It's been a quiet day, so I thought I would post my latest Greek coin purchase. AR Hemidrachm from BOEOTIA struck at the Thespiae mint c. 336-315 BC OBV: Boeotian sheild REV: Kantheros, club of Herakles above, BO to left, I and crescent to right 1.9g, 13mm
Greek silver is something I dont have too many of, mainly cause of the fakes & cost. This is a cool piece though.
I would say costs more than fakes, huh Matt? That is my reason too. Fakes are not a huge concern in this area. Like Matt, I would like to get into these more. I have a few tets, a few archaic, etc but its not a large area I concentrate on. I liek them though, especially the archaic to early classical examples.
Very nice coin! I've seen this one before, recently. I don't have any Greek coins, mostly because of cost. There are a few coins in the Greek world that I would stay away from because there are a lot of fakes.
Yeah, I would agree. There are also much larger coins with this shield configuration, Tets and drachms. I recently have purchased several Greek coins under the watchful eyes of many forum members. Gil is right. There are a lot of fakes to look for, but like Roman coins, once you know what a real Roman coin looks like, fabric, legend, etc., it gets a little easier to spot fakes. Having said all that, Roman coins are still my passion even though I have and will dabble into Greek coins.
Beautiful coin, Bing!! Here is my version ... Boeotia, Thebes AR Stater Date: 363-338 BC Diameter: 21.5 mm Weight: 11.8 grams Obverse: Boeotian shield Reverse: Amphora, KA-LLI across field; all within incuse concave circle Reference: BCD Boiotia 555
Imagine standing in a long row with your shield overlapping that of your neighbor on either side. If you align the holes and stick a long spear out of the gaps, you create a large 'machine' that was high tech in the day. Modern armies care little about shield tech. This one was called the Boetian Shield.
Thanks Bing ... hey, I read somewhere that "size isn't everything" dougsmit => that is very interesting ... it certainly conjurs-up a great visual in my mind of the Boetian troops marching ahead like a well-oiled fighting machine!! (very cool)
