Greek AE

He's facing right. The obverse is a little obscured by the desert patina.

 

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My main collecting interest is artistic Greek silver, but I also love and collect Greek bronzes, many of which are just as skillfully engraved as their silver counterparts.


Bruttium, Rhegion
Æ Hemiobol , 425-415 BC, a little guy, but nice.
Obverse: Facing lion's head.
Reverse: PH, two olive leaves with three olives.
References: SNG ANS 680; SNG Copenhagen 1939.
Courtesy of John Anthony


Sicily, Gela. Ca. 420-405 BC Æ tetras (17mm, 4.67 g, 6 h).
Obverse: ΓΕΛΑΣ, bull standing left, head lowered; in exergue, three pellets.
Reverse: Head of the river-god Gelas right, with flowing hair; behind, barley corn.
References: Jenkins 499; CNS 9; cf. SNG ANS 116.


SICILY, Syracuse, Agathokles, 317-289 BC
AE22, 9.46g, 22mm, struck 317-310 BC.
Obverse: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, head of Kore left, wearing wreath of grain and necklace, dotted border.
Reverse: Bull butting left; above and below two dolphins, above NK (monogram).
References: CNS II, n. 96 Ds 114 R1 4; SNG Copenhagen 757; SNG ANS 567 var.


Peloponnesus, Elis
AE25, 17.08g, early 30s BC
Obverse: Head of Hera right, wearing ornamented stephane
Reverse: Eagle with closed wings standing right on thunderbolt, F in left field, monogram to right
References: BCD Olympia 313
Rare.
Ex CNG 81 Lot 2306, 20 May 2009.
Ex BCD Collection with tag.

John

 

This coin is similar in size to your Lampsakos AE and also depicts a equine forepart.


Atarneus / Atarneos, AE9, 1.15g, circa 350 BC
Obv: Apollo head right
Ref: A[T?]A; horse forepart
Ref: SNG Paris 130; SNG Cop. 25-27, cf. two examples in AsiaMinorCoins.com
CNG, Triton VI, January 2003, lot 1563 (part of) David Freedman collection

The attribution really troubled me at first. CNG listed it as Atarneus but gave no reference. The ATA inscription is somewhat difficult to read and not in the usual position for these coins. These Apollo/Horse bronzes seem to be either about 4g or about 1g.

 

Does anyone know if there are more Greek or Roman bronze coin types? My suspicion is there are more Greek bronze types but I have no data to back that up. There are certainly more than enough Greek types to keep you busy your whole life, with many themes to collect them by including city, gods and goddesses, real animals, mythological animals, by region, etc. I try to buy any artistic bronzes I see even if they fit no particular theme.

I particularly like certain cities and try to get as many types as I can find for those cities, including Syracuse, Rhegion, Elis, Larissa, Terina, etc.

John

 

Here are some more small Greek bronzes I really like:


Bruttium, Terina
Bronze AE15, 350-275 BC, 1.991g, 14.9mm, 0h.
Obverse: Head of nymph Pandina left, wearing earring and necklace.
Reverse: TEPI, Nike seated left on square cippus, bird in right, left hand resting on cippus behind.
References: Lindgren II 393 (this coin); BMC Italy p. 394, 61; SNG Cop 2033; SNG ANS 884; HN Italy 2651; Jenkins-Holloway 126.
Lindgren Plate Coin!
Ex Forum


Sicily, Syracuse, Second Democracy
Hemilitron, AE19, 466-405 BC, 4.5g.
Obverse: Arethusa with hair in amphyx and sphendone
Reverse: Wheel with two Dolphins
References: SNG ANS 411, SNG COP 696
Calciati notes that coins of this issue included dies signed by the masters Kimon, Phrygillos, Eukleidas, and possibly Eumenes. Other examples are unsigned but of fine style.
Fine classical style, possibly the work of Phrygillos.
Ex Forum

John

 

Thanks. I can see that now.

 

@Theodosius - These coins of yours blew me away! The richness of the patina is crazy. I don't think i have seen coins quite like these before. They look like dark chocolate. Love 'em.

 

Thanks @LaCointessa, the first one with the lion is especially smooth and glossy.

 

That one, when I look at it I see an elephant (and not a happy one) looking straight at me with big elephant ears, trunk coming down the middle and short hair on top. My eye/brain are out of control.

 

Here's charming Artemis, with Marsyas (Music) on reverse. The coin was struck in Apameia, BMC 47. It looks sandy and oval.

 

So many really wonderful posts!!

It seems most of my 'Greek' coins are silver but hear's another I thought was cool primarily because of the 'Homer' reverse:


Ae-21mm of Smyrna in Ionia, 3.-2. century BC. Av. laur. head of Apollo right Rv. Homer seated left, dark brown patina, 8.25gr.

 

Have you checked the Lindgren books for your coin Warren?

 

Thanks for the excellent page of references, Warren. I really love Greek bronzes and think they're a great collecting area for those looking for bang on a budget. There's a dizzying variety of types and cities, and a wealth of numismatic and historical knowledge to discover with them. They can be a little daunting to get into initially, but with some of the references you list and the many web resources available, there's no reason to overlook them thinking "it's all Greek to me".

I was recently working through a small pile of bronzes from Asia Minor and bemoaning the fact that the HGC volume covering Mysia was not yet out. I'm a big fan of the series and think they can't be beat as a general reference as well as a catalog. A few of the coins from this pile below:

Here's one from Lampsakos - a bit beat-up, but still quite a nice little coin.

MYSIA, Lampsakos
AE17. 3.7g, 17mm. MYSIA, Lampsakos, circa 4th - 3rd centuries BC. BMC 51. O: Janiform female head wearing taenia and earring. R: Pegasos forepart right; trident below.

A lovely AE20 from Adramyteion. According to Aristotle, the city was founded by and named after Adramytos, the brother of King Kroisos of Lydia.

MYSIA, Adramyteion
AE20. 6.0g, 19.6mm. MYSIA, Adramyteion. Time of Mithradates VI, circa 120-100 BC. BMC 7-8. O: Laureate head of Apollo left, quiver at shoulder. R: AΔPA-MY / TH-NΩN, Cornucopia flanked by pilei surmounted by stars.

This large bronze of Kyzikos showing the prow of a galley on the obverse is a little more interesting for having been overstruck on an earlier issue of the city, with what's left of the undertype very apparently visible at the bottom.
MYSIA, Kyzikos
AE29, overstruck on earlier issue of Kyzikos (Kore/Tripod or Kore/Wreath). 14.43g, 29.3mm. MYSIA, Kyzikos, circa 3rd century BC. SNG France 438; SNG von Aulock 1231. O: Prow right. R: K-Y / Z-I, bucranium facing within wreath.
The same coin with the obverse rotated to better show the undertype:

 

Have you considered this type from Adramyteion?
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3520305

The types, style, size and even control symbol match... is there a possibility that what looks like ΛA... on your coin is actually ΑΔPA?

 

Lots of very cool coins in this thread that would have a welcome home in my collection. I do not have any reference books. Being a generalist collector spending more on a catalog to get a reference number than my coins are worth doesn't make sense to me. However, the additional info is missed.


Pisidia, Selge.
Æ12, 2.4g, 7h; 2nd-1st centuries BC
Obv.: Laureate and bearded head of Herakles facing, lion-skin around neck; club to left.
Rev.: Forepart of stag right, head left.

My database contains a reference but I can't check it.

I purchased the above coin because of the facing bust of Hercules. I have a soft spot for busts not in profile.

 

@Valentinian

OP coin possibly MYSIA, Adramytion

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4337528

 

The wonderful members on this list have helped. Thank you! The OP coin is from Adramytium (sometimes spelled with two t's, and sometimes ending "ion" or "eion") in Mysia (NW Asian Turkey) and not Lampsakos in Mysia as I had thought.

Those are all good ideas. The first link is to my OP type and their coin is 0.87 grams (mine is 1.10 grams) so @zumbly found it. The second link is to the OP type and 0.93 grams and has the same ear of grain below. Thanks @doucet . The first auction reference is actually to a much larger coin with the same design in SNG France 5 "Mysie" #1 (the very first coin in a book with 2560 coins!) which has the type but weighs 4.16 grams and is 15 mm instead of 10 mm-- clearly a larger denomination. So, they did not find a good reference either.

The second auction type references the same larger coin (but notes it is larger, which the first did not) and Klein 247 (which I have) which is the right design with the right size (10 mm and 1.03 grams). If my coin had been better there would be AΔPA above the horse helping to pin down the city.

I just looked in Lindgren's works and they have nothing even remotely like it.

I have more references to look through. That is one thing to like about Greek AE--it takes (enjoyable) time to look stuff up. It is not just "RIC xyz" and you're done.

I hope you all appreciate how great this forum is and become supporters!

 

I have the 29 BMC Greek volumes and you could not identify the OP coin from them. Vast as it is, from the correct city the BMC has only four BC coins (the OP coin is "4th c. BC"), only two of which have images, and none of the BMC coins have a winged horse. In contrast, Lampsokos has many winged horse coins and all I originally could not find was one the right size. Without the clear Greek lettering AΔPA on better examples of the OP type which distinguish ADRAmytium from Lampsakos I think people would naturally have expected it to be from Lampsakos. Both the attribution when I got it and mine were to Lampsakos.

 

ISEGRIM has a huge number of these entered from Josef Stauber's Die Bucht von Adramytteion. The weights seem to run from 0.57g to 4.71g. It wasn't obvious if the weights are distributed smoothly or clump around a few denominations.

Here are some references to examples below 1.5g:
IMHOOF GM S84,150,
IMHOOF MG page 247 #95B
BABELON TRAITE 2,2 2517
TROXELL SNR 1981 page 30 #3
SIX NC 1894 page 309 #24

 

In my opinion it is not even close. Greek wins by many miles. It reminds me of a joke we heard in 1959 when Alaska became a state and Texans were bemoaning no longer being the largest state. The Alaskan said, "Shut up or we'll divide and make you third!"

Come to think of it both Greeks and Romans may be beaten out in total type count by the Roman Provincials.

There must be a million of them. Here are ten.

Brettian League AE15 (Yes TIF's example is MUCH nicer!!!)


Akragas tetras


Athens AE19 Athena/Zeus


Athens AE12 2 owls (or 1.5 in my case) There are many, many Athens bronzes!


Perge AE13 Sphinx/Artemis


Amyntas AE26 Herakles/lion


Apameia AE22 Athena / owl


Kyrene AE16 Karneios head/three Silphiums arranged radially


Demetrios Polioketes AE13 (Yes, the silver tetradrachm is more popular.)


Lysias AE18 Herakles/Elephant Do Indo-Greeks count?