Got this last week. Excited to have gotten such an early piece in decent condition (at a decent price too)! Miletos, Ionia AR 1/12 stater. c 525 BC. Head of lion left / Star ornament within incuse square. Grose 8210, SNGvA 2081, SNG Cop 944v, BMC 186. http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sg/sg3533.t.html
Congrats on scoring your cool OP-example ... yah, I love these types Ummm, I have a few fairly sweet examples ... wanna see 'em? Ionia, Miletos, AE10 Ionia, Miletos, AR Hemidrachm Apollo & Lion Ionia, Miletos, AR Obol => Lions galore!!
I have a couple: Iona-Miletos Late6thC fine lion Iona-Miletos AR Obol Late6thC lion laying LEFT facing RIGHT
I get enjoyment out of the confusion caused by these little coins that come in a lion facing left with his head turned right and also facing right with his head facing left. This one is Lion protome (front half) facing right, head reverted and is centered so you can see those features. Alegandron's last coin is the opposite but just try to convince someone that his lion is not a rightie.
When you consider many of us (especially the generalists amongst us) start our collections in the pre-coin era, which can go as far back as 1,000 BCE, when there was proto-money of all sorts, and we continue through 1,500 CE or so (the end of the medieval era), and a geographical era spanning from North Africa to Northern Europe, and out east to the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and China, the variety is so great and overwhelming that you will never know even 10% of everything there is to know, and you will never be able to own every coin there is (not even close). U.S. numismatists have nothing on us. Their hobby is so repetitive. One can memorize every U.S. coin type and major varieties in a few months. With ancients, you'll never stop learning. There is just not enough time in a human life, nor enough money, for you to learn it all or have it all.
