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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 2807354, member: 56859&quot;]Well, really a pine <i>cone</i> but there are nuts in there somewhere <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]655998[/ATTACH]</p><p>IONIA, Metropolis <span style="color: #0000ff">[or Miletos]</span></p><p>c. late 2nd century BCE <span style="color: #0000ff">[or 1st century BCE]</span></p><p>AE 12, 1.8 gm</p><p>Diogenes, magistrate</p><p>Obv:&nbsp; turreted head of Kybele right <span style="color: #0000ff">[ or turreted head of Tyche right]</span></p><p>Rev:&nbsp; Pine cone; monogram in left field; ΔIOΓE downward in right field</p><p>Ref:&nbsp; Ashton, R. and P. Kinns. “Opuscula Anatolica III”, 7, in <i>Numismatic Chronicle</i>, 2004. <span style="color: #0000ff">[or SNG von Aulock 7926 (&quot;pine cone&quot;); SNG Copenhagen 907 (&quot;thyrsus head&quot;)]</span></p><p><br /></p><p>This target came to me uncontested and was the at the lowest estimate tier for the auctioneer, so I was delighted to garner this unusual coin for a low price.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pine cones are seen on a number of coins but they are small devices, only identified in context.&nbsp; For example, provincial coins of Anatolia depicting the moon god Mên often show him holding a little round object identified as a pine cone.</p><p><br /></p><p>This however is a <font size="3">tiny</font> bronze coin with a<font size="6"> large</font> pine cone taking center stage.&nbsp; Why do I care?&nbsp; I don&#039;t know!&nbsp; It just struck my fancy and I love it.</p><p><br /></p><p>There don&#039;t seem to be many in archives-- I found 5-- although there were a couple of other coins with solo pine cone reverses from Skamandria (Troas).&nbsp; On those, the pine cone isn&#039;t as recognizable as such.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t own the references for this coin and there seems to be disagreement about the place of origin.&nbsp; Ashton &amp; Kinns&#039; work is more recent, so I&#039;ll probably catalog it as from Metropolis for now.&nbsp; Isn&#039;t it fun having coins which have some question marks attached?&nbsp; Maybe someday more information will come to light.</p><p><br /></p><p>Post your pine cones (haha... although I know some of you have coins of Mên showing him with a pine cone).&nbsp; Add any coin you feel fits the vibe of this thread, as usual <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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