There's a fly on my coin! The earliest bees of Ephesos were rather crude - they looked more like flies... Ionia. Ephesos. Phanos, circa 550-500 BC. AR Hemiobol, 5mm, 0.37g. Bee / Quadripartite incuse square. Karwiese Series III; Rosen 572. Ex-Savoca 5th Blue Auction, Lot 453, 2/24/2018. Mine isn't that crude actually. Sometimes they looked like flying spiders... We assume they were bees because eventually Ephesos would develop a sophisticated and long-standing apian iconography on their coins. Just to be safe though, auction catalogs sometimes describe these 6th century BC bugs as "insect, probably a bee." We haven't had a proper insect thread in a while, so post your creepy-crawlies!
Yep, those are some perplexing bees. Ephesean engravers definitely gained skill over the next few centuries. Here's a bee on a very interesting tessera of Ephesus: IONIA, Ephesus. Anoynmous c. CE 1st century Æ tessera, 19mm, 5.14 g Obv: CKωΠI, stage kneeling left, head right; E to left, Φ to right Rev: KHPIΛICωΔEΠPOCΠAΛVPIN surrounding a bee Ref: SNG Copenhagen 355; BMC 186; SNG von Aulock 1875 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-magical-tessera.277808/ Not insects but definitely a creepy-crawly (scorpions): CARIA, Mylasa 450-400 BCE AR hemiobol, 7 x 9 mm, 0.5 gm Obv: facing forepart of lion Rev: scorpion within incuse square Ref: SNG von Aulock 7803; Klein 429 (Milet) HADRIAN. CE 117-138 AR Denarius. 18 mm, 3.53 gm. struck CE 134-138, Rome Obv: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head right Rev: AFRICA, Africa with elephant skin headdress, reclining on rock, holding scorpion and cornucopia, basket of fruit before her Ref: RIC II 299
FLY Sicily Akragas AE Onkia 16mm 3.8g 425-406 BCE Eagle r fish (TUNNY???) fly - Crab conch SNG ANS 1062 var
Part of my 2020 Christmas present Ionia. Ephesos circa 500-420 BC. Diobol AR 11 mm., 0,92 g Karwiese Series VI, 2A; SNG Kayhan 124
Nice bees. Here's a bee from Babylon on a tetradrachm: Seleukos I Nikator Tetradrachm (c. 311-300 B.C.) Babylon Mint Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / AΛEΞANΔPOY right; [BAΣIΛEΩΣ] below; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; MI above bee in left field; MYP monogram in wreath below throne. Price 3754; SC 82.2b (17.02 grams / 23 mm)
Forgot about this one KINGS OF MACEDONIA, Philip III Arrhidaios AR drachm, Sardes; struck c. 322-319/8 BCE mounted in 14k pendant Obv: head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress Rev: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ; Zeus Aetophoros seated left; TI above bee Ref: Price P97 Set in a 14k bezel (purchased that way-- I didn't do it although I happily wear the pendant many times per week)
Good call, Mike. Santa also brought me this Alexander drachm in the same package in 2020 Alexander III, AR Drachm, 323-319 BC. Philip III Arrhidaios Struck under Menander or Kleitos. Magnesia ad Maeandrum mint. Head of Herakles right, wearing lionskin headdress. / AΛEXANΔΡOY to right of Zeus seated left, right leg drawn back, holding eagle and sceptre. bee left in left field, spear-head in outer right field. Price 1937-1938; Mueller 322-323; SNG Cop. 952.
Awww, I thought I remember that little cutie JA Your Pic in hand really is better than the one from the auction: That Saturnalia your Saturn tried to get you to guess the theme of the three coins he sent. If you guessed it was, one archaic, one classical and one Hellenistic Still haven't gotten a replacement archaic bee, but I do have a few coins that bug me:
exactly what I was thinking… I don’t have any insect coins, but does this count?? Warring States China State of Chu (400-220 B.C.) AE Ant-Nose Money, 16.93 mm x 2.18 grams Obv.: Jin or Bei Ref.: Hartill 1.4
Ephesos offers a lot of small, cheap and low grade coins for the budget collector. This late sixth century tetartemorion shows curved wings and has both a reverse type (eagle head) and two letter legend (unusual on a coin so small). At about half that size (0.1g, 4.8mm, listed as 1/192 stater, Persic standard???) this one has the same wings and reverse but, if it had a legend, it is gone. This 'massive' 1.0g diobol has two stag heads (a mark of denomination?) trihemiobol 9mm 0.8g 4th century Later the drachm style followed Alexander but the Ephesos mint retained the bee under the chair. AE12 280-258 BC AE14 2.9g adds a tiny countermark (top at 7 o'clock) which strikes me as a bee in flight. Meaning?
Great thread - these are wonderful coin types. Flies are generally considered a nuisance... and they are to me! However flies serve as important food sources for many birds, fish, mammals and other insects. Fishermen study the feeding habits of certain fish to select the appropriate fly lures. They also help with decomposition in the cycle of life - as we all know... So why would our ancestors choose to glorify the fly? I do not know.. but they certainly did and seemed to understand their importance. I have two examples and I find them fascinating ..
