My Top 10 for 2020 (the first of many, hopefully....)

FrizzyAntoine · Dec 3, 2020

Theodosius said: ↑

What a great first post!

An amazing collection of coins, good job!
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Thanks!

Theodosius said: ↑

Don't be so shy in the future.

John
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Hahaha I'll try my best not to be!
I'll admit, it is a little daunting figuring out what to post, considering the amazing coins and wealth of knowledge so many here possess.

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Bing · Dec 3, 2020

FrizzyAntoine said: ↑

Thanks!

Hahaha I'll try my best not to be!
I'll admit, it is a little daunting figuring out what to post, considering the amazing coins and wealth of knowledge so many here possess.
Click to expand...

I enjoy seeing ALL the coins our members receive, and I think most of us feel the same. Just post them when you get one. That's how we all learn, plus I see coins I as yet have not acquired.

Ancient Aussie · Dec 3, 2020

Wow what a start to the CoinTalk club, all fantastic coins but your Phillip II is startling, congrats.

ominus1 · Dec 3, 2020

...great coins all...truly works of art..that Phlanna & Phillip ll get my vote..

robinjojo · Dec 3, 2020

Wonderful examples.

#'s 1, 3 and 4 stand out, but, on the principle of "first among equals" all of the coins you posted deserve praise.

Al Kowsky · Dec 3, 2020

FrizzyAntoine said: ↑

#2: Erbbina Stater.

View attachment 1212009

Some coins you come across are easy to pass up because you know there will be another chance – maybe next week, next month, or next year. Others, not so much. This isn’t so rare that I would never have had another chance, but being rather impatient, I didn’t feel like waiting the better part of a decade for another, or convincing myself into paying an exorbitant price when the opportunity would next arise. Only a few examples of this type seem to enter the market every decade, and the last example to be sold before this one jumped an incredible 7-fold in price in the span of 15 years and 3 resales – all this even before anyone was talking about COVID-19 warming the market. In the end I was able to secure mine for “only” twice its hammer from a decade prior, and less than a quarter of what the other example in question sold for the year before. I have a soft spot for bearded busts of Herakles, preferring the older, grizzled veteran of classical renditions to the youthful, shaved hero of Hellenistic tradition. Combined with my love of “Greek-ish” coinage – those places with clear mixes of local and Hellenic influence in the eastern Mediterranean and beyond – this type quickly became a must-have. When you factor in the roughed-up yet still beautiful bust of Athena and the clearly legible Lycian script, this coin is very quickly propelled near the top of this list. I believe this is the first time a coin of Erbbina (also known as Arbinas) has ever been shared on CoinTalk, as I couldn’t find anything referring to him after multiple searches. Yet again, the man behind the coin is an interesting character. Though not especially powerful, it seems the Lycian dynasts of this era fancied themselves more Gods than Men. Among the first times a living portrait definitively appears on coinage is in this series, and Erbbina took things a step further, commissioning for his tomb the Nereid Monument, a building which mirrored the traditional design of Greek temples, and which would serve as the inspiration for the impressive Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. As a rather comical addendum, Gorny & Mosch were unable to ship this with insurance back in March, and Deutsche Post only recently resumed registered mail service to Australia. So despite being hasty in the purchase, I have had to wait nearly nine long months for this coin to finally ship (it did so last week), and I’m hoping now that it arrives sometime early in the new year, as getting it in 2020 would be nothing short of a miracle at this stage!

#1: Philip II Tetradrachm.

View attachment 1212010

In my eyes, this coin has it all, and more. Between the incredibly executed portrait of Zeus, the rich cabinet toning, the extensive provenance, publication in a vital piece of literature, and the historical significance of the man behind the coin, I really couldn’t imagine anything else more worthy of the top spot. Philip II of Macedon is one of my favourite characters from antiquity, and his story is truly fascinating (few things hurt as much as knowing that Plutarch’s account of his life is likely forever lost). To think that the 3rd son of an incompetent king could rise to the throne amidst the chaos of his brothers’ untimely deaths, stabilize his faltering chiefdom, and transform it into a powerhouse capable of grappling with the might of the Achaemenids, all in the span of 20 years, is truly mind-boggling. While most people in my experience gravitate towards the territorial ambitions and achievements of Alexander, or look upon the tactical prowess of Caesar with awe, I prefer the diplomatic verve and genius statesmanship of Philip instead, slowly plodding away at the task before him, methodically laying the groundwork for everything that Alexander would later achieve. Wherever one turns in the late-4th century history of Greece, the accomplishments of Philip seem to coolly stare back at you, understated yet undeniably impressive. Whether one considers his reformation and revival of the Macedonian army, his methodical and steady insinuation of Macedon into the politics and psyche of the Greek Poleis, or his ability to string the fractured Hellenes together under his new mode of Hegemony, Philip consistently outshines the competition – cultivating a mythos closer to that of the Olympians from whom he claimed descent than the mortal men who were his contemporaries. Plainly put, without Philip there could never have been an Alexander, and I don’t speak in a strictly biological sense when I say that. While the dating of this coin is somewhat contentious, it generally falls into the group of tetradrachms made sometime between 342 and 334 BC. I personally like to believe it was made in the earlier portion of that range, and used to pay the phalangites that carried the day at Chaeronea, and later allowed Alexander to conquer so much of the known world in the coming decade. The provenance certainly doesn’t hurt either. This coin makes an appearance in the plates of the John Glas Sandeman Collection catalogue by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in June of 1911, and was sold before that as part of the Sparkes sale by the same auctioneer in February of 1880, selling off the collection of George Sparkes, who had died in 1878. It’s not especially important, but cool nonetheless, to note that this same George Sparkes was an avid numismatists since at least the 1840s (his earliest publications date to this time) and even sold coins to the British Museum (Link to their page describing him). That means there is a possibility this coin shared a tray at one point with coins that are in the BM today, and depending on who he purchased it from, when, and how long they had owned it beforehand, this coin may even have been outside of Greece before the modern Hellenic Republic came into being. In a more modern context, it also features as a plate coin in Le Rider’s seminal 1977 publication on this series – Le monnayage d'argent et d'or de Philippe II frappé en Macédoine de 359 à 294. I’m honestly still pinching myself in disbelief – if it hadn’t arrived in the mail this morning I would never believe I owned such a coin.

If you've made it this far I hope it was worth it, and look forward to reading your comments.
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F. Antoine, You've got an impressive group of coins with a strong leaning to classical Greek coinage ! All these coins were selected with a connoisseur's eye. My favorite would be #4, the handsome stater depicting Zeus . The forceful eagle on the reverse making off with a rabbit adds symbolic strength to the image of Zeus. My 2nd favorite would be #3, the Phalanna drachm. The portrait on this coin is undoubtedly Apollo . The portrait is too sensitive & thoughtful to be a god of war . The dancing, rider-less horse on the reverse is engraved with great skill, complementing the obverse. My 3rd favorite would be #5, with a beautiful portrait & nasty looking lion .

dougsmit · Dec 3, 2020

I voted for Velia. These seem to be hard to find in presentable shape. This lion is excellent.

gogili1977 · Dec 3, 2020

Beatiful coins, my favorites are 1, 4 and 5. Good year for you in numismatics.

Gavin Richardson · Dec 3, 2020

Wow. That’s the way to make a splash.

I like number three best. That’s such a placid and elegant portrait. My heart beats more slowly just by looking at it.

Spaniard · Dec 3, 2020

Wow!...Super collection....I couldn't decide so I closed my eyes and clicked 3 times!
Wonderful coins...Thanks for sharing.

robinjojo · Dec 3, 2020

FrizzyAntoine said: ↑

#2: Erbbina Stater.

View attachment 1212009

Some coins you come across are easy to pass up because you know there will be another chance – maybe next week, next month, or next year. Others, not so much. This isn’t so rare that I would never have had another chance, but being rather impatient, I didn’t feel like waiting the better part of a decade for another, or convincing myself into paying an exorbitant price when the opportunity would next arise. Only a few examples of this type seem to enter the market every decade, and the last example to be sold before this one jumped an incredible 7-fold in price in the span of 15 years and 3 resales – all this even before anyone was talking about COVID-19 warming the market. In the end I was able to secure mine for “only” twice its hammer from a decade prior, and less than a quarter of what the other example in question sold for the year before. I have a soft spot for bearded busts of Herakles, preferring the older, grizzled veteran of classical renditions to the youthful, shaved hero of Hellenistic tradition. Combined with my love of “Greek-ish” coinage – those places with clear mixes of local and Hellenic influence in the eastern Mediterranean and beyond – this type quickly became a must-have. When you factor in the roughed-up yet still beautiful bust of Athena and the clearly legible Lycian script, this coin is very quickly propelled near the top of this list. I believe this is the first time a coin of Erbbina (also known as Arbinas) has ever been shared on CoinTalk, as I couldn’t find anything referring to him after multiple searches. Yet again, the man behind the coin is an interesting character. Though not especially powerful, it seems the Lycian dynasts of this era fancied themselves more Gods than Men. Among the first times a living portrait definitively appears on coinage is in this series, and Erbbina took things a step further, commissioning for his tomb the Nereid Monument, a building which mirrored the traditional design of Greek temples, and which would serve as the inspiration for the impressive Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. As a rather comical addendum, Gorny & Mosch were unable to ship this with insurance back in March, and Deutsche Post only recently resumed registered mail service to Australia. So despite being hasty in the purchase, I have had to wait nearly nine long months for this coin to finally ship (it did so last week), and I’m hoping now that it arrives sometime early in the new year, as getting it in 2020 would be nothing short of a miracle at this stage!

#1: Philip II Tetradrachm.

View attachment 1212010

In my eyes, this coin has it all, and more. Between the incredibly executed portrait of Zeus, the rich cabinet toning, the extensive provenance, publication in a vital piece of literature, and the historical significance of the man behind the coin, I really couldn’t imagine anything else more worthy of the top spot. Philip II of Macedon is one of my favourite characters from antiquity, and his story is truly fascinating (few things hurt as much as knowing that Plutarch’s account of his life is likely forever lost). To think that the 3rd son of an incompetent king could rise to the throne amidst the chaos of his brothers’ untimely deaths, stabilize his faltering chiefdom, and transform it into a powerhouse capable of grappling with the might of the Achaemenids, all in the span of 20 years, is truly mind-boggling. While most people in my experience gravitate towards the territorial ambitions and achievements of Alexander, or look upon the tactical prowess of Caesar with awe, I prefer the diplomatic verve and genius statesmanship of Philip instead, slowly plodding away at the task before him, methodically laying the groundwork for everything that Alexander would later achieve. Wherever one turns in the late-4th century history of Greece, the accomplishments of Philip seem to coolly stare back at you, understated yet undeniably impressive. Whether one considers his reformation and revival of the Macedonian army, his methodical and steady insinuation of Macedon into the politics and psyche of the Greek Poleis, or his ability to string the fractured Hellenes together under his new mode of Hegemony, Philip consistently outshines the competition – cultivating a mythos closer to that of the Olympians from whom he claimed descent than the mortal men who were his contemporaries. Plainly put, without Philip there could never have been an Alexander, and I don’t speak in a strictly biological sense when I say that. While the dating of this coin is somewhat contentious, it generally falls into the group of tetradrachms made sometime between 342 and 334 BC. I personally like to believe it was made in the earlier portion of that range, and used to pay the phalangites that carried the day at Chaeronea, and later allowed Alexander to conquer so much of the known world in the coming decade. The provenance certainly doesn’t hurt either. This coin makes an appearance in the plates of the John Glas Sandeman Collection catalogue by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in June of 1911, and was sold before that as part of the Sparkes sale by the same auctioneer in February of 1880, selling off the collection of George Sparkes, who had died in 1878. It’s not especially important, but cool nonetheless, to note that this same George Sparkes was an avid numismatists since at least the 1840s (his earliest publications date to this time) and even sold coins to the British Museum (Link to their page describing him). That means there is a possibility this coin shared a tray at one point with coins that are in the BM today, and depending on who he purchased it from, when, and how long they had owned it beforehand, this coin may even have been outside of Greece before the modern Hellenic Republic came into being. In a more modern context, it also features as a plate coin in Le Rider’s seminal 1977 publication on this series – Le monnayage d'argent et d'or de Philippe II frappé en Macédoine de 359 à 294. I’m honestly still pinching myself in disbelief – if it hadn’t arrived in the mail this morning I would never believe I owned such a coin.

If you've made it this far I hope it was worth it, and look forward to reading your comments.
Click to expand...

I really like the dynamism of the reverse of honorable mention 1, 2 and other coins.

The Philip tetradrachm is top notch and the discourse connected to it.

All great coins!

Romancollector · Dec 3, 2020

@FrizzyAntoine Congrats on your top 10!!! All are beautiful, as are your runners up. I'm drawn to your Antiochus because of its beautifully rendered and highly expressive portrait. Also, your tetradrachm of Philip II is phenomenal!

IMP Shogun · Dec 3, 2020

That was like a trip to a museum, thank you

DonnaML · Dec 3, 2020

I love these! And as someone who has a tendency towards writing lengthy descriptions myself, I highly approve of your write-ups. Please post more often!

panzerman · Dec 3, 2020

All of the coins are breathtaking! I would rate them all as equals, your history behind each coin is very information. I agree with Donna, please post more often!
John

Sulla80 · Dec 3, 2020

Beautiful coins - here are the three I voted for
#1: Philip II Tetradrachm
#3: Phalanna Drachm
#6: Antiochus I Tetradrachm
Best wishes for the next addition!

Cicero12 · Dec 3, 2020

All top quality pieces, but that Lokris really speaks to me. What a powerful portrait of Zeus

FrizzyAntoine · Dec 3, 2020

DonnaML said: ↑

I love these! And as someone who has a tendency towards writing lengthy descriptions myself, I highly approve of your write-ups. Please post more often!
Click to expand...

Thank you Donna, your posts are always incredibly detailed and a joy to read, and I'm glad at least one person read the descriptions!

FrizzyAntoine · Dec 3, 2020

panzerman said: ↑

All of the coins are breathtaking! I would rate them all as equals, your history behind each coin is very information. I agree with Donna, please post more often!
John
Click to expand...

Thank you, I promise I've got a few posts in the works now that I'm a little less busy over the holidays.

lordmarcovan · Dec 4, 2020

FrizzyAntoine said: ↑

#5: Velia Nomos.

Click to expand...

I saw this one and said "oh, yeah!" to myself. Then I had to chuckle, because if you look at the lettering below the lion, the first four letters actually do look like "YEAH".

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My Top 10 for 2020 (the first of many, hopefully....)

Which 3 do you like the best?

#10: Phaselis Stater

#9: Philip V Didrachm

#8: Pharsalos Drachm

#7: Sinope Drachm

#6: Antiochus I Tetradrachm

#5: Velia Nomos

#4: Locris Epizephyroi Stater

#3: Phalanna Drachm

#2: Erbbina Stater

#1: Philip II Tetradrachm

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My Top 10 for 2020 (the first of many, hopefully....)

Which 3 do you like the best?

#10: Phaselis Stater

#9: Philip V Didrachm

#8: Pharsalos Drachm

#7: Sinope Drachm

#6: Antiochus I Tetradrachm

#5: Velia Nomos

#4: Locris Epizephyroi Stater

#3: Phalanna Drachm

#2: Erbbina Stater

#1: Philip II Tetradrachm

FrizzyAntoine Well-Known Member

Guest User Guest

Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

Ancient Aussie Well-Known Member

ominus1 Well-Known Member

robinjojo Well-Known Member

Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

dougsmit Member

gogili1977 Well-Known Member

Gavin Richardson Well-Known Member

Spaniard Well-Known Member

robinjojo Well-Known Member

Romancollector Well-Known Member

IMP Shogun Well-Known Member

DonnaML Well-Known Member

panzerman Well-Known Member

Sulla80 Well-Known Member

Cicero12 Well-Known Member

FrizzyAntoine Well-Known Member

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lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

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