I'm not particularly interested in countermarks on Greek Ae issues, but this coin is a bit more interesting than the many others I have seen. When I first looked at it I saw the bust of Herakles obverse, but the small lion head on the reverse kind of threw me as it looked like part of the design. Turns out it is a raised countermark as opposed to the incuse countermark on the obverse. Here is the coin: Lysimacheia Thrace ; 309-220 BC : 21mm, 11.2gms Obv: Head of Herakles right wearing lion-skin; c/m: incuse facing lion scalp (upside down) Rev: Nike standing left holding wreath and palm; c/m: raised head of lion right Question: Is a raised countermark common? I can't remember seeing another. Also, how do you think it is done? BTW, I checked and the two countermarks don't line up with each other so were probably applied separately.
I really, really like countermarks, and I really like that one - As for countermarks being raised, that lion in profile is unusual. It is almost as if it were part of the obverse countermark (struck like a coin on both sides - technically this makes it a "counterstamp," according to some). I did a quick Google search for countermarks from Lysimacheia and immediately found one a lot like yours on Vcoins - it only has the obverse countermark: https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/pa...mark_of_lion_head_scarce/1056164/Default.aspx There is another one on Wildwinds, with just one countermark. Again, nice coin. I'm jealous.
@Marsyas Mike Fortunately, I did find a single example on CNG that helped me identify the coin. Here's the link. https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=261042 I originally thought that they may have used a double die set to create the countermarks such that as the incuse c/m pushed material forward it created the raised c/m on the other side. Unfortunately the two don't line up on either example.
That is an interesting coin, I'm not sure the orientation of the reverse image relative to the obverse, is there any overlap at all? I think it would take some experimentation but figure that the dies/stamps don't need to be perfectly aligned for a "reverse" strike to be made. I have 2 noteworthy countermarked (counterstamped?) Greek coins with apparent 2-die strikes. Coins were flipped left-to-right for reverse images. Coin on the left is 17mm 3.25g, and has 3 obverse marks. Bow and Arrow which is aligned with the Horse head mark on the reverse, then a 6-pointed star with raised pellet on reverse, then the apparent first stamp was a seated lion or sphinx. Coin on the right i think is a dichalkon, from Kyme in Aeolis, and is 16mm and 3.68g. It has a grape-bunch stamp aligned with an 8-rayed Argead star on the other side. I haven't tried attributing the counterstamps yet so don't know who made them.
There is some overlap of the two countermarks but they are not perfectly aligned. As I previously said it seems logical that they were formed at the same time but perhaps you don't need exact positioning of the two dies to get the effect.
Nice countermark. Looks like a Ninja Turtle to me. I like anchors on coins. Sometimes they are in raised countermarks.
