Here comes the sun.. New addition in lockdown

Well, I think I lasted a month without buying a coin...

I avoided buying anything but PPE online, mostly due to the fact that I had my salary reduced and to avoid unnecessary visits from the postman, but in the end I decided to get another coin. I had the habit of adding in my favourites folder coins I was interested in, only to see them being sold soon after.

The following was reasonably priced, and it has a nice depiction of the God Helios with crisp details.





Rhodes Didrachm (Caria, Rhodes)
Silver, about 250BC
6.61 gr

I got it from within the UK, so it arrived only a day after I bought it!

Show me your sunny coins!

 

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That's a very nice example.

 

My avatar, I also got it in the UK.



Rhodes
Coin: EF Silver Drachm
- Radiate head of Helios right
ΑΝΑΞΙΔΟΤΟΣ P O - Rose with bud, snake on omphalos in left field
Mint: (190-170 BC)
Wt./Size/Axis: 2.55g / 15mm / -
References:

• Jenkins 1989, 15
• HGC 6, 1457
• BMC 247

 

Lovely!

 

Great coins, all!

 

Here's my Rhodes tet to add to the mix. It's a nice example, from Roma's E-Sale 64, lot 375, with a small mark/flan flaw on the left cheek.

Rhodos, Rhodes AR Tetradrachm. Circa 229-205 BC. Ameinias, magistrate. Radiate head of Helios facing slightly right / Rose with bud to right; POΔIΩN above, prow to left, AMEIN-IAΣ flanking stem. Ashton 212; HGC 6, 1432; SNG Keckman 542; Karl 484. 13.33g, 24mm, 11h.

Good Very Fine

 

Nice coins @Only a Poor Old Man, @robinjojo, @Bing and @Pishpash. Here's a sunny Helios, on a drachm of the Carian Islands, one of several coins I've picked up from the time period of the First Mithridatic War and Sulla.

Islands off Caria, Rhodes, circa 88-84 BC, AR Drachm, ‘Plinthophoric’ coinage, Euphanes, magistrate
Obv: Radiate head of Helios right
Rev: EYΦANHΣ above, Ρ / Ο on either side of rose with bud to left; below to right, Isis crown; all within shallow square incuse
Ref: Jenkins, Rhodian, Group E, 240; HGC 6, 1461

 

That’s a beauty, great new addition.


Rhodes, circa 88-84 BC, AR Drachm (16 mm, 2.58 g), 'Plinthophoric' coinage, Maes, magistrate. Radiate head of Helios to right. Rev. ΜΑΗΣ / P - O Rose with bud to left; to right, headdress of Isis; all within incuse square.

 

..dandy!

 

Very nice Didrachm!
@robinjojo that is a great looking obverse on your tetradrachm, and you paid a very good price for it as well.

My last Rhodos coin:


ISLANDS OFF CARIA, Rhodos. Rhodes. Circa 88-84 BC. Drachm (Silver, 16 mm, 2.08 g, 11 h), 'Plinthophoric' coinage, Maes, magistrate. Radiate head of Helios to right. Rev. ΜΑΗΣ / P - O Rose with bud to left; to right, headdress of Isis; all within incuse square. HGC 6, 1461. Jenkins, Rhodian, Group E, 246. SNG Keckman 686.

 

Nice coins- with much clearer details than my example below.

I recently had "Helios" on my mind, posting a comparison of his famous statue, the Colossus of Rhodes with the Colossus of Apollonia in @Claudius 11's "Me and the Wife" thread which featured coins from Apollonia Pontica:

https://www.cointalk.com/posts/4409951/

My only Rhodes coin with Helios was acquired close to when I was just beginning my ancient coin collection. It's a coin that I've since had some concerns about with regard to its authenticity, and I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on that. Are the surface issues due to pitting and/or porosity or is there evidence of casting bubbles? Many are not perfectly round. The edge shows no seam (took a photo below, but it is not very clear). The "bow-in-quiver" type (item in left field on the reverse) does not appear to be very common (I found only two other examples when trying to identify it). Not sure if that is a retrograde "P" on the left side of the rose stem or not. The "O" on the other side is clear. The diameter and weight seem to be in an acceptable range for a hemidrachm.




Islands off Caria. Rhodos. ΓΟΡΓΟΣ (Gorgos), magistrate circa 304-189 BC.
AR Hemidrachm. Head of Helios facing. / Rose with O to right of stem (and (Retrograde P to left?), ΓOPΓOΣ above, bow-in-quiver in left field. 14.5 mm. 1.99 g.



Comments from your assessments are invited/welcomed.

 

To my untrained eye, it looks like extensive corrosion to me rather than casting bubbles. But there are a lot more experienced collectors/experts in this forum to give you a more precise assesment.

I see that Plinthophoric coins are quite popular with members. A very nice one popped in ma-shops very recently and i was eyeing it, but decided to go with the didrachm instead. Perhaps some other member may find it interesting.

Here is the link to it (not my coin/shop):
https://www.ma-shops.co.uk/cdma/item.php?id=861428

 

“Show me your sunny coins”

Here is a Sunny Toilet Goddess...


Roman Republic
L. Mussidius Longus, 42 BCE
AR denarius, Rome mint.
Obv: Radiate and draped bust of Sol facing
Rev: Shrine of Venus Cloacina - Goddess of the Sewers: Circular platform surmounted by two statues of the goddess, each resting right hand on cippus, the platform inscribed CLOAC and ornamented with trellis-pattern balustrade, flight of steps and portico on left; L • MVSSIDIVS • LONGVS around above.
Ref: Crawford 494/43b; CRI 189a; Sydenham 1094a; Kestner 3758-9 var. (CLOACIN); BMCRR Rome 4252-4; Mussidia 7a.

 

Beautifuls Rhodes coins, everyone!

I bought this hemidrachm for the gaff hook control mark – because how many ancient coins do you have that depict fishing gear?


Caria, Rhodes, hemidrachm, ca. 205–190 BC, magistrate: Gorgos. Obv: head of helios facing r. Rev: ΓOPΓ[OΣ]; rosebud and ethnic R-[O]; in field l. gaff hook. 10mm, 1.09g. HGC 6, 1454. Ashton: The Coinage of Rhodes (2001), no. 304 (p. 109); SNG Keckman I 585.

 

Plinthophoric can be beautiful, but a good looking front facing Helios always wins.

Some other Rhodos coins to share next to my above siege of Mithridates Plinthophoric coin:


Rhodes. Plinthophoric Drachm (Circa 190-170 BC). Magistrate Onasandros.
Obverse: Radiate head of Helios right.
Reverse: ONAΣANΔPOΣ / P - O. Rose with bud to right. Control: Butterfly to left; all within incuse square.
Reference: Jenkins Group A, 5; HGC 6, 1457.
3.09g; 16mm


Rhodos AR Drachm. 88/42 BC-AD 14. Magistrate Phainilas.
Obverse: Radiate head of Helios facing slightly right.
Reverse: Rose, seen from above; ΦAINIΛAΣ above, P-O across field, akrostolion below.
Reference: Ashton/Weiss, The Post-Plinthophoric Silver Drachms of Rhodes 330 (this coin).
Ex. Hirsch Nachf. 162, München 1989, Nr. 288.


Rhodos AR Drachm. Circa 205-190 BC. Magistrate Ainetor.
Obverse: Facing head of Helios with flowing hair
Reverse: Magistrate ΑΙΝΗΤΩΡ (Ainetor) above, P-O below, rose in bloom with side branch bud to right & butterfly to left.
Reference: Ashton 282; SNG Keckman 587; HGC 6, 1453.
2,28g; 15mm.

And then you also have the Pseudo-Rhodian coins (for example from The Third Macedonian war, The Cretan war and local issues on the coast of Caria):


Kings of Macedon. temp. Perseus. 179-168 BC. AR Drachm. Third Macedonian War issue. Magistrate Hermias, Uncertain mint in Thessaly (Struck circa 171/0 B.C).
Obverse: Head of Helios facing slightly right.
Reverse: Rose with bud to right; EPMIAΣ above, Z-Ω flanking stem.
Reference: Price, Larissa, pl. LV, 247; SNG Keckman 795.
2.67g; 17mm.