The Phil Peck (Morris) Collection has proven to be a windfall for collectors of rare, unusual, and attractive ancient coins. His collection was especially rich in large bronze coins although few of these coins would be considered "high grade". Many of his coins showed considerable ware, were smoothed, or showed obvious signs of cleaning. Personally I prefer silver or billon coins because I find their toning more attractive than the patina I've seen on most bronze coins. I made an exception with the well-worn Egyptian drachm pictured below. This coin has a dazzling patina of mahogany brown and jadeite green, along with a fascinating reverse design of a female griffin with her paw on a wheel. Griffins are mythological creatures, part eagle and part lion. They date back well over 5,000 years and are seen in many ancient cultures, especially with the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and Persians. They are recognized primarily as protective animals with an esoteric association with gold. This Roman gilded bronze griffin, circa AD 50 - 270, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. This Roman mosaic, circa 2nd-3rd century AD, is in the National Museum of Damascus, Syria, shows a griffin attacking a bull. This Byzantine mosaic, circa 6th century, from Istanbul, Turkey, shows a female griffin devouring a lizard. Photos courtesy of Wikipedia, Google, & Stanford University Library. Provenance: Virginia Ruzicka Collection Joel L. Malter Auction XXVIII, lot 460, 12-8-1984 Kerry Keith Wetterstrom Collection CNA Auction XII, lot 213, 9-26-1990 Phil Peck (Morris) Collection Heritage Monthly Auction 66151, lot 97082, 1-26-2020
Very nice coin! Beautiful patina! How much does it weigh? I gotta dinky one... Troas Assos 500-450 BCE AR Tetartemorion 6.4mm 0.21g Griffin springing right - Astragalos within incuse square Klein 475 VF Rare
I believe there is a higher percentage of Alexandrian coins with problems from inappropriate conservation. I stopped bidding on coins from one 'name' collection after winning a couple tetradrachms that struck me as having strange looking 'patina'. We know many roughly cleaned, later drachms have problems with bronze disease. There are hundreds of very rare Alexandrian coins which we must be glad to have whatever their condition. I wish collectors who feel the need to improve these coins which already have enough problems would go polish something I do not collect and leave my Alexandrians alone.
Alegandron, My coin weighs 23.83 gm & is 33 mm in diameter. Despite the tiny size of your coin both sides have well engraved designs & have a nice patina . I wonder if that knuckle-bone isn't a left over from the griffin's meal of lamb .
I could never understand why people have the neurotic urge to clean coins . When I had an antique & coin store many years ago I was shocked how many people brought coins in for sale & cleaned them before coming in . One instance I'll never forget . A woman came in my store with her late husband's collection of Morgan dollars. All the coins had be cleaned with "Twinkle Silver Cream" & had a near mirror finish including a 1893-S in Ex. Fine condition !
