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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 24596811, member: 128351&quot;]Wow... </p><p>That&#039;s interesting indeed. You say they are all from Syria and almost all are Buttrey (or Buttrey-Flament) types? It&#039;s obviously a hoard, and it would be good to know if it was actually from Syria - for these coins are supposed minted in Egypt under the 29-30th dynasties. </p><p>How many were they in total? You acquired 33 specimens, did you chose them? You say &quot;virtually all pharaonic&quot;: did you notice some that weren&#039;t Egyptian? </p><p>Looking at your photo of 13 of them, I notice that all of them show traces of wear, thus they were not hoarded fresh from mint but circulated for some time, but none shows any test cut, graffito or countermark. That&#039;s interesting too, for it seems to me rather unusual for this coinage when found in the Levant. I do not remember if the Buttrey types from Egyptian hoards are tested and/or countermarked. </p><p>I did not acquire any of them because 1) I used to collect ancient coins when I was young and innocent but I quit (next stage, quit smoking). 2) I was not on Athenian owl watch, and did not notice these coins arriving on the market. The only numismatic watch I am on is for Alexander decadrachms and Lihyan imitative owls too. </p><p><br /></p><p>I am especially interested in Athenian owls because I have been working on a big drachms and tetradrachms hoard I intend to publish in the following years - for the moment I cannot find enough time to complete this work. The hoard was found in ancient Raphia (today in the Gaza strip) and represents a very interesting collection of Athenian and imitative silver coins of the 4th c. BC. There are 900 imitative drachms (average weight 4.27 g) 31 of which are overstruck on Edomite dome-shaped coins (average weight 4.26 g). 854 of these drachms are struck from only 5 different obverse and 8 reverse dies : it&#039;s a local production minted very near the hoarding place (Gaza? Edom? a local Raphia mint?). There are 353 tetradrachms, most of which are probably bona fide Athenian Pi II and III styles struck after 353 BC, but there are also other kinds : a few classic owls of the late 5th c. BC, 56 early 4th c. owls like the ones from the Lentini and Contessa Sicilian hoards (there&#039;s even a die-match), 25 Buttrey and Buttrey-Flament types and 2 bizarre mint-fresh imitative owls I did&#039;nt find in literature. Many coins ( especially the older ones including the Buttrey types) have test-cuts, pits, graffiti, and interesting countermarks (<i>nefer </i>hieroglyph, Isis headdress, one is a Cypriot inscription, another large one from the same die is found on 5 coins, etc.). Because there is no imitative Artaxerxes or satrapic owl, I think the hoard dates back between 353 and 343, before Egypt was retaken by the Persians. </p><p><br /></p><p>You see, it&#039;s a rich and complex subject. This is why I take my time... And this is why your hoard is of great interest for me because, if its Syrian provenance can be established with a reasonable level of confidence, it provides valuable information about the circulation of Buttrey types in the Levant outside Egypt. But why are these circulated coins not tested or countermarked ??? Most of the Buttrey types from the &quot;1989 Syria Hoard&quot; (Van Alfen, AJN 14 (2002), 1-57) and from &quot;my&quot; Raphia hoard are![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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