AE as -- Iberia, Belikio

I won this bronze recently and went after it simply because it appealed to me (grade and devices) and it was of a type I was missing---plus it's well centered and it seems a bit scarce.

AE as; Iberia, Belikio, 28.9 mm, 14.69 grams (circa 100-70 BC)
Male head right, Iberian BE behind.
Horseman right, holding spear, Iberian inscription below.
ACIP 1433; SNG BM Spain 763-70, Burgos 243

Please post any coin even remotely related.

 

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That's a nice coin and one I would like to find. I can only find an Iberian coin to post:

IBERIAN
AE Semis
OBVERSE: Young male head right, Phoenician letter before
REVERSE: Bull right, crescent above, two Phoenicial letters below
Struck at Castulo Late 1st century BC
15.6mm, 1.8g
Burgos 897

 

that's a solid example of the type MZ, very nice.

i have one of these on the list...but here is my favorite iberian coin...from obulco instead of belikio...similar time frame and size however.

 

Wow, Mikey, you are making some killer captures lately! Well done, gorgeous coin!

 

Interesting how all three coins posted were struck at similar periods of time yet the styling varies significantly. I haven't researched this very much but it seems the OP is more Carthaginian/Roman, Mat's example a bit more stylized and Bing's the epitome of Celtic.

Sigh, So much yet to learn.....

 

Here is my little gem from Iberia... Roughly contemporary to yours, and similar...


Celtiberia, Secaisa
AE As, 25mm, 8.5g, 5h;
2nd to early-1st centuries BC.
Obv.: Male head right flanked by dolphins.
Rev.: Horseman galloping right holding spear // SECaISA in Iberian script.
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 363ff.
Lifted from the hands of Ionnes Antonius (@John Anthony )

 

AHA!! So that's where I first noticed the type LOL

That's cool!! I wonder how many variated from the 'typical' (?) male head and galloping horseman...?

So I'm guessing mine spells "Belikio' on the reverse?

 

Excellent question! Curious how many of the Celtiberian cities copied each other, and/or if the Romans directed their local coinage by this time... Enquiring minds are not doing their research here...

Yeah, I WONDERED if this little gem jogged your head into searching. When I went through my album to put some coins away, I saw this one and gawked when I saw how CLOSE of a design it was to YOURS! Wow, they are probably cousins! Reckon that would make us Coin-Cousins (@Bing, stay out of this... We know what WV is ALLLLL about... LOL)

 

Looks like yours got the Herculean jaw, and I got a FAT HORSE! Looks like a jockey on a Budweiser draft horse!

 

Good one 'Al' LOl...And I got the 'old dude' with a beard...Hey just like me.

For those at all interested---the alphabetic script and other stuff on PDF:

 

Yeeeehaaaaa => man, that's a great OP-addition, Mikey-Z (congrats)

Iberia? => oh yeah, I've got a winner from Iberia ...

ISLANDS off IBERIA, Ebusus. Æ Quarter Unit
2nd century BC
Diameter: 17 mm
Weight: 3.28 grams
Obverse: Squatting Kabeiros, holding hammer and serpent
Reverse: Bull butting left
Reference: ACIP 719; SNG BM Spain 318-21

 

Spain, Ekualakos
Æ Unit (As) 25mm, 9.86 grams
Circa 150-100 BC
Male head right; dolphin to right
Horseman galloping to right with couched spear.
ACIP 1846; AB 970; CNH 2; SNG BM Spain 1031-5



Sorry about the double pic.

 

WOW !! Steve, That's a wonderful fun coin (Squatting dude).... with a cool bull too!!

And JB's looks a lot more 'Roman' !! LOVE "EM!! Hmm, I just made an appointment with the VA eye doctor just in time...Yikes I'm seeing double and I haven't had one beer yet

 

Holding hammer and serpent!! .... what?!!

 

I just googled Kabeiros and it suggests a few things like a ..."sea divinity' and the 'Blacksmith cult god' and that's news to me, but it makes sense with the use of the serpent and hammer devices....WAYYYY COOOL!!!

 

Nice pickup, Mikey. They liked this design in Iberia, eh. Mine from Bolskan makes for the fourth city in this thread.

 

I think they were either VERY lazy, unimaginative or had the same 'family' of engravers galloping around the countryside LOL

 

This is a thread I've been waiting for. Ran across it this morning at a cafe near my office and almost had to turn around and go home to post a couple of my own Iberians. Here it goes:

Iberia, Sekobrices
AE As, 30 mm, 10.55g
160 BC
Obv: Male head right with dolphin in front, palm leaf behind.
Rev: Horseman right, Sekobrices above exergue.

This one caught my attention because it is an example of that classic post Carthaginian As that so many of the Iberian cities used. I've gone back and forth trying to figure out which culture influenced the design and am now leaning towards the Greeks since the hair and nose on the obverse has a striking similarity to an AR coin shown in JBGood's post on Thessaly (second OP coin). The curly almost geometric pattern of the hair is very similar as is the rather strong bridge of the nose.


Coin #2:
Iberia, Castulo
AE As, 30 mm, 15.2g (yeah, its thick and hefty, as real money should be).
180 BC
Obv: Diademed male head right; hand before
Rev: helmeted sphinx walking right; star before


This coin is fascinating for a number of reasons. The first being that Castulo was an ally of Carthage until the Romans paid them off in the 2nd Punic war causing them to switch sides. The second reason is that my paternal great grandfather came from a town very close to where Castulo was located. I'm not sure which culture influenced this design but when my dad went to visit relatives a few years ago he brought back pictures of what appeared to be clay amphorae containing their local "day to day" wine that looked exactly like the clay vessels you would see in a Greek museum.

Please post your Iberians!

 

Ooow, I didn't realize that my Castulo would also fit into this thread ...




... ummm, and perhaps my Augustus from Celsa is also a contender, eh?



=> Iberian coins rock!!

 

Kingdom of Iberia right?
I've got nothing there but Iberian peninsula I have a few.