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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Nathan B., post: 7947229, member: 112852&quot;]Hi folks!</p><p><br /></p><p>I am wondering about two of my Greek bronzes.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, there is this coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1376429[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Aigae, Aeolis.&nbsp; AE 18 mm. 3.33 g. Sear 4168.</p><p><br /></p><p>It looks to me like Apollo has had horns applied to him to make his portrait resemble Alexander the Great coins.&nbsp; The &quot;horn&quot; facing the viewer is incuse into the coin.&nbsp; I think it would be hard for a die artist to use an existing Aigae die to do this since this shape on the die would be in relief, so I&#039;m wondering if this is a sort of countermark.&nbsp; I have seen this same phenomenon on another random coin I saw online somewhere (can&#039;t remember where).&nbsp; I also wonder if this is a sort of intentional punning.</p><p><br /></p><p>My second coin is a very strange thing that I have not been able to identify (please help if you can!).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1376426[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>CoinTalker pprp was able to help me to get the fourth character in the abbreviation for Amphipolis (I couldn&#039;t see the other vertical stroke in the pi letter), but unfortunately I am still at a dead end with this coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are a few weird things that kind of intrigue me about this coin.&nbsp; The obverse portrait is one; I can&#039;t place it, but the head sure looks fierce!</p><p><br /></p><p>On the reverse, there are three points of confusion for me.&nbsp; The first is that the M - PH - I - P letters (for &quot;Amphipolis&quot;) resemble a countermark, but it would be a wide countermark, like a rectangular stamp today.&nbsp; Can anyone say if this is in fact a countermark, and/or if countermarks of a rectangular or maybe oblong shape were used in antiquity on coins?</p><p><br /></p><p>The second strange thing concerns the thin shapes occurring at about 11:30 and 12:30 on the reverse.&nbsp; What are they?&nbsp; They remind me of this coin (below), but I think I&#039;m probably trying too hard to relate them to two goats&#039; horns, like on this coin below (I don&#039;t own this coin or even know what it is):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1376428[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My final puzzle occurs when I rotate the coin as follows (looking at the reverse):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1376427[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, I see a lion&#039;s head facing left, with a very visible open mouth, as well as nose, eye, and and maybe even ear.&nbsp; I&#039;m wondering if the face that we see facing right could be a reworking of a lion design.&nbsp; Am I going crazy?&nbsp; This coin seems to offer so many possibilities of interpretation, and is really flummoxing me!&nbsp;&nbsp; (Thanks in advance to anyone who can comment!)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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