This coin came to me attributed to Termessos Major, but I knew it was incorrect. My initial searches turned up nothing, so I sought help at FORVM. When a week went by with no responses, I realized I might be in a bit of trouble. However, tonight I finally came across ONE example of its type, Jacquier 139 Lot 148, describing the inscription as ΔIOΣ ΛAPAΣIOY, SNG Cop 666... Curtis Clay was kind enough to provide me with this quote, "Zeus at Tralles was called Larasios from a sanctuary in the neighbouring village of Larasa" (Head, Hist. Num., p. 659). I recently purchased Peter Thonemann's The Meander Valley, A Historical Geography from Antiquity to Byzantium, so I took it out, hoping to find some more clues about this coin, and much to my surprise, I found the EXACT description of the series and its context in the typology of Tralles. The earliest coinage of Tralles, Magnesia's neighbour to the east, dates to the late third or very early second century BC , at a period when Tralles still carried the Seleucid dynastic name of Seleucea (rapidly abandoned by the Trallians after the end of Seleucid rule in Asia Minor in 190 BC ). A small issue of bronze coinage, probably dating to the final years of Seleucid rule ( c . 200–190 BC ), depicts a right-facing laureate bust of Zeus on the obverse, and on the reverse, a left-facing zebu at the centre of a maeander circle. The same types of laureate Zeus and zebu in a maeander circle are found on another bronze issue of Seleucea-Tralles, with no city-ethnic and minted solely in the name of the city's major deity Zeus Larasius. It is very striking how similar the Seleucean reverse type is to the standard Magnesian reverse type at this period, which depicts a zebu butting to the left, also enclosed in a maeander circle; to all appearances the Trallians based their earliest bronze types on the coinage of their western neighbour. (pp.65-66) How often do you buy a random book, then a random coin, then find the exact description of the coin in the book? I should go buy a lottery ticket. At any rate, here is my example... Lydia, Tralles AE16, 3.6g, 1h; late 2nd- to 1st-centuries BC. Obv.: Laureate head of Zeus right. Rev.: ΔIOΣ ΛAPAΣIOY (Zeus Larasius); Zebu standing left, head turned facing. Reference: SNG Cop 666, extremely rare.
It looks like it was good that you knew something about the coin to be able to say the original ID was wrong. These are what I would call opportunities for collectors. Maybe not for financial gain, but for numismatic purposes. Congrats my friend.
Very cool bull addition (congrats on that baby) Hey JA, I tried finding an example (for it totally looks like one of my coin-types, right?) ... sadly, I couldn't find a fricken Zebu!! Oh, but do I get any credit for an Indian bull? (eh-heh-heh) => moooooooooooooooo unnnh ... I got nuthin' my friend
Cool find, JA! My only Zebu... BAKTRIA, Greco Batrian Kingdom Apollodotos I AR Drachm 1.63g, 15.3mm x 14.8mm Taxila mint, circa 174-165 BC SNG Cop 337 O: BASILEWS APOLLODOTOU SWTHROS, Elephant standing right; monogram below. R: Karosthi legend (Ma-ha-ra-ja-sa A-pa-la-da-ta-sa Tra-da-ta-sa, 'of King Apollodotos, the Saviour') around Zebu standing right; monogram below.
I believe that is in fact a zebu. At least it gets described as such, as it does on various Near-Eastern issues like the one Z posted. It's got the fatty hump on the shoulders, which only the zebu has.
=> so is a Zebu a Brahma bull? (for they have the hump as well) Oh, and I have an example of a Brahma bull ... ummm, you're gonna turn on me and find a rule in the ol' animal handbook, aren't ya?
Right, lol. Even worse, I have a hymnal with #666 in it - why didn't they just skip that number, like buildings that skip a 13th floor?
JA, this might have been a much easier task if you had Séverin Icard's, Identifications des monnaies. It lists legends by legend break. Absolutely indispensable for identifying Greek and RPC that you don't immediately recognize. The introduction is French, but the text is of course all Greek or Latin legends, so it shouldn't be much of a pain.
i have a herd of zebu's, here are the last two i purchased...JA will has one of these as well if i remember correct. they are nagas of narwar (ancient india) full and half kakini, 4th century AD. side by side.. obvious which is the full and half when seen from the edge... it's cool to see a zebu on a greek (indead of indo-greek) coin....very neat JA.
Man, I saw beau-coup Brahmas on honeymoon in Costa Rica (Guanacaste area). We had Black Angus (the one looking over his rump) when I was growing up, and only one Brahma any where around... Love the brands in this pic: double trident or reversed Euros...
Wow I have a lot of Bull to add but I am currently away from my photos. I will add some to this thread ASAP. This is awesome.
