Sometimes I think ancient countermark collecting is the Dark Side of the Dark Side. Which is to say I'm trying to attribute a small batch of countermarks and I am not having much luck. I was wondering if anybody can steer me in the right direction with this small AE - just getting the host coin down would be great. There is a male head on the obverse, mostly obliterated by the two countermarks - Apollo? Augustus? The reverse has a tantalizing lack of visible features - fragments of an inscription and what might be a lyre? The countermarks are a (1) an bunch of grapes and (2) goddess holding two torches (?). Diana lucifera, maybe? 14 mm and 2.8 grams. Any help greatly appreciated. I did have some luck with the host coin on this one. But the countermark still alludes me - Artemis/Diana drawing her bow, a K (?) behind. Anybody seen one like this? (the countermark is show right-side up; the portrait of Hermes is upside down - you can just see the brim and top of his petatos at 3 and 6 o'clock - the reverse is just a lousy photo - sorry) Phokaia, Ionia Æ 14 (c. 300-200 B.C.) Magistrate Aristoleos Head of Hermes right, wearing petatos / [ΦΩ] AΡIΣTO[ΛEOΣ], forepart of griffin right. SNG Cop 1037; SNG Tüb. 3127; SNG Lewis 943. Countermark: Artemis w. bow r., K behind, 7 mm circle obverse. (3.30 grams / 14 mm)
Diana Lucifera is usually depicted with one long torch and often with the crescent moon on her shoulders. Ceres/Demeter depicted with a lighted torch in each hand is known as Ceres Taedifera, “Ceres the torch-bearer.” Here she is on a couple of Roman coins:
Ah, the heart is a lonely hunter, when it comes to countermarks. I decided to take another whack at my little mystery AE and found a likely partial thread, after only an hour or three. A listing in FORVM got me going in the right direction - one similar to mine, but the photo is pretty unclear: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/c...&fld=https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins/ The FORVM listing led me to this: "The Countermarks of Cabyle" by Dimitae Dkagabov. It describes the standing figure countermark as Artemis Phosphoros holding two torches! I was very excited, however I can only access the first page unless I pay $42.00 and as much as I'd like to support academic research, it is Christmas and I am broke. But the first "teaser" page shows the countermark, blurrily, and it appears to be a match. Cabyle (Kabyle) is a fairly obscure place in Thrace - Wildwinds has a couple. Artemis with the two torches seems to be a civic logo. Seleucid AEs were extensively countermarked at Cabyle - I still haven't figured out the host coin - Apollo and what might be a lyre? The other countermark is a mystery as well. I found other references in this general area, but some are in Bulgarian. The hunt continues. Here is a somewhat better photo and my notes (which I copied from the FORVM listing - Tapolov, Houghton & Lorber): Cabyle, Thrace Æ 15 (250-200 B.C.) Laureate head right (Apollo?) / Lyre (?), Greek inscription. Countermarks: Both obverse: Artemis Phosphoros holding 2 torches in 8 mm circle. Cluster of grapes (?) in 6 mm circle. Tapolov Countermarking p. 240, 4 Houghton & Lorber 2002 173, 184 (2.78 grams / 15 mm) eBay Nov. 2019 Lot @ $2.20 Attribution Note: "The Countermarks of Cabyle" by Dimitae Dkagabov describes countermark: "...depicts Artemis Phosophoros holding two long torches...between 6 and 8 mm" He notes 135 specimens from 16 countermark punches. Host: I can't find it (Dec. 2019)
I don't have the books you are citing. I have Howgego. The countermark and obverse look like Howgego 236. One example, with a host coin of Docimeium. No picture of the reverse, but an obverse something like https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=429092 Howgego wrote "Cult statue (Artemis Ephesia?) ... possibly to be interpreted as a cult statue of Cybele ..." Grapes are Howgego 411-416. Most in circular incuse and not easy to tell apart. Howgego 415 and 416 were applied on Phrygian coins (but not Docimeium).
Thank you Ed, I appreciate the help. I'd never heard of a Boule (a personification of the citizen's council, according to Wikipedia), or Docimeium (city in Phrygia) - and so my journey out of ignorance continues! I really, really need to get a copy of Howgego. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution for '20.