Well, it's been a very unpleasant month on a number of fronts but my day was brightened considerably when these arrived! A keen-eyed friend who regularly scours eBay alerted me to this lot of 2 fractionals. Suboptimal pictures but they were definitely interesting and one appeared to be a winged boar and the other a winged man-headed bull. The listing (British seller), was uncertain of the origin and thought they might be Troas, Ionia. Nope Super happy with this score, which came to $53 USD, a great portion of which was shipping. A bargain! Crossing another winged boar issuer off the list Here's what I think is the correct attribution: ISLANDS off CARIA, Rhodos. Ialysos. 480-408 BC AR Obol (or some other size-appropriate fractional name), 9 mm, 0.6 gm Obv: forepart of winged boar left Rev: helmeted head of Athena right within incuse square. Ref: SNG Keckman 315; Karl 373 (a guess based on a similar CNG coin...) CNG archives page with similar coins This one I'm less sure of-- more reading and searching will be required. I think it's from Caria but in wildwinds these seem to be attributed to Lycian Dynasts. Mine is 9 mm, 0.7 gm. The reverse lettering is OFOV, I think. Same as the similar examples, although in wildwinds it is translated to Uvug and is listed as a Lycian dynast. Here's a similar coin in CNG's archives, with its attribution (but there others in wildwinds attributed to Lycian dynasts): CARIA, Uncertain. Orou. Local dynast, circa 450-400 BC. AR 1/16 Stater (10mm, 0.70 g, 9h). Aigenetan standard. Forepart of winged man-headed bull right / Female head right within dotted border; all within incuse square. Konuk, Orou 2.3; SNG von Aulock 8474.
Nice coins! I like the headshot because these validate my claim (with Ann M. Zakelj) that the coins of Alexander portray Alexander. "Carian satraps also indulged themselves this way. The betrothal of a Carian princess (the eldest daughter of Pixodoros) to Alexander's half brother Arrhidaeus underscores the fact that these hellenized barbarian cultures communicated with each other." My own winged boar was from Klazomenae, but as you note, the image was common.
Interesting. Thanks for that info, Michael. Over the holidays I plan to look for an assortment of books for this region, since most of the coins I like and collect are from Asia Minor.
how awesome is winged man headed bull?! lord of the wings indeed...or lady i should say. hmmm...i don't see no wings in that bucket?
Very nice TIF. Very nice indeed. Good eye on your friend and a good friend to alert you to items of interest to you.
