Here's an Attica tetradrachm that just arrived today. I purchased it as a post-auction coin because of the interesting counterstamps on both the obverse and reverse. I think the counterstamps are Egyptian in origin. The reverse counterstamp seems to be comprised of an ibis and a snake (cerastes), the ibis to the left and cerastes to the right in the form of a curved tail and a flat top terminating in rounded ends. The obverse counterstamp appears to be a repeat of cerastes to the right and what appears to be a bull head to the left (but just a guess - not too clear). Cerastes is the horned viper of Egypt. While feared by the ancient Egyptians, it was also viewed the snake as a protector of the king and a demon of the underworld. According to an online source, "One of the poisonous snakes the Egyptians feared most was the horned viper (Cerastes cornutus and Cerastes cerastes, also known as the sand viper). When the horned viper attacks, it rasps its coils together before springing forward. The rasping sounds like the letter f, and the horned viper was used as the hieroglyph to write the sound (fy is the Egyptian word for "viper" as well)." The hieratic symbol in ancient Egyptian for f is cerastes. Of course, this is conjecture on my part. The coin itself is decent, but with lightly pitted surfaces and a small test mark on the helmet. Period: 454-404 BC Weight: 17.20 grams Grade: Good VF
Interesting. I've never been fearful of snakes but I do respect them enough not to play with them. My most recent Attica Athens Owl (without test cuts or counterstamps) purchase:
Now that is interesting. I don't know whether there's any existing scholarship on these counterstamps, but it looks like you may be onto something!
Quite interesting. Haven't heard of these Egyptian countermarks yet but if so they would be amongst the first hieroglyphs represented on coins.
That's a lovely example. I recently obtained images of a hoard of Attica tetradrachms from Syria. The hoard, I was told, was discovered in 2019. That's about the extent of the information I received, aside that the hoard totaled 75 tetradrachms in all. Most of the coins appear to be mass production coins, but there seems to be a few early mass production examples as well. Here is one of the images. The second image is too large to upload, so I might attempt to do this in another thread. The way the coins were arranged, there isn't a correspondence between the obverses and reverses, but the image does provide a general idea about the general quality/condition of the coins comprising this hoard. It seems that discoveries continue to occur in that benighted region of the world.
Yes, I think this is a field, a very challenging one, that a numismatic scholar might consider pursuing. Some countermarks are crude in nature while others have much more detail. Some Attica tetradrachms have Aramaic counterstamps, which can be attritubed to the Levant, but others can be symbols and representations of mythological figures, created by individuals (merchants or bankers) and local authorities. That's about the extent of my knowledge.
Wouldn't you just love to hold a handful of these? The images above contain 30 coins. With a weight of approximately 16.5-17 grams, the total weight of the coins in the images would be approximately 495 grams to 510 grams. Or approximately one half kilo/1.1 pounds. What a feeling that might be, eh?
Yes, that would be a nice experience, and if I had the money, I would have purchased the hoard and kept it intact. As a group it has historical significance as well as commercial value. Unfortunately, I could not afford the $650 price per coin that the seller was asking. The hoard was sold, but I don't know if it was broken up or sold as a group, nor do I know what the final price was.
