I saw this coin in JA's most recent auction and I loved the lion on the obverse, and the fact that it is from the historic city of Miletus makes it all the better. This is my first Greek coin from the Archaic period. Please feel free to post any Archaic Greek coins. IONIA. Miletus AR Diobol, 10mm, 1.2g; Late 6th-early 5th century BC. Obv: Forepart of lion right, head left. Rev: Stellate design within incuse square. SNG Kayhan 476-82; SNG Keckman 273
Yours is a fun little coin to have! MILETOS: Ionia Miletos AR Tetartemorion 5.6mm 0.21g Roaring Lion Hd - Bird Klein 430 SNG Kay 941 Iona-Miletos Late6thC fine lion laying LEFT facing RIGHT Iona-Miletos AR Obol Late6thC crystallized lion laying LEFT facing RIGHT ARCHAIC GREEK: Troas Kebren AR Obol Archaic hd Apollo L - Hd Ram in Incuse sq 5th C BCE 7.65mm 0.64g SNG Ash 1086 Iona Kolophon AR Tetartemorion 530-520 BCE Archaic Apollo Incuse Punch 0.15g 4.5mm- SNG Kayhan 343
Great deal! Here are a few of my archaics: Ionia, uncertain, c. 625-600 BCE. Electrum hekte. Aegina stater (525-475 BCE). Countermarked. Corinth stater (515-450 BCE) Syracuse tetradrachm, issued under Hieron I (478-467 BCE) And here's a Mytilene hekte, c. 454-427 BCE, with a classically styled obverse but hearkening back to an archaic style on the reverse. The celator was clearly aware of the difference.
Before coins had writing it must have been difficult to figure out the denomination. It is fairly easy to tell a tetradrachm from a drachm from an obol by weight. But it can be hard to tell an obol from a 1/2 or 3/2 obol. The Boeotians found a great solution for this problem: BOIOTIA, Thebes. 525-480 BC. AR Hemiobol (0.53 g). Obv: Half Boiotian shield Rev: Square incuse with a recessed large triangle (divided by a line), a small triangle, and a square (divided by a line). Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton IX, January 2006, lot 326 (BCD collection) Ex Dr. J.S. Wilkinson Collection (Malter 49, November 1992), lot 422.
