Euboea Histaea --The last remaining coin of my "2016 Want List"

It was December, 2015, and everyone here was posting lists of coins they wanted for 2016. I was no different, and made a "Top 5 Want List for 2016." I've gotten the other 4, but this one had to wait because for every coin in my want list that I've bought, I've ended up buying 3 that were not on my want list. But 29 coins later, here we are:


Euboea Histaea Circa 196-146 B.C. Tetrobol
AR Tetrobol 17mm. 2.26g.
Head of Maenad (the Nymph Histiaea) right, wearing floral wreath, neclace, and earrings
Histiaea seated right on prow, ornamented with tripod, holding stylis and sail; trident below.
HI[ST]AIEWN
SNG Copenhagen 535

There is a lot to say about these tetrobols. From the 4rth century BC, when they first appeared, through the 2nd Century BC, these were some of the most common, well known, and mass produced coins of the Ancient Greek World. Like the Alexander III Heracles coins, these Euboea Histaea tetrobols would have been well known to most Ancient Greeks.

The ones from the 4rth and 3rd centuries are certainly beautiful, but mine from the 2nd century BC is a pale shadow of the earlier versions of this coin, which depicted very skilled artistic style and were well-struck. But that is to be expected. When mine was minted, Rome had steam rolled over the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, and gained mastery of the Mediterranean. The Romans had turned their sights on the remaining independent Greek City States. The Greeks, desperate for well known coinage to pay their troops with, needed millions of these coins. So something had to give, and the coins became cruder in design and quality (which you can see with mine). But all the Euboea Histaea tetrobols in the world were not enough to keep the Roman armies at bay, and by 146BCE Cartage and the Greeks were pretty much subdued, and the Mediterranean fully became the Roman's sea.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!!!

These coins are highly faked. If you are a newbie, learn to spot the fake ones and do your research before buying one of these. Please do not buy without doing your homework. The good news is that the fakes are easy to spot once you know what to look for, but you have to do the research Will Robinson!

 

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Help me. What date would you assign this one? 4th, 3rd, 2nd.....21st???

 

I'm not an expert on dating, but it looks crude enough for a late 3rd to 2nd century BC example. I'd say real, but that's without seeing the edges to make sure its not a cast.

It is definitely not one of the ubiquitous modern die forgeries going around. Those have a very distinctive look. Be aware of straight hair and pellets in the hair...a sign of modern die fakes. Also note the lack of the line going through the prow section on the fakes

 

Good looking Euboea, here is one I have

 

Don't know whether mine is real or not. It came in a lot of bronzes I got for cleaning. It is in three pieces.

 

Looks like the silver crystallized and the coin shattered from a hit of some sort. Shame, but still, looks like a very pretty coin despite the damage.

 

Five stars for the Lost in Space reference

I've also relied on Barry Murphy's page about fake Histiaia tetrobols.

Roma and others continue to sell the straight hair & pellets types. I posted a couple of those Roma listings for discussion on the Forvm fakes board and there was surprisingly little discussion. Joe Sermarini wrote that not everyone agrees about the straight hair & pellets types being fake. Hmm. I certainly don't know what to think about it.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=104160.0

I bought one in the earliest stages of my collecting and was lucky to have avoided a fake, although I did check databases before bidding.


EUBOIA, Histiaia
340-330 BCE [not sure where I got the date; may not be correct]
AR tetrobol, 13 mm, 2.3 gm
Obv: head of nymph Histiaia right
Rev: AIEΩN; nymph seated on stern of galley right; IX (XI?) below
Ref: Sear Greek 2496

 

Lovely examples!!!

As TIF will recall, I purchased a fake 'Histiaia' from a reputable auction house and she alerted that fact to me...I received a 'credit/refund' option from the seller which I took advantage of. Mine had a very crude reverse and the straight hair and pellet characteristics.

Thanks again TIF!!!

Check those data bases guys

 

Nice example, mine has some character too it.

And yes it's real!


Histiaia, Euboia
340 - 330 B.C.
Silver Tetrobol
O: Head of nymph Histiaia right wearing an earring, hair bound in sakkos (sphendone) wreathed with vine
R: Nymph seated upon a stern of galley holding a mast with cross-piece (trophy stand), grapes on vine to left; wing on prow; IΣTIAI-EΩN
14mm
2.4g
BMC Central Greece p.127, 24-25; Sear 2495

Slightly overstruck. Die break on nose.

 

Mat: nice example of the "Jimmy Durante" variety:

 

Usually someone brings him out when I post it, lol.

 

So @Sallent now that you've completed your wish list, six months into the year, what's next?

 

Sallent has sung this song before... he'll have another list and a half-dozen more coins next month

Soon he'll start the Florida chapter of Coinaholics Anonymous.

 

Well, there are a few Roman Emperors still to add to my collection, so I guess I can work on that. Maybe even another one or two RR denarii. Then once I've done all that I guess I shall start making my list for next year, which shall be more interesting as I'm almost ready to choose one or two themes to specialize in for a while.

I've just about built a solid general collection, which was something I wanted before deciding what to specialize on, so I'm craving the possibility of now focusing on one or two things for a while. One of them is to collect a solid Caracalla silver collection. I have a soft spot for that Emperor. Perhaps that could be my 2017 wish list.

 

I, too, remember a time when I looked forward to specialising in an area or two. Then, I promptly got lost in the woods and never found my way out. And thus, I remain, lost... and loving it .

Anyway, @Sallent, I'm looking forward to seeing whatever other areas your interests take you!

 

Wishlist @Sallent ? Just buy everything that catches your eye.

When I first started, I tried to focus only on Greek coins. That changed rather quickly, now I'm buying coins from areas I have never heard about.

 

I don't know what you're talking about. I showed a lot of self-restraint this month. I made myself swear to the goddess Moneta, the Goddess of money (ie. coins), that I would only buy 2 coins this month. I only broke my promise by 3, and I ended up only buying 5 coins...a lot less than the 7 I bought the previous month. That is a huge improvement in my books.

Who here can match my Herculean self-restraint? (Sound of crickets chirping) Yeah, that's what I thought.

 

@Sallent , you need to find some cool areas to focus in and enjoy. You appear to enjoy history, as I have been focusing many of my captures around various Historic periods.

Over this past year, I have been averaging 5-10 coins per week to build up my collection. I am building "coin vignettes" such as Etruria; Capua; Mamertinoi; Marsic War / Social War; Carthage 2nd Punic War; Diodachi; Libyan Revolt / Mercenary War; Samnium; RR Aes Grave Denominations... all told, almost 300 coin captures over this last year, almost doubling my collection.

I am not focused on numismatics, rather coins that capture significant points in Human History.

Meanwhile, I am building a Roman Emperor Portrait Series" like @Greg Heinrich , but not as high quality as his focus. I found that once I became enraptured in a certain area, it was fun to "search and destroy" for the coins that reflected my area of history that I enjoyed. GO FOR IT!