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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 3573961, member: 85693&quot;]For about two years now I&#039;ve been collecting ancient countermarks, and I have found it to be a rewarding, occasionally frustrating experience.&nbsp; Here are two I just got I thought I&#039;d share.&nbsp; Any additional information on these would be greatly appreciated.</p><p><br /></p><p>A tiny Lysimachos AE 10 from Thrace with an anchor countermark.&nbsp; I have not been able to find another one of these online.&nbsp; The countermark is presumably Seleucid - most of these are oval, but this one is round.&nbsp; I did find a few round examples, on other AEs. </p><p><br /></p><p>I got this on eBay (of course!) from a dealer who has been listing a bunch of small Greek AEs, all over-cleaned as this one is.&nbsp; None of them are described, so I went through dozens of them looking for countermarks.&nbsp; His prices are fairly reasonable and he takes best offers, but they are all harshly cleaned.&nbsp; Despite its problems (note how the countermark cracked the flan), this is one of my favorites (and my first Lysimachos):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]952708[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]952707[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kingdom of Thrace&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Æ 15</b></p><p><b>Lysimachos </b></p><p><b>(323-281 B.C.)</b></p><p>Head of Herakles right in lion skin headdress / ΒΑ[ΣΙ] ΛΥΣ[Ι] in wreath of grain ears.</p><p>SNG Cop. 1168-1169; HGC 3.2, 1761; Sear SG 6822.</p><p><b>Countermark:</b>&nbsp; Seleucid (?) anchor obverse in 6 mm circle.</p><p>(2.51 grams / 15 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>This next one was supposedly issued by Vindex during his rebellion against Nero.&nbsp; The host coin might be an Agrippa as, but hard to tell.&nbsp; This PR countermark is fairly well documented and always attributed to Vindex but I&#039;ve yet to find a full-blown scholarly discussion of these (did Howgego discuss these somewhere? There is an incuse PR issued in Syria around this time, but I was confused by the reference I found).&nbsp; Richard Baker discusses it briefly here: <a href="http://www.accla.org/actaaccla/baker2.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.accla.org/actaaccla/baker2.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.accla.org/actaaccla/baker2.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>A lot of these have been showing up on eBay and elsewhere.&nbsp; A hoard?&nbsp; Or a busy counterfeiter?&nbsp; The ones I&#039;ve seen are mostly quite ugly and worn, like mine with pretty convincing patinas.&nbsp; I paid $0.99 for this slug, so I figured it was worth the risk. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]952709[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]952710[/ATTACH] </p><p><b>Vindex Rebellion&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Æ (As?)</b></p><p><b>Moesia, Thrace or Gaul</b></p><p><b>(c. March-June 68 A.D.)</b></p><p>Agrippa (?) Æ as (or barbaric imitation?); too worn to ID. </p><p><b>Countermark: </b>PR (<i>Populus <i>Romanus</i>) in rectangular punch </i></p><p>Pangerl 87; Howgego 599 (?). </p><p>(7.56 grams / 26 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>I really enjoy looking at countermarks, so feel free to share any you have.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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