Ancient: Tiny Greek AE

Havent got any greeks awhile and this little one caught my eye. Was $5 total.

Got my info from CNG, looks to be fairly scarce.


THESSALY, Meliboeia Mid to late 4th century BC
Æ Chalkous
O: Head of nymph left, with hair in bun at top of head.
R: ME–ΛI, grape bunch on vine.
13mm
1.87g
Sear 2146v

MELIBOIA (or Meliboea) was an Okeanid Nymph of Syria, in west Asia. She was loved by the river-god Orontes who stayed his streams to woe her and flooded the Syrian plain.

 

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well, that sure beats the tacos i got for 5 bucks today!

 

Nice deal! I got some pecans for $5 today lol

 

Nice coin, Mat ... $5 total (wow, I tipped my waitress $5 after she brought me my pecan taco!!)

Ummm, by the way => that reverse is about as far away from a female coin as possible (when I first saw it, I thought that you'd found an ancient pornographic-coin?!)

 

Maybe you're seeing what you want, Steve.

 

Ahaha => yah, perhaps you're correct, big fella!!



... it's a bit like one of those Rorschach designs!?

 

I figured someone would think the reverse was what your thinking

 

I love tiny Greek bronzes, but they never look that great in large pics. That's not a criticism of your pic, of course - it's a nice image. But I'm leaning more to something like this when it comes to minute coins...

 

They are a pill to take pictures of, thats for sure.

 

Careful, JA => you're stealing a page outta Batman's book (he shoots all of his coins "in-hand") ... frick ... that dude is soooo cool ...

 

Not bad at all for $5.

 

Why couldnt all greeks be $5?

 

Yeah. The only reason I don't have more is I can't seem to drop less than $75 on Greek coins that I like.

 

Bronzes are affordable for the most part, but silver..ugh.

 

Hey Mat => here is some more porn for ya ...

Thrace, Maroneia, AR tetrobol
Circa 385-360 BC
Diameter: 15 mm
Weight: 2.63 grams
Obverse: Forepart of horse right
Reverse: Grape-bunch on vine within dotted square border
Reference: GCV 1632

 

The problem with our hobby is that coins are prices according to demand and $5 coins are, by definition, things that have little demand. I do have a $5 Greek silver in my trade box. Imagine a hemiobol so worn that you can see an outline of a head and nothing else. There are several things it could be but 99.9% of collectors would rather pay twice as much and get a reverse or ten times as much and be able to see everything. Funny, aren't we?

 

=> yes, it is funny (and awesome) ...

As I stated in an earlier post, I think of myself as being fairly "mediocre" (somewhere in the middle, between blank-flan and show-pony-minty) ...

Oh, and I agree 100% that it is obviously driven-by price ... I would love to have a stable full o' AJ-esque coins, but I also would like to try and keep my wife and house!! ... at the same time, I need/want my coins to have at least a pleasant, symeteric and semi-complete look about 'em ...

I guess we're probably all the same? ... we spend just enough money to scratch that coin-itch ... I'm assuming that it depends upon all of the other demands in our personal lives (kids, payments, drug-habits, etc), each one of us seems to have our own "sweet-spot" that we aim for ... apparently, some of us need to spend thousands to scratch that itch, while some us merely need to spend $20 to check-that-box ...

=> oh well, as long as we're all happy and lovin' this hobby, then carry-on ... that'll do pig ... that'll do!!

... man, I need to make more money!!

 

I just saw the coin going cheap, didnt seem like anyone wanted it. Tossed a low bid last second and then it was mine. Really thats how I get alot of my stuff cheap. But the past week I have struck out.

And I am back to not seeing much I want to its back to toys and some key issue comic books.

Debating on doing long beach next week. I usually strike out with ancients but do OK with world stuff.

Also this coin might end up being posted on wildwinds, couldnt find an example.

 

=> man, I'm hopin' that you're collecting old Batman comics?

 

Through thriftiness and good investments, I have managed to save more money then I can spend in the remainer of my life. However, my wife thinks my hobby is wasteful, so she has placed me on a very strict budget. I have been known to cheat on that budget, but man its hell to pay when I get caught.