[ancients] Pontos, Amisos. Off with her head!

Here are a few other Pontos, Amisos coins. They were part of an unimaged mixed lot purchased from Goldberg Sept. 2013.

 

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very cool

 

Since we are showing our coins from Pontos, one of my favorite coins is from there:

AMISOS, PONTOS AE 20
OBVERSE: Head of youthful Dionysos right, wreathed with ivy
REVERSE: Thyrsos leaning against cista mystica draped with panther skin; AMISOU below
Struck at Amisos 85-65 BC
8.8g, 21mm
SNG BM Black Sea 1199-1200; HGC 7, 243

 

I found the reference that Pecunem uses at :
http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org/

It's in fact SNG Stancomb 683 that has no monogram to the right :
http://www.s110120695.websitehome.c..._Reply.php?Series=SNGuk&AccessionNo=1100_0683

Your example looks more like these, and I think the monograms match :

SNG BM Black Sea 1173
http://www.s110120695.websitehome.c..._Reply.php?Series=SNGuk&AccessionNo=0901_1173

SNG Fitzwilliam 793
http://www.s110120695.websitehome.c..._Reply.php?Series=SNGuk&AccessionNo=0601_0793

 

Thanks, Zumbly! I think you're right.

 

Wow, that's a beautiful set, TIF.

 

Today I had a pleasant surprise after an unpleasant day of working out of town. I stopped in a jewelry store before heading home-- the store usually has an assortment of tragically high-end and highly polished Greek and Roman silver coins set into pendants and rings.

There was a lone bronze coin, unset. A Pontos, Amisos Athena/Persus-decapitating-Medusa! Not in the greatest condition but the price was surprisingly low so it followed me home

I may see if I can coax off some of the excessive oxides and crud.



19.5 gm, 29 mm

 

This has good centering and detail if only the crud comes off without leaving rough surfaces. Were it mine, I'd risk cleaning it. I wish you had a junker coin that had the same type deposits to use as a guinea pig.

 

I wish the same thing. I am going to set it aside for now and work on it when I am not so busy-- don't want to rush and ruin it. It has a certain charm as is... the colors remind me of boulder opal. It would be nice to get a little more detail on the reverse by removing the pimply verdigris, plus I'd like to remove the beige deposits on the obverse.

 

You might try dry cleaning with a flat scalpel and more patience than I have. The guys who tool those expensive culls into EF gems could make this into a real looker.

 

Here is my Pontus Amisos coin. It's not in the greatest condition, but I still like it.
Amisos, Pontos, AE20, ca 100 BC.
Aegis with facing Gorgon in the center.
AMI-SOY Nike advancing right, holding palm over shoulder
with both hands.
DAT monogram to left, omega on S monogram to right.
(http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/pontos/amisos/BMC_72.txt)

 

TIF => I really like the colourful crud!! (I hope if you do clean it up a bit that it retains some of that super-cool colour)

... congrats on adopting a coin on the way home from work (it's kinda like bringin' home the 3-legged puppy from the pound .... it is a feel good story)

 

Well, "conservation" of the jewelry store Pontos went surprisingly well! Some of you may feel that it should have been left alone-- and part of me did like the colorful corrosion-- but I really wanted to see if the reverse details were preserved.

It is now essentially stripped, but most Pontos coins have the same look.

Before:


After:


One mere scrape with a scalpel (obverse, in front of Athena's face) was enough to prove that it was the wrong approach. I exposed a tiny glint of shiny bronze (not even visible in the photo). None of those scratch marks are mine; most of those "scrapes" look like typical Pontos flan manufacturing.

Instead of mechanical debridement, I soaked the coin in vinegar, occasionally wiping with a Q-tip and scrubbing with a toothbrush. Total soaking time was several hours and two changes of vinegar as the copper oxides saturated the solution. There are still a few green and blue warts on the reverse so I might do it again.

After vinegar, a distilled water rinse and then a hot bath of sodium carbonate + sodium bicarbonate (just an hour), then another DI rinse. Dried with a hairdryer then treated with VerdiCare.

I am very pleased with this unexpected and inexpensive find!

 

I like.

 

Yes, it looks very nice ... good details on pretty much everything (congrats)

=> great Medusa (severed head and gutsy-body)

Perseus also looks pretty awesome (nice harpa!!)

... and wow ... the ol' gryphon on the helmet is a total winner

Full points, Princess (you did extremely well)

 

i'll be darned, not bad TIF. I've used vinegar before but haven't has results that good. the last time I did it I left a coin in to long and it corroded the metal (it was a slug anyway, I was just experimenting).

 

Well done TIF

 

Wow TIF, what a score and what a awesome coin,very nice...

 

You uncovered some great details there, TIF. Especially with Medusa's body and Perseus's head. Really nice job!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That is quite the treatment. Congrats! Many of the scratches you pointed out can be scene in the original photo they are just more noticeable now which isn't a bad thing. The detail you brought out on the reverse is quite amazing.