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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;THCoins, post: 2235571, member: 57364&quot;]The focus of my collection mainly lies with ancient eastern coinage. That is, from Seleukids and successors in the West upto Northern India in the East. Probably because this is a bit of a niche in collecting there are still lots of opportunities to buy nice coins from this region at relatively low prices. And again because of the niche status, i encounter quite a lot of wrongly attributed coins. Because often nobody really seems to care i try to give some of these coins asylum.</p><p>The coin below was offered as an Indo-Scythian bronze. At first sight i can understand the idea. The obverse could be interpreted as standing Hercules. There is something which looks like a Greek text around where the Sigma S is written as C. This could well fit with the writing style of the later Indo-Scythian period (early first century AD). The reverse showed some blob in the middle. Around is something that could be interpreted as Kharoshti script.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]440093[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Then came the doubts. For this coin looks wrong for an Indo-Scythian. This made me take a better look. I put in a low bid and got it without much competition.</p><p><br /></p><p>For what is it? First i could read that on the figure side the legend read &quot;Aristomenes&quot; on the right and &quot;Aristodamou&quot;on the left. Never heard of, but Google provides help. Now i could read that on the blob side the text below the object was &quot;PATRE/ON&quot; revealing the true origin of the coin.</p><p>Patreon=Patrae=Patrai=Patras are the names given to the Greek city on the Peloponnesos which was once part of the Agaian league. After the downfall of the league Patrae retained the right to produce coinage under Roman rule for a long period.</p><p>The obverse shows Dionysos holding torch and staff. To the left the city monogram of Patrae. The edge legend &quot;Aristomenes Aristodamou&quot; is the name of the local magistrate under whose authority this coin was struck. This allows us to date the coin to the middle of the first century AD.</p><p>The reverse shows a Cista, a basket used in the Dionysian rituals. Around it a wreath of ivy leafs and &quot;Patre/on&quot; below.</p><p>The coin appears to be rare. I only could find three others on the internet.</p><p>AE 18mm, 5.3 grams. For reference: Hunter 2 type.</p><p><br /></p><p>Because some people here are more into the classical Greeks and Roman provincials than i am, i thought this would be a nice find to share.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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