COWabunga, surf's up

Okie dokie, I know that a certain crazed Canuck, Noobster, and WindManChild have this type of coin. Now I've joined the club. Wanted to get that fabulous specimen in today's CNG auction but got tied up and couldn't monitor the auction. Bummer because it went for a decent price. Should have bid and crossed my fingers.

But I got one last week, so crisis averted

Post your bovine surfers here. Or any other surfing odd couple.


THRACE. Byzantion. Siglos (Circa 340-320 BC).
Obv: Heifer standing left on dolphin swimming to left.
Rev: Incuse mill-sail pattern.
SNG BM Black Sea 21.
Weight: 5.0 g.
Diameter: 17 mm.

 

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Thrace, Byzantion AR Tetradrachm
(387-339 BC)
Obv.: Heifer standing left on dolphin; monogram above and under raised leg.
Rev.: Granular quadripartite incuse square.
Schönert-Geiss 688 (this coin illustrated); SNG BM Black Sea 4 var. (monogram).
From the Chris Connell Collection; Ex George Bauer Collection (Glendining's, 23 January 1963), lot 1010; Mathey Collection (Feuardent, 9 June 1913), lot 146.

 

Canuck not likely I would consider myself a Rangers fan!

Byzantium, Thrace
AR Half Siglos 14.0 mm x 2.44 g
s. 416 - 357 BC
Obverse: Cow riding on Dolphin left; Archaic Greek BY above.
Reverse: Granulated Mill Pattern incuse punch
ref: SNG Cop 477

 

Yeeeehaaaaa => Cow-a-bunga, dudes!!

 

Is there any symbolic significance to the incuse mill-sail pattern?

 

Good question and I do not know. It seems that the reverse incuse mill-sail pattern was used by a number of cultures over a span of centuries.

I have tried (not diligently though) looking into the history of this pattern but have found no information so far.

 

nice lookin maritime bovines everone!

 

They always look utilitarian to me - a beveled, serrated anvil protrusion that would easily hold the flan in place while the obverse was being struck. Tap the flan down onto the protrusion, then strike the coin. But I know nothing about it.

 

That sounds like a reasonable guess, but I was assuming the mill-sail was on the hammer rather than the anvil. If the mill-sail was on the anvil rather than the hammer, the hot flan might not sit securely. If not perfectly centered, it might tip or become uncentered. But if the protuding mill-sail was on the hammer, it might help keep the flan from skittering when struck.

If you come across anything on the subject, please let me know.

 

I was thinking you might tap the flan down onto the anvil with a hammer, so it stayed in place before you struck it with the die. I'm curious now - I'll hunt through my stuff and see if I come up with any scholarship on the thing.

 

a classic!!

 

Wouldn't this cause the coin to bend around the protrusion and keep it from receiving a proper strike?

Furthermore, if that is the case than why is stevex's second coin evenly struck?

 

Yeah, I don't know, vlaha - just stabbing at the dark. Maybe if the protrusion was shallow enough and you hammered the flan down hard, it wouldn't bend. Also, those obverse designs have a pretty high relief - perhaps an incuse reverse would at least help push the metal up into the obverse devices. But I'm just guessing.

 

Mooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Awesome!

My girlfriend might actually like this coin. Her family raises beef cattle.

 

What kind of cattle? When I first retired from the Army I raised Hereford's and Red Angus for a few years. Loved every minute of it.

 

They do Hereford's and Red Angus as well. They did just get a new bull I think it is Simmental or Charolais I can't quite remember. It is really nice because every year we get a full freezer of meat.

I prefer Dairy. One of my good friends is a Dairy farmer and we often will go up to his farm to help out when his parents travel or they are just really busy (and have a big ole party in the middle of nowhere where we can't get in trouble). We always like bringing 'city kids' out to the farm and into the milking parlour. We always welcome them with a fresh squirt of milk directly from the teat. The one girl we know flipped out it was hilarious.

 

We've got more than a few dairy farms here in Amish country. One makes some of the best ice cream in the county. They have a seating area outside, but you really can't eat there - the stench is so strong it feels like you're licking frozen cow manure.

 

Dairy farms always stink. Worse than pig farms and almost as bad as chicken farms. Give me the wide open range for feeding beef. The only time the smells get strong is when they're put in feed lots.

 

To my knowledge this is due to the manure management system in place in the States. My understanding is that Canada has a lot more strict laws regarding the handling of manure. My buddies farm smells, I mean cows poop a lot, but with the system they have set up it is a bare able smell. They also did just build a new top of the line barn.It may just be me having grown up around barns.

There are greatly different regulations comparing the Dairy industry in the States to Canada. Especially considering milk standards the difference between Canadian Grade A and American Grade A is quite large. Don't quote me on this though I learn all of this second hand from my friend.

I used to work in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences up here and I miss it a lot. They are hoping to get some money to hire me back. Number 1 perk though was all of the Ice Cream I got. We use it as a recruitment tactic since it is all made on campus from the dairy cows we have in our research facility. We also used to have a cow you could stick your hand into its stomach that kids loved. Unfortunately the cow passed away from old age and the rest with a cannula are currently a part of an ongoing research project