When I first started my ancient coin collection my first few attempts were to buy these cool-looking coins with a female winged figure with antennae protruding from her head. The obverse of the coins had a griffin. One of my first posts on the forum was about those coins and primarily the knobs on the heads of the griffin. It's a good thread to refer back to. Anyway, I was watching a recent auction and noticed that two of the "Winged Carian" coins were on the block. The first was a nicely detailed 1/16 Tritartemoria at 0.6g. Nice coin but missing the antennae/scrolls. This sold for a decent amount and way over my budget at 300Euro + 15% Then the next lot came up and it was a slightly heavier weight but the obverse was clearly struck from a worn die. But the only part of the design missing was one winged foot. ( See image below.) I was surprised to see little action on this coin. So I waited and then did a "what the heck" and bid one time. Well, needless to say, I was thrilled to land this for under 50Euro! I've done my research and it appears that dies were used across smaller denominations. My example (at 0.67g) appears to be one of those types. But I need some help from someone that might have a printed copy of Konuk's article, The Early Coinage of Kaunos. I have a digital version but the details of the smallest fractions are lost. So, for me, it is impossible to attribute my dies to the proper Konuk numbers. Here's a link to 2002 auction. The smallest denomination 1/32 stater is the die set that is used for my heavier coin. CNG does attribute this but still questions the Konuk number. I feel there is a lot of guessing going on by collectors and dealers when it comes to matching these coins to Konuk numbers. So, if anyone can help me to identify which Konuk number my coin actually is or help confirm that the die pair is not listed that would be greatly appreciated! See my coin below. The Edward Scissorhands should help match the obv. I'm thinking this is a Konuk 65.
Does anyone have access to Greek Numismatics and Archaeology. Essays in Honor of Margaret Thompson? This contains Troxells, essay Winged Carians. Maybe this has better or more images??
Loving the, mesmerizing, female winged figure with antennae protruding from her head, but forget griffin, I know a laughing camel when I see one! And yours is stealing the show! However, I am happy to share a couple ATG MSCs from Kaunos: Alexander III 'the Great' (336-323 BC). Ae. Kaunos Diameter: 15mm Weight: 2.16gr Obv: Macedonian shield with pellet in three circles on boss/omphalos. Rev: Macedonian helmet; grain-ear to l., K to r. Price 2072. Alexander III 'the Great' (336-323 BC). Ae. Kaunos Obv: Macedonian shield with pellet in three circles on boss/ omphalos. Rev: Macedonian helmet; grain-ear to l., K to r. Price 2072. 3,26 g.14.56 mm. Sorry, I'm no luck M Thompson
I'm having a debate with a fellow local collector about this type. There are two primary types. Iris is either in the crouch or more of a full standing position. To me, I feel the crouch position represents some ready to jump up into the air, especially with the arms straight out. The standing position has the arm down to the side. Now, this is all conjecture...but Iris has wings and is the Goddess of the Rainbow bridge- messenger of the gods...so maybe a proto-Nike / Victory. There is also the Persian Sigolos that have the king in a similar kneeling position. Here's a kind of funny video on Iris...
Nice coin, @Ryan McVay. I love the 'antennae' on top of Iris' head. Like you, I only have access to the digital version of Konuk, so I can't be of much help to you. (If it's any consolation, I found out the small illustrations in the digital version are only moderately helpful when trying to confirm the dies of my coin. The pics all become very fuzzy when you enlarge them, so ID-ing is everything but easy. Then again, there probably aren't many Edward Scissorhand dies in the series, so that might make it easy in your case ). I hope someone here can help you. Do you have any idea what the antennae on top of Iris' head are and what they might represent? I think they look intriguing but I can't make head or tail of them. Kornuk calls them 'scrolls curling up on top of her head' but leaves it at that. Other sources on Iris don't note antennae or scrolls at all, so I'm basically groping in the dark here. The easiest way out, of course, is to say it's a local cult (like the baetyl on the staters) and leave it at that, but I was hoping someone, somewhere had come up with a theory as to what they are and why they are there. Anyway, here is my Kaunos coin, unfortunately minus (most of) the antennae:
The "antennae" are a tendril. I had to go back to an old thread on Forum that I had with Pat Lawerance, retired Art Historian, and a great resource that keeps your wild ideas grounded in reality! Anyway, these "things" are seen on a lot of depictions on pottery Look up Chigi Olpe Sphinx and you will see the palmette and the two tendrils. Even on griffins, you have the palmette on its head and when it comes to bronze sculptures of griffins the tendrils are on their faces. I've also attached an image of a Hathor capital that shows the portrait and the "tendrils" curling up. So whether this is just a design element or what is all conjecture! But it's here.
I finally found where I placed my copy of this reference. I think the obverse is either 62, or 65. 65 has a left facing griffin, but 62 has a right facing one, which makes it more likely that yours is a Konuk 62. Unfortunately the plates are small and have poor/variable lighting, so it's hard to be certain. I have attached photos of both coins in question. Let me know if you would like photos of other specific coins here to check.
So it appears that my obverse is #65 but my reverse doesn't match any of the pairs in the book. There is also a note in the book that dies were used across denominations. So maybe might reverse might be one of the next smaller denominations!
Unfortunately, no smaller denominations are plated, and it appears that your reverse die is not one on the plated examples of the next larger denomination. Might have to dig through other auction listings to find a match?
https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=35503 This is from original post. But the dies are used on smaller denomination. The reverse is a die match. I did an overlay. It's a match down to the bowing on the right border and the slight blunder on the top left blunder.
