Recent Articles by this Author
First Read: 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, Third Edition
Review by Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
With nearly six decades of experience in the business, Chicago coin dealer Harlan J. Berk is a well...
Coins of Justinian the Great
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
THE COURTROOM OF the United States Supreme Court is adorned with marble relief panels depicting great lawgivers of history....
Jesus Christ on Ancient Coins
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
As with politicians, nothing is more important to gods than image ... Perhaps this is the secret...
Griffins on Ancient Coins
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
But in the north of Europe there is by far the most gold. In this matter again I cannot...
The House of Valentinian: CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
THE ROMAN EMPEROR Jovian was found dead at the age of 33 on February 17, 364 CE--apparently suffocated by...
Not Just a Pretty Face: 10 Beautiful Women on Ancient Coins
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
Beauty is truth, truth beauty, —that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
— John Keats,...
Breakaway Empire: Coins of the Gallic Emperors
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
FOR FOURTEEN YEARS during the late third century (260 - 274 CE), the western provinces of the Roman Empire...
Coins of Justinian II: The Emperor Who Lost His Nose
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
Constantine IV was barely seventeen when his wife Anastasia had given birth to their son. It was a mistake...
Dates on Ancient Coins
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
“Why put a date on a coin?” Most suggest that the mint used a date to monitor...
Juno on Ancient Coins – Roman Queen of the Gods
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
FOR ANCIENT ROMANS, Juno (Iuno in Latin) was the queen of the gods, sister and wife of...
Hera on Ancient Coins – Queen of the Gods
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
HERA WAS REVERED as a protector by many Greek cities, and subsequently they tried to represent her...
Satraps: Ancient Coins of the Persian Governors
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE of Persia founded by Cyrus the Great (ruled 559-530 BCE) was eventually conquered (330...
Shadow Emperors: Coins of the Fall of Rome
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
THE ROMAN EMPIRE in the West died not with a bang, but with a whimper. A series...
Oh, You Kid: Goats on Ancient Coins
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
GOATS WERE FIRST domesticated as long as 11,000 years ago, probably in the Zagros Mountains of Iran...
The Ancient Coins of Pompey the Great
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
There was something of Jekyll and Hyde in Pompey. One side, the bright side, shows him as...
Good Dad, Bad Son: Disappointing Heirs of Great Rulers
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
HISTORY IS LITTERED with great and wise rulers who fathered heirs who were monsters or idiots: sons...
Born Into the Purple: The Coinage of Constantine VII
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series by Mike Markowitz .....
His constitution was sickly and he was indeed invalid throughout his life. His father’s birth was doubtful;...
Bulgar Slayer: The Coinage of Basil II
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
No lonelier man ever occupied the Byzantine throne - or any other, for that matter. Basil was ugly, dirty,...
The Coins of Carthage During Hannibal’s War With Rome
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
BORN IN 247 BCE at Carthage (near modern Tunis in North Africa), Hannibal Barca is remembered as one of...
Coins of the Medieval Ottoman Sultans of Turkey
By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek .....
AT THE BEGINNING of the 14th century (c. 1300 CE), Anatolia (modern Türkiye) was a patchwork of “beyliks”, small,...