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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 3510416, member: 57495&quot;][USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] has a <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac16.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac16.html" rel="nofollow">page on his website</a> where he writes about a coin of his with a &quot;Bavarian Collection&quot; provenance dating to between the 1890s and 1930s.&nbsp; The thing that struck me most was the fascinating tags and envelopes the collector had fashioned from various pieces of scrap paper.&nbsp; So, when a number of &quot;Bavarian Collection&quot; coins came up for sale in a CNG auction a few weeks ago, I was eager to win at least one of them.&nbsp; I bid on a few, but only managed to score one, which was part of a group lot of three provincials.&nbsp; It came with two old envelopes, one which was definitely homemade, but neither near as interesting as Doug&#039;s.&nbsp; Thankfully, the coin itself, a bronze of Salonina from Ephesus, is IMHO a real winner.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse has Artemis the Huntress holding her bow, standing in front of a tree, next to a somewhat malnourished-looking little stag.&nbsp; The detail I really love here is the elegant engraving of the branches of the tree, rising upwards from behind Artemis&#039;s shoulders, framing her like a pair of wings.&nbsp; The positioning of the branches isn&#039;t uniform across all coins with this reverse type, so I believe the engraver here made an intentional artistic choice to give Artemis a pair of leafy wings when he was working on this die. </p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse has the interesting feature of the added XPVCOΓONH (Chrysogone, meaning &#039;begotten of gold&#039;) to Salonina&#039;s name.&nbsp; This was only done on coins of several provincial mints in Asia Minor, including Sardis, Colophon, and Ephesus.&nbsp; One theory suggests that Salonina may have been born to a Greek Bithynian family of that name (the Cornelii Chrysogonii).&nbsp; Another is that she was originally from the Asian provinces, and she had acquired a Greek familiar name by which she was still known there.&nbsp; Neither of these theories is universally accepted, and with Cornelia&#039;s background not very well-attested to, this little numismatic enigma may remain a mystery for some time. </p><p><br /></p><p>Please feel free to share your coins of Salonina, or any coins from the &quot;Bavarian Collection&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]930945[/ATTACH] </p><p><b>SALONINA</b></p><p>Rare. AE29. 9.26g, 29.5mm. IONIA, Ephesus, AD 254-268. Karwiese 1184 (<i>this coin cited and illustrated</i>). O: · CAΛΩN · XPVCOΓONH · CЄBA ·, diademed and draped bust right on crescent. R: EΦECIΩN Γ N-EΩ-KOPON, Artemis, standing facing, head right, raising right hand and holding bow; tree behind her, stag at her side.</p><p><i>Ex N. M. McQ. Holmes Collection; ex &quot;Bavarian Collection&quot; (Numismatic Fine Arts XXXI, 18 March 1993, lot 1141)</i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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