Went to the Great American Coin and Collectibles Show at Rosemont, Chicago. It was not as busy as the April Convention; many empty tables. However it was a great pleasure to meet again Perry Siegel from Herakles Numismatics from whom I bought some coins. These two are some I bought from Perry: AR Didrachm Kyrenaica, Kyrene, ca. 294 -275 BC. Struck under the authority of Magas. According to numismatics.org 282 – 261 BC. 22 mm, 7.63 g, 12h BMC (Greek coins, Cyrenaica, p. 47), 238 (Obverse), 240 (Reverse) and Pl. XXII:1; Type II representation of Silphium plant from Robinson, The Celator, Vol. 14, No. 10, October 2000 p. 12; SNG Copenhagen 1238 corr. (monogram); Müller 156 Ob.: Head of Apollo Karneios to l. (the flip it came with says Zeus Karneios but I think it is Apollo) Rev.: Silphion plant; monogram at upper left; star at upper right. and this one which has corrosion, but it feels so good and heavy in hand Former Frank Capra collection. Collector's ticket included. Æ Drachma Sicily, Syracuse, ca. 380 BC. Time of Dionysos I (405-367 BC) 33 mm, 34.50 g CNS II (Calciati II, p. 111), 62, HGC 2, 1436; SNG ANS 455; SNG Lloyd 1452; Boehringer, Finanzpolitik, pl. 39, 44; SNG Morcom 697; Sear 1189 (Timoleon); SNG Copenhagen 720. Ob.: Σ(YP)A Head of Athena to l., wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with olive wreath and neck guard. Linear border. Rev.: Eight-pointed sea star between two dolphins. Linear border. Pictures courtesy Herakles Numismatics.
Both are cool, but that didrachm with the nice portrait and the silphion plant is what jumped off the screen for me. Nice pickups!
Also bought this one from Perry: AR Drachm Thessaly, Larissa, ca. 365 – 356 BC 20.4 x 18 mm, 6.10 g; HGC-4, 452; BCD Thessaly II-312; Lorber, Beginning, Series 6, Head Type 10 but I'm not sure about the Lorber attribution. Can someone say if it's right? Ob.: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly to l., wearing ampyx, pendant earring and linear necklace. Rev.: Horse standing to r., preparing to lie down; ΣΑΙΩΝ / ΛΑΡΙ above and below. It was not on the website, pictures are mine Please share your coins or anything relevant
Excellent DiDrachm @cmezner ! Great find. Perry always has great inventory. When I lived in NC, I saw Perry at several shows there. here is one of several I captured from him: RR Faustus Cornelius Sulla 56 BCE AR Denarius, obv Venus rev Signet ring of Pompey - his Triumphs from 3 continents! Sear 386 Crawford 426/3
Here is anothern from Perry… I remember he offered it for $10 above a high round number, he refused to budge off that price with the extra $10 dangling off it. I laughed and acquiesced. Yeah, I still think it was a good “investment”. RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius -Quadrigatus - Didrachm (10 As) 225-215 BCE Incuse Roma Janus Jupiter in Quadriga Craw 28-3 Sear 31
An awesome Sulla denarius. Thank you so much for sharing, I hadn't seen it before. Now it's on my wish list
I bought one of this issues from HJB in 2024: 24 mm, 6.489 g Rome, 225-212 BC Crawford-28/3; BMCRR Romano-Campanian 78-99; RSC 23; Sydenham 64; RBW 65–66; Historia Numorum (HN) Italy 334; Pictures courtesy HJB. Ob.: Laureate youthful janiform head. Border of dots. Rev.: Jupiter, holding scepter and preparing to throw thunderbolt, in quadriga driven by Victoria; ROMA incuse on tablet below. Linear border
@cmezner Very nice style Kyrene didrachm! Your coin has the obverse of BMC 238 (XXII:1) but the reverse is not in the catalog. The easiest way to identify this reverse is the upper right axillary umbel touches a ray of the star and is shorter than the upper left axillary umbel. Also, KY on the left is a little higher than PA on the right. You can see the BMC Cyrenaica plates at: A Catalog Of The Greek Coins In The British Museum (Cyrenaica) [vol. 29] : Reginald Stuart Poole; et al. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Over the past few years there have been other coins auctioned with the same reverse: You can find them at: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7451513 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8534846 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3348253 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=8626441 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2658548 including 3 that are with the obverse of BMC 240: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=12546301 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7451513 https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=266582 So, this reverse shows the obverses of BMC 238 and 240 are die-linked. The monogram has the letters ΣΩΙ, for Sosis, a person who's name was also on gold, other silver denominations and a bronze coin. Here is mine with the same obverse: Kyrene AR didrachm 7.6 g, 23 x 21 mm, 6h 300-295 BC O: head Apollo Karneius left R: silphium plant, type IIIa; 8-point star upper right, SOI monogram upper left, KY-PA lower left & right BMC 238b (XXII:3) I always enjoy visiting with Perry at shows. He has good inventory and I have gotten many coins from him over the years.
@Silphium Addict: Thank you so very much for sharing all this detailed and precise information. It is really helpful. Will correct the attribution of the coin in my first post.
