Landed this one from Leu this morning, in between doing workouts Axum AV Chrysos ND/ NM 18mm. 1.52g. 12h Coin struck from worn dies These are hard to find in good quality. Noe (Eon) 410-50AD obv: Draped bust R/ wearing Tiara and holding Spear in R Hand/ Ears of Barley all within Circular Border "King of the Land of Abyssinians" +BAX+ΛCΛ+CΛC+ΙΛζ rev: Draped bust R/ wearing Headcloth and holding Branch in R Hand/ Ears of Barley within circular border/ ""Eon Man of Annaf" ΙωC+XΛΛ+CIC+IΛΗ
Congrats! Leu seemed relatively reasonable, I figured it may due to Xmas holiday. One area of seeming insanity was the Byzantine coins. I remember when you could get a nice gold Byzantine for cheap- like 12 months ago! Wonder what the hell has happened.
I bought a gold nomisma in the Leu auction in August. Fortunately there were six very similar nomismata in a row. The first four went for insanely high prices, but the last two were merely 3x the suggested low bid amount. I sniped number 5 at the last second. But yeah the trend for Byzantine gold is crazy. I tried also to get a solidus of Constans II but that one got away. Even the bronze pieces are getting expensive in the better conditions. I also picked up a miliaresion of Romanus and Christopher in the same auction.
Yes, I was after same coin type from Roma XXII/ it hammered for 4600 UK Pounds. 1200 Sfrcs seemed OK, considering most Axumite Kings have less then 25 or fewer known in private/ museum collections. Really tough finding them in pristine quality. John
Very nice coin! There definitely seems to be an uptick recently in interest in Axum. Yours is a great example. To my complete surprise, I had tremendous success this Leu auction. I wasn't too optimistic going in, since I was shut out of the previous CNG and Roma auctions, and Leu is known for aggressive bidders. I carefully targeted six coins - and won all six! Even more, only one reached my max bid. Here are a few: I probably paid a bit too much for this one, but it has nice details to the hippocamp - which was my priority. I'd lost out on the past several attempts. PHOENICIA. Tyre. ‘Uzzimilk, circa 349-332 BC. Shekel (Silver, 20 mm, 8.21 g, 12 h), RY 10 = 340/39 BC. Deity, holding reins in his right hand and bow in his left, riding hippocamp to right above two lines of waves; below, dolphin right. Rev. Owl standing right, head facing; crook and flail in background; to right, date and ' (in Phoenician). DCA 918. E&E-T 1146-8. HGC 10, 349. This was my #1 target for the auction. Agathokles (son of Lysimachos) coins are tough to come by, and this one is in great condition for the type. Soon, I should have all the children of Lysimachos who have coins - Agathokles, Eurydike, and Ptolemy Epigonos (sadly stuck in Paris for the last two weeks). KINGS OF THRACE. Agathokles, son of Lysimachos, circa 290s-283/2 BC. AE (Bronze, 13 mm, 1.90 g, 11 h), Adramyteion. Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. AΓA-ΘO Double-bodied owl standing facing. HGC 3 -. Terin Series 7, 8. This was issued by Menalaus, brother of Ptolemy I, in Salamis Cyprus. It was the only coin to reach my max at auction, and that was most likely due to the interesting overstrike. I find it curious why they would overstrike an existing tet vs just using it. KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’, 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 17.11 g, 12 h), Salamis, struck under Ptolemy I as satrap, circa 315-306. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, monogram and rudder; below throne, monogram of ΠE. Price 3165. Interestingly, this coin was overstruck on another Alexander tetradrachm. On the obverse, one can still discern 'ΣΙΛ' for ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ, while the reverse clearly shows the manes of the lion's scalp. I honestly had never heard of this Odrysian king before the auction. At first I thought maybe Demetrios I Poliorketes had for some reason minted Odrysian coinage, but through research I learned that there was a different king active around the time of Philip II. Since I find the Odrysian kings interesting, the time period was right, and Demetrios' coins are very rare (I could find only one other example), I put a relatively low bid on it and won. KINGS OF THRACE. Odrysian. Demetrios, 4th-3rd century BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 10 mm, 1.20 g, 10 h). Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. [ΔΗΜΗΤ]ΡΙΟ Vessel with two handles. Peykov B0650. Rare. Light flan faults, otherwise, very fine. We know very little by Aspesias, save that he was installed by Antigonos I Monophthalmos and removed by Seleukos I Nikator. The rarest of his mintage includes his name, but I'm happy with this obol. KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’, 336-323 BC. Obol (Silver, 8.5 mm, 0.73 g, 1 h), Susa, struck under Aspesias, satrap of Susiana, circa 316-311. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. AΛEΞANΔPO[Y] Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, wreath; below throne, K above monogram of ΠΡ. Price 3860. Nikomedes I coinage is all rare. A bunch of these types have recently been uncovered, but they're still very rare. I have an even rarer type, but it's in rough condition, so I put a lowball bid on this one and got it. KINGS OF BITHYNIA. Nikomedes I, circa 280-250 BC. AE (Bronze, 23 mm, 8.75 g, 6 h). Diademed head of Nikomedes I to right. Rev. BAΣIΛE - NIKOMH Horse prancing right; above, wreath; below foreleg, spearhead. RG 7. SNG von Aulock 242.
That is one nice and interesting coin, John. Congrats! I probably rounded off a great numismatic 2021 with two Leu coins myself:
WOW!! @kirispupis Six for six is awesome Congrats on your new acquisitions. I remember back in 1995 Stacks Auction had a complete 24 Country set of PROOF Conservation Series coins (there where the 24 gold only) These coins where originally struck by the Birmingham Mint in years 1974/75/76/77/78/79 The opening bids on each coin was $600US/ so I mailed in my bidsheet $600 for each of the 24 coins= $12K.....thinking I had "aucune" chance to win anything. Lo and behold, I got a letter in the mail from Stacks, and found I was successfull on all 24 bids. After the initial excitement waned, I came to the realization, I owed 12K US + fees 10 %= 20K Canadian Dollars Well, after a bit of stress, I managed to pay my invoice and today I am happy to have them in my collection. Each coin was same specs as US Double Eagle. Here is one of them with Komodo Dragon.
I love your posts because they are like a box of chocolates! Every coin is beautiful, historical, interesting, and all of them are different! We never know what we are going to get. There is an argument for becoming a specialist and knowing which variations make a type rarer and buying them when they appear, but there is also an argument for collecting widely, enjoying learning about new-to-you historical eras, and having beautiful coins that anyone (even a non-collector) would admire. @panzerman has a wonderful collection exemplifying the second approach.
Thanks everyone for kind comments Warren summed it up perfectly.....its a beautifull hobby, and you always keep learning more surrounding the history of each new coin. Probably, the only reason we know about an obscure Usurper/ Emperor/ King is thru the coins they had struck/ and meatal detectorists are finding today. The main focus should always be on what we are doing on this forum, having a ball with our collections/ showing them/ having discussions/ debates.....not as an "investment portfolio" or hedge against inflationary devaluation of FIAT currencies. John
