Anyone familiar with something like this? It is very pricey. GREEK. JUDAEA. EDOM (IDUMEA)? AR DIDRACHM (?) (21 X 12 X 9MM, 9.06G). FIFTH CENTURY BC(?). UNPUBLISHED NEW DENOMINATION! GREEK. Edom (Idumea)? AR Didrachm(?) (21 x 12 x 9mm, 9.06g). Fifth century BC(?). Dome-shaped motif / Uncertain worn reverse type (owl?). Unpublished. This apparently unique coin seems to share the typological features of the Edomite drachms and obols published by Gitler, Tal, and van Alfen in INR 2 (2007), pp. 47-62, but is a new denomination and involves a heavier weight standard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This new and apparently unpublished coin with its "dome-shaped" obverse motif is reminiscent of Edomite quarter-shekels or drachms and obols struck in the fifth century BC, but it is very different from issues from the Edomite series in several important ways: There is no discernible owl in incuse square reverse type; the weight is too heavy for the apparent shekel standard of c. 15.96g assumed for the Edomite coinage; and the "dome-shaped" obverse motif has a beautifully sculptured ovoid or lozenge shape, whereas the Edomite "domes" are usually much rounder and in lower relief, created from sunken and repolished dies that once depicted the head of Athena as on other imitative coinages of the region in the fifth century BC. Considering the purposeful "ovoid dome" of the new coin, one wonders whether it might have been intended to imitate the sea turtle of the early and staters of Aegina. Through circulation wear, often all that remained clear on these very popular coins was the round shell of the sea turtle. In mainland Greece, such worn Aeginetan turtles provided the inspiration for the germinating seed types of Orchomenos. A similar, but somewhat cruder form of turtle imitation may have taken place in northern Arabia in the early fifth century BC. In The Coinage of Philistia (2006), Gitler and Tal report stray finds of five Aeginetan staters (2 apparently ancient plated forgeries) dateable to the period c. 500-456 BC, making it absolutely certain that the turtles circulated in the region in some quantity and would have been available for imitation. The wide popularity of the turtles of Aegina before Athenian coinage came to dominate international trade in the Near East would have made them an obvious choice for imitators. Lastly, the 9.06g weight of the new coin seems much more plausible as a reduced version of the Aeginetan standard of c. 12.1g to the stater than something derived from the Attic standard (c. 17.2g to the tetradrachm). Athenian-derived imitations from Edom and Philistia, for example, tend to have weights in the region of c. 17g to 15.9g. The new coin is much too heavy to be considered a didrachm on the full or reduced Attic standard. A weight of 9.06g, however, is probably just about right for a coinage trying to imitate worn Aeginetan turtles. In the late fourth century BC, when old Aeginetan-weight coins had become overly worn in mainland Greece, the problem was solved by introducing a new reduced standard of c. 2.45g to the hemidrachm (c. 9.8g to the stater), known as the symmachic standard. This standard was used for new coins in order to replicate and standardize the weight of the old worn Aeginetan-weight issues. Although much remains mysterious about the new coin and its "ovoid dome" type, it seems very likely that it represents an important and poorly recognized stage in the development of coinage in the Near East before the drowning influence of Athenian money, when the coinage of Aegina was a major force in international trade. As such, it could be argued that the new coin should be counted among the very earliest imitative coins of the ancient Near East. An historically significant and sculpturally attractive piece.
It's all quite possible, but with only one example, it's also conjectural in the extreme. I would need many more examples, documented with archaeological context, to consider spending even $60 on it, not to mention $6000.
Coincidentally this came up for sale today elsewhere. I believe the dealer of the OP is trying to make a comparison to this style of coin. AEGINA SILVER TURTLE - TURTLE COUNTERMARK ON TURTLE COIN - UNUSUAL VF STAR NGC GRADED GREEK ATTICA COIN (INV. 9244) ISLANDS off ATTICA. AEGINA. Ca. 480-457 BC. Silver AR Stater, 12.12 g, 21 mm. Obv. Sea turtle. Rev. Incuse with skew pattern Milbank pl. I, 12; SNG Copenhagen 501-2. NGC graded VF STAR, Strike 5/5, Surface 4/5, COUNTERMARK, a very interesting specimen struck on a highly unusual elongated planchet and bearing two countermarks, the one in upper right field being particularly interesting as it seemingly depicts a sea turtle as well.
Hey, 42 => I'm a bit confused (as always) ... but even more confused than usual ... => ummm, did you buy the OP-blobs, or did you score that cool turtle coin? ... both are cool (one is way more cool than the other)
I own neither. I am curious about the OP since I have never seen anything like it before. The dealer seems to be convinced that it is a prototype for the aegina I just posted.
the turtle-coin definitely rocks!! (it's awesome) ... the possible turtle flan is kinda cool, but a bit suspect, right?
