Book on the Coins of Marathos – Free Online!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Jasper Burns, Jun 7, 2026.

  1. philologus_1

    philologus_1 Supporter! Supporter

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  3. David@PCC

    David@PCC Well-Known Member

    I probably need Duyrat. Above I see mem, ayin, gimel. Looking at this coin again today I found a typo in HGC10. Year 88 and 89 are off by one year.
    Screenshot_20260609_211746_Gallery.jpg
     
  4. philologus_1

    philologus_1 Supporter! Supporter

    Last edited: Jun 10, 2026
  5. philologus_1

    philologus_1 Supporter! Supporter

    @David@PCC Duyrat shows 10 specimens of CY 87, they are listed on his page 32 as #252-261. Below is that list. (I did the yellow highlighting.)
    upload_2026-6-10_20-20-28.png

    Only 4 are displayed in his plates. The PDF image quality is poor, but...
    upload_2026-6-10_20-25-57.png
     
  6. David@PCC

    David@PCC Well-Known Member

    Inner left possibilities are Aleph, yod, and mem.
    marathos-alphabet-11.jpg
     
  7. David@PCC

    David@PCC Well-Known Member

    Comparing it to this specimen it's an Aleph. Also happens to be a double die match.
    8512509.jpg
    g068.jpg
     
  8. philologus_1

    philologus_1 Supporter! Supporter

    Aleph indeed -- nice! And congrats on spotting a double-die match -- that's always a fun find!

    I have learned much about this coin series because of this thread. :)

    But there is still more to learn. What was the purpose of these inner-left Phoenican letters? Control marks perhaps?
     
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  9. David@PCC

    David@PCC Well-Known Member

    I think it's safe to assume they are mint/control marks. But there appears to be two on this particular series. One between the date and standing figure, and one as the last character on the inscription. All of them have mem, resh, and taw in the right field meaning Armit = Marathos. The the 4th character can vary, which on mine is Beth.
     
  10. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    Motivated by @Jasper Burns book - thank you so much for making it available - and by this thread, I bought 3 coins from Marathos at mrbcoins. Have to say i didn't know about Marathos before.

    Pictures courtesy of marc Breitsprecher at mrbcoins:

    According to the information that came with the coin:

    Phoenicia, Marathos, dated Year 72 = 105 – 155/154 BC
    AE 23, 7.98 g
    HGC 10 193; DCA 83; Duyrat 84-91
    Correction according to what I found: dated Year 73 = 187 / 186 BC and
    HGC 10 193; DCA 83; Duyrat (Série 4, "Les ateliers monétaires de Phénicie du Nord à l'époque hellénistique", p. 26) 91

    Ob.: Veiled and draped bust of female (Berenike II) to r. Border of dots.
    Rev.: Marathos standing to l., holding aphlaston in r. hand and resting l. elbow on short column. Marathenian (Aradian) era date year 73 at left upwards, in inner left: mintmarks aleph (´) and nun (N) between date and Marathos, perhaps a moneyer’s mark. Amrit, the Phoenician name for Marathos, in r. field: mêm (M), resh (R), taw (T) in r. field. Border of dots.

    upload_2026-9-27_18-57-6.png


    and this one is very similar; only the date is different. On the old envelope from the Phil Peck (Morris) Collection that came with the coin, the date is 157 / 156 BC
    Correction: dated era year 106 = 154 / 153 BC
    Attribution is HGC 10 193; Duyrat Série 4 ("Les ateliers monétaires de Phénicie du Nord à l'époque hellénistique", p. 28) 151 – 157; BMC p. 121 No.12 Pl.XV 6; DCA2 798

    Rev.: Marathos standing to l., holding aphlaston in r. hand and resting l. elbow on short column. Marathenian (Aradian) era date year 106 at left upwards, in inner left: mintmarks ayin (`), gimel (G) and lamedh (L) between date and Marathos, perhaps a moneyer’s mark. Amrit, the Phoenician name for Marathos, in r. field: mêm (M), resh (R), and taw (T). Border of dots.
    upload_2026-9-27_19-2-35.png

    Haven't been able to find the Duyrat number for this one because this link doesn't work anymore:
    https://bnf.hal.science/hal-0437684...monétaires de Phénicie du Nord à l'ép.pdf

    will try to find the publication elsewhere.
    Found it :) and corrected

    Haven't finished checking the attribution of the third one; it is this coin:
    upload_2026-9-27_19-6-16.png
    SNG Copenhagen 171 (type)
    Date: 112-111 BC
    Ob.: Laureate head of Zeus right
    Rev.: Filleted double cornucopiae
    21.95 mm, 6.23 g
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2026 at 5:01 PM
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  11. Homer2

    Homer2 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for all of the research and time spent writing these books. I downloaded a few and then popped over to Amazon from your site and ordered the Roman Sestertius color version as well. Looking forward to learning more about the Marathos coins.
     
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  12. Jasper Burns

    Jasper Burns Active Member

    Thanks for your kind message and your purchase of the sestertius book. Hope you'll enjoy both books! Best, Jasper
     
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