Featured A Ketos monster murder mystery:"new" rare coin of Halikarnassos, not Kindya+further interdimensional

Travels through time (sorry, never enough room in the title)

Pretty geeked to win a coin that I didn't know about, that tied into something I've long been intrigued by aaaand...


In @dougsmit 's thread: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-monsterous-little-coin.274896/
, on the subject of some of the coins with the KETOS MONSTER!


@zumbly points out a recent retribution of this very popular, and wonderful coin!
Of the earliest types, it WAS believed, they derived from Kindya... but now, not so much. Due to a different type then I'm building up to showing
You can read my latter version on the subject here:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-a-kinda-scary-monster-from-kindya.245487/

from when I was attacked by this BEAST:

CARIA, Halikarnassos (reassigned from Kindya)
500-496 BCE
AR tetrobol, 1.78 gm, 11 mm, Samian standard
Obv: head of ketos right
Rev: geometric pattern within incuse square

Or the better write up here, by our The Is Fun and so is she @TIF ! https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-a-kinda-scary-monster-from-kindya.245487/
However, we now have a rare coin type that seems to show pretty clearly that IT IS from Halikarnassos!

And then a coin from the fifth dimension appears! Here is one of the few that we know about of the type. And maybe the most important as this coin clearly shows the AΛ (on my new, though slightly used, coin you can only see the Λ):
Not my coin:

Greek
CARIA. Halikarnassos. Circa 460-440 BC. Hemiobol (Silver, 7.5 mm, 0.32 g). AΛ Head and neck of ketos to right. Rev. Eight-rayed star within incuse square. Apparently unpublished apart from Kagan & Kritt p. 263, note 10 and pl. 47, 6. Well struck and clear; the second known example (see CNG e-auction 207, 2009, 193 - but legend incomplete). Good fine.
"Unlike the second known example, which was attributed with some doubts to Kindya, (CNG e-auction 207, 25 March 2009, 193), the present piece has the full ethnic AΛ on the flan, which makes the link to Halikarnassos inevitable. The style of the ketos has nothing to do with the one on the early coins of Kindya and is closer to the very rare half staters from Halikarnassos. Both this coin and the half staters cannot be dated as early as the Kindya pieces (510-480 BC) and stylistically again, a date around the middle of the 5th century or later would be suitable. In any case this is definitely a "key" coin since it unlocks a minor mystery."

And here is the little cutie that helps make the case for Halikarnassos that was slept on at auction and that I pounced on over the weekend:

CARIA. Halikarnassos. Circa 460-440 BC. Hemiobol (Silver, 7 mm, 0.49 g). "A"Λ Head and neck of ketos to right. Rev. Eight-rayed star within incuse square. Apparently unpublished apart from Kagan & Kritt p. 263, note 10 and pl. 47, 6. Well struck and clear; the second known example (see CNG e-auction 207, 2009, 193 - but legend incomplete). Very fine.

"Ryro, you magnificent maniac, you mean the murder was a ruse?"


Though, for you undying mystery and conspiracy theory fans, here's some unequivocal proof that the Ketos monster still "Romes" or should I say "Greeks" the world today (or like in the 70s when this Pic was taken, man):


No Ketos monster were killed in the making of this thread



Thanks for reading and please post your Ketos monsters, thoughts and or articles on the subject, coins that transport you between dimensions or whatever let's the sun shine in

 

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neat coin Ryro!...that critter lQQks familiar tho

 

Lol! Luv it! I had a LOT of fun putting this creature feature homage together, I think, for a past "Coins that go bump in the night. Ketos vs Griffin!!!"

 

Since Rome had an Air Force, Carthage reciprocated with one of their own...



Carthage Zeugitana 250-200 BCE 2nd Punic AE 18 Tanit Horse Hd

 

EPIC
Of course the Celts had to make their own presence felt and take a swing at the champ:

 

..welp its time to hear a song by BOC...

 

....or, for us older kids it might be the critter on Jonny Quest original series.....of course, Godzilla & Co were around about the same time..maybe earlier

 

We’re the same age… but… YOU’re OLDER!

 

..i remember when i was your age..

 

Halikarnassos Ar Tetrobol Circa 500 BC Obv Head of Ketos left. Rv. Eight pointed stellate pattern within latticed square frame. Rosen 617 2.02 grms 11 mm photo by W. Hansen
Again an excellent reason why some people should not be allowed anywhere near the fermented grape juice. I remember seeing this reattribution some months ago (I believe in a CNG Auction) however I have not seen the scholarship behind it. I believe it is most likely from Halikarnassos. I was never very happy with the notion that this coin came from Kindya.

 

CARIA, Kindya. Circa 500 BC. AR Samian Tetrobol (11mm; 1.86 gm). Obv: Head of Ketos (sea monster) left. Rev: Stellate pattern within latticed frame in incuse. Kagan/Kritt, "The Coinage of Kindya," NC 1995, 1-3; Rosen 617 (Uncertain Caria). Head of a Ketos with pointed ear, long snout, pinnate mane, toothed jaws agape and protruding tongue. Note: Two major auction houses, CNG and Roma, are now attributing this issue to Halikarnasos,

 

Lovely example
I very much enjoyed the scholarship shared by our own, @Ed Snible in this excellent thread. Read it. You'll want to change your attribution after: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/mo...w-deep-is-your-demension.349131/#post-3803271
when I'd mentioned that I was looking for the explanation he shard this: https://www.academia.edu/39296566/The_ketos_coins_of_Caria

Always a pleasure to listen near four minutes of ripping guitar and rock and roll!

 

These are fun/funny

 

Thank you @Ryro for the article clarifying the Ketos coinage. I looked over it quickly and the article does look convincing. I believe my coin is very similar to 42. When I am more awake I will check it out more closely.

 

These are very appealing




Karia, Harlikarnassos AR Samian Tetrobol. Circa 510-480 BC. Head of Ketos (Sea Monster) left / Incuse geometric pattern. Kagan & Kritt 1; SNG Keckman 920 (Uncertain mint); SNG von Aulock 2340; SNG Kayhan 810; Asyut 687; Rosen 617. 1.97g, 11mm.

and 2 from Sicily


Sicily. Akragas.

Hemidrachm (silver). Approximately 420 - 410 BC BC
Vs: Eagle with spread wings standing right tearing at a hare lying on its back
Rs: Crab. Ketos left with a fish in its mouth .


Sicily, Akragas Æ Hemilitron. Circa 420-406 BC.

Eagle with spread wings standing right, tearing at hare in talons; barley grain to right
Crab; ketos swimming right below, six pellets around.
SNG ANS -; SNG Morcom -; HGC 2 133 var. (ketos in ex.).

 

Cool coin, @Ryro! Entertaining thread. I was unaware of the controversy over this issue because these coins are out of my wheelhouse.

An occasional auction house or dealer will describe the creature on this one as Ketos, though I think it's Glykon.


Caracalla, AD 198-217.
Roman Provincial tetrassarion, 14.78 g, 29.6 mm, 1 h.
Thrace, Pautalia, c. AD 198-205.
Obv: AVT K M AVP ANTΩNEINOC, beardless, laureate head of Caracalla, right.
Rev: OYΛΠIAC ΠAV | TAΛIAC. Asklepios cradling serpent-entwined staff, reclining left, head right, on winged, coiled, and bearded Glykon flying right.
Refs: BMC 3.145,34; Ruzicka 612; Varbanov II 5008; Moushmov 4235, Mionnet Suppl. 2, p. 384, 1084; Vaillant n. Gr. 1074.

 

Tetrobol, 2.29g. Purchased from Brian Kritt, January 2003.

The depiction of the ketos on this example seems somewhat skeletonized. I believe it might be another piece of evidence for Adrienne Mayor's theory that some of the Greek mythological creatures were inspired by fossils.

Another city connected to the ketos myth and with physical evidence to back it up was Joppa. Ptolemaic coins with harpa control symbol, and maybe a Roman coin depicting Perseus. Jewish historian Josephus recorded in the 1st century AD that traces of “Andromeda’s” chains could be seen from a promontory near Joppa. The chains were a tourist attraction that could be visited. Visitors could also expect to see and touch the monster who threatened her. The skeleton of a sea monster was moved to Rome in 58 BC by Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. Pliny claimed the monster’s backbone was 40 feet long and 1.5 feet thick with ribs taller than an Indian elephant.

 

As always, you're thoughts are incredibly appreciated. Yours is an excellent example! The depiction on your coin and this amphora, of Perseus rescuing Andromeda from the Ketos, appears to support Mayor's theory. Note the skull/ head of our monster:


I didn't recall hearing of the Joppa connection, so I looked it up and found this entertaining article.
https://www.theoi.com/Ther/KetosAithiopios.html
Pliny the elder tells us that they worshiped her (that's right, he referrers to the monster as a Goddess!)
"Pliny the Elder, Natural History 5. 69 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"Joppa [now the Israeli town of Jaffa] is said to have existed before the flood; it is situated on a hill, and in front of it is a rock on which they point out the marks made by the chains with which Andromeda was fettered; here there is a cult of the legendary goddess Ceto (the Sea-Monster)." [N.B. Keto (Ceto) was the goddess of sea-monsters and whales.]"

 

Great thread @Ryro . I had the opportunity to visit Jaffa a few years ago and was surprised to find that it was so closely associated with Andromeda and the monster Ketos. In fact the rock you mention is near the harbor where, all the way back to ancient times, it was believed to be the rock that Andromeda was chained to.

It’s hard to see the rock from my photo but if you zoom into the center you’ll see an Israeli flag that marks the rock.


This is a Canaanite temple to Ashtoreth that the later Greeks associated as a temple to Andromeda.



It’s also worth saying that the city of Jaffa itself (a suburb of Tel Aviv now) is a delightful place to visit with lots of old medieval era architecture.