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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;David@PCC, post: 2937139, member: 80556&quot;]I&#039;ve had this one for over a decade and it came in group lot. I always thought it was interesting but never gave it a second thought until I started re-shooting all my coins. I was also using the old BMC reference and new ones came out since I acquired it. I recently turned down an offer of $180 for it which some of you may think is crazy to refuse but I am definitely keeping this one. The two books that came out that contain entries for this coin are HANDBOOK OF COINS OF THE SOUTHERN LEVANT by Oliver Hoover and ARADOS HELLÉNISTIQUE. ÉTUDE HISTORIQUE ET MONÉTAIRE by Duyrat and is in French. I like the coin due to it&#039;s oblong planchet, imagery, and that it has elements of Phoenician, Aradian, and Aramaic script all on the reverse. I emailed several researchers about what the Phoenician inscription may mean, but I have not heard anything back.</p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse depicts Europa which inspired the love of Zeus. He approached her in the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. There she gave birth to three sons. They were Minos ruler of Crete, Rhadamanthys ruler of the Cyclades Islands, and Sarpedon ruler of Lycia. She later married Asterius, the king of Crete, who adopted her sons. She was worshiped as Hellotis in Crete, where the festival Hellotia was held in her honor. That also explains the bull on the reverse, but the inscription is a mystery to me for now.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t put much stock into rarity scales, but Houghton uses such a system in his book rating from C (thousands of examples know) to R3 (only 1 or 2 known) to exist. This is a different scale than RIC uses and are believed to be estimated numbers know to exist in the world. My coin is listed as a R2 meaning he believes between 3 and 9 examples of this coin are known to exist. I have no idea on it&#039;s accuracy but have not seen another for sale in the last 15 years! This one is also a full 3 grams heavier than documented examples in museums.</p><p><br /></p><p>Lastly special thanks to Martin Rowe for helping me properly attribute this.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]714444[/ATTACH]</p><p>Phoenicia Arados</p><p>Year 164, 96/95 BC</p><p>Obvs: Female bust Astarte-Europa right, wearing stephane, and veil over back of head. Border of dots.</p><p>Revs: Phoenician script &quot;Yodh Shin Beth Daleph Mem&quot; (yšbdm) above, Recumbent humped bull lying left. Aradian ΔΞP date in ex.</p><p>AE 21x22mm, 10.37g</p><p>Ref: BMC 324; Duyrat 4418/4419; HGC 10, 79 (R2)</p><p><br /></p><p>Post any coins you never plan to sell.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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