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ANTIGONOS GONATAS, King of Macedonia
AE 19
OBVERSE: Head of Athena right in crested Corinthian helmet
REVERSE: BA above, ANTI monogram below, Pan advancing right, erecting trophy
Struck at Macedonia, 277-239 BC
4.58g, 19mm
Lindgren III, 105, Sear #6786 (var)
Countermarked on obverse

PAMPHYLIA SIDE
Æ16
OBVERSE: Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet, winged thunder bolt countermark
REVERSE: SIDHTWN, Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate to left
Struck at Side, 2d-1st Century BC
2.72g, 16mm
SNG Cop 408, BMC 66

 

Somethings not right here, since "Luy" is not Aramaic for Ba'al.


I can see that there is an inscription by the bull in the handstamp, but it is too small for me to read the characters. Could you give us a much larger blowup of that feature so I can make it out? As for the Luy reference, when I see an L--Y consonantal formation in conjunction with a Semitic divine name, it usually parses out to one of the forms for "mighty" or "Most high" as in the Hebrew expression El Elyon. But it is almost always attributive. So before I say more I'd like to see what you are looking at that is being read as "Luy."

 

Another coin with a less clear strike of that c/m

https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=207517
Read bottom to top at obverse right, this is supposed to say Baal Tars. The Baal part is the same as I see it.

 

The characters in the handstamp are not true Aramaic, but are Punic variants on Phoenician letter forms, and read, from right to left (in good Semitic style), beth-ayin-lamedh = b'l The Beth in this case is open at the top, but in good Aramaic is closed.

That element is where you noted on the Tarsos Cilician stater. There it is followed by tsade-resh-zayin = (ts)rz. Here again, the resh is open at the top, but in Aramaic is closed. Based on this spelling and the availability of alternatives, they do not appear to have pronounced the city name quite as we do.

Unfortunately I cannot reproduce the ancient letters from my laptop keyboard, but when approximating what they are writing it is best to go with their phonetic equivalents in Semitic order rather than the graphic appearance of the forms. In other words, by "Luy" (in English letters, left to right) you meant b'l (in Semitic letters, right to left).

 

I am curious if CoinTalkers consider this coin overstruck or countermarked? Unlike other countermarked issues a pair of dies were used. However the dies were very tiny compared to the host.


TROAS, Alexandria Troas, AE16 3.96g 261-246 BC
Obv: Bear head right
Rev: ?LE?A? horse

Countermarked or overstruck with obv: 7mm helmet within circle of dots and rev: gorgoneion

Host coin looks like CNG e-95, lot 40, of Alexandria Troas. SNG AUL 1460, Lindgren and Kovacs 322v, 261-246 BC

In this state it reeminds me of CNG 61, lot 264.

 

Mexican countermark, The Zorro 2: Strikes back

 

It was right in front of me the whole time! Thanks!

 

Interesting question! Are those two marks always known as a pair, one obverse and one reverse? In other words, it is certain that they were applied at the same time? If so, I vote for the term "overstruck".

 

I have no idea what that is but it's cool!

 

Looks like it was struck on struck to me

 

The question comes up rather often. Do we need consistency in the way we use terms? Do we call it o/s if the new application looks like a full coin design but c/m if it is just like a minor element?
Akragas with Herakles c/m


Panticapion - Paired c/m star and bowcase


Byzantine Heraclius - paired two figures/SCL c/m

 

Ed, how sure are you that the reverse is overstruck with a Gorgonian? I was thinking that it reminds me of a facing Apollo with aura, as in this combo:
https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/dr..._facing_apollo_and_amazon/893024/Default.aspx


Here's another page with quite a few variations:
https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.aspx?search=true&searchQuery=apollo facing&searchQueryExclude=&searchCategory=0&searchCategoryLevel=2&searchCategoryAncient=True&searchCategoryUs=True&searchCategoryWorld=True&searchCategoryMedieval=False&searchBetween=0&searchBetweenAnd=0&searchDate=&searchUseThesaurus=True&searchDisplayCurrency=&searchDisplay=1&searchIdStore=0&searchQueryAnyWords=&searchExactPhrase=&searchTitleAndDescription=True&searchDateType=0&searchMaxRecords=100&SearchOnSale=False&Unassigned=False



And this one is very close for a facing Apollo:
https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/no...0300_bc_interesting_style/813467/Default.aspx

 

I have one with a similar CM as Eds. It also lists as a Gorgon. Though I cannot discern much other than the CM, it may be a pontos. A little Gorgon on Gorgon action!

Kinda funny how Eds is a neat circle. Where mine looks like a splat. Wonder why that is?

 

Sorry Charles, I forgot to reply to this. Yes, the countermark is known and documented for these coins of Apameia. Here's the listing from Howgego's Greek Imperial Countermarks:

 

The reverse of this Seleucid coin was counter marked with an anchor on left field.

 

This ugly but interesting coin has a cool grapes CM on the obverse, the grapes are on the reverse as well as part of the original design.



Greek Cyclades, Siphnos, 3rd century BC

O: Head of the youthful Apollo Karneios with ram's horn, grapes counterpunch. R: Poseidon,trident in his left hand holding , dolphin on the right, grapes lower left. SNG Cop. 785, 4.8 g, 19 mm.

 

I just took a new pic of this coin on the back deck, I'm not going to give it the ol' paint the background treatment...but here it is. Some worn almost smooth Julio Claudian with a bunch of counter marks.

Still kind of hard to see on my pic, but..

Obverse: AVG, TIC (I think), two helmets below with dots.

Reverse: dolphin (it's facing right, dorsal fin is pointing up).



This coin was a gift from my ol' coin buddy @Eng ....where did you go @Eng ????

 

I have a coin with one or two countermarks....

 

I think this serrate bronze of Greek usurper Alexander Ballas has a counter mark on the cheek. The reverse shows Athena holding Nike. Houghton 900.