Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2784260, member: 42773&quot;]If anyone is as anal as I am about being able to read the inscriptions on every coin he/she owns, here&#039;s the Apollodotus II rabbit hole.</p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse legend is always some form of BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY ΣΩTEPOΣ KAI ΦIΛOΠATOPOΣ AΠOΛΛOΔOTOY. But the letters are stylized, there are occasional misspellings (presumably depending on the literacy of the engraver?), and some of the words are abbreviated. Here&#039;s a typical example...</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/obverse-legend-6-jpg.485728/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>1. BAΣIΛEΩΣ is spelled BAΣIΛIΩΣΣ, with an I as the 6th letter and two sigmas.</p><p><br /></p><p>2. MEΓAΛOY is abbreviated as MHΓO. Omegas are spelled as dots, a convention borrowed from Seleucid coinage. E and H are interchangeable.</p><p><br /></p><p>3. ΣΩTEPOΣ is abbreviated as ΣPO.</p><p><br /></p><p>4. The K of KAI is missing.</p><p><br /></p><p>5. ΦIΛOΠATOPOΣ is completely spelled out in proper Greek.</p><p><br /></p><p>6. AΠOΛΛOΔOTOY is completely spelled out, but retrograde to the rest of the inscription (in blue from 8 to 5 o&#039;clock).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in