Always check dealer/auctioneer attributions! (Elymais edition)

Here's a coin I won a couple of months ago at auction:

Elymais. AE tetradrachm (15.38 g, 28 mm). Kamnaskires-Orodes (early-mid 2nd century AD). Obverse: Diademed bust facing slightly left with beard and large tufts of hair on sides, crescent and star and inverted anchor to right, Aramaic legend starting at 1 o'clock and reading counterclockwise "kbnhzkyr wrwd MLK' BR wrwd MLK'" (King Kamnaskires-Orodes, son of King Orodes). Reverse: Badly degraded bust within legend that was once Greek. van't Haaff 12.1.1-1A. This coin: Pars Coins Auction 1, lot 199 (April 8, 2019) at $60 hammer.

Elymais was a Parthian vassal state, located between the east bank of the Tigris and the Zagros Mountains, roughly where the province of Khuzestan is in modern Iran. Very little is known of the history of Elymais, with many of the later kings known only from their coins. Many of the kings bear Parthian names (Orodes and Phraates), but they are apparently not the same monarchs as the Parthian kings of the same name, although the later Elymaean kings do seem to have been an offshoot of the Parthian Arsakid royal family. The extensive coinage consisted of tetradrachms and drachms, initially of good silver but degrading to bronze for the later issues. Many of the bronze coins have survived in large numbers, and often in decent condition, so they are popular with collectors, though relatively few specialize in the series. A comprehensive catalogue of Elymaean coins was published by the late Pieter Anne van't Haaff in 2007, which has become the standard reference for the series.

This coin was offered at auction as a coin of Orodes II, van't Haaff 13.3.1-3A. However, when I began researching the coin I realized that this could not be correct. Tetradrachms of Orodes II do feature a facing bust, but wearing a tall tiara and with no side tufts of hair. Careful examination of the legend sealed the ID. Orodes II's obverse tet legend is solely to the left of the bust (not above) and reads simply "wrwd MLK'" (King Orodes). My coin has a much longer legend, starting above the bust, and the first letters are very clearly the Aramaic letters "kb", which are found only on obverses of Kamnaskires-Orodes. This illustrates the importance of doing your own research to attribute your coins. Even major professional dealers with decades of experience can make mistakes, particularly in "fringe" areas, and they may not have the hours to dig through references just to be sure of the exact attribution of a $50 coin. Please post your coins of Elymais, or else coins that were misattributed by a major dealer.

 

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This coin of Maximinus was misattributed as a coin of Galerius, probably because of the GAL VAL prenomen. Also, coins of Galerius feature MAXIMIANVS and not MAXIMINVS.

 

Nice catch @Parthicus

Here are a couple of mine that were misattributed. Doing your own research on the coins is both fun and rewarding. I love spending hours going through references...I find it relaxing.

The description on Naville claimed the following coin was RIC 222 (R). However, if you look closely you can see that 2 of the horses are looking in the opposite direction. The coin is in fact RIC 224 (R2).



This time the misattribution concern not a dating combination but the position of 2 captive figures on the reverse. The auction house (Gorny & Mosch) said this coin was RIC 105 which has Man on left Woman on right. On this coin it is Woman on left man on right. That makes this coin RIC 103. In this case it makes little difference with regard to stated rarity, both are (R2).

 

Almost 30 years ago a well respected European auction house identified this little guy as a coin of some North African king. Barcids in Spain Ar quarter shekel 1.65 grams 15 mm Obv Head left laureate club over shoulder (sometimes identified as a portrait of Hannibal). Rv. elephant walking right MHC 47

 

This was originally misattributed as Craw 44-6, but is actually a fairly scarce Sicily version:


RR Anon AR denarius Roma 211-206 BCE ROMA incus Dioscuri single horn-helmet Sear-- Craw 68-1b SICILY ISSUE RARE (originally misattributed as Craw 44-5)

 

That's a nice Elymaean coin!

I own a couple of Elymaean AE drachms, almost all of which came without attributions or somehow misattributed. Partly, this might have been due to the fact that these coins aren't expensive enough for sellers to really bother.

Kingdom of Elymais, Orodes V, late 2nd–early 3rd c. AD, AE Drachm. Obv: Bearded bust of Orodes left with double diadem and tuft of hair on top of head. Rev: Bust of Artemis with beaded tiara left. Ref: van't Haaff 18.1.1-2A. 13 mm, 2.6g.

This quadrans was listed as M. Fabrinius (CRR 251/1). I don't mind having an M. Atilius Serranus with a die break instead:

Roman Republic, moneyer: M. Atilius Serranus, AE quadrans, 148 BC, Rome mint. Obv: Head of Hercules r.; behind, three pellets. Rev: Prow r., above, M . ATILI (die break); below, [ROMA]. 17mm, 4.16g. Ref: Crawford 214/5a. Ex Savoca, Blue Auction 16, lot 913.

 

Coins attributed as Claudius II (with obverse legends a little off flan) that are actually Quintillus come to mind. ...just look for the Claudius with curly hair.

These are junky and too much for the condition but... just an examples I found in 5 minutes:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/142034346015

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/153434436089

 

Nice catch @Parthicus . This is my only coin of Elymais, and it too came from Pars Coins.
It is also the type your example was mistakenly attributed as..
Van't Haaff Type 13.3.1-3A; Alram 477

KINGS OF ELYMAIS. Orodes II. Early-mid 2nd century AD. Æ Tetradrachm.


PCW-PA1336-KINGS OF ELYMAIS Orodes II. Early-mid 2nd century AD. Æ Tetradrachm (14.77 gm; 28mm x 24mm). Diademed and draped bust facing slightly left; to right, star-in-crescent above inverted anchor with one crossbar at bottom / Elongated pellets in semi-regular pattern. Van't Haaff Type 13.3.1-3A; Alram 477. Nice brown patina. Choice aEF. Rare.

 

I'm sure the OP coin attribution was a copy paste error. This particular dealer specializes in the area and knows them well.

 

Yes, your theory makes a lot of sense, as this dealer does indeed have extensive knowledge of all aspects of Persian coinage. (I have heard a rumor that the owner is actually the collector of the "Sunrise Collection"- don't know if that's true or not, but it wouldn't surprise me.) But whether the error was made through copy-paste or dealer ignorance, the end result is the same, so collector vigilance is still important.

 

thanks for the write up, great info, Parthicus.

 

We do not emphasize this enough. See this discussion about (respected) auction houses:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/wh...oin-auction-houses.340612/page-2#post-3578841
"... every dealer touted here that I have dealt with - happily, I confess - also made mistakes in attribution, sometimes egregiously, and in some cases, I believe, with malice aforethought."