I won this cool little Greek bronze awhile ago, but only just got around to photographing it recently. I was attracted to it because the reverse's clear depiction of a fox - bushy tail, pointy ears and all. It's an animal I always thought was curiously underrepresented on ancient coins, and this rare type was one that I didn't even know existed, from a city I'd never heard of before. Needless to say, I really wanted it. The coin was struck in Alopekonessos, which in Greek literally means "fox island." Alopekonessos was an Aeolian colony located on the north-western coast of the Thracian Chersonese, and was so named after a tradition that held that an oracle had directed the colonists to settle at a spot where they first encountered a fox and her cub. While foxes were common in ancient Greece and Italy, they appear to have held a special significance for the tribes of Thrace. Bendis, the Thracian goddess of the hunt, was typically shown wearing a fox-skin cap (alopekis), and Herodotus noted that similar caps were worn by Thracian soldiers. For a time, the city of Alopekonessos was a possession of Athens, though the town seemingly did not impress Demosthenes, the great Athenian orator and statesman who visited it around 359 BC, while he was serving as a trierarch (commanding officer of a trireme), and who reported that it was "a place swarming with robbers and pirates." Alas, it is not recorded if Demosthenes had anything to say about the foxes. If you have any fox coins, or any fun new additions to your animal menagerie, please feel free to share 'em! THRACE, Alopekonnesos AE13. 2.33g, 13.5mm. THRACE, Alopekonnesos, circa 3rd-2nd centuries BC. HGC 3.2, 1307; Yarkin 59. O: Helmeted head of Athena to right. R: ΑΛΩ-ΠΕΚΟΝ, Fox standing to right; ear of grain before. Notes: Very Rare. Ex Thrax Collection
That is a charming coin, zumbly. And the colors are spectacular in a subtle way. I don't have very many ancient animals (Gallienus, mostly), but I will re-share my recent Macedonian "hover goats" (as TIF refers to them) - this was one of those coins that show up in the mail and are much, much more impressive in hand than I was expecting. Macedonia Kingdom Æ 21 Tetrachalkon Philip V (c. 221-179 B.C.) Uncertain Macedonia mint Head of Herakles right, wearing lionskin / Two goats recumbent r.; BA above, Φ below, crescent & grain ear lower right field. Mamroth b14c; SNG AB 1090. (8.45 grams / 20 x 21 mm)
Thanks, Mike. I like your hover goats and the type in general, so, naturally, I picked up Beastmaster Stevex6's when he put them up for adoption. Apart from the goats, I do believe he also liked the symbol below the goats on the reverse, which looks rather less like a phi than something else.
Har har! I'm moving a bit slow this morning, so it took me a moment...I was going to blather on about how the Phi is sometimes described as a "torch" on Alexander-type drachms...but I got it. Slowly, but surely, I got it. Nice "hover goats" by the way.
That one said "BUY ME!" Foxy coin, Z! I still suffer from foxlessness and haven't even added to the menagerie lately. Time to change that, I think!
That was actually very nearly the title of my thread! Thanks for saving me the trouble (and embarrassment) of posting the video.
Zero foxes to give. But 2 coins above I have purchased in the last couple months! KINGS OF MACEDON, Philip V 221-179 BCE Tetrachalkon (AE 22 mm, 8.37 gm, 12 h), struck circa after 186 Obv: Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress Rev: BA / Φ Two goats recumbent right; below, grain ear Ref: Mamroth, Bronzemünzen 14c. SNG Alpha Bank 1090. SNG Copenhagen 1250. CARIA, Kasolaba. About 420-400 BC. AR Hemiobol (5 mm, 0.56g, 3h). Head of ram left / Youthful male head right. Konuk, Kasolaba 5; SNG Keckman 869. nearly very fine:
Awesome coin @zumbly! Foxes are not that often seen on coins. I also love the patina, I noticed that mainly coins from Thrace are colored green and sometimes also reddish, in other areas these colors are not so common, or is it just me noticing it? I don't have any recent coins from Thrace or with a fury animal. Well, only one new coin, but not that special. Thrace, Maroneia. Æ bronze coin. (circa 150-100 B.C.) Obverse: Horse prancing right; monogram below. Reverse: ΜΑΡ ΩΝΙ ΤΩΝ. Grape vine within linear square; monogram below. Reference: SNG Copenhagen 630; 2.86g; 14mm
Thanks for the comments and contributions, all! @Pavlos, I'm not sure if the green/red patinas are more common for Thracian coins - I do see a lot in these colours from Italy and Sicily as well - but there were many coins that were green amongst the two hundred or so Thracian bronzes of this specialist collection ("Thrax Collection") where mine came from. Since we seem to be lacking foxes in this thread, here's a RR denarius of L. Papius that has as a reverse control symbol an animal sometimes referred to as a fox. I've also seen it described as a dog, or an ichneumon (Egyptian mongoose). ROMAN REPUBLIC AR Serrate Denarius. 3.92g, 18.8mm. Rome mint, 79 BC. Crawford 384/1, pl. LXVII, symbols 122; Sydenham 773. O: Head of Juno Sospita right; behind, coiled snake. R: Griffin leaping right; below, animal with raised tail (fox, ichneumon, or dog) crouched right; L • PAPI in exergue. Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection
Oh wow, what a cool fox coin @zumbly ! Nice looking patina and looks like it's good and thick for its size as well.
