Athena and Perseus w/ head of Medusa 30mm bronze

Just got this coin Friday and enjoy it so much. From Sinope in Northern Turkey on the Black Sea from the time of Mithradates IV after the 3rd Punic War almost to Caesar's time ~105-85 BC.

Gorgeous bust of Athena, and Perseus, son of Zeus and the human Danae holding the severed head of Medusa on the reverse. Large, hefty 30mm bronze coin, I can't stop looking at it.

And I got it for only $102!!! I know the value is at least twice that. I bought the coin to sell it but I can't bring myself to post it on Ebay.

Behold~

 

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That's a real beauty. I know Steve and I think TIF have one he has shown before. I do not, but I want one.

 

oh yeah, nice coin! i've admires posted here as well but don't have one myself. i didn't remember that they were that big! big AE is sweet...sweet coin merlin.

 

Thanks guys. I'm really happy with the purchase. I love the myth of Perseus and Medusa and the coin is in great condition for the price.

 

Awesome looking coin, really like the obverse details. I would like one too, put me on the waiting list.

 

Check. I just had my first son 20 days ago and am selling coins for extra income. If/when I decide to sell this I will post here first. Might have to give Bing first dibs as he posted first~~

 

Congrats! That's a nice one. Welcome to the fatherhood club and the Headless Medusa club!
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-the-headless-medusa-club.244466/

 

That's an awesome coin!

 

Careful offers to buy/sell/trade are not allowed in this part of the forum.

 

sweet

 

Merlin => congrats again (and again) on your sweet OP-addition ...

Yah, I've shown these babies many times ... but hey, let's get 'em out again for one more road-trip, eh?

Bring-on the gory Perseus-Medusa heads!!

 

I love these coins! The reverse scene is so unambiguous

Somehow I've ended up with three of them, all from Pontos





I was determined to get one and overpaid for my first one (the first picture here). Very soon after, I found the second one in a local jewelry store for about $50. It was covered in various copper minerals and became my biggest (and perhaps only) cleaning success story. Pre-cleaning pictures, which look like a trippy black light poster :



The third example was purchased fairly recently. While waiting for another lot to hit the auction block, this one came up and it was going rather cheaply so that darned bidding finger clicked the button...

 

Congratulations on your first son. I wish him health and happiness for his entire life. My son's are all grown and may even be older than most on this forum. I miss the days when they were young. We had fun back then (at least I did). Spend as much time as you can with him. The time goes by way too quick. Oh, and when you decide to sell, just PM me. I'm sure we can come to agreement. Again, congratulations.

 

When looking for these, I consider three things important. The rest of you can have the unworn coins. I want coins that show a bold strike of Medusa's headless body with gushing blood, a clear strike of the cutting tool in Perseus' hand and Perseus' head on flan. There should be a space right of the corpse to proove it is headless and no just off flan, Of the coins shown, TIF's first and Steve's second are winners. In the best of all possible worlds, I would also ask for facial features on the severed head but that is not something you see on one coin in a thousand or so. Most seen are from Amisos so your Sinope carries added interest but I'm not sure how many people really care where their coin was from as long as it has the scene shown clearly.

My Amisos is a typically poor example with weak body but decent obverse with Pegasus. The Sinope is better but the body is underweight and anemic (or is it a sign of low blood pressure?). The search continues.


It strikes me that my requirements here are the ancient equivalent of US collectors who want Standing Liberty Quarters with full heads and Jefferson Nickels with full steps. Not all coins left the mint as we might have preferred.

 

Sorry I am new. Others mentioned business before so I thought it was ok. Will be careful from now on~

 

Stunning collection. Cornering the market in Perseus w/ Medusa's severed head coins huh?!

I wonder what drew you to this coin?

Excellent coins. Must have been expensive.

 

Wow those might be the best representations of the reverse I have seen so far! Outstanding. Makes me want one like that. Thanks for sharing!!

 

Thank you so much. The world changed the day he was born. I appreciate that advice. What a great accomplishment to raise several sons. Highly underrated. Respect. I was actually thinking you might not even want it~ Felt stupid for assuming you would.