My latest ancient purchase

As some may know, I am mainly a pre-1933 us gold collector (mainly $2 1/2 Indians), but have been picking up a few ancients as I find ones I like that I can afford. This one came in the mail today. I think it is my 4th ancient now. Can anyone tell me any more about it?

 

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Nice coin. I don't own any like it, but I think the full attribution might be:

Parium, Mysia, AR hemidrachm. 400-300 BC. Head of gorgoneion facing / PA-RI above and beneath bull standing left, head turned right, bunch of grapes below. BMC 24.

 

Great addition!

 

Additional information:

http://www.snible.org/coins/parion.html

 

Beautiful!

 

You can also take a look at the example on wildwinds:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/mysia/parion/t.html

 

Parion was a trade center with many surviving coins of this small size and only moderately pure silver. Yours could be marked down for the poor centering of the Gorgon head but it seems nice otherwise. Everything you could want to know is in the link posted by TIF. It even suggest a value of $50-90 which I consider reasonable. Mine is a low end version with more porosity. Specialists will separate them into relative date groups by style but I'm not into these to that point so can be of no help. They are very common in the hobby which is appropriate for a coin that was made and spent heavily in its day.

I like the type as an example of how the Greeks saw fit to pose the cow so it would fit nicely on the round coin.

 

Nice looking coin. Congrats.

 

That's one of the good NGC slabs for ancients (so I'm told). And your piece is very cool.

 

Congrats on a terrific coin...and I especially like Doug's comment about posing the cow to fit on the coin. It adds a little special interest in that particular example.

Hmm, that must be a 'nice' gorgon, especially when compared to Doug's 'fiercer' looking post. My only 'gorgon' example is of another type entirely:

 

I thought mine looked fairly happy, but had some fangs! Anyone know why some ngc labels have strike/surface info, and mine does not? Different era holders maybe?

 

No, I believe there's a grader, at NGC, who gives a generic grade to ancients.

 

It's their lower-tier submission pricing, ("Bulk" or "Economy" grading). The coins aren't given as thorough a label; no weight, no rating for strike or surface, just bare-bones info at a discounted slab price.

NGC's ancient coin grading services are copied below, from their website:


GRADING SUBMISSIONS

SERVICE COLLECTOR FEE DESCRIPTION TURNAROUND
Turnaround times are approximate and not guaranteed. Estimated turnaround begins on the day coins are received by NGC. An $8 handling fee per invoice applies to all submissions in addition to the grading tiers below.

Bulk $20 Minimum 50 coins of similar type. Coins valued up to $300 receive a basic description & net grade. Esoteric and / or high-relief types may be bumped to a higher tier. 20 working days
Economy $25 Coins valued up to $300 receive a basic description & net grade. Esoteric and / or high-relief types may be bumped to a higher tier. 20 working days
Standard $40 Coins valued up to $3,000. Coins receive full attribution, are weighed, and are analyzed for grade, strike, surface and style. 15 working days
Express $75 Coins valued up to $10,000. Coins receive full attribution, are weighed, and are analyzed for grade, strike, surface and style. 5 working days
Rarities $200 Coins valued from $10,000 to $25,000. Coins receive full attribution, are weighed, and are analyzed for grade, strike, surface and style. 5 working days
Ultra Rarities 1% of value Coins valued over $25,000. Coins receive full attribution, are weighed, and are analyzed for grade, strike, surface and style. 5 working days

At the sole discretion of NGC Ancients, coins submitted in standard or higher tiers that are not eligible for encapsulation because of size, fragility, physical characteristics, etc. will be provided with a laminated Photo Certificate providing label information and high quality images of the coin’s obverse and reverse in lieu of encapsulation at the regular tier price.

 

Awesome info, thanks!

 

MUCH nicer than mine...and...sniff...mine is a Thracian copy.

 

That's an ancient that I wouldn't mind having. Nice pick-up!

 

Wait...ancients that you would mind having?

 

Yes, you heard me correctly. Hope you were sitting down at that time.

 

I'm not sure if Aidan meant it this way but all of the facing gorgon coins and several other hemidrachms of the region have been faked and buying one in a slab may afford some protection as long as the slabber is competent. In general, NGC is but they are the only ones that slab coins that I can say anything nice about. If someone is asking $20 to $250 for an opinion, I'd like to think they know more than I do. One of the two coins below is a fake. Can you tell which?

 

I'm picking the left because it looks like it might have a seam.