Antigonus II Gonatas:Dont Panic! The satyr with the Gonatas to walk softly&carry a BIG lagobolon!

Or do! Pans on his way and he brought his lagobolon (butt whomping stick)!


Antigonus Gonatus. AR Tetradrachm
Reign: King, 277-239 B.C.
Denomination: AR Tetradrachm.
Diameter: 31 mm.
Weight: 16.78 grams.
Date Struck: After 270 B.C.
Obverse: Head of Pan left, wearing goat horns and goat skin, lagobolon behind head, in center of Macedonian shield.
Reverse: Athena Alkidemos walking left, brandishing thunderbolt and shield.
Reference: SNG Ashmolean 3258.
Purchased from Herakles Numismatics


(Gonatas and his pug nose sit with his mother, Phila and philosopher Menedemus)

The man:
The Argead house aside (supposedly going all the way back to Herakles, but assuredly through Alexander 1- Philip II- ATG himself), the Antigonid dynasty may have been the most important to the prestige and long lasting success of Macedon. Riding that wave of success right to the very end (depending on what you believe Philip V or his son Perseus were the last rulers and true kings of of Macedon until Rome came and turned Makedon into 4 merises).
Antigonus II Gonatas (and no, his name has nothing to do with gonads, though, assuredly he had large ones. Just means, of Gonnoi, in Thessaly) was born just three years after the death of Alexander the Great and was right in the middle of his families line and a MAJOR reason for their long lasting success.
Son of Demetrius Poliorketes, " the besieger" and the grandson of Antigonus Monophthalmus " the one-eyed", general of Alexander the Great, he was grandfather to Philip V and great grandpappy to Perseus!
He was only 18 when his grandfather was killed by the combined forces of the Cassander, Lysimachos and Seleukus at Ipsus in 301 BC.
His father, much like his grandfather, and every other male in the family, would let nothing stop him. In 294 Demetrius succeeded in reclaiming the Macedonian throne. Demetrios was eventually captured by Seleukos and died in captivity after three years. Though, not without his son's trying with all he had to get his father released.
Antigonus II then became king of Macedon in 283/282 - though, he counted his reign not starting until after his victory over the Gauls at Lysimacheia in 277.
He would lead a long tumultuous life of near constant warfare to live to the incredibly type old age of 81!

It is believed that Pan showing his pug nose on the coin commemorates the victory at Lysimacheia (on the Gallipoli peninsula), as Pan was believed to have appeared in the middle of the Gauls army during the battle, scaring them and leading to Antigonus's victory.
That said, I wonder if it might have had to do with the fact that Antigonus II was also described in several sources as short and with a pug nose.

(Gonatas-"Hey! I resemble that remark!")

No description of whether his phallus was massive as well has made its way to us from antiquity
It has been argued that the standing Athena on the reverse is Athena Alkidemos ("defender of the people"), the city-goddess of Pella in Macedonia. Which would be an interesting choice as both he and his father both fought and the latter would capture Athens! Others have stated her presence on the coin's reverse may have to do with his tussle with Pyrrhus of Epirus. That or he was just a leg and butt guy
He would also feature Pan on his bronze coinage:

Antigonos II. 277/6-239 B.C. Æ (19.4 MM AND 4.91 Sear 6786 OBV: Helmeted head of Athena right REV: Pan standing right, erecting trophy Antigonus II (Antigonus Gonatas) 320-239 BC, was king of Macedon & son of Demetrius I. He took the title king on his father's death (283) but made good his claim only by defeating the Gauls in Thrace and by taking Macedon in 276.[/FLOAT_RIGHT]

Other coins of his:

Philip III Arrhidaeus Uncertain mint in Western Asia Minor. (323-317 BCE)/ Or Antigonus Gonatas (288-277 BCE)
Bronze Æ Half-bronze unit, (PB, 16) No. v19-0059 16mm, 12 hours. 4.11g. No. 110 in the reference books: Cop.- - MP.2803 pl. 110
Obverse, Three-quarter-front head (Herakles?) to the right placed in the center of a Macedonian shield.
Reverse, Macedonian helmet; in the field on the right, a caduceus; monogram in the left field.
Caption setback: B-A Ex: Savoca
"In Martin Price's book, this type of bronze is dated between 323 and 310 BC, struck in West Asia Minor. If this is the case, this bronze could have been struck by Philip III, Antigone the Borgne or Demetrius Poliorketes. According to David Sear, this coin was minted in Macedonia during the intersection of Poliorketes and Antigonus Gonatas (GC. 6781 ss).
The Kingdom of Macedonia experienced a very difficult period after the fall of Demetrius Poliorketes who was driven out of Macedonia by Lysimachus and Pyrrhus. The two victors shared the remains of the kingdom of Epigone. After Lysimachus death at the Battle of Couroupédion in 281 BC, Macedonia finally fell to Antigonus Gonatas, the son of Demetrius Poliorketes who had won a brilliant victory over the Galatians (Gaulois) in 277 BC in Lysimachus."


Antigonos II Gonatas
277/6-239 BC. Æ 18mm (3.85 g). Macedonian shield with monogram of Antigonos in central boss / Macedonian helmet; three monograms around. SNG Copenhagen 1222. Very fine. Ex: Savoca


Antigonos II Gonatas/Antigonus III Doson
Æ (14mm, 1.85 g,1/4 unit). Uncertain Macedonian mint. Macedonian shield with monogram of Antigonos in central boss / Macedonian helmet sans bushel flanked by grain ears ; kerykeion to left, green patina. Very RARE quarter unit
Ex: Savoca Blue, 89


The Pan:


Pan is the god of the wilderness, outdoors, mountains, shepards, is the root of the word panic, the only God to die and the reason the nymphs turned into nymphos


CIMMERIAN BOSPOROS,
Pantikapaion.
Circa 310-304/3 BC. Æ (11mm, 1.40g, 12h). Beardless head of satyr right / Bow in bowcase. Anokhin 1025; MacDonald 72; HGC 4, 135. Good VF,

Please post you coins of the Antigonid dynasty, Pan, Diadochi or whatever whomps your enemies!

 

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Vibius Pansa
48 BC

 

If I could like this twice I would. Have nothing to offer but my compliments.

 

A small copper from the other man with dynastic ambitions in Macedonia.
Demetrios Poliorketes thought that was a bad idea. History proved he had a valid point.

 

Great write up Ryro, here are a few coins you mention:

 

Pan's my man . Been waiting on a new Pan for a while now... dang, movement is so slow in the US, all carriers. Should be here this week. It's grotty but the reverse is pretty cool.

Meanwhile,


THRACE, Hadrianopolis. Gordian III
AE 22 mm, 5.18 gm
Obv: AVT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC; radiate head right
Rev: AΔPIANOΠOΛЄITΩN; Pan advancing left, holding syrinx and lagobolon
Ref: Varbanov 3945 corr. (cantharus in place of syrinx).


ARKADIA, Arkadian League
340-330 BC, Megalopolis mint
AR Obol, 11 mm, 0.77 g
Obv: head of Pan left
Rev: large Arkadian League monogram; syrinx below
Ref: BCD Peloponnesos (Megalopolis) 1517-8; HGC 5, 930
ex BCD Collection. Ex Vinchon (11-13 April 1988), lot 463.


KINGS OF MACEDON, Antigonos II Gonatas
277/6-239 BCE, struck after 270 BCE, Amphipolis mint
AR tetradrachm, 31mm, 17.06 g
Obv: head of Pan in center of Macedonian shield, lagobolon over shoulder; shield decorated with stars within crescents
Rev: BASILEWS ANTIGONOU, Athena Alkidemos walking left, brandishing thunderbolt and shield; helmet left, EMP monogram right
Ref: SNGCop 1200v, EMP (maybe); R. Martin, "A Third-Century B.C. Hoard from Thessaly at the ANS," ANSMN 26, 536 (same obv. die).
ex Demetrios Armounta Collection


EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian
RY 11 (126/7 CE), AE dichalkon, 14.8 mm, 2.63 gm
Obv: Laureate head right
Rev: Pan advancing left, holding lagobolon (books say pedum, but I think it's a lagobolon... or maybe there is no difference?); LI-A across field
Ref: Emmett 1196.11; Milne 1238; Dattari (Savio) 1815-7; RPC III 5701

No Pan on the next two but they do feature a lagobolon:


ILLYRIA, Apollonia
c. 1st century BCE
AR 15 mm, 1.25 gm
Obv: AI-NEA; fires of the Nymphaeum of Apollonia; dotted border
Rev: AΠOΛΛΩ-NIATAN, lagobolon; dotted border
Ref: BMC 44; Maier 121


ILLYRIA, Apollonia
c. 81-60 BCE
Aibatios and Chairenos, magistrates.
AR drachm, 18 mm, 3.2 gm
Obv: AIBATIOΣ; cow standing left, suckling calf standing right below; in exergue, grain ear left
Rev: AΠOΛ / XAIPHNOΣ; fire of the Nymphaeum and lagobolon within linear frame
Ref: Maier 120; SNG Copenhagen 398; HGC 3.1, 5 (I do not own any of these references; seller's attribution)

 

Jeez @jdmKY that isn't just the most beautiful portrait of Pan on a RR that I've seen, that might be the most beautiful portrait on any RR that I've seen!?... that isn't the daughter/Sea nymph of Creperius
Here's his drunker uglier uncle, Silenos:


Wonderful coin @Ignoramus Maximus !
I love the type but despise Kassander. He killed Alexander's young, coming of age, son to consolidate his power in Macedon. What a jerk!


@Andres2 you always blow my mind with your diverse and striking coins of the Diadochi
Here's a drachm of a more popular tetradrachm that I was thrilled to get but don't often share of Poliorketes:


And don't even get me started on Pyrrhus!

(I didn't even realize that my bottom Sicilian had an owl until I saw yours!)
And, to dust off an often said phrase here on CT, I blame @TIF
If it wasn't for that show stopper MSC tetradrachm that you so graciously shared and the one on the cover of an issue of The Celator I'd not know about this type that I've sought for a few years now! Who even knows how much this type helped foster my love for MSCS<3
Mine doesn't have any whopping stick but it does have an owl

 

Great coins and write-up! Here is a tet struck under his famous grandpa...I really need to add some more coins from this family.


Antigonos I Monophthalmos, As Strategos of Asia, AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 17.10 g). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Susa mint, circa 316-311 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin /Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Zeus Aëtophoros seated l.; in l.field, wreath; below throne, PO above strut, ΠP monogram below. Price 3855

And my favorite satyr:

Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion. Circa 325-310 BC. (AE, 20 mm, 5.58g), Wreathed head of satyr to left. / Rev. ΠΑΝ Bow and arrow.
From the Vineyard Collection

 

Congrats on getting a Big Silver Macedonian Shield!! May there be many more in your future, maybe even one with Perseus on it. (Love the Hitchhiker's opening btw.)

Here are three coins from the location of the battlefield vs. the Gauls, Lysimacheia, where Pan allegedly made his appearance:

THRACIAN CHERSONESOS, Lysimacheia, 309-220 BCE. 3.53g, 17mm.
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress
Rev: ΛYΣIMAXEΩN, Nike standing left, holding wreath and palm; monograms to right.
SNG Cop. 901-2 & 914-15; Moushmov 5499.
Scarce.


THRACIAN CHERSONESOS, Lysimacheia, 309-220 BCE. 3g, 17mm.
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion's skin headdress
Rev: ΛYΣIMAXEΩN, Nike standing left, holding wreath and palm; monograms to right.
SNG Cop. 901-2 & 914-15; Moushmov 5499.
Overstruck. Scarce.


THRACE, Lysimacheia, c. 309-220 BCE, AE18. 6.37g, 19mm.
Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right.
Rev: Lion seated right.
SNG Copenhagen 909-12

 

Antigonos II, with Pan erecting trophy:


And another from Pantikapion, with a bull reverse:

 

Not a coin, but Pan on my bedroom wall

 

Great Gonatas! I love the mean mug that Pan is sporting on your example. Here he is stomping on a panther...


ELAGABALUS
AE27. 12.24g, 26.9mm. MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum, circa 218-222. Novius Rufus, legate. Varbanov 3949 (same dies); AMNG 1933 corr. (2 specimens). O: AVT M AVP – ANTΩNINOC (NO ligate), laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from front. R: VΠ NOBIOV POVΦOV NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPO, C ICTPΩ in exergue, Pan, with goats horns and legs, standing left, head right, draped in fawn skin, fawn hooves hanging from left arm, playing pipes (?), holding pedum in right hand, and placing left hoof on chest of panther which is lying on its back on the ground and raising its head.
Ex Dr. Rainer Pudill Collection, purchased from Majestic, Großostheim, on 24 Sep 1997

 

What a perfect pug nose on your pan @Shea19 !
I got this one from a surprise Frank Robinson blind email auction a while back that was a total blast!
This one's more pointy than pug, but he has a beard. Giving him that dirty old man look that I think of when I think satyr:

PANTIKAPAION,
Æ16, c. 4th cent BC, Pan head r./Bow above arrow, PANTI below; VF, rev somewhat off-ctr, olive patina with some surface flaking by edges, somewhat crude strike, but the Pan head is clear & strong. 13.75
Ex: Frank Robinson


Oh man! You know one of those Perseus tets would add soooooo much to my shield collection. But for now I can only dream sweet dreams of those coins.
Glad somebody caught the Douglas Adam's love!
Those coins are so cool @Severus Alexander !!! I just checked and realized I have one as well!

Thrace Lysimachia
25 mm Bronze, 309-281.
Head of the youthful Herakles in the lion's skin n. R. Rv. LUSIMACEWN Nike standing in front of the head in a long robe, head n. L., Holding in the left palm branch, crowning with the right ethnicon; in the field l. two monograms. 9.96 g. See BMC 195, 4 and SNG Cop. 901-902 (with other monograms). Rare.


Great Pan erection @gsimonel with some excellent detail. Speaking of de-tail, you can even see Gonatas ANT monogram right behind de tail of Pan

@jdmKY, where did you get that and what exactly are we looking at? Looks ancient and AMAZING! Is it authentic?

@zumbly that is a low down viscous and HIGHLY desirable type Pan is just one bad hombre
Though, in fairness, he had a softer side as well...

 

@Ryro - That is a Fourth Style Roman wall painting (20-54 AD). I bought it from Hixenbaugh Ancient Art in NYC. (If it’s not real, I seriously overpaid!)

 

Bearded and beardless Pans:

Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion, AE 19 mm., ca. 320-310 BCE, minted under Perisad I, 345-310 BC. Obv. Bearded head of satyr, right / Rev. Forepart of griffin left; below, sturgeon left; Π-A-N [PAN] around. Anokhin (2011) 1023 [Anokhin, V.A., Античные Монеты Северного Причерноморья (Ancient Coins of the Northern Black Sea Coast) (Kiev. 2011) (see https://bosporan-kingdom.com/111-3141/)]; Seaby 1700 [Sear, David, Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. 1: Europe (Seaby 1979) at p. 169]; BMC 3 Thrace 20 [R.S. Poole, ed. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 3, The Tauric Chersonese, Sarmatia, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, etc. (London, 1877) at p. 7]; HGC 7, 113 [Hoover, Oliver D., Handbook of Coins of Northern and Central Anatolia, Pontos, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Phrygia, Galatia, Lykaonia, and Kappadokia (with Kolchis and the Kimmerian Bosporos), 5th to 1st Centuries BC, The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 7 (Lancaster, PA, 2012); MacDonald 69 [MacDonald, David, An Introduction to the History and Coinage of the Kingdom of the Bosporus. Classical Numismatic Studies 5 (Lancaster, 2005)]; SNG BM Black Sea 869-870 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Great Britain, Volume IX, British Museum, Part 1: The Black Sea (London, 1993); available online at http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org; see SNGuk_0901_0869 and SNGuk_0901_0870]; Anokhin (1986) 111 [Anokhin, V.A., Monetnoye delo Bospora (The Coinage of the Bosporus (Kiev, 1986)]. 20 mm., 7.87 g., 12 h.


Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion, AE 20 mm., ca. 310-303 BCE, minted under Eumelos (Spartocid ruler of Bosporan Kingdom, son of Perisad I). Obv. Beardless head of young satyr (Pan) left, wearing ivy wreath / Rev. Lion head left; sturgeon below left; Π-A-N [PAN] around. Seaby 1701 [Sear, David, Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. 1: Europe (Seaby 1979) at p. 169]; BMC 3 Thrace 21-22 [R.S. Poole, ed. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 3, The Tauric Chersonese, Sarmatia, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, etc. (London, 1877) at p. 8]; HGC 7, 114 [Hoover, Oliver D., Handbook of Coins of Northern and Central Anatolia, Pontos, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Phrygia, Galatia, Lykaonia, and Kappadokia (with Kolchis and the Kimmerian Bosporos), 5th to 1st Centuries BC, The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 7 (Lancaster, PA, 2012); MacDonald 70 [MacDonald, David, An Introduction to the History and Coinage of the Kingdom of the Bosporus. Classical Numismatic Studies 5 (Lancaster, 2005)]. 20 mm., 6.43 g. Purchased from Kirk Davis, Catalogue # 77, Spring 2021, Lot 6.



Roman Republican Pan:

Roman Republic, C. Vibius C. f. C. n. Pansa Caetronianus, AR Denarius 48 BCE, Rome mint. Obv. Mask of bearded Pan right; below, PANSA / Rev. Jupiter A[n]xurus, laureate, barechested, seated left on throne, holding patera in right hand and long scepter in left hand; on right, C•VIBIVS•C•F•C•N curving downwards; on left, IOVIS • AXVR curving upwards. Crawford 449/1a, RSC I Vibia 18 (ill.), Sear RCV I 420 (ill.), Sear Roman Imperators 20 (ill. p. 14), BMCRR 3978, Sydenham 947. 19 mm., 3.75 g.* (Purchased from Silbury Coins, UK, Sep. 2020.)


*Caius Vibius Pansa, son of Caius and grandson of Caius, was Consul in 43 BCE. (Crawford p. 465.) According to Grueber in BMCRR (pp. 509-510 at n. 1), he was a supporter of Caesar, and governor of Bithynia and Pontus in 47 BCE, striking coins at Apamea and Nicaea. He was killed in battle in 43 BCE before the town of Murina.

The mask of Pan on the obverse is a pun on his cognomen, Pansa. (Crawford p. 465.) The figure of Jupiter A[n]xurus on the reverse (see the reverse legend) refers to an association of the moneyer’s gens, Vibia, with the town of Anxur (now Terracina). (See id.) The town is in Latium on the Tyrrhenian sea, about 98 km. southeast of Rome. See BMCRR at p. 510 at n. 1, stating that in Anxur “there was a special cult of Jupiter, whose temple was situated on the highest point of the city, and who was represented as a youth, handsome in features, and of perfect form; a representation suggested by the type of the coin.” See also John Melville Jones, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby, London 1990) at p. 153, under entry for Jupiter.

 

One can never be 100% certain, of course, but if I were you I would be confident in trusting the authenticity of anything I bought from Randy Hixenbaugh. I trusted him enough to choose him recently to appraise my own antiquities collection accumulated over the last 40 years.