New Antony and Cleopatra Lover's Coin Found

[Steerpike]

I read the report today that a new coin had been found bearing the likenesses of Antony and Cleopatra, and minted during their lifetimes. I haven't seen any pictures yet, has anyone else? I am curious what they look like and what kind of shape they are in.

This is another coin bearing images of the two:

I find the image of Cleopatra in that coin hard to reconcile with this bust of Cleopatra from life:

Given the bust, it appears she may have been quite fair. The same can't be said of the coin.

 

[Steerpike]

Interesting fact someone pointed out on another board: Cleopatra is closer in time to the moon landing than to the building of the pyramids. Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

 

[Reaver]

It sure does, SP. According to some people, there were Egyptian astronauts

 

[CupofJoe]

I keep forgetting that that her heritage was Macedonian... Both the image in the Bust and on the coins are caricatures to some degree and were probably created by someone that hadn't seen her for very long. Almost definitely in the case of the coin, it would have been taken from a bust and not life.
I saw recently that it is now thought that the Roman and later Egyptian busts were painted or at least enhanced to make them look more lifelike, hair colour, tinted lips, eye shadow etc... What she must have looked like‽

 

[Steerpike]

Yeah, it's an interesting issue. Who knows how long the creators of either various coins or busts saw her. I thought it would be interesting to get a look at the newly-found coins. I haven't seen any evidence that the Ptolemies leading up to Cleopatra intermarried with anyone other than themselves or other Hellenistic families. Coins she issued during her lifetime are probably as good as we'll be able to get.

 

[Jess A]

This is quite interesting.

When I was in Shanghai I went to the museum and spent some hours in the coin section. Looking at the depictions of people was very fascinating.

And your shared comment definitely puts history into perspective. A little like showing modern humans in the greater context of the Earth's history, or the solar system in a vast universe.

 

[Nihal]

Actually I found the coin and the bust quite similar. Yes, the nose bridge changed and the chin is wrong, but her facial structure seems about right, the length of her forehead and how forward it is, the height of her cheekbone.

 

[Steerpike]

Yes it was the nose and chin I was focusing on, since those seem to stick out more. Maybe it is harder to do that correctly with stamped coinage?

 

[Nihal]

I don't know since I've never cast any coins, but I'm guessing it's the medium limitations + not knowing how she really looked like.

Casting in a small scale is usually hard, fine details tend to become a single shapeless blob. Maybe the exaggerated chins we often see in coins are not only due this age aesthetics but to prevent this?

 

[Reaver]

Maybe ol' Marc was into ugly chicks.

 

[Shockley]

As to whether the bust was painted, almost certainly. The ancients had this horrible habit of painting their busts in the least appealing way. Let me just go ahead and ruin the Romans for you with a recreation based on remaining pigment:

As to whether Cleopatra was attractive, let's point out the fact that she was incredibly, incredibly inbred.