Over the last year (+) that I have been collecting ancients I have tried to purchase coins of certain Emperors, Rulers or eras that interest me - it's been super fun and a great learning experience. Many thanks to those here who have helped me. However I have also read some great threads listing the "essential" ancient coins that are true classic depictions that should be represented in most collections (I say "most" because I see no rules here - collect whatever you want)... the Bee certainly makes most of these lists. Here is my new modest example - really happy to add this to my collection and own a real classic! Ionia, Ephesus AE16 280-258 BC OBV: Bee in Laurel wreath REV: Stag grazing, right 16.58mm, 3.2 grams Please post your Bees ... I would love to see your examples!!
I had this one: But I traded it with a buddy at last month's local ancient coin club meeting for this Diocletian:
State, City: Lycia, Termessos Minor Coin: Bronze - Apollo laureate head within dots and countermark of winged insect TERMHS-SEWN - kithara Mint: Oinoanda (1st C AD) Wt./Size/Axis: 4.44g / 19mm / - Rarity: Rare References: BMC 276, 7 (Pisidia) SNG von Aulock 4458
This baby bee (1/192 stater, 0.1g) of Ephesis is smaller than most. Much larger is this tetartemorion, 0.2g, making good use of all that extra space for an eagle head ad legend on the reverse. I believe the c/m under the deer is a bird. The host coin is a massive AE14, 2.9g.
In one week, it'll bee exactly the date 4 years ago when I accidentally hit the Bid Button while scrolling through a live auction on my iPhone and ended up winning this one. It cost me deerly at the time, but the sting has since worn off and I'm happy to say I've grown pretty sweet on this honey of a coin. IONIA, Ephesos AR Drachm. 4.17g, 17.8mm. IONIA, Ephesos, circa 202-162 BC, Ekatokles as magistrate. Kinns, The Attic Weight Drachms of Ephesos, NC 1999, S.86; SNG von Aulock 7826. O: Bee between E-Φ. R: Stag standing right, in front of palm tree, EKATOKΛHΣ to right.
That does seem like an essential ancient! Nice pickup . Surely it was worth it just for the pleasure of writing this punny paragraph . My bee has been shown many times. It's not a coin but it is coin-like... a tessera. IONIA, Ephesus. Anoynmous c. CE 1st century Æ tessera, 19mm, 5.14 g Obv: CKωΠI, stage kneeling left, head right; E to left, Φ to right Rev: KHPIΛICωΔEΠPOCΠAΛVPIN surrounding a bee Ref: SNG Copenhagen 355; BMC 186; SNG von Aulock 1875 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-magical-tessera.277808/
Ephesos, Ionia, BC 280-258 AE, .42g, 7mm; 7h Obv.: Bee Rev.: Stag head right Ephesos, Ionia, 4th-3rd BC AE, 1.08g, 11mm; 12h Obv.: Turreted female head left, Artemis Rev.: [E-Φ] (mostly off flan, hints of the letters); bee with straight wings From @John Anthony : "The early association of the bee with the cult of Artemis is attested by varied evidence. It appears not only upon the strange polymastoid statue of the Ephesian goddess but upon the earliest coins of her city. As the owl was the emblem of Athena at Athens, so the bee seems to have been the emblem of Artemis at Ephesus." (Elderkin, G. W. The Bee of Artemis. The American Journal of Philology. Vol. 60 no. 2. 1939. p. 203) Not only was the bee a symbol of Artemis, but the young women which served in the temple were called Bees. (Frayer-Griggs, Daniel. The Beasts at Ephesus and the Cult of Artemis. Harvard Theological Review 106. 2013. p. 468.)
