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<p>[QUOTE="FrizzyAntoine, post: 5178223, member: 114961"]<b>#2:</b> Erbbina Stater.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1212009[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>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!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>#1:</b> Philip II Tetradrachm.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1212010[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>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 (<a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG98789" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG98789" rel="nofollow">Link</a> 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 – <i>Le monnayage d'argent et d'or de Philippe II frappé en Macédoine de 359 à 294</i>. 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.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If you've made it this far I hope it was worth it, and look forward to reading your comments.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="FrizzyAntoine, post: 5178223, member: 114961"][B]#2:[/B] Erbbina Stater. [ATTACH=full]1212009[/ATTACH] 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! [B]#1:[/B] Philip II Tetradrachm. [ATTACH=full]1212010[/ATTACH] 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 ([URL='https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG98789']Link[/URL] 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 – [I]Le monnayage d'argent et d'or de Philippe II frappé en Macédoine de 359 à 294[/I]. 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.[/QUOTE]
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