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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sulla80, post: 3875540, member: 99456&quot;][ATTACH]1023758[/ATTACH] This is a small AE coin, 10x12mm 1.15g that caught my attention with the odd looking plant on the reverse.&nbsp;&nbsp; Not having much experience with Greek coins, I needed somewhere to start.&nbsp;&nbsp; It didn&#039;t take long to find some info, a quick search in <a href="https://www.coryssa.org/index.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.coryssa.org/index.php" rel="nofollow">Coryssa</a> with a weight range (0.5-2.0g) and &quot;Tyche&quot; found a few coins and one close to this one helped narrow down region and reverse description.&nbsp; <a href="https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/arados-hellenistic-bronze-by-series-era-date/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/arados-hellenistic-bronze-by-series-era-date/" rel="nofollow">This site</a> then gave some additional help.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1023753[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Phoenicia, Arados</b> 142 -&nbsp; 146 BC</p><p>AE 12x10mm 1.15g, Hemichalkous</p><p><b>Obv:</b> Turreted head of Tyche right, chignon &amp; braided ponytail, palm frond behind.</p><p><b>Rev: </b>Aphlaston (Aplustre), Phoenician letters in left field, Aradian era date right</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m not certain of the date and legends, but it seems to fall somewhere in the 142-146 BC range based on other coins I can find.&nbsp;&nbsp; Arados is small island in Northern Phoenicia, 2.5km off the coast from modern Tartus, Syria.&nbsp; A NASA photo of modern Arwad (Arados) is shown at the start of this thread.&nbsp; Arados was&nbsp; supplier of goods and naval equipment to the Seleucids and a semi-autonomous republic.&nbsp;&nbsp; This coin from a time period where the Seleucid empire was in decline and Arados expanded its territory.&nbsp;&nbsp; Arados gave help to Pompey against Caesar and Antony in the Roman civil wars and eventually in 38 BC submitted to the Roman Empire (<a href="https://www.academia.edu/500292/Arados_hell%C3%A9nistique._Etude_historique_et_mon%C3%A9taire_Beyrouth_2005" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/500292/Arados_hell%C3%A9nistique._Etude_historique_et_mon%C3%A9taire_Beyrouth_2005" rel="nofollow">Duyrat</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p>Aphlaston and Aplustre are both words that have shown up on CT, but are new to me.&nbsp; What I initially saw as a branch or plant is an aplustre or aphlaston - ornamental construct on the stern of a Greek ship.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">&quot;The stern was, like the prow, adorned in various ways, but especially with the image of the tutelary deity of the vessel (tutela).&nbsp; In some representations a kind of roof is formed over the head of the steersman, and the upper part of the stern frequently has <b>an elegant ornament called aplustre</b>, and in Greek ἄφλαστον, which constituted the highest part of the poop. </font></p><p><font size="3">- <b><a href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Navis.html#p787" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Navis.html#p787" rel="nofollow">William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875</a>. </b></font></p><p><br /></p><p>The aplustre is described as a symbol of naval prowess and could be taken as a trophy in a naval victory.</p><p><img src="https://etc.usf.edu/clipart/14800/14870/aplustre_14870_sm.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[USER=99051]@Nathan P[/USER] <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-cng-coin-from-arados-phoenician.347148/#post-3722822" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-cng-coin-from-arados-phoenician.347148/#post-3722822">recently posted</a> a beautiful sheckle from Arados with additional information on this island.&nbsp; As always, observations, references and corrections are appreciated.<b>&nbsp; Share your coins of Arados, coins with aplustria, or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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