i finally scored! my first coin of 2015. i've wanted a coin of this type for over two years, about as long as ive been collecting...the stars and coin just hadn't aligned properly. obulco, hispania baetica 2nd century bc semis o: female head, hair in bun, olbvco right, all in ring of dots r: plow above and grain below magistrate's name in iberian text (UIUIBORTuN/MINUABoI), all in ring of dots. 29x31mm 16.3g FAB 1783 this coin is nice and thick, and very slightly scyphate, the overse is in relativly high relief. it is usually a deep yummy brown color. in full daylight, it sometimes looks dark green...sometimes not. here's a side shot and shows the features well... some sellers refer to this as a semis, some an as...semis seem to be the more common one, so i'll go with that. some folks also claim the bust is apollo rather than a female head. obulco was a semi-autonomous iberian city, today it's porcuna spain (south central spain). the ancient ruins are still there. other than they had a mint (obviously), there isn't much more i can tell you about the place. not much info online. post any ancient iberian coins you would like..i always like to look at them!
This coin is totally awesome! I can see why you wanted one so bad. I am curious, is there any consensus on who the deity pictured is? I have not researched this particular coin, but its definitely cool and has a certain Punic feel to it. I wonder if the deity is Artemis (first guess) or Persephone/ Tanit (second guess). Cool coin!
Congrats! I've been quite attracted to this type from Obulco since first seeing it about a year ago. I think yours is a great example. Hopefully, the stars and coin come together for me some time.
thanks guys, z...there are quite a few on poor guys market now(ebay especially)if you have the cash, reasonably priced as well. AN..i don't know who she is, i don't think anyone really does. my guess was that she was some type of city goddess or something. reminds me of the castulo coins that have a male head that now one knows who it belongs to.
That would be interesting to know. I've only seen the heads on Iberian coins described as "male head" or "female head". If they were the heads of deities, my guess would be those Celt-Iberian ones worshipped in the Iberian peninsula.
Wow Chris what a winner, i'm jealous of all you guys getting new(old) coins, details are super, love it!!!!!
sweet => apparently you're a chubby-chaser? (baby's got back!!) Fantastic pick-up, my friend (awesome coin!!)
A very desirable coin Chris. Nice and chunky. Great weight. A purse full of these could drown a person.
Ive posted these before. They are my spanish lady coins. Im on jury duty so i dont have my attribution data. But the first lady is Tyche and cant remember second one.
jury duty! man! usually those coins with a bull have a male head, but yours does look feminine JBG, when you get a chance i'm interested in the attribution. and good luck with jury duty!
Fantastic coin, Chris! Two thumbs up1 I haven't explored the ancient Spanish series yet, not because I don't want to but you know...too many coins out there.
=> man, that chick knows her Phoenicians!! chrsmat => I don't know where that coin comes from, but "sproooinngg!!" ... it rocks
