It’s a sunny day in Connecticut & perfect for giving some love to coins that may have been neglected through the winter. Here is a great coin that deserved a little sunshine and some fresh pics. Kings of Lydia, Sardis Croesus AR Siglos 560 - 546 B.C. 5.20 grams, 13 - 15mm Post a coin that deserves some love and maybe hasn’t been out to play for a while. (My Siglos was stashed away in 2019 and it finally got out to play today). Please post ‘em if you got ‘em.
I do so very much wish I could remember what I have posted here in the decade I have been a member so I could pick something that I know most of you have not seen. The easy answer is to post a coin that no one would want to see because it is so ordinary. This 'Emesa' mint MONET AVG is not high grade but I really like the style of the portrait. Septimius' Eastern mints are a specialty with me and there was a time I bought just about any that came around if they had dies I lacked or if they were die linked to only one side of another of my coins. It was the first of the 15 coins of this type I have. I have been watching for a better example of this obverse die but there are a lot of dies and I don't get to as many shows as I once did so that may not happen. The coin has another claim to infamy in that I 'lost' it for about five years when it got returned to the wrong envelope and was misfiled. I really think I need to do a complete inventory now and find out what else turns up missing. Like all the rest of my generation, I should have some free time coming since I am not wanted in the outside world these days. I do love this coin. Any coin that has been with me since before I started my computer files and assigned numbers to coins is just a little special to me. Most of all, I do not recall showing it here before.
Here's one I just bought that I thought needed some love. It was priced so low that I thought that it just deserved more respect. Cost me $13. One of the things that attracted me to this coin is that it is a Philip II or III with Philip's name below the horse. I really haven't seen many of these. I say Philip II or III because I have seen it listed as both. Anyone with a definitive answer as to whether it is II or III?
Someone should write a bot to scape all of Doug's posts, remove duplicate images, and upload a PDF of the whole thing to a print-on-demand outfit. SNG Cointalk I: Doug Smith collection.
Very nice coin! I still need to get a coin from Kroisos. His fractions seem fun to collect as well. As far as a know, if it says the title BAΣIΛEΩΣ "king", it is always Philip III. So yours is Philip III, struck in Miletos (Reference: Price P64).
I haven't been buying many new coins this year, but even then, I'm behind photographing, researching and posting them. Here's one arrival from February that would like to come out and play... BRUTTIUM, Rhegion AR Litra. 0.57g, 9.2mm. BRUTTIUM, Rhegion, circa 480-462 BC. Anaxilas, tyrant. SNG Cop 1926; HGC 1, 1649 (R1); Sear Greek 497 (as obol). O: Hare leaping right. R: REC (retrograde). Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection
When we see zumbly's hare we should also see a litra (0.6g, 420-413 BC) from Messana in Sicily. The two cities faced each other on opposite sides of the strait of Messina (modern spelling) separating the boot from the island of Sicily (the ball the boot is kicking as I was taught in school). The map below uses the modern name Calabria rather than the ancient Bruttium. A benefit/problem with this place we call Coin Talk is that it exposes my ignorance and makes me have to go research questions like why z's coin is dated so much before mine. I should know this but it is not flying out of my head right at the moment. I do think it would be great if I added a Rhegion hare to my collection.
Anaxilas was the tyrant of Rhegion who conquered the city of Zankle on Sicily and renamed it Messana. One historical tradition credits him with the introduction of hares to Sicily (to alleviate food shortages... yum), and it was he who began striking the types of the hare and the mule biga (advertising his Olympic win in 480 BC) at both cities. My Rhegion dates from his reign. After his death, Rhegion reverted to using the Samian type of the lion scalp, but Messana, for whatever reason, decided to keep the hare/mule biga types. Your coin dates to this later period. With ancients, it seems that going down such rabbit holes is the risk one runs even when one begins with a reason as innocuous as just wanting a cute bunny coin from Magna Graecia.
@Collect89 , that is a great coin with fantastic history. Thanks for digging that out and posting it! I want one! Here is one that I do not believe has been posted. Locked away, without love... Pontos Amisos AE21 8g 95-90 BCE Zeus - Eagle Tbolt SNG BM Black Sea 1221-5 - Ex: Eng Collection
That's a nice siglos you have, Collect 89. Beautiful iridescence in the sunlight A good decision to bring it out to play. I'm also a little jealous of you, because sadly my coins aren't the playful type, really. They're more silent, reclusive individuals that sit brooding in a dark corner of the room, probably wondering how they ended up from the warm Mediterranean in cold Norway. Most of them are still in hibernation, anyway. But I did a bit of prodding and- yes!- I eventually managed to coax one out of its lair to come out and play with us in the spring sun. Hermes/ Mercurius, always the playful little rascal. I hope he gets along with your Kroisos and the other coins in the thread (I bought it because of the sweet obverse portrait. It reminded of why he was the patron-god of gamblers and thieves). Enjoy the spring sun everyone!
Antipater as Regent Ar Tetradrachm In the name and types of Alexander III Mint of Amphipolis 322-320 B.C. Price 108 Troxell Group G2 17.19 grms 26 mm Photo by W. Hansen
