I've had this coin fr a few weeks, but just remembered I hadn't posted it here on CT. This is the second Ram coin I purchased in as many months with another on the way. I wonder if there may be a pattern developing. CARIA, KASOLABA AR Hemiobol OBV: Head of ram right REV: Head of young male right Struck at Caria, Kasolaba, circa 420-400 BC .5g; 8mm Konuk, Kasolaba 10; SNG Keckman 883-902 The one I purchased the month prior is: TROAS KEBREN AR Obol OBVERSE: Archaic head of Apollo left REVERSE: Ram'S head left within an incuse square Struck at Troas, Kebren Circa 450 BC .56g, 7mm Rosen 534; Traité pl. xxxix, 25, SNG Ashmolean 1086 ex. Aegean Numismaics Post your coins showing a ram, goat, sheep, etc.
I will be honest. I know nothing at all about ancient coins. I wish I did because it sounds like a fascinating topic. But I look at that and ask myself how anyone can look at what to me looks like a lump of metal and make such an attribution.
Great coins. I'm attracted to these tiny coins too. It amazes me that they were able to put so much artistry into such a small package. I wish I still had 20 year old eyes though.
Nice tiny coin Bing. And yes there is a pattern, I predict you will buy another coin. I don't have any goats and sheep coins, but I do have a coin from Troas. Lol Sakata, all coins are really just a lump of metal.
As I said, I know nothing about ancients. I could recognize Nero on a coin and that is about all. You are talking here about an 8mm coin with no lettering. I can just about see the head of a ram, but a young male? No way. I guess what I am saying is that if I had found this while in Greece is probably would have not occur to me that it was a coin and how on earth can the attribution be so precise? I really am interested. Where does one start to identify and ancient coin like this?[/quote]
I just ordered this one a couple of days ago with boar and tunny fish/lion. Maybe we both caught the same bug Bing. Maybe I'll have a tunny fish sandwich for dinner. I can't help myself. You can tune a guitar but you can't tune a fish. Lol Kyzikos (Mysia), AR diobol, Boar / Lion, ca. 450-400 BC Obverse: Forepart of boar left, upturned tunny fish behind
Kebren (or Mytilene, or Klazomenai) 0.66g 8mm Ram / Gorgoneion Babelon, Traite #1990 Plate CLV #19 (as Klazomenai)
[/QUOTE] If I had come across this during my travels in Ancient Greece, I would have recognized it as a coin, but I would have to do the research to identify where it was struck. There are plenty of resources to do such research.
It just takes study and practice looking at coins. Style, fabric, weight, size, etc. all go into it and as you look at more ancients the devices appear more easily as well. One good way to learn is "window shopping" on sites like Vcoins, ACSearch, CNG, etc just to look at many types of coins.
It is a fact that there are some of the coins that are not fully attributed and some where experts disagree. Relatively few coins wrote out the city name and assignments to locations has been based on a number of different factors. Every so often someone will find a hoard that suggests we review old attributions but these things have been under study for several hundred years so most are probably close. Studying ancient coins is a complex undertaking with millions of opportunities to learn and seek out errors in the standard references. Lets also remember that we don't even know where some of the towns that made coins were located. Not all survived the last 2000 years as well as a few of their coins did.