The Devil Made Me Do It

Actually, the devel had nothing to do with it. It was you guys. I've seen your personal copies of this coin, and I've wanted one for a while. So, just before I left on my trip, I found this one for sale at a price I could afford. Of course, there had to be something wrong with it. It has a hole. But I think the hole was placed in such a fashion so as not to detract from the devices. Oh, and it's a little porous to boot.


MACEDONIA, Eion
AR Trihemiobol
OBVERSE: Goose standing right, head reverted, lizard downward to left above
REVERSE: Quadripartite incuse square
Struck at Eion, 460-400 BC
0.66g, 11mm
SNG ANS 273-284

Edited notes from John Mixter on December 8, 2006:

This artistically interesting issue with an animal that is not commonly seen on Greek coinage is generally considered to have been issued at the Macedonian seaport town of Eion. Eion occupied a site on the mouth of the river Strymon (modern Struma) and was a place of considerable strategic importance during the Persian invasions of Darius I and Xerxes I and later to the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War. The coinage of Eion is generally regarded as fifth century (circa 510/500-437 BC) and features a bird most often described as a goose. The significance of the goose type presumably makes reference to the scenes from rural life at the time, as with other iconographic themes on coins of other cities in this region. It is said that aquatic birds still frequent the shores and marshlands of Lake Cercinitis at the mouth of the Strymon near where Eion is believed to have once been located. The sophistication of the engraving on these animals is surprising, especially when you consider that the actual die the artist had to work with is less than seven and a half millimeters in diameter, in relation to the overall flan size of nearly twelve millimeters. The other symbol employed on the Eion coinage, a lizard or salamander, might be denominations markers or designed to enrich or modulate the meaning of the coin type itself. One additional aspect is that the Eion mint seems to have made its dies smaller than the intended flans so many examples, particularly those of the later series, have plenty of metal outside the dotted border. The reason for this unusual minting practice is unclear, but nevertheless makes for exceptionally attractive examples. The reverse depicts a small, shallow quadripartite incuse square.

 

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Sweet lookin' Eion goose-coin, big bro (congrats)

Man, I love these sweet ol' incuse squares (I think they are my favourite coin-type)

Ummm, wanna see mine?

 

I knew you had one, and truth be told, you are the devil to which I was referring.

 

Wew...good thing, I thought you were gonna post a Parakrammabahu VI and I would have to take the blame.

 

Wow, we all cost each other quite a bit of money, eh?

Thanks for that historical blurb, Bing. I hadn't read it before.

Steve's doubleduck is so sweet. Do I recall correctly that he bought this coin with the excuse that it was a romantic gesture, demonstrating how much he loves his wife? (whatever works, dude )

I have one of the lizard & goose variety, reticulated and very fragile.


MACEDON, Eion
460-400 BCE
AR trihemiobol; 0.74g, 12mm
Obv: goose standing right, head reverted; lizard above
Rev: quadripartite incuse square
Ref: Cf. SNG ANS 287.

 

For some reason, I can so easily believe it LOL

 

I am a witness. He said it, but at least I didn't believe him.

 

True, Steve is the devil of temptation at times......but so if TIF, Doug, and others.

 

Been to Georgia lately Bing?

 

We have shown these several times before but this time the write up mentioned the spread flan situation which I believe only applies to the later versions of the coin. The older ones (500-460???) are thicker and have a considerably different incuse punch. In fact, there are quite a few different punch styles but most I see sold don't try to narrow the date very much. They are common coins but I guess too small to attract the interest of big students.

 

GOT YA!



oh cool, yeah those are awesome. neat coin bing. as your write up mentions, with the large flan (compared to the stuff on the coin anyway), an offset hole doesn't detract much at all does it.

 

I'm tired and lazy....Doug is much to carry on.....Not that I could have, Failing Fellow.....

 

For the uninitiated: what is interesting/special about these? That is, why did you want one so badly to purchase a porous/holed somewhat-low-grade specimen of a coin? Not being snarky at all, I really want to know what is special about this coin.

 

I cannot comment what he wanted specifically for him, but both animals on this coin are rare on ancient coins.

 

Good point. Mine, for instance, has the rare "Vespasian" punch

 

I was afraid to ask. While asking tough questions, why did Sear not put it in his book?

 

They may not be as showy as some other Greek coins, but the motif is interesting (goose and lizard), it is an archaic era coin, and they tend to be pricey. I'm guessing Bing wanted one yet didn't feel like paying the sometimes ridiculous price for a "problem-free" example. Check out the prices for the current crop of Eions on Vcoins.

 

Well, I was off for the night at the movies, but the others have answered for me very well. In addition to what Med-man and TIF had to say, I'm a budget collector for almost all my coins, so a low grade specimen of any coin is common in my collection.

Besides, does anyone have to have a good reason when buying a coin? I saw one I could afford and the rest is history. I've seen many examples of this coin posted here, I liked them, and I wanted one. It's really as simple as that. My "collection" is made up of all kinds of coins with no apparent collecting theme (to anyone but me). I really do enjoy the coins of the 1st Century AD and before. When I'm looking to buy, that is where I start. I guess I'm rambling, but I can't explain it any better.

I didn't take your question as snarky btw. It's a good, honest question.

 

It is quite an interesting coin, congrats! I always liked it because of the goose looking backwards.
Carradice and Price mention in their book "Coinage in the Greek World" that such a motif was intended for a technical reason, that is: uniformity of the design over the flan.
But I also have a theory. Recently, while visiting a museum which used to be a house to an spanish viceroy in Cordoba (Argentina), I found a grafitti with THIS VERY SAME BACKWARD-LOOKING GOOSE on a wall of one of the slave houses. It was, so they say, a common motif for grafittis among african slaves and it was meant to remind everyone of their origins. The goose is looking to his ancestors and its birth place.
I know, it is too far-fetched to believe it. Different eras, different cultures, etc...but it is the same goose, so it is plausible. Shouldn´t be discarded. Perhaps Eion was making reference to its metropolis Eretria?

 

Bing's answer and rationale seem to reflect my collecting strategy and buying impulse as well...sometimes I'm quite happy with it months later and sometimes I wonder why I didn't wait a bit, put aside additional cash and upgrade a tad.

Budgets can be VERY frustrating when your collecting interests cover so much 'territory' LOL