Mysia, Pergamon, 200-133 BC? 133-27 BC? Bronze Æ 15.7 mm, 3.55 g, 12 h. Obv: Head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet ornamented with star. Rev: AΘΗ-ΝΑΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ, owl standing facing on palm, with wings spread,TK monogram left and ΠΛ right. Refs: SNG Copenhagen 388 (same); c.f. SNG von Aulock 1375-6, BMC 197-199, SNG France 1920-2, SNG BN 1913-6 (various monograms). ~~~ I received this small bronze coin of Pergamon as a Christmas gift and I've been trying to learn more about it. It seems there are innumerable marks in the fields to the left and the right of the owl on the reverse of this issue. What is the significance of these? Does anyone know more about this issue in particular? Moreover, the date of these issues is a matter of some controversy. The British Museum[1] and others have ascribed this small bronze coin of Pergamon, Mysia, to the period (133 BC to Augustus) when the Pergamene kingdom and its capital became part of the Roman province of Asia. However, Von Fritze has argued these issues should be assigned to the later period of the Pergamene kingdom, circ. 200-133 BC.[2] For this reason, Head and Hill conclude coins of this issue would have been a civic issue supplementing the regal issue of bronze coins and doubt whether any bronze coins were struck at Pergamum between 133 BC and the time of Augustus.[3] Von Fritze[4] postulates the coins with ΑΘΗΝΑΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ and owl reverse types may have been struck in 183 BC in connection with the Nikephoria.[4] Is there additional evidence from more recent scholarship about dating these issues? Is there an article or website devoted to exploring these issues? Any help or comments are appreciated. Of course, feel free to post your similar coins or anything you feel is relevant! ~~~ 1. Wroth, Warwick William, and Reginald Stuart Poole. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Mysia. The British Museum, 1892, pp. 132-3. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279811/page/n167 2. Hans von Fritze, "Zur Chronologie der autonomen Prägung von Pergamon." in Corolla Numismatica, Numismatic Essays in Honour of Barclay V. Head. With a Portrait and Eighteen Plates, (George Francis Hill, ed.). Oxford, 1906, pp. 47 ff. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029768565#page/n69/mode/2up 3. Head, Barclay V., and G. F. Hill. Historia Numorum: a Manual of Greek Numismatics. Spink & Son LTD, 1963, pp. 535-6. Generously provided online by @Ed Snible : http://snible.org/coins/hn/mysia.html 4. Hans von Fritze, ibid, p. 56.
Wow! That's a lovely coin! I have never seen an owl with open wings before (but I am very new at ancient coins). Thanks for the links for further reading.
I regret that I cannot help @Roman Collector ... but, wow! what a COOL gift, and a fun conundrum to solve! I agree with @LaCointessa , nice open winged facing owl. I did wonder if you had a new love in your life with your thread title... "Dating a small bronze of Pergamon, Mysia" My FACING owl: Athens Attica 454-404 BCE ARr hemidrachm 16mm 2.08g Athena frontal eye - facing Owl wings closed olive branches COP 70 SG 2528
It looks like there are a variety od monogram combinations for this type, along with no monograms. I was sifting through acsearch to see if any listing have a clue as it the purpose... No avail. https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...s=1¤cy=usd&thesaurus=1&order=0&company= Thought... Their cistophoric tets had monograms, could they be related? Do any match? Could any connection help slate the date to 133-Augustus? https://www.asiaminorcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=107&page=2 Could they represent magistrates for the period of issue? What can we glean from other coins in Pergamon of the era? http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/owlcoins.htm And on a note not about the monograms or dating, I came across this (long) paper about ancient Pergamon and in skimming seemed like an interesting read. THE GREAT ALTAR OF PERGAMON: THE MONUMENT IN ITS HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL Context, Vol. I ANTONIA STELLA FAITA https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...WMAh6BAgFEAE&usg=AOvVaw0dSQrW-eJM0EOu6XlzAuqz Abstract: "Since the day of its discovery (1878) the Great Altar of Pergamon has been evaluated for its aesthetic and stylistic contribution to Greek art. The aim of this thesis is to study the monument not merely from an art-historical point of view but within its historical and cultural context. The intention is to view the Pergamene monument as a characteristic example of the Hellenistic age and in relation to the Attalids as Hellenistic rulers. It is divided into five chapters. The first deals with the monument itself and the various theories regarding the date of its inception, the number of sculptor/s employed and the theories of interpretation so far suggested. The second chapter examines certain aspects of Attalid policies such as: military history and foreign relations, coinage, cults and festivals, ruler-cult, art and building programme, and finally patronage of learning. The third and fourth chapters deal with the friezes of the monument - the Gigantomachy and Telephos frieze respectively. They examine the iconographic tradition of the myths depicted, the current literature on the style of the friezes, some difficulties with currently accepted theories are noted and new theories advanced. The fifth and final chapter is divided into two parts. The first part points out the elements of the artist's technique that make the monument a characteristic example of the Hellenistic Aesthetic. The second part examines how the imagery on the monument was manipulated by the Attalid kings in their search for self-definition. Their case is examined against the examples of 5th century BC Athens and 1st century BC Augustan Rome."
Try to research this yourself. Bronze coins don't follow regional weight standards and the expert opinions are often guesses except for a few types found in excavations or dated hoards. Perhaps you will make new progress. Wikipedia has a nice page on the history of the city listing the various kingdoms in control there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon#History . The helmet has an eight pointed star. Read the Wikipedia entry for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergina_Sun . You are looking for a kingdom that would want a Macedonian star on the helmet. Go to http://isegrim.mybluemix.net/#!?m=AE&po=Pergamum&vt=ATHENA&rt=owl and find 47 varieties of this coin, some dated "200BC -0 AD <-200/-133>" and others dated "200BC -0 AD <-133/-030>". Ignore the years the experts have given but make a catalog of the monograms. Search for matching monograms on silver coinage of everyone in the region. Try to link up as many monograms as you can with silver coinage.
JSTOR is always a good place to look for more recent research. I did a search with the terms "Pergamon Athena owl" and got 218 results...none of which may be pertinent to this topic though. first couple of results--
Another good place to search is the ANS library, which creates entries for every article and paper, not just each book. https://donum.numismatics.org There is a tantalizing entry for "Bronze coins of Pergamon" https://donum.numismatics.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=40690 Unfortunately although the article is listed in Daehn's Ancient Greek Numismatics: A Guide to Reading and Research there is no summary. I don't have the 1990 volume of Numismatica e Antichità Classiche to check myself. (Who am I kidding? I have no volumes of that journal). No clue if the article covers all bronze coins of the mint, or just a particular dynastic series.
