gold-plating from the Temple of Isis, Pompeii.

Helmet of a ‘Thracian’ (Thrax) gladiator. Bronze, from Pompeii.

Mosaic (detail) from Pompeii.

Apollo as an Archer

A gold bracelet bears an inscription. On its inside face are the words 'dominus ancillae suae'– from the master (dominus) to his slave-girl (ancilla).

Egypt cracks 3,000-year-old sarcophagus

Authorities in Egypt cracked open a newly discovered sarcophagus to unveil a more than 3,000-year-old female mummy, still perfectly preserved. The first of the two new mummies holds the remains of a priest who would have been responsible for embalming the pharaohs. The female mummy dates from the time of Tutankhamun and Ramses II

Mummies stacked together at the site of tomb TT2

Carved wooden statues and funerary figurines called “Ushabtis” made of wood, faience and clay.

Aureus with image of Augustus

In 2016 an Israeli woman hiking in the Galilee discovered an impossibly rare gold coin - only the second such coin known. The coin, dating to the year 107 CE, bears the image of the Roman Emperor Augustus, and was unearthed in northern Israel.

On the reverse are symbols of the Roman legions next to the name of the ruler Trajan, and on the obverse – instead of an image of the emperor Trajan, as was usually the case, there is the portrait of the emperor “Augustus Deified”. The coin is part of a series of coins minted by Trajan in tribute to the emperors that preceded him. The only other example known is in the British Museum.

Trajan's Column with a statue of St. Peter installed on top in Rome.

Trajan lead the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death.

Historical sources say Roman soldiers were paid a high salary of three gold coins, the equivalent of 75 silver coins, each month. Due to their high monetary value, soldiers were unable to buy goods in the market as the merchants couldn't provide change. Bronze and silver coins of Trajan are common, but his gold coins are extremely rare. Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 AD until his death in 117 AD. Officially declared by the Senate optimus princeps (the best ruler), Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history.

Trajan's Uniformed Army, frieze on Trajan's Column

Staffordshire Hoard Roman helmet recreated

Many of the fragments found in the famous Staffordshire Hoard come from the high-status helmet and experts have painstakingly spent the last 18 months reconstructing it for display. Thousands of 1,300 years old fragments were studied in a bid to build a picture of the original helmet.

He unearthed the £3.2 million ancient gold and silver haul in the summer of 2009.

It was almost a decade ago when one man and his metal detector uncovered the world's largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork. Terry Herbert struck the treasure of several lifetimes near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield.