Greece (Kingdom of Macedon): silver "Mercenaries" drachm of King Perseus, ca. 175-170 BC

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by lordmarcovan, Nov 19, 2016.

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How interesting/appealing do you find this coin, whether or not you're an expert? (1=worst, 10=best)

  1. 10

    38.5%
  2. 9

    15.4%
  3. 8

    46.2%
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  10. 1

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  1. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Greece (Kingdom of Macedon): silver "Mercenaries" drachm of King Perseus, ca. 175-170 BC
    [​IMG]

    NGC Ch MS; Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5.

    Additional images on CollectiveCoin page.


    Obverse: Head of Helios three-quarter facing, right, imitating Rhodian issues.

    Reverse: Rose, bud right, magistrate’s name above.

    Composition, diameter, weight: Silver, 14-15 mm approx., 2.54 g. (*Diameter unrecorded prior to encapsulation)

    Authority/ruler: Perseus of Macedon (c. 212-166 BC)

    Catalog info: Ashton 15 or similar.

    Grade, cert. info: NGC Ch MS; Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5; cert. #4166130-001. (Same per HJB.)

    Provenance: Colosseo Collection, 3/2014. Previously Harlan J. Berk Sale #186, Lot 90; ex-Philip Davis collection.

    Notes: Believed to have been struck to pay Cretan mercenaries during the Third Macedonian War, in imitation of Rhodian issues, which they would have been familiar.

    Wikipedia links:
    Perseus of Macedon
    Greek drachma (ancient)
    Thessaly
    Third Macedonian War
    Helios
    Rhodes

    Additional links:
    Auction listing (HJB, Ltd. Sale #186, Lot 90)
    Wildwinds page: Thessaly
    Ancient Greek Mercenaries in Antiquity (Stefanos Skarmintzos)
    The Colosseo Collection (from which this coin was acquired)
    Collectors Universe thread, 4/28/2014
    "Eclectic Box" collection gallery

     
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  3. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Wow! Very nice!

    Check out the gallery feature here.
     
    TIF and lordmarcovan like this.
  4. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Thanks. I will. Took a peek a while back, but had since forgotten.

    Let me get all my present reposts up and running, and then I'll give that another peek.
     
  5. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Man, ya gotta love the Rhodes examples (or similar types) ... great coin (I noticed it in the other Rhodes thread)

    Ummm, so you buy them all slabbed and then free them? ... or you buy them free and then encase them?
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  6. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    Some of us buy them slabbed and then keep them that way. I know, shocking, right? ;)

    And I agree about the Rhodes types - that obverse image is just spectacular.
     
    Andres2 and lordmarcovan like this.
  7. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    What!;):D
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  8. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    The Rhodes coins are some of my favorite and, in general, some of the most recognized coins.
    CARION ISLANDS RHODES.jpg
     
  9. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    lordmarcovan likes this.
  10. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Simply gorgeous.

    Q
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  11. chrsmat71

    chrsmat71 I LIKE TURTLES!

    BEAUTIFUL!
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  12. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    well, I merely noticed that the Lord has taken photos without those nasty white plastic details ... but I was unsure which photos were taken first? (the photos out of the tomb, or the photos in the tomb?)
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  13. ab initio

    ab initio Well-Known Member

    Back in the 60's I saw literally many hundreds of them, mixed with a smaller number of Perseus tetradrachms and a few other Pergamene and other Asia Minor and (slightly more worn) Seleucid tetradrachms. This was just after this "Larissa" hoard was found, wrongly called at the time the "Sitochoro" hoard.
    The story has as follows: A truck was carrying one of many loads of excavated earth from a site near the ancient acropolis of Larissa and unloading it into an empty plot of land downtown Larissa. The purpose of this was that there would eventually be enough earth in that plot of land to ensure adequate foundations for future building. There was a gas (petrol) station next to that plot of land and it happened that at that time there were two workmen high up on a ladder trying to repair the Neon sign of that station. It was late afternoon, just before the end of their working day and one of the two guys saw something glittering from the rays of the sun in the land next door. They both went to investigate and saw the hoard amongst the rubble. They then filled their loose rubber boots with as many coins as these could carry and also their pockets and tool bags. The next day they returned and carried away what they could find of the hoard's remainder. From their homes at the Sitochoro village near Larissa they sold a few coins, mostly by size, without being able to put prices on individual specimens. A middleman living in Larissa heard of this and was able to secure the vast majority of the hoard by paying them a price they thought was attractive. It was at this middleman's home that, a few days later, I was able to inspect what must have been the vast majority of the hoard. The pile of coins was at least 75 cms high and covered most of the surface of a round table with a diameter of at least two meters. At that time I did not buy any of these coins as they were outside my collecting interests but was able to examine all the different types included in the hoard and keep mental notes of approximate numbers that were then transferred to paper. This information was forwarded to Martin Price, the then curator of Greek coins at the British Museum. As the discovery facts were not known to the middleman at that time, he thought that the hoard was found at Sitochoro.
    Weeks later, some of the ERMIAS Rhodian pieces appeared in the Athens flea market, selling for 900 drachmas each (at that time there were 30 drachmas to the US dollar). I bought a pair of nicely centered ones and had them mounted in gold to make an attractive pair of earrings for my girl friend. I hope she still has them.
    Apologies for the long post but I hope it was an interesting story. It also explains why most of these coins are still "ex Sitochoro" and not "ex Larissa" hoard. The Larissa hoard was eventually published by the late Martin Price many years later.
     
    Alegandron, Ryro, Curtisimo and 8 others like this.
  14. Smojo

    Smojo dreamliner

    I've seen more & more. I really hope the fad either dies quickly or just doesn't take off.
    If I wanted slabbed coins I would've kept collecting moderns.

    Is a totally awsome OP coin.
    Be better raw.
     
    lordmarcovan and Mikey Zee like this.
  15. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    In this particular case, and with most of the relatively few ancients in my "Eclectic Box of 20", I buy them "naked" and then "clothe" (most would say "entomb") them in the plastic after I make sure a good set of photos exists, because of the aforementioned issue of the stupid white NGC prongs.

    Yes, I am an unrepentant (or partially unrepentant) slabber of ancients, but only on a very small scale. As of this post I have four in plastic and two raw but headed into plastic.

    I do the plastic for consistency's sake, mostly, since my Box of 20 is a slabbed collection. Since all of the more "modern" pieces are graded and in plastic, so go the ancients. When I sell them, the next owners may always liberate them if desired.

    I very, very seldom buy ancient coins already in slabs, because that market pricing is just silly, for the most part. (And there's the photo interference issue from the prongs again).

    The slabs work for me right now, for this particular small collection. But in the past and no doubt in the future, I have and will enjoy my ancients raw, in hand, the good old fashioned way. I see both sides of the contentious "ancients in slabs" issue, and straddle the fence.
     
    Theodosius likes this.
  16. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    @ab initio- thank you for this detailed backstory!
     
    Theodosius likes this.
  17. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Slab on coin buddy. It's your collection.
     
  18. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Slab off sounds better

    ... but they're nice coins nonetheless (congrats again)
     
    Theodosius, lordmarcovan and Pishpash like this.
  19. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Just tweaked this old 2016 thread to match my new format, so I thought I'd send it up into the sunlight again.
     
    Theodosius likes this.
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