Could someone comfortable with the subject talk me through the ID process separating the Philetairos type coins of Eumenes I of Pergamon from those of Attalos I? Most I see have what appears to be a monogram of A seem to be assigned to Emenes while those with an EYM monogram are given to Attalos. I'm sure the logic of this is over my head but I would appreciate someone trying to explain the situation. Attalos I AR tetradrachm Pergamon ex. Stacks, Coin Galleries, 1989
I picked up Sear GCV and Kraay «The Hellenistic Kingdoms», but I’m not any wiser. GCV describes that both the AO and EYMO monograms are used on the coins of Attalos I (7220 and 7222), while the Eumenes I has the AO monogram on the seat of the throne on rev. Jenkins has a good illustration of the latter: Kray has an illustration of a similar coin, with the AO monogram in the field to the right of the rev. lettering. The lettering is left of the seated figure, vs the Eumenes which has the lettering to the right. Might this be what distinguishes the coins of the two rulers? Again, I’m confronted by how little I know about coins.
While I thank everyone for the data, the question remains of the purpose of the monograms. It appears that it does not ID the ruler since the one with A is given to the king with E and vice-versa. I have not heard suggestion that they are mint marks or that there even were towns named similarly. Gathering a few thousand coins is easy compared to understanding them.
Isn’t this 90% of the hobby? Going broke, only to have this little metal disc in your hand, thinking «hmmmmm, what do I have here, actually»? I have heard suggestions that one can study coins without owning them, which sounds kind of boring. I tend to do most of the studying after I know that it’s mine and only mine. As for the monograms, it could be interesting to see how many monograms we can find for the two. Sear lists only the A on seat monogram for Eumenes I, but there are several coins on coinarchives with A in field for his coins too. Looks like the type with A in field is the late type of Eumenes and the early type of Attalos? Might it be the mark of the master at the mint?
