A Reassesment of the "Pan Erecting Trophy" Bronzes of Antigonas II Gonatas

JA, your gonna be here all week? (tell'em "don't 4get to tip the waitress")><

 

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I am resurrecting this thread because it is a good one, and I just got a new Antigonos II Gonatas bronze countermarked issued that is a bit unusual. Rather than the usual Macedonian helmet or bucranium, this one has a deer head.

At least I am pretty sure it is a deer head - I found one example on acsearch, sold in two German auctions (2013 and 2016), described as a "hirschkopf".

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2942908

Mine came from eBay (of course). I'd been watching it for months - it was a "buy it now" that kept going lower and lower. When it hit $8.99 I pulled the trigger:





Macedonia Kingdom Æ 21
Antigonos II Gonatas
(277/6-239 BC)
Uncertain Macedonia mint
Helmeted head of Athena right / Pan rt. erecting trophy; A across, [Macedonian helmet left], ANT monogram between legs, wreath right.
SNG Copenhagen 1205-1211
(3.76 grams / 21 x 18 mm)
Countermark: Deer head (?) in 7 mm circle obverse.
Note: Found example with this countermark ("Hirschkopf") in two auctions (same coin):

Münz Zentrum Rheinland Auction 167, Lot 49, 04.09.2013

Kölner Münzkabinett Tyll Kroha Nachfolger UG Auction 104, Lot 48, 12.02.2016

Below are some examples of the Macedonian helmet countermark, found on these bronzes. This one was generously gifted me by CTer tenbobbit early in the year (this one has my favorite Pan on the reverse - I love that detailed face):



The one on the left below has the clearest Macedonian helmet (with cheek guards)



I don't have a bucranium countermark yet, but I'm keeping my eye peeled. They are not as common as the helmet, but they are out there.

Although this issue is commonly countermarked, I've never been able to find out much information about them. Any information on these, or more examples, please feel free to share. It is an interesting, if mysterious, series.

 

This can be downloaded from a PhD UCL site. It is not without its critics!

 

Does anyone have a list of the control symbols on the "Pan erecting trophy" bronzes? I saw one once with a harpa as a control mark but I was outbid. I have never seen another harpa.

I would be curious to know if anyone has an analysis of the control symbols similar to the marks on the shield bronzes. They are from a similar time period and the control symbols might help organize the whole series.

 

Thank you for that! I successfully downloaded the theses - at 400 pages it may be a while before I digest it, but it looks to be chock full 'o information. Much obliged!

 

I just did a quick search of "harpa" on the thesis noted by NewStyleKing above - I did not get any hits, but this might be because of the ancient version of pdf I use. There is a ton of information and examples cited.

Here is the link I used to access it - it appears to be safe, but the usual warnings apply -

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10116646/1/Ekaterini_thesis.pdf