I rarely add greeks of any kind to my collection, here is one small one that didn't cost very much. Lydia. Sardes ( 188-133 B.C.) Æ15 O: Laureate head of Apollo right. R: ΣAPΔIANΩN; divided by club, all within wreath 3.52g 15mm SNG Copenhagen 470 ff.
Very nice @Mat . And, yeah, I do not see many Greeks from you! I like this little guy. Apollo looks good, however, I was drown to the reverse. The club and wreath is nice. I don’t have any Lydia coins from Greek times. Only a Persian one and an Empire one.
Is there some agreed upon convention for orientation of these and other wreath types? In general, I orient them with the wreath ties at the bottom and the leaves pointing generally upwards (as Mat has done). With coins like Mat's, I'd think that a 90 degree turn to orient the legends horizontally would be acceptable as well. I guess there's nothing inherently wrong (or right! ) about orienting it with the wreath ties up though.
Fun new coin from a very interesting area! The reverse is fantastic!!! I've a few Lydian coins. And the prices are hard to beat. Here are some of my favs: LYDIA, Sardes 2nd - 1st Century BCE Æ Laureate bust of a young Herakles right, lion's skin tied around neck / Nude Apollo standing left, holding bird in extended right hand, laurel branch in left; monogram before, magistrate HRAIOS ; all within laurel wreath. SNG Copenhagen 493; BMC Lydia pg. 240, 36. Good VF, dark olive green patina. Thyateira, Lydia AD 1-100, AE14, semi-autonomous issue. Bearded head of Herakles right / ΘYATEIΡHNΩN, bipennis(double-axe; labrys). BMC 8; RPC I 2379; SNG Tuebingen 3838. ... And it doesn't hurt that they imitated one of my favorite coin designs: LYDIA, Philadelphia. 2nd-1st centuries BC. Æ (13mm, 4.10g). Herrmippos, magistrate. Macedonian shield / Horiztontalthunderbolt; EPMIΠ/ΠOΣ in two lines above; all within wreath. SNG von Aulock 3060; SNG Copenhagen 342. VF, Ex: Savoca
I've got a little AE15 of the type as well. This was one of my first Greek coin, took a new pic of it today. Seems like the reverse are oriented every possible way on pics I've seen, I just when with leaves pointing up as well. Lydia, Sardes. 2nd Century BC O:Apollo, R: club in wreath. 15 mm, 5.3 g.
Wildwinds has a nice selection on these. The monogram is the most important part. Looks like you an M and O atop.