It is Tuesday night, the first full day of "shelter in place" order, the late winter night sky is providing much needed rain, and the music of Schubert is playing in the background. What better time than to share a recent acquisition. This coin came by way of Vcoins. It is an Attica tetradrachm, an imitation (possibly Philistia judging from Athena's nose and lips), that has clearly resided in the ground for a considerable period time. This coin would not win any beauty contests. It is very dark, encrusted with horn silver, and there are two test cuts as well. What is interesting, perhaps even charming, is the presence of remnants of another coin fused to the obverse. Normally this would be something of a detriment, as most deposits of this nature are just blobs of numismatic detritus. However, with this example think one could see, with a little imagination the shape of a frog, an orange frog with a black stripe down the middle. Additionally, there appears to be a countermark on the reverse, a very shallow one. The countermark seems to be the head of a horse, perhaps part of a hippocamus or Pegasus? When I received the coin I noticed that it gave off a strong acrid odor indicative of plastic or resin It seems that some kind of lacquer was applied to the coin in the past, why I don't know. I soaked the coin in acetone for a half hour or so, and the lacquer (or whatever it was) dissolved. So the coin now the coin has somewhat clearer detail, the odor is gone, and Athena and the frog are doing well. Period: 449-404 BCE (possibly a bit later) Weight: 17.18 grams Grade: Fine or so
It is interesting to see an owl in the uncleaned state in which it came from the ground. Thanks for showing! If I were you, I'd leave it in that state.
A very interesting-looking coin! I didn't know that John Jencek was still around. He was the dealer from whom I bought my own Athens Owl tetradrachm (which I've posted here before) at the 2007 NYINC, for $325:
An enjoyable coin and and write-up - the encrustation does add interest as does your description. You bring to mind Homer's epic poem (true author debated), Batrachomymachia, and the god's intervention to save the frogs from vengeful mice and prevent the frogs demise. Although Athena is no frog-lover in the poem, "for their infirm minds no confines keep", she goes on longer about her lack of love for mice: “Pallas replied: O Father, never I Will aid the Mice in any misery. So many mischiefs by them I have found…” -Batrachomymachia Here's my Athena beset by frog:
Cool Athena and Frog, @robinjojo ! Nice writeup and mood setting with Schbert. My Athena and Frog... FROG Luceria AES Grave Anonymous 217-215 BCE Uncia 7.35g Frog- Corn Ear pellet retrograde L T-V 285 ATHENA Athens Owl Tetradrachma 17.2g, approx22x6.5mm Late Classical 393-300 BCE, Sear 2537, SNG Cop. 63
Thank you for that passage, and the image as well. I wonder what species that frog is a member of. My understanding is the brighter the color, the more poisonous for predators!
I am advancing in years and I have not looked at my back for a long time, so there just might be a stripe running down it. However, my snores at night have not yet changed to croaks, nor has my skin turned orange, but I could quickly remedy that with tanning lotion!
Welcome to the Ancients Forum @robinjojo ! Your coin has a lot of character and is beautiful because of it’s imperfections. The Japanese use the term wabi-sabi
I just want to expand on my view on cleaning coins, especially ancient coins. When I was young (a little bit of Jethro Tull) I began collecting Morgan dollars in the early 1980's. Back then the mania was centered on "proof-like" and frosty BU coins sold on a market that was heavily promoted. Around the middle of that decade I purchased my first ancient: a tetradrachm of Alexander III, Salamis mint. I no longer have that coin. It was part of a large part of my collection at that time that I sold to help my wife and I qualify for the down payment of our house. Over the years my focus quickly moved away from Morgans and towards world and ancient coins. Many of the coins that I have handled arrived in wonderful condition, indeed quite exceptional given their age. Others were often encrusted, corroded (in varying degrees), covered in grime, suffering from bronze disease or covered in pvc residue. I admit that I have committed errors attempting to clean ancients. Case in point. Almost 10 years ago I received a heavily encrusted Attica tetradrachm from a seller in the Middle East. It was obviously from a hoard, heavily covered in horn silver. After assessing the coin, I decided to work on the reverse where the horn silver was heaviest (the obverse was fine). So I began working on the reverse using naval jelly. I only leave this on for a few minutes, then remove and assess. After trying this approach a few times, the horn silver did not budge, as is often the case. So, I moved on to using Lime Away, a much more powerful solvent. It worked, too well! Much of the detail literally dissolved, leaving the reverse missing the olive leaves, crescent moon, much of the owl and ethnic. Why? Because silver, especially when stored unprotected in the ground will, over a long period alter into silver oxide. This alternation can be quite deep making the use of any harsh chemical very problematic, as such a chemical easily removes oxidized metal. Lesson learned: if you have a hoard coin, generally speaking, leave it alone. If there is dirt in pockets, soaking the coin in distilled water and using a wood toothpick to carefully dislodge the dirt, followed by a quick rinse in distilled water should do the trick. However, assessing the coin before any treatment is key. If a bronze coin seems porous and earthy in nature, even distilled water can be damaging. I had a sesteritus fall apart, especially on the reverse, after only a few minutes in a distilled water bath. The water infiltrated the porous area, causing large sections to literally fall off in the bath. Bummer! Lesson: if a bronze coin shows any signs of significant porosity, do not soak in water. That is experience that I have acquired over the years: When caring for these coins, which I view as part of our human heritage, there is a responsibility on the part of the current owner to assure that the coins in his or her possession are passed on to future generations in as original, unaltered condition as possible, and with as much documentation as can be provided. The two situations that I think required intervention, generally, are pvc residue and bronze disease (a tough cookie!). I use acetone to removed pvc residue. It does not affect any of the metal or oxidation, although some imbedded dirt might wash off. When using acetone, make sure it is in a well ventilated area, and not near any flame or source of combustion. Do not linger over the bath or breath in the fumes, and use gloves if possible. Also, make sure that the dish used is thoroughly washed to remove any residues. Bronze disease is a tough issue to deal with. I soak a coin in distilled water, sometimes adding alkali wash soda. Bronze disease is persistent, usually reoccurring even after treatment. Over the past year I've been working a a Byzantine follis of Justin II and Sophia for over a year. It came to me in a bulk lot of Byzantine bronzes and It had a nice desert patina, but bronze disease was also present on the reverse. I soaked the coin in the combination of distilled water and alkali wash soda. Over time that caused the desert patina to dissolve, as did most of the bronze disease on the reverse. The coin has a dark brown color which is quite acceptable. But the bronze disease returned. I knew it would grow over time, so I resorted to a more drastic approach: naval jelly. I applied the naval jelly with a toothpick specifically on the areas with bronzed disease. Fortunately this was only in three spots. I let it work for about 10 minutes, then wash the coin and examine. I repeated the process until all signs of bronze disease are gone (at least as far I could assess with a 10x loop). The down side is that the treated areas were now bear metal. I have been keeping the coin out for nearly a year for continued assessment. So far so good, and the exposed areas are darkening, but I think this patient will require ongoing monitoring. I also attempted to treat bronze disease on a drachm of Cleopatra VII, but it is so imbedded that it appears to be unstoppable.
Thank you. I've focused on the imitative Attica tetradrachms because of their wide variation as well, in a historical context, of their reflection of Athens' hegemony over the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region during the late 6th - 5th centuries BC. Her dominance economically and politically created rivals in Corinth, Thebes and Sparta, although it should also be mentioned that Sparta was more prone to cooperation than conflict with the Athenians, at least initially, according to Thucydides. The imitations continued after the defeat and occupation of Athens in 404 BC, continuing until the rise of Alexander III.
