Hi everyone, been loving all the great coins you all have been posting. Interesting Designs and Histories. I have this coin coming from London. It caught my eye being counter struck . This is the sellers pic. Can anyone make out what the counter strike is? And why was it counter struck? To raise the value I assume? The seller thought maybe an owl on amphora or such. I cant see it myself. Thanks for any Help/feedback. I will post another pic in this thread when I get it in hand. Here's the description : Aeolis, Elaia. II-I century.AE Apollo/wreath. counter struck ,BMC 23? I tried to look this coin up at Wildwinds, no luck.
Usually, a counterstrike was to certify it's value. Say a coin was struck a hundred years ago in a different city, but the current city didn't have the resources to strike it's own coinage. It would put a counterstrike on the host coin, and "adopt" it as it's own. Sometimes a counterstrike would revalue a coin (used to be a dime, now it's a quarter.... you get the picture). I'll let the actual experts identify the counterstrike, but it appears to be ancient. Nice patina and look on that coin though. Congrats.
I know so very little about counter strikes and associated representations. I own a few with counter-strikes, but have never been able to find much information. Your coin looks very nice and I personally like that "sand" patina. There have been discussions in the past about applied "sand" patina, but from what I recall, the only way to find out is to see if it washes off. In my personal opinion, I wouldn't mess with it. It looks too nice as is. Counterstruck with a thunderbolt PAMPHYLIA SIDE Æ16 OBVERSE: Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet, winged thunder bolt countermark REVERSE: SIDHTWN, Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate to left Struck at Side, 2d-1st Century BC 2.72g, 16mm SNG Cop 408, BMC 66 Sand patina CONSTANTINE II AE3 Follis OBVERSE: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C, laureate (resembles pearl diadem), draped, cuirassed bust left REVERSE: PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS, campgate, 2 turrets, 8 layers, star above, no door. Mintmark: SMKB, dot in left field Struck at Cyzicus, 329-330 AD 3.7g, 19mm RIC VII 52
Sorry, old49er ... sweet OP-coin, but I can't tell what the c/m is from those photos ... but again, that's a pretty cool coin
Hmm. I think the seller's attribution is wrong. Your coin doesn't resemble those of Elaia. Among other things, the wreath leaves are different. The obverse figure could be one of several deities or personifications. The first letter in the wreath looks like a K and the letters in the legend likely spell the issuing city's name. Maybe the coin is from Kyzikos, with Kore on the obverse? Some examples: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=88321 https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=159043 https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=15647 As for the countermark, it's difficult to tell. Maybe when you get the coin in hand you can see it better or take better/different pictures. I was hoping to find a clearer similar countermark after identifying your coin but the CNG examples shown above (assuming I'm even in the right ballpark) don't have countermarks. I have Howgego's book on countermarks but just received it and haven't explored its arrangement yet. I did a quick check for Mysia but didn't find much. I can't even guess at the countermark from the seller's images so looking it up by subject matter won't work. If I have time I'll dig deeper. Edited to add another Kyzikos AE examples currently on Vcoins. I'm pretty convinced yours is from Kyzikos. There's at least one more example currently for sale on Vcoins. https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/gerhard_rohde/135/product/kyzikos_mysia/800383/Default.aspx Compare to the coin cited by the seller (Elaia): https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2594478 AEOLIS. Elaia. Ae (Circa 2nd/1st century BC). Obv: Head of Demeter right, wearing grain wreath. Rev: ΕΛΑΙΤΩΝ. Torch within grain wreath. BMC 23. Condition: Very fine. Weight: 4.00 g. Diameter: 16 mm.
According to ISEGRIM, the countermarks associated with this type are "Eagle r" and "Kerykeion". Yours might be "Eagle r". I have not found a good reference on Hellenistic Greek countermarks. For this coin I ran the query "po:cyzicus m:ae vt:HEAD WOMAN R" on ISEGRIM and then used the browser Edit|Find to search for the VG tag on the results page.
I've put off learning how to use ISEGRIM because its query method is so unintuitive. It is a great database though so it is probably worth the time spent.
Many years I wrote a blog post about ISEGRIM [ http://digitalhn.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-use-isegrim.html ]. I am happy to answer any questions although I am by no means an expert.
Thanks a lot for all the feedback! I think TIF is right, the seller has it misattributed. Mysia Kyzikos it is. Thanks Ed for the countermark ID. All you Ancient forum people are awesome! After further research I think I found the attribution, or close. MYSIA Kyzikos ca 2nd Cent BC Æ15mm (4.99 gm) Kore Soteira Oak Wreath May 13, 2007 MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 2nd Century BC. Æ 15mm. Head of Kore Soteira right, wearing wreath of grain / KU-ZI, legend and monogram within an oak wreath; second monogram below. See Æ 19mm Von Fritze 24, pl. ii, 7; SNG Copenhagen 71; BMC Mysia pg. 39, 150ff var. (same); SNG von Aulock 7353; Laffaille -. 4.99 gm. I will have to weight and measure it when I get it in hand.
Hi all, Just got this coin today. Its a match. The countermark does look like an eagle too. Looks like an eagle on the left side and a tree on the right? Nice thick little coin. MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 2nd Century BC. Æ 15mm. Head of Kore Soteira right, wearing wreath of grain / KU-ZI, legend and monogram within an oak wreath; second monogram below. . Thanks for all the help!
