Ionia, Ephesus Tetradrachm - Bee & forepart of stag - BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Click this image for a real BUZZ:

IONIA, Ephesus
AR Tetradrachm
4th Century B.C.
14.64 gram, 24 mm
Obv: Bee with straight wings
E to left and Φ to right.
Rev: Forepart of stag r. looking l.
with palm tree to left.
ΠАPθENIOΣ to right.
Grade: EF toned with great strike.
Other: E-Φ Bee purchased in an NGC slab
without detailed attribution. Parthenios may
be 350-360 B.C. From private sale 7/17.
Ionia is present day Western Turkey.

Back in the day, there was no processed sugar or little packs of artificial sweetener. If you wanted something sweet, the bee’s honey could make things more palatable. Also, the bee population helped pollinate crops so that people had something to eat. Bees were very important in ancient times just as they are today.

Please say hello to my new bee coin & post some bees.

 

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The bee arrived in an NGC slab without much detailed information:

I’ve figured that the text reads ΠАPθENIOΣ (Parthenios). There is a similar Parthenios coin on Wildwinds that dates the coin to 360-350 B.C. The Wildwinds listing is Traite 1883, 84. Can any of you folk confirm this date range for my new coin? It would certainly be nice to amend my coin label with a more accurate date & maybe some reference data.

 

Thats a really nice example!

 

Thats one Tet I would like next to own next to a Athens owl, nice one!

 

very nice and detailed! i've this smaller bronze bee/critter coin

 

I love bee coins and yours is a beautiful example. Congrats!

 

Congrats Collect89 thats a beauty.



Dont own coins with bees, only an antique honey pot from Bohemia

 

Still no bees in my collection...but yours is superb!!!

 

That is a really nice example!

The Bee is on my list.

 

@Collect89 VERY nice Bee! Super coin.


Iona-Ephesos AR Obol Bee - opposing stag heads 340 BCE Seaby


Iona-Ephesos AR Hemi-Drachm-TriObol Bee - Incuse Sq TIMESIANAX 335-320 BCE Seaby 4368

 

I'd love picking one of these up some day and would be really happy with one as nice as yours.

I've always thought it interesting that they chose to depict the full stag on the drachm but only the forepart on the tetradrachm. The effect of seeing just half the animal but on a large flan has always made it seem more impressive to me. That bee is great too .

IONIA, Ephesos
AR Drachm. 4.17g, 17.8mm. IONIA, Ephesos, circa 202 - 162 BC, Ekatokles as magistrate. Kinns, The Attic Weight Drachms of Ephesos, NC 1999, S.86 (Kinns 2.16?); SNG von Aulock 7826. O: Bee between E-Φ. R: Stag standing right, in front of palm tree, EKATOKΛHΣ to right.

 

That Zumbly drachm is way-nice. Thanks to everyone for the kind feedback. We have a great group here at CT.


After posting my last cow & dolphin surfer-cow coin I’d been craving beef and bumblebee tuna. I’d also been drinking beer and playing Bee Gees music. Now that I’ve got my bee coin, my mind is no longer cluttered with all these buzzing thoughts.


Here is the revised label for this beeautiful bee. I’m going with 360-350 BC based upon Wildwind’s listing for ΠАPθENIOΣ.


IONIA, Ephesus
AR Tetradrachm
360-350 B.C.
14.64 gram, 24 mm
Obv: Bee with straight wings
E to left and Φ to right.
Rev: Forepart of stag r. looking l.
with palm tree to left.
ΠАPθENIOΣ to right.
Grade: EF toned with great strike.
Other: E-Φ Bee purchased in an
NGC slab Ch EF 5/5, 2/5.
Similar to Traite 1883.84.
Magistrate Parthenios may be 350
-360 B.C. Private sale 7/7/17.
Ionia is present day Western Turkey.

 

wow.. a coin Mikey don't have..yet!^^ (so many coins, so little time)

 

Yep.... The more I browse auctions and do a little research, the more aware I become that there so many cool and interesting coins I never imagined existed. And to think I once deluded myself into thinking I was 'familiar' with ancient coins LOL

 

i hear ya MZ

 

Very nice sharp coin: it looks as if the bee is about to fly away !

 

I have a few bees in my newbie ancient collection. I have a modest budget for this hobby (as I have numerous other hobbies that demand expenses), so all are very low grade compared to most of the other members.

I'm using the attribution of the person that sold each to me, so I can't claim these to be entirely accurate:




Ephesos, Ionia. ca 305-288 BC. Female head left,
wearing earring and necklace /
E-Φ, bee. BMC 68-70; SNG vA 1839
11 mm, 1.47 grams.



Ephesos, Ionia, 4th C. BC. Turreted female head / Bee with straight wings. BMC 68-70.
11 mm, 1.29 grams.



Phoenicia, Arados. Civic issue. ca. 172/1-111/10 B.C. AR drachm (17.82 mm, 3.61 g, 12 h). struck 162/1 B.C. Bee, in field to left, date: H [koppa] (= year 98, = 162/1 B.C.) to right, NT in monogram / [A]PAΔΙΩΝ , ethnic vertically downwards on right of stag standing right, palm-tree behind. HGC 10, 63; BMC 155; Duyrat 2782–822; DCA 774.

So....the third example looks very much like @zumbly 's example, with different lettering.

 

I keep coming back to your coin, so I thought I should take a moment and mention that it is a really nice example. Something about the quality of the dies, as well as the centering. The engraver had some skills going.

I usually only look at the Tetradrachms (like the OP) but this drachm is really appealing.