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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jochen1, post: 8385696, member: 103829&quot;]<b>Maionia, BMC 43, a coin search (part 2)</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The last coin comes from the Leypold Collection.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>(5) SNG Austria, Leypold Collection, Asia Minor Coins of the Imperial Period, Volume I, 2000.</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488178[/ATTACH]</p><p>Leypold I, 1072</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488179[/ATTACH]</p><p>Misdescriptions:</p><p>(1) CEOVHPOC instead of CEVHPOC.</p><p>(2) &quot;Kybele in Centaurenbiga r.&quot; (According to Dane Kurth, this has been corrected in Lexypold II!).</p><p><br /></p><p>Notes:</p><p>(1) Primarius Dr Franz Leypold (1911-2005):</p><p>Austrian numismatist, known for his research on the Maria Theresa thaler. In addition, he had amassed an important collection of small Asian coins, which is now in the Austrian National Bank.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The TAAB in the rev. legend: </b></p><p>The TAAB in the rev. legend has been uncritically adopted by many. This was actually the current occasion for my research.</p><p><br /></p><p>The magistrates of Maionia (lat. <i>Maeonia</i>) bore the title Archon (also Archont). This was added to the rev. legends in the genitive case as APXONTOC or APXONTOC A (= 1st archon), because there were several, but the 1st archon was at the top of the hierarchy.&nbsp; If he was elected for the second time, the legend was called A TO B (= Archon for the second time) or even A T Γ (= Archon for the third time). But this did not explain the TAAB. Only Tom Mulally and then Prof. Leschhorn enlightened me that it should not be called TAAB, but ΓA AB, where ΓA is a name component, so the archon was called Iulianus Ga. Leschhorn&#039;s &quot;Lexikon der Aufschriften auf griechischen Münzen&quot; even lists a legend ΓAB (Hirsch 249, 2007, 2011), which suggests that the archont was called Iulianus Gab. Now, at last, the mystery was solved!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>(6) Coin of the Hoeft Collection</b></p><p>Finally, my own coin with the most complete description so far:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488180[/ATTACH]</p><p>Lydia, Maionia, Septimius Severus, AD 193-211.</p><p>AE 36, 21.58g, 35.7mm, 180°.</p><p>struck under Iulianus Gab., 2nd time 1st archon</p><p>Av.: AV.KAI.Λ CE - Π CEVHP[O]C ΠEP - TIN</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Bust, draped and cuirassed, seen from behind, laureate, r.</p><p>Rv.: [EΠI IOVΛIAN - OV] - ΓA. - A.B.APX[ONTOC]</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; In section [M]AIONΩN.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Dionysos, with topknot at nape of neck, in long dress, holding thyrsos with ribboned pine cone at upper end in left arm, resting right elbow on the backrest, leaning right&nbsp; in a two-wheeled car richly adorned with&nbsp; figures (maenads?), pulled by two centaurs; the one in front holds a club in his right arm and looks back to Dionysos to the left, the one behind holds a torch in his right arm and a second one in his raised left.</p><p>Ref:</p><p>(1) The Gentleman&#039;s Magazine, Vol. IV, 1835, p.132.</p><p>(2) Henry Perigal Borrell 4, in NC 1845-46.</p><p>(3) BMC Lydia, p. 133, 43corr.</p><p>(4) Lanz Numismatics, auction 32, 29.4.1985, 663corr.</p><p>(5) Leypold I, 1072 (as Cybele!, corrected in Leypold II!).</p><p>(6) Dane Kurth, Greek and Roman Provincial Coins - Lydia (GRPC Lydia), 2020 119 corr.</p><p><br /></p><p>Note:</p><p>I have decided not to use the term &quot;biga&quot; here, but to replace it with &quot;two-wheeled cart&quot;. A biga, after all, is a fighting cart in which the fighter does not sit but stands. It is not clear to me why this is not noted in the description of the coin!</p><p><br /></p><p>Details:</p><p>And finally, I would like to draw attention to some details that have not been mentioned in the description of the coin so far, but which are important in assessing the beauty of its execution, of which Akerman already spoke in 1835.</p><p><br /></p><p>(1) No one has noticed until now that the front centaur has turned his head to the left and is looking back at Dionysos:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488181[/ATTACH]</p><p>Note the finely worked sculptural profile!</p><p><br /></p><p>(2) The description of the upper end of the thyrsos was also missing until now.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488182[/ATTACH]</p><p>Clearly visible behind the head of Dionysos is the pine cone with the 2 ribbons.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) The female figure (maenad?) with which the chariot is decorated has not been mentioned anywhere so far.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488183[/ATTACH]</p><p>On the coin from the BM you can even see 2 figures. Signs of a treatment? On all other specimens this is a part of the backrest.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Art History:</b></p><p>The triumph of Bacchus, his triumphal return from cultically subjugated Asia, and his marriage to the Cretan king&#039;s daughter Ariadne was often summarised in a single artistic-mythological motif. The following picture is by Annibale Caracci (1560 -1609) and is a section of the ceiling fresco in the Galleria of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome (1597-1600):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1488184[/ATTACH]</p><p>In this fresco, the chariot of Dionysus is drawn by 2 tigers, a symbol of his dominion over wild nature. This is also true of the centaurs on the coin, who still have their club but have been tamed by Dionysus.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Literature:</b></p><p>(1) The Gentleman&#039;s Magazine, Vol. IV, 1835, p.132,</p><p>(2) Barclay V. Head, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Lydia, 1901 (pdf online)</p><p>(3) Numismatik Lanz Munich, Auction 32, Coins of Antiquity, 29.4.1985</p><p>(4) Yale University Art Gallery (online)</p><p>(5) Dane Kurth, DGRC Lydia, 2020</p><p>(6) Collection Hans-Joachim Hoeft, Forum Ancient Coins</p><p>(7) Münsterberg, The Greek Official Names (on-line by Ed Snible)</p><p>(8) Wolfgang Leschhorn, Lexicon of Inscriptions on Greek Coins, 2009</p><p>(9) The Little Pauly</p><p>(10) wildwinds.com</p><p>(11) Wikisource</p><p><br /></p><p>Best regards</p><p>Jochen[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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