Brought my first Greek coin today

I have been researching on ancients since I discovered a Greek coin on my grandpas watchfob. That's another post. Went to a coin show today and met with a very nice man who took time to show me his ancients. After looking at his offerings, I decided on the following.

I purchased a pontos, Amisos AE20 Helmeted Ares, Sword in Sheath with crescent. It has scratches with worn areas but it does have a beautiful patina.

Under $40 purchase. Thoughts?



I'm thinking Greek coinage is where I will focus, for now.

 

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Interesting Amisos , never saw one before, congrats Moekeever.

2 more bronze from Amisos:

 

That's a nice coin @Moekeever

 

That's a beauty. Struck under Mithradates VI Eupator, an amazing personality who would probably be as famous and heroic as the early Caesars if it wasn't for the fact that the Romans wrote a lot of that history. He was a major adversary of early Rome. He also claimed divine right to rule since he was born under the passing of a bright comet. The star/crescent may be associated with that connection.
Attribution: MacDonald 161
Date: 109-105 BC
Obverse: Tripod
Reverse: ΠANTIKAΠ, letters between the rays of a star
Size: 15.23mm
Weight: 3.27 grams
Description: VF. ex Alex Malloy with his un-named auction envelope. Pontic Kings of the Bosporus. Mithradates VI Eupator. Pantikapaion Æ Dichalkon / Star

 

Thanks for the replys. This coin attracted me by its eye appeal. This dealer is from my local area and belongs to my local coin club. It will be nice to interact and learn from him.

 

That is a nice looking coin, good choice!

I love ancient Greek the most even though I do collect Roman and Byzantine too.

John

 

Nice coin Moekeever, the first coin is always the most precious. My first Greek was the Memnon of Rhodes and is now my profile photo. You got to love the shear beauty in ancient coins. There's a Zeus Amisos that I'm aiming for next month.



Lampsacus, Mysia, Memnon of Rhodes, 360 - 340 B.C.

 

Coins of this region often show what you called scratches that were part of the flan preparation smoothing process that did not get erased by striking. They are still faults but IMO not as serious as scratches received from poor cleaning or being dug up by an overzealous metal detectorist. There are several interesting types of coins of Amisos from the time Mithradates VI. Each comes with a variety of monograms which specialists might be able to use to pin down dating more but that are mysteries to me. He was a very interesting person in Greek history that you may wish to research.

 

That a nice choice for a first Greek purchase. As others have already said, Mithradates VI was a fascinating historical character. He struck a variety of types at his mints that would make for an interesting sub-collection, IMHO. You could collect them by types (some of them shown by members upthread) or by cities that issued them.

Here's one that's the same type as the OP, but struck at a different mint.

PONTOS, Chabakta. AE21. Head of Ares/Sword in sheath.

And three from Amisos, but with different types.

PONTOS, Amisos. AE31. Head of Athena/Perseus holding harpa and head of Medusa, standing over her decapitated corpse.


PONTOS, Amisos. AE18. Winged head of Perseus/Cornucopia flanked by pilei.


PONTOS, Amisos. AE21. Bust of Amazon wearing wolf-skin/Nike.

 

A very cool coin! I've only recently been buying Greeks myself, and funnily enough I got this one in the mail just a couple days ago, very similar to yours, and also issued by Mithradates VI:

 

Congrats on your first Greek! And here's to many more, @Moekeever !

Here's my version of the same coin:

Amisos, Pontos, AE20, Struck under Mithradates VI Eupator circa 100-85 BC.
Obverse: Helmeted head of young Ares right.
Reverse: ΑΜΙ−ΣΟΥ across field, sword in sheath with strap, star in crescent at upper left, IB at upper right, ΡΠMK monogram at lower left, no monogram at lower right.
Reference: Malloy 32b, SNG Copenhagen 154 var. (l. monogram)
Size: 19.7mm, 8.25g

 

Nice one. I recently picked up a similar Pontos coin in the same price range. Looks like you received a better deal.

 

Cool addition!

 

A very nice first Greek!

Here's one from a large mixed lot. The colorful patina is appealing.

PONTOS, Amisos
100-85 BCE, time of Mithradates VI
AE 20, 8.55 gm
Obv: helmeted head of Ares right
Rev: sword in sheath; star over crescent in upper left field, monogram below; AMI-ΣOY across fields
Ref: I don't own any of the typically cited references but this seems to be similar to Malloy 31

 

I only have a few from Amissos, but they are from under Mithradates VI the Great:


PONTOS Amisos 85-65 BCE Æ24 12.2g Mithradates VI as Perseus r Phrygian helmet Pegasos grazing l Malloy 33b HGC 7 239


Pontos Amisos Gorgon Aegis-Nike AE21

This is MEDUSA's REVENGE... The HEADLESS PERSEUS!

Pontos Amisos Mithradates VI 109-89 BC AE 28 Athena Perseus Medusa Head Body

 

A nice start! Here's mine from the region:


Pontos, Pharnakeia
Æ19, 8g, 12h; 120-63 BC
Obv.: Laureate head of Zeus right.
Rev.: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, monogram to left, ΦAPNAKEIAΣ below.

 

Mine looks less amphibious and more hootie:

PONTOS, Amisos
AR Heavy Siglos (Drachma)
400 - 350 B.C.
5.66 gms, 17.5 to 20 mm
Obv: Head of Tyche left curreted
Stephanos & hair rolled within
double beaded boarder.
Rev: Owl standing on shield facing
with wings spread. AP-Z / H-Γ
in two lines below owl.
Grade: Nicely struck EF on good
metal. ΠEIΡA in exergue almost
completely off the flan.
Other: Sharp reverse with very clear owl feather details. Ex Pegasi coin from a private sale. SNG.BM. 1056v.

Nice coin in the opening post @Moekeever.

 

Wow, the examples you all have provided are phenomenal. They are exactly the types of ancients that I want to collect. I would like to put a binder together to display my ancients. I'm thinking about providing the history around each coin. Maybe one coin per page. I'm looking for ideas on this.
Thanks

 

@Collect89 has a marvelous binder system, as does @Alegandron. Theirs have several per page.

Former CoinTalker Stevex6 had a one-per-page system. Since he's no longer on the board I'll post those images for him.