At a local show, I found a nice coin. This diobol of Teos, c. 320-294. It is identified as a diobol but the dealer did not provide a weight. It is about 10 x 12 mm. It is not in Sear Greek Coins. This dealer and others attribute it as Kinns 95. I read about the history of the town. Not much is recorded. The Catholic Encyclopedia provided the best summary. Nonetheless it is a cute little coin. OBV: Gryphon. THI (Tei = of Teos); ALY (beginning of magistrate's name on REV) REV: Chelys (lyre). THI and ALYPI[ON] name of magistrate. His name appears on other coins like this but from obviously different dies.
I believe this is your coin or one similar from Wildwinds page: Kuenker 97 Teos, Ionia, AR Reduced Rhodian Diobol. Magistrate Dioches, ca 320-294 BC. griffin sitting right, left forepaw raised / THI below, ΔIOYXEΣ (magistrate) to left, lyre or collapsible two-armed anchor. Magistrate var of Imhoof 126A in RSN 1913 (MENTΩΡ); Hunter 8; Pembroke 912M SNG Fitz. 4591 (AΘHNAΓOΡHΣ); Imhoof 126 in RSN 1913 (ΛYΣAN). http://wildwinds.com/coins/greece/ionia/teos/Kuenker_097.jpg
Sweet! Love those little Teos griffins! I might have to grab another one day. This is the one I had a few years ago.
Yes, I did a lot more research that I did not report here. I do have that listing in my records. I did find it humorous, but honest: "collapsible anchor." That coin is not well preserved, so the seller had no idea what the object is. But that's OK...
Thanks! I took a screenshot for my \Teos folder under \Numismatics. Again, more humor. I read DougSmit's post on his coin and added that as soon as I got home from the show. See, they weigh the coin, then try to figure out the weight standard that it fits into Aegina stater, Light Babylonian Shekel, ... whatever... What that leaves out is WHY such a coin would be struck. That's an odd fraction, just being a fraction: why a 3/2 Obol (1.5 Obols) and not just 1 or 2? Often, towns did that to fit with their neighbors: three of mine make two of yours. But is there any evidence of this? Is it on the Ephesian Standard? (Nearest important neighbor). Here's a thought: We know from records that the minter was given a quantity of silver and told issue so many coins from it. He had to make that work out right. Another thing - and something that bothers me about this coin; I almost sent it back as fake - is that no other Teos coin has the ethnic and moneyer on the Obverse. But, I did find several other very different with the name of the magistrate Alypios. Maybe he was re-elected a couple of times or more and sought to differentiate one issue from another as a control for audit. Maybe... Or maybe someone just had these made and funneled them into the numismatic markets like those famously fake Odessa Obols from 2000 that Heritage ended up eating. Just sayin'... There's a lot we don't know.
Nice! At CICF 2014 I picked up an example with a fantastic griffin but pitiful reverse. Per Bill Kalmbach (Nilus; from whom I bought the coin), Victor England (of CNG) had a big bag of them and was walking around selling batches to dealers at the show. I dug through Bill's batch and picked out this one: IONIA, Teos AR diobol (reduced standard), 10 mm, 0.98 gm Obv: seated griffin right, paw raised Rev: lyre, THI, magistrate’s name
I don't think @kaparthy 's coin has a magistrate on the obverse. I believe it is an overstrike, and so poorly struck the original inscription is not flattened. It would be good to know the undertype because this coin is not securely dated. I also have a little coin like this, and it is one of my favorites. Ionia, Teos. 320-294 BC. 1.0g 9.5mm diobol Obv: Griffin standing right Rev: ΔΙΟΥΧΗ[Σ] (Dioches, magistrate); Chelys (a musical instrument) Kinns 96
I found one well centered but with a discolored surface. The all around perfect ones get pricey. @Ed Snible posted one with an amazing Griffin on his favorites of the year page. NOW UNSLABBED:
Ed Snible is correct: my coin is an overstrike. I got the certification back from David Sear the other day. He said: "VF and an interesting mis-strike: this piece has been struck twice, the flan having been turned over for the second striking leaving elements of the original reverse design (THI and A/\Y) on the obverse." If you look closely at the obverse on the original picture, you can see a bit of the tuning peg of the chelys from the reverse just below the T and A and to the right of the A.
