most research-provoking coin of 2016

This is one I puzzled over for a bit. Take a close look at the obverse and see the two heads looking left and right. I of course knew it was an overstrike, it took a bit of looking to match the two coins. Italy, Syracuse S 1211.

 

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Here's another double struck. This tet has not been cataloged.

 

Struck in Tyre, this Seleucid coin has Apollo on obverse. But the counter mark there is relatively so big that I couldn't find a match.

 

That's a great coin stevex6, I am fascinated about it's origins as well, 2012 I visited a place in Sicily called the Valley of the Temples (see pic below) and they were built only about a century before those coins were produced in [/ATTACH] the ancient city of Akragras. And that lovely couple is myself and partner Sharon, I always like to have a pic taken in front of large diameter columns as it makes you look thinner (I hope). and below my Akragas Ae Hemilitron circa 400BC, 15.5gm, HGC 2, 136.

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-40835

From Syria, Apamea, not Tyre. The countermark might be Phoenician.

 

Sweet coins everyone!

By far, the coin that has intrigued me the most is this:



It's a bronze Shekel of Jerusalem. There are very few of these around and they remain a bit of a mystery.

David Hendin wrote an article about it in 1992, but there hasn't been much info on them since.

Erin

 

@NM. You're right. It's from Apamea. The counter mark might have been struck in Tyre. The coin shown on Forum Ancient Coins has Dionysus on obverse and not Apollo like mine. Do you know any similar coin that has Apollo on obverse and Thyrsos on reverse? Is this counter mark listed or published?

 

That is just my description that says Dionysius which I presumably copied from the related references. It could be either, but our coins definitely match, whether Apollo or Dionysius. Wouldn't you agree?

 

Yes I agree. I was just wondering whether my coin is listed or published the way it is. I mean Apollo/Thyrsos -Apamaea along with the unusual counter mark ?

 

Research... I FAILED, but @ancientcoinguru helped me and we came up with this:

Several months ago I attended a coin show in Raleigh, NC. The dealer said it was a Janus head. He had NO CLUE as there were none this small (it is 5.3g / 19mm)... I snatched it up for $30 thinking nothing to lose.

19mm, 5.3g

I spoke with @ancientcoinguru and we noodled through it. Actually ACG NAILED it! I was going down rabbit holes chasing Italia coinage, and she was going after the Sicily issues. We concluded:

(I later purchased low cost versions of the coins so that I could verify)

"WOW, that may be it... little dolphin, Prow interference, but the trident struts would parallel the prow, so hazy, but not destroy the overstrike... Would the Hieron II be around 5g? 19mm (shows AE24 in attribute...)
YES>>>
A) Sicily, Syracuse, Hieron II, AE 19 mm., 5.72g, head of Poseidon left, rev. IEP-ÙNOÓ, trident flanked by dolphins, Ó[?] below (SNG Morcom 828 var.), dark green patina.
Obv. Diademed head of Poseidon left.
Rev. IEPΩNOΣ, Ornamented trident head flanked by two dolphins; below, N.



B) Anonymous.AE-Sextans, 5.21 g. Sicily, 211-208 BC.
Head of Mercury right wearing winged petasos; • • above. Rev. Prow of galley right; grain ear above, IC before, ROMA below.
Crawford 69/6b; Sydenham 310d; BMCRR 280.
Brown patina. EF. Surely one of the finest known specimen

That would work...

SOoooooo.....
1) Crawford 69/6 Sextans... ROMA below, Corn ear above 211-208 BCE;

2) overstruck:

3) Hieron II AE Trident 275-215 BCE;

4) Siege of Syracuse 214-212

5) 19mm / 5.3g would fit for both coins

Timing perfect

@red_spork and I concluded this was a fascinating time in Roman History... 2nd Punic War, Siege of Syracuse, overstrikes of coinage... it was a busy time!

 

VERY CURIOUS: So, why was a Vespasian countermarked as Vespasian?

 

It's a mint error. Kevin Butcher wrote about a similar Vespasian denarius countermarked with the same stamp.

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/numismatics/entry/a_countermarked_denarius/

 

So, everyone in this thread is posting rare, obscure, strange, unusual coins. I'm going to take a completely different approach to this question, given the extreme newness I have to the ancient coin field. As many of you may know, I started becoming interested in ancient coinage within the past year or two. Many of you advised me to just jump in and buy a few, and get my feet wet. I'm no spring chicken, and I've been in the hobby (focused on US coinage) for a very long time - so I knew that I wanted to approach this from a base of knowledge (and with an understanding of eye appeal, grading, etc., that most newbs don't have). Well, I made a couple of ancient purchases this year, and they spurred me to read even more and learn as much as I could about the ancient coin world. It isn't any specific, groundbreaking research I've done - but I've read and learned quite a bit of information about ancient coins. This is one of 2 ancient coins that I purchased this year, and which aided in my efforts:

 

Gorgeous!!

 

Love the toning and detail @physics-fan3.14

 

Superb Coin! I love the toning on the reverse.

 

A wonderful coin!

 

My most research inducing coin is similar to what @Alegandron posted - not a rare or expensive one by any means but an interesting type nonetheless, a Roman Republic sextans overstruck on a Syracusan Poseidon/trident bronze, probably minted as either Roman military camp money(I.e. for wine and such) or just as a way to use the local small change for propaganda purposes with minimal work in the years following the Siege of Syracuse.

 

great coin, red_spork

 

Such a cool coin.