I just won a couple Greek coins!

I put some bids in on an auction (mostly low, so I could easily sell them in case I bit off more than I could chew), and I just found out that I won these two:


Tetradrachm imitating that of Allexander III
Temnos Mint (188 - 170 BC)
Obv: head of Herakles right in lionskin headdress.
Rev: ALEXANDROY legend, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and sceptre, E and PA monogram above oinochoe beneath vine tendril in left field.
15.49 grams. Price 1678

I may sell this one to help pay for the one below.




Cherronesos - Lion Hemidrachm (400-350 BC.)
Obv: forepart of lion right, head reverted.
Rev: quadripartite incuse square with two raised and two incuse sections; pentagram in one section and dot-AG monogram in the opposite section.
2.29 grams. Berlin I, 45; SNG Leake 1691-1692.

I fell in love with this one as soon as I saw it. Believe it or not, I have a (observational and literary, only!) fascination with the occult and the paranormal. The pentagram on the reverse spoke to that fascination, so I had to have it if it didn't go for too much. The obverse has a well-detailed, very centered lion, which is also a plus.

Now to go research this issue.

 

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Congratulations on your wins!

 

Well done! Very nicely centered Lion...

 

Love the reverse of the Tet from Temnos. Both are very nice coins. Congratulations.

 

Congrats !! I especially LOVE the hemidrachm...

 

Awesome coins! Alexander tets and Cherronesos hemidrachm are some of the most iconic Greek coin types there are. I love the pentagram on your hemidrachm. Here are mine:

PS: I thought you only collected Asian coins? Are we becoming a bad influence on you?

 

If you want to research the Cherronesos hemidrachms, here are two important sites...

http://bpmurphy.ancients.info/chersonese/Cherronesos.htm

http://rg.ancients.info/lion/cherronesos.html

I had one of the pentagram varieties in my store earlier in the year. They are fairly rare varieties.

 

That Tet looks real familiar, FAC maybe?? Great addition. I picked up 3 coins from that aucion.

 

Thank you @John Anthony

Yup. I had actually been wanting an Alexander tetradrachm for a couple years now, and as I was browsing for one, I saw the artistry in ancient Greek coins that is not available on Chinese coins. So I took a short detour. I have my eye on a couple others that I need to get before I can squash the bug for later.

Timeline Auctions

 

Ok, hard to remember when you browse so many coins were you saw it at.
Still a Nice addition though

 

I am trying to find an example of my variety, and none are forthcoming. It is listed in neither of the websites you posted, and it is not in the CNG archives.

I am guessing this variety is very rare with the pentagram/AΓ monogram. Does that mean that it is worth a premium, or is it similar to a rare but minor variation in the spelling of a Roman reverse?

 

I haven't seen that monogram paired with the pentagram before, but that doesn't mean anything - there are probably a lot of varieties I haven't seen. As far as a premium goes, that depends on the buyer. I had several decent but low offers for my coin which I turned down. A variety collector of these types eventually came along and bought it for $175, no haggling.

 

I have one too and I've seen at least one other for sale recently so I doubt it is truly rare. There is also a forgery with this reverse. Barry Murphy's site has a large listing of the types but it is far from complete and this "dot AΓ ligate" variety is not on his site. Recently Barry posted on CoinTalk that he has a couple dozen more varieties not currently listed on that site, which he no longer updates.

Here's mine:


Thrace, Chersonesos
400-350 BCE
AR hemidrachm, 13mm, 2.3gm
Obv: forepart of a lion right, head reverted
Rev: quadripartite; incuse; dot AΓ (ligate) and pentagram in opposing depressions
Ref: not in references consulted; c.f. Weber 2422 (dot VE ligate)

Edited to add that after three years of searching and questioning, I'm still not 100% certain that my coin is authentic. The reverse is a very close match to one deemed a forgery, although my obverse doesn't match the forgery. I posted this coin to Forvm some time ago and the few people who weighed in though it was okay. Unfortunately, Barry Murphy did not chime in.

 

I went on ACSearch and got a few hits.

For sale in an upcoming auction:

https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=2913&category=59642&lot=2429177

Sold for €360.

https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=2389&category=48173&lot=2029215

Sold for €37.

https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=1752&category=36675&lot=1556066

Didn't sell for €350.

https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=2742&category=57453&lot=2319275


Absolutely no consistency. I guess I'll say that I did okay at £62. It is not rare, but it definitely ain't common. I'll just call it scarce.

 

I've also discovered that there is a scarce variety with a swastika on it. I might have to try and find one and research why a Hindu (?) auspicious symbol should appear on a 350 BC Greek coin.

 

This is an ancient symbol, speakers of the Indo-European language brought it all over the place.

 

I know that the symbol is very ancient. I am just not familiar with the trade pattern in place in 350 BC.

EDIT: I did some reading, and apparently Greece and India knew of each other by 350 BC. That wasn't the case with China.

 

Four links, two coins.

The Rauch coin that sold for 360 EUR (Dec 2015) failed to sell in May 2016 (Fruhwald). It is now for sale in an upcoming Naumann auction (the other link you posted) and the estimate has been lowered to 50 EUR. Interesting. Like some other series with many fakes, these coins make me nervous. Could this one be a fake? The reverse looks a bit suspicious. The reverse quadrants are usually alternating sunken and in relief. This one look more like it just has dividing lines in relief, a feature of some old fakes.

The second individual example you found was from Bertolani, aka ArtCoinsRoma, who disgraced themselves with a forgery-filled auction a couple of years ago. I no longer browse their auctions. That coin also has some worrisome characteristics.

 

Congrats, Type-C ... I like both coins

 

Shows you what I know about these things. Still learning.