AE23 weight not taken yet Some of you know how much I hate cell phone photos but I'm sending this from 700 miles west of my coin photo rig. It is one of the 11 coins bought yesterday in a shop in Dayton, Ohio. Perhaps someone will take pity on me and help with an ID. Please do notice that ID in this case is both the undertype and the type used to overstrike. The obverse photo is unsharp on the right where there is a small figure holding a round shield and the scalloped effect obverse left is the back of the head of the right facing undertype. The reverse shows remnants of a thunderbolt at lower left also from the undertype. This coin was with several Byzantine overstrikes and a lot of absolute junk in a plastic bag where they had resided for years according to the shop owner. I bought 11 coins leaving perhaps 300 or so not worth the $12 each price. This one strikes me as worth $12 but the Byzantines may not be unless I can decipher them. All this will have to wait for me to get home to books and camera-rig suitable for coins. I did get some good landscape photos but had no idea I needed to travel with a coin rig. Is the cell better than nothing?
Just a quick reply about the photos. The reverse photo is pretty darn good and clear while the obverse is somewhat blurry. I wish I could get cell phone pics half as decent. I'll check on the ID when I get back if it hasn't already been ID'ed.
http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2304870 looks close SICILY. Syracuse. Hiketas II (287-278 BC). Ae. Obv: ΔΙΟΣ ΕΛΛANIOY. Laureate head of Zeus left. Rev: ΣYΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ. Eagle standing left on thunderbolt. SNG München 1313. Condition: Near extremely fine. Weight: 9.91 g. Diameter: 23 mm.
Perhaps this, with statue of Pallas Athene symbol behind the head: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=159875 Undertype looks likely to be like this one: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=102356
that's a pretty darn cool overstuck coin, 12 bucks of cool for sure. what's up with the undulating pattern between 9 and 12 o'clock on the obverse?
The undulating pattern is the top of Artemis' head from the undertype flattened by the second strike. I'm still unclear on the letters on the reverse
Great new addition, Doug (congrats!!) => I love the cool overstrike thunderbolt beside the eagle (very cool) I have one too ... but no sweet overstrike on my example (*sigh*) Syracuse Hicetas, AE22 288-279 BC Zeus & Eagle on Thunderbolt Oh, and no => those greenies are hard and crunchy, not soft-n-flaky (thank God)
The question is whether practice would make me like phone pix better but when I get home I'll definitely reshoot with the camera.
ooowww, I love the good ol' "in-hand" look ... sweet photo, Mentor (I smell a new photo-article in the making!!?)
WOW !! a great find for that price.... and an incredible improvement in cell phone photos in just a few minutes...I guess it's just a gift.
When you buy a group of coins for $120 plus tax and they average out to $12, you don't really get to say you got a deal for the coin at $12 unless all the rest of the group was worth that much. I guarantee that some of you would not be interested in several of the coins in the group for that price so you might ask if you would pay $120 for the one or $60 for the best two or $60 for one and $30 for two others. Groups like this is how I get many coins that I'd like to sell now but the question is who wants them. I'm very happy with my 11 new coins but only 6 or 7 will get into my collection. Similarly with phones, I'd rather not have had to buy all the features it has, including the camera, but to get the ones you want you have to pay for ones you will never use. It came in handy for this thread giving me something to do while in Indiana. That does not mean I'll shot the other coins with it when I get home.
Looking at my coin I thought was the undertype, I am less certain of the ID. the details of the texture on the thunderbolt and the shape of the head curls is less a match than I hoped and may need more research. There is obviouly variation in dies for the undertype and the quivver shows clearly on the new coin so I sill believe in the ID but it is always good to watch for new evidence.
I was checking through my images and, although I have plenty of thunderbolts, none are like this one. Yet I've seen this type posted here on CT before.
Varieties of SNG ANS 708 do exist with bolts that are drawn with dotted lines. The flutes on yours are simply flattened by the overstrike. I agree with Zumbly's attribution of both the coin and undertype.
Any Sicilian coin for $12 is well worth it. Even better with the amount of detail and odd flan in left field.
I now discover that the undertype on my coin is not the Agathokles as shown above (Sear 1200) but the similar (and less common) Sear 1207 from the 'Democracy, 289-288' period: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1742609 You can see the sigma above the thunderbolt.
