Hieron II Poseidon/trident

I couldn't decide whether to put it in its own thread or toss it into one of many appropriate existing threads.

The coin has some old and harsh cleaning scrapes which I didn't appreciate until seeing it in hand. Oh well, it's still a keeper .

Many of you have this type of Sicilian bronze... please pile on!


Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II
275-216 BCE
Æ 23, 7.4 gm
Obv: diademed head of Poseidon left
Rev: IEP-ΩNOΣ Trident upright; on either side, dolphin
Ref: Calciati 194

 

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Nice coin. I like the detail on the obverse.

 

Oh Hiero! He was Rome's fiercest supporter after( and during) the First Punic War. I can't say the same for his crazy grandson though.
Cool coin TIF!

 

Shame with the tooling, but it's got amazing detail!

 

nice looking coin with nice color and details...deserves it's own thread indeed.

one of the type is on my list.

 

I didn't call it tooling, although I'm not sure that you're wrong. To me it looks more like old and clumsy field smoothing or cleaning.

Other opinions regarding whether this was tooled, anyone?

 

It might not be tooling, what made me call it "tooling" is the scratches you mentioned. But I'm still fairly new to this.

But looking at the cleaning I think you're right that they are old and harsh cleaning scrapes.

 

Very very nice TIF. I'm almost embarrassed to show mine. Almost...

 

Definitely a keeper. I don't know why I haven't managed to get one of these yet. I don't see tooling, but the fields do seem to have received some aggressive cleaning.

 

Around the lettering on the reverse of TIF's are "harsh cleaning scrapes" she noted. I wonder if original patina would have survived that. Is it possible that it has also been completely repatinated after cleaning?

 

That is certainly possible. This type of enamel-like "army green" seems to often be an applied patina.

 

Very nice TIF

I read somewhere there are two types of portraits on these coins. One being the classical style, which I think yours is and the other style like mine.

 

It's neither tooling nor smoothing. The coin likely had some mineral deposits that were removed with a sharp instrument, leaving the little scratches. The point of smoothing is to actually smooth the surfaces. I don't find these little scratches the least bit detrimental to the eye appeal, as they are very shallow and do not break through the patina. It's a magnificent coin.

 

JA has me convinced....

It is a magnificent coin TIF

 

Wonderfully styled obverse and a beautiful trident!

 

The coin has good marks for condition but, as AJ said, the thing worth noting is the wonderful style. How many of us consider style? Mine is a junker but with a collection number of 18, I had it in 1987 when I started my catalog system. It was one of my first Greek coins.

 

Sweet coin!

 

Nice!! => that's an awesome Syracuse addition, Princess (congrats)

... man, ya gotta love those sweet coins from Syracuse, eh?

I have an example as well



... sadly, it has a bit of a tight-flan

 

Nice one TIF, whatever has been done to it


Syracuse Hieron II 275-216 BC Head of Poseidon left
IEPWN Trident between two dolphins
9.07 gr, 22 mm
Ref : Sear #1223

Q

 

Happy Independence Day, for America and all people on Earth. Cheers..

Well I have this coin figuring Poseidon holding a trident and a dolphin(possibly). Surprisingly it's Roman and pertaining to Emperor Gordian III. Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea, whereas Neptune was the Roman counterpart. the coin was struck in Anchalus. As far as I know, it's unpublished.