This coin has everything that I could want in an ancient coin: it is a well preserved coin from the 2nd century BCE it comes with a story from the death of King Attalus and an dynastic revolt and uprising against Rome by his half-brother there is a connection to a letter from Sulla recognizing the city of issue it comes with a story of an Anatolian uprising, a struggle for libertas in two forms from the cities of Asia Minor and the people of Asia minor (the Citizens of the Sun) it has a fairly specific time issue the coin can be linked with provenance to a very specific hoard first reported by H. Van Aulock it is a plate coin from a 2002 paper by Meadows it is a relatively modest coin in price ($125 hammer price) The lower price feels particularly comforting in the same week in which I learned that a tetradrachm that was one of the most expensive coins I've ever purchased has been declared "NOT GENUINE" by NCG....and sadly it comes from the now defunct auction house of Roma Numismatics (so much for the benefits of dealing with a "reputable" auction house). The letter from Sulla recognizing Strtonikeia from Cousin, Georges, and Charles Diehl. “Sénatus‑Consulte de Lagina de l’an 81 avant notre ère.” Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 9 (1885): 437–474. https://doi.org/10.3406/bch.1885.4085. For the full story see my Notes: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/revolt-of-aristonikos-133-129-bce Post your coins of Caria, Cistophori from Aristonikos (if anyone on CT has one), or anything else that you find interesting or entertaining.
Curious to see the tetradrachm which NGC declared a fake as well, if you can show that. I'm always worried about fakes as well...
Pictures here: with reference to understand how to recognize these fakes: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/2024-top-10-ancients
Deja Vu... What a great Hemidrachm! Lots of clear details, and just a super looking coin. I enjoy coins that do not have a super lot of devices, yet convey a beautiful coin having open fields on it. Unfortunate about the Tetradrachm assessment from the same week. Hopefully this gets resolved to the positive. That experience has happened to me earlier i my collecting experience, and was very frustrating to me. Here are some Caria / Karia coins of mine: Uncert West Asia Minor Karia 5th C BC AR tetartemorion 5mm 0.15g Female - Frprt man-faced bull r Kayhan 968 exc rght Ionia Miletos; probably Mylasa, in Caria, AR Tetartemorion 5.6mm 0.2g Roaring Lion Hd - Bird Klein 430 SNG Kay 941 CARIA, Hydissos 450 BCE AR HemiObol 0.3g 6.7mm Forepart bull - Two foreparts bulls confronting - SNG Aulock 6669 I seem to collect the tiny pocket-change from Caria!
