How often do you buy two coins because they make a good pair in your collection. I bid on these, in different auctions, because they had similar heads. I think they look interesting side by side. Do you have two coins that are not the same issue, but go together? The coin - Aspendos In Name and types of Alexander III the Great of Macedon Dated Civic Year 19; circa 193-192 BC Obv - Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress Rev - Zeus seated left on low throne, right leg drawn back, holding long sceptre in his left hand and, in his right, eagle standing right with closed wings, to right - ΑΛΕΞΑ[ΝΔΡΟΥ]; AΣ IΘ in left field; c/m: radiate bust of facing Helios. 15.77 grams 29 mm Coin - nearly very fine Countermark - VF Price 2898. The weight - One ounce bronze commercial barrel weight. There are several features on this weight. All are incuse: male head in rectangular frame, A T, star, cross and two dots. Produced in Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Greece.... ? I do not know and the seller did not offer a guess. Date - I guess 300 - 600 AD. 27.27 grams I have not seen similar features on a weight. The head could be Apollo. The goddess Athena / Minerva was used on weights about that time. I could not see the head without a loop. The best picture was taken with a Celestron microscope. The light had to be just right to see all of the features.
Generally, I'm not particularly drawn to countermarks, probably because in most cases the host coins are so worn. But I have to admit that both countermarks that you posted are quite striking, and I'd be happy to add both objects to my collection. Normally I do not collect barbarous imitations, but I had to grab the one below for my CtG collection because it was so clearly patterned after a coin that I'd already owned: Unknown mint, 4th century A.D. Barbarous imitation of Constantine the Great, VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP reverse type. Obv: (CONSTANTIN-VS AVG) - Bust, left, in high-crested helmet, spear over right shoulder, shield over left. Rev: Gibberish - Two Victories, facing each other, holding inscribed shield over altar. •SIS in exergue. 17 mm, 2.1 g. Here is the official version: Siscia mint, A.D. 319-320 RIC 95, variant Obv: IMP CONSTANT-INVS AVG Rev: VICT[dot] LAETAE PRINC PERP - Two Victories, facing each other, holding shield inscribed VOT/PR over altar ΓSIS✳ in exergue; S in altar. 20 x 18 mm, 3.2 g. (This coin has the obverse inscription of RIC 101, albeit with an unrecorded inscription break, and the mint mark of RIC 95. RIC 101 is part of a group of coins labeled "Irregular." One possible explanation is that these "irregular" coins are part of the same series as RIC 93 - 99. )
WOW, Gene! Those are SLAMMIN' countermarks! VERY nice... great detail, interesting designs... I really like them!
Countermark is Sol. Attached is a tet from Sinope Pontus and it's a 2fer. Two very fun c/m's. The other appears to be Zeus Ammon. A fun coin.
Nice coin with two great countermarks. Our countermarks look similar. Most of the Sol / Helios countermarks I found online were profile pics like this one from a Themis auction.
