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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 7844011, member: 19463&quot;]I believe I found the answer I was seeking.&nbsp; It appears that sometime around 400BC, Syracuse changed the genitive plural form that ended -ION to the more modern -ΙΩΝ.&nbsp; I have no spelled out silver after the change but do have one bronze (AE21 - Nike sacrificing bull from the period of Roman rule after 212 BC) that shows it roughly at the reverse right. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1349893[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>That does allow the reading &#039;of the people of Syracuse&#039; for the earlier ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ coins but those prove nothing about the proper expansion of the Athenian coins over half a century earlier.&nbsp; It is interesting that the Greek word for Athens is found only in the plural suggesting that the city place name was not given but that the reference was to the (plural) people as a group who made up the city.&nbsp; I am way over my head here.&nbsp; It is Greek to me.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks to those who posted.&nbsp; As I recall there are a couple of our CT regulars who have later silver of Syracuse using the omega but the answer to my question seems to be that Syracuse used the ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ spelling in the mid 5th century.&nbsp; My example shows the O clearly under the point of the bust on the reverse.&nbsp; In researching this I learned that the K in ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ was preceded by a qoppa on the earliest coins of this basic type.&nbsp; Does anyone have one?&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1349896[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>I did find one replica for sale.&nbsp; It is a British Museum electrotype (better than a fake but not an &#039;ancient&#039; ancient).&nbsp; </p><p><a href="https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/marti_classical_numismatics/258/product/19th_c_bmc_electrotype__syracuse_ar_tetradrachm__archaic_style/949612/Default.aspx" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/marti_classical_numismatics/258/product/19th_c_bmc_electrotype__syracuse_ar_tetradrachm__archaic_style/949612/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/marti_classical_numismatics/258/product/19th_c_bmc_electrotype__syracuse_ar_tetradrachm__archaic_style/949612/Default.aspx</a> </p><p>At €475 for a fake, I doubt I will be buying an original.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Barking? No. Where you erred here was reading the letter omicron as omega.&nbsp; The coin reads ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ not ΣYPAKOΣIΩN as would be found a century later.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The Money Museum is most certainly an example of the qoppa reading ΣYPAQOΣION made even more interesting by the use of Western form S and R letters rather than the &#039;normal&#039; Greek Σ and Ρ.&nbsp; Since we are talking about a coin I will never own, I will turn this one down as &#039;defective&#039; since there is a die crack that ruins the omicron following the qoppa and that qoppa has a weak bottom which I suspect is from a bad choice made by the person who cleaned the coin and did not polish that &#039;tail&#039; which can be seen under the round and shiny part that looks like an o rather than q.&nbsp; I&#039;d still rather have this &#039;defective but genuine&#039; coin than the BM electrotype.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If anyone read this post to this point, you may see why I collect ancient coins and why coins being Mint State are not as important to me as coins I find &#039;interesting&#039;.&nbsp; That is the whole point about ancients as a hobby.&nbsp; You can approach it from any standpoint you prefer.&nbsp; If any of you were looking for a present for me for Christmas, I would not mind a coin like the Money Museum specimen but MS 5/5 5/5 with a more clear qoppa and legend in general.&nbsp; I suspect such a coin would bring over $50k in a fair auction or over $100k in the current market where it would be bought by someone who would never look at it but just the label on its slab.&nbsp; To them, the qoppa would mean nothing.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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