[ancient] Adventures in bidland: Agathokles tetradrachm

[apparently there is a character limit and this post is too long... so I will have to divide it in two]

I’ve had great fun diving into ancient coins and have particularly enjoyed buying several large mixed lots. Blindly buying an unimaged mixed lot as close as I can come to the thrill of digging up my own treasure. I’ve also bought numerous individual coins along the way and put together a themed collection. It’s all been so much fun!

It was time to step it up, to stop buying many little coins and instead go for one special specimen. I wanted a beauty, something breathtaking, a showstopper.

Then I saw it. A deeply struck, well-centered Agathokles tetradrachm. It called to me. Loudly.

ArtCoinsRoma. What on earth were they thinking, putting an crazy low estimated hammer of 1000 € on such a fabulous coin? Recent comps showed much much higher prices. Yes, there is an edge flaw on the flan but it’s not really seen head-on. Yes, there are two dark spots on Arethusa’s cheek. But that strike! The surfaces! The centering! The artistry! The estimate was clearly wrong but my heart said “Buy it! Do whatever it takes!”. I stopped buying coins in anticipation of a big bid (well, almost stopped… I did get a few in the last two months before the auction). Checked my finances. Did some calculations.

I sought expert advice from a CT member experienced in buying higher-end coins. I researched comparable sales. I registered with ACR. Checked out their live bidding setup (via Coretech, and I’ve successfully bid with Coretech in the past). Debated whether to put in a prebid or whether to just bid live. Decided on the latter. Determined my maximum bid and promised myself I’d stick to it.

The auction was scheduled to begin at 4 a.m. my time. No big deal, I’ve often gotten up in the middle of the night to bid. But should I bid from home, trusting my unreliable ISP and even less reliable power? The electricity in my part of the world goes off frequently, although it hasn’t gone off in weeks lately-- as I told another CT member earlier in the day before the auction. It’ll probably be OK.

Jinx. The power went off at 7 pm the night before the auction. Still out when I went to bed. It was off for more than 4 hours. I decided to get up at 3 and drive to my office, where we have a much better ISP and a backup generator.

The rest is best told in a timeline.

3:15 am
Why is my alarm going off? Oh right, I’m going to spend money with reckless abandon. Log into Coretech. Forget that it won’t run on Chrome. No problem, switch to Safari. Java message, has to update. Java and Adobe seem to be out of date mere days after updating, so annoying-- I should have done that yesterday. Click to download the update.

3:25 am
Shower, dress. Check the computer. Java update still loading. Damn snail-paced overpriced ‘high speed’ internet connection! Check the current bid; the prebidding period had ended. 19 bids, probably due to the coin being showcased on ACR and Sixbid. Bidding stands at triple the estimate-- completely expected-- still reasonable for the coin and below my planned max. I’m a go for live bidding!

3:45 am
Drive to the office. Listen to some calming classical music. No other cars in sight, make good time. Feeling confident, in control. The power failure was not a bad omen. Thinking positive.

4:05 am
Auction should be starting; ‘my’ coin shouldn’t be on the block for another hour or two. Time to make some coffee and get set up. Or maybe I should get logged in to Coretech first. Yeah, I’d better do that first.

4:08 am
Install the Java update on my Mac laptop. Open Coretech, log in. Error. BLOCKED. What? NOOOOOO! Why? Maybe our work servers block that type of site. But I’d logged into Coretech for other auction houses before, from work… I try to investigate the blockage but I’m not a computer whiz. Change various security settings. Doesn’t work. Try logging in via a work computer, a PC. Same thing! NOOOOOO! What now?!

4:20 am
Maybe I can bid live by phone. I call ACR from my cell and after being transferred to someone fluent in English, the connection went bad. The call was still connected but no audio. NOOOOO! I call back two more times… I didn’t hear a ring but it connected, no audio!

4:30 am
Must be something about my office’s internet provider that is blocking it. If I hurry, there’s still time to drive back home and bid from there. Back in the car, drive in a mad rush, dodging the occasional frog or cat.

4:50 am
Home again. Open up Coretech, log in… BLOCKED! NOOOOO! Frantically google for a fix. Find the settings part of Java and add Coretech’s address as an allowed site. Try to log back in. BLOCKED! Add more addresses to the security exception list. STILL BLOCKED! No way to fix it.

4:56 am
Try calling ACR again. Still a bad connection. I don’t have a landline.
It's too late, the coin has probably left the block.
It is time to throw in the towel. I am defeated.
Coulda shoulda woulda… perhaps I should have prebid or found a proxy bidder. I should've tried to call ACR from a landline at the office [headbang]. Live and learn.

5:00 am
Might as well do a Hail Mary and email ACR with my absentee bid. Just in case. Probably too late to execute, but it won’t hurt to try. No response of course.

5:52 am
I see that Zumbly is online and is asking about the ACR auction. I PM him and ask him to check the hammer price if he is able to log in to Coretech. I’m ready to be put out of my misery. I hope it sold for a million dollars so I won't have to kick myself forever.

6:10 am
Zumbly gamely logs in and checks; the auction is only up to lot 40! So much for putting me out of my misery-- now I’m once again frantic to place a bid. There must be something I can do to get a bid in!

6:18 am
Skype! I can call by Skype! First I had to buy some Skype credit. Oh no, after the transaction they say my bank has to verify the charge and they will email the confirmation.

6:20 am
Realize my Skype-linked email is old and no longer functional, scrambled to get the new one in.

6:25 am
Skype landline calls enabled! I call ACR and am transferred to an English-speaker. He gives me another number and name to call. Now I’m getting somewhere, but is it too late?

6:31 am
No answer. Doesn’t even ring, just immediately says “busy”. Redial redial redial redial. Same thing. Wait, I can just do a Skype text and briefly explain the problem. No response.

6:54 am
Maybe the number they gave me is a cell phone-- and if so, I can text the person. I briefly state who I am, that I am having trouble with Coretech and want to place a bid on lot 166. I’ve now send an email, a Skype text, and a cell text. I can't think of anything else to try.

6:55 am
Text response! “We have received this message. Thanks.” Yay! I suspect my bid will be too low but at least I’ve tried. Wait a sec, what does that mean, “we have received this message”? They didn't say "We are placing your bid". Just "we received this message". Fingers crossed.

6:59 am
Zumby agrees to watch my lot as it hits the block, unless a toddler attack thwarts his plan.

7:27 am
PM from Zumbly-- it’s MINE! I think. Maybe. It hammered for one increment less than my max, so if they executed my bid I am now the proud and poor owner of a beautiful Agathokles tetradrachm! Cautiously optimistic though... I won’t believe it until I confirm with ACR or get an invoice. If it sold for below my max and I didn’t win… well, I guess I can spend that money on a good therapist instead.

12:44 pm
Confirmed! I'm the successful bidder. Now to figure out how to send that much money across the pond...

Thank you, AJ, for your guidance, cheerleading, and for dressing up the photos with your drop-shadow template. And thank you, Zumbly! If you hadn’t checked and found that the coin had not yet hit the block, I wouldn’t have gotten a second wind and succeeded in submitting my bid!



SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles (317-289)
310-305 BC
AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm
Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?)
Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram.
Ref: Ierardi 9; SNG Copenhagen 573 goes., SNG ANS 637

I love this coin! The reverse scene is particularly well done. The horses on this die are rendered more realistically and artistically than most.

Note on obv/rev designation: in some catalogs I see Arethusa listed as the reverse rather than the obverse. I think that is wrong, given the slight concavity of the chariot side. That concavity is typical of the hammer side of the coin, which is usually clearly the reverse. Opinions, anyone?

 

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Additional tidbits about these tetradrachms:

Agathokles is described as a 'tyrant of Syracuse' and he certainly was aggressive and murderous in his earlier years. When things calmed down he proclaimed himself king of Syracuse. During his reign things were apparently more peaceful and history regards him more kindly.

Arethusa was a water nymph who was transformed into an underground stream emerging as a freshwater spring on the Sicilian island of Ortygia, the future site of Syracuse. Ovid wrote of her in Metamorphoses (AD 8). English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a lovely poem about her in his 1820 composition, Arethusa. Roman poet Virgil also wrote of her in book III of his 19 BC epic, The Aeneid.

The triskeles symbol is interesting. Its earliest use is seen three millennia before appearing on Syracuse coins. Initially a religious symbol of the sun, likely representing Baal. Agathokles adopted it as his emblem, in theory because the triangular shape resembles the shape of Sicily. For an in-depth review, see The Triskeles on Ancient Greek Coins, an article by John Voukelatos, 2011. Later Sicilian depictions include a gorgon face in the center and that emblem is featured on the flag of Sicily.




The quadrigia on these coins are shown in a 3/4 perspective. One writer indicated that this shows the chariot as it is turning left during a race. You can see the turned heads and bunched-up legs of the near horses as their gait shortens to enter the turn, with the far horses still in near-full gallop. Whether this was done to fit the whole scene on a limited canvas or through artistic intent, I don't know.

 

GREAT vignette of your hunt TIF. I read your play by play recap with bated breath....I think you captured the thrill of the chase well. I know as collectors we often fall in love with a particular coin, and then go through various stages of the chase. You had a few extra virtual world obstacles thrown in for good measure.

The coin you won is an absolute stunner and well worth the effort on your part.

Congratulations on your SCORE! Well done!

 

Forget all the hassles you went through to obtain this coin. THAT IS ONE BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! You people with all this cash to spend kill me (I'm very jealous so don't mind me). Congratulations TIF. Fantastic coin for sure.

 

Gosh, TIF, beautiful! I've been waiting for this post and it figures that it had to come just after I posted my ugliest coins on a thread called "Share Your Uglies".

Even though I was there for the nail biting finish, I had no inkling of the full extent of the Herculean labors you had to go through to win this coin... it couldn't have gone to a more deserving owner.

 

nice coin I'm glad you got it, I honestly can't wait for the days where I have that much money, I think you should be an author because you really make people feel what you're feeling!!

 

Nice story, brah.

 

Says the guy with a Caligula Denarius

Great coin, Tif. I would have to sell nearly all my U.S. coins and some of my better world moderns to afford something such as this. I've thought about it just to acquire a gold roman empress to call my own, but I cant get myself in that mind frame.

 

My heart was pounding all through the 'timeline.' ALWAYS, ALWAYS test your bidding setup! I have seen way too many people miss out on great coins for silly reasons.

 

I had used Coretech successfully a few other times-- but not with ACR. Not sure what the problem was-- probably something with Java.

Could've saved a ton of anxiety and agitation by simply called ACR from a landline while at the office. Guess I wasn't thinking clearly. That's worrisome too.

Yep, I definitely learned some lessons with this experience!

 

Tif, looks like it wasnt just you on the Java.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=94586.0;topicseen

 

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

super duper congrats on that most epic of all coin WINs TIF.

isn't that story SUPER as well?!

nice assist AJ and Z man!

 

Good to know it wasn't just me. Thanks, Mat!

 

Well done TIF! Awesome narrative, and a beautiful new addition! You're now the owner of a coin many only dream of owning!

 

Oh, and the cell phone audio problem? It seem that at that very moment the speaker on my cell phone chose to die.

I didn't know that was the problem at the time. I could've plugged in a headphone/mic and used the phone. Sigh. Still haven't replaced the phone (kinda nice being unable to take calls ). I need to back up all of my non-iTunes-purchased music and stuff and just haven't done it yet. Can any of you recommend a good third party program for my laptop so that I can dump my phone's contents and get a new one without losing everything?

 

Fantastic coin, great pictures, and a Hollywood-class bidding story Now I just need to convince you that you should sell it to me. You don't want a coin of a tyrant do you??...

As for the concavity of the coin: the reverse of my Agathokles tetradrachm and my Lokris Opuntii stater are rather concave as well. The dekadrachms with Arethusa have the quadriga as the obverse but neither side is concave on them. I think you have it correct as-is but I'm definitely curious as to any other opinions on it as well.

 

You should be able to just plug it in and your operating system will identify it as a disk drive - if you're using Windows, navigate using My Computer, find the new volume mounted alongside your main hard disk, and you can access the filesystem of your phone and copy anything off.

 

Wow TIF, what a great story, your new coin is more than words can express, very, very nice...i freak out when i forget to put the decimal point and hit send than have to start over, but i wait to bid when there's only 20 seconds left..
What a beau-TIF-ul coin. i'm currently making some of those earrings...

 

You don't want an old fire-stained coin do you? Trade you a tyrant for your damaged Boscoreale Vespasian...

No??

Seriously though, I do thank you for NOT bidding on this coin

Hmm, surely I tried that already... then again, I'm on a Mac and am an infant in terms of understanding it. Change gets harder as a person grows older. I'll try again after I deal with some more urgent family stuff today

Sweet, you're making some Arethusa earrings? What materials? Please post pictures when they are finished. I haven't started my ancient coin earring projects yet.

Nice wordplay too-- I like that!

 

TIF, I'm absolutely thrilled for you! But you might want to get one of these for your door - you can't be too safe.