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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2931525, member: 81887&quot;]Another recent Agora Auctions win:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]711919[/ATTACH] </p><p>Achaemenid Persian Empire, uncertain satrap, possibly in Ionia.&nbsp; c.350-334 BC.&nbsp; AE 12 (12mm, 1.24g).&nbsp; Obverse: Persian king kneeling/running right, holding bow in left arm and spear in right arm, countermark of eight-rayed star.&nbsp; Reverse: &quot;Incuse relief map of the hinterland of Ephesos&quot; (??).&nbsp; References (listed by seller): Mildenberg, Munzwesen pp. 25-26 &amp; plate XIII, 112; BMC 7.&nbsp; Ex Agora Auctions, Sale 70, lot 99.</p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse of this coin could hardly be clearer in marking it as an issue of the Achaemenid Persian Empire; the design exactly copies the silver sigloi that were issued in large quantities in Lydia.&nbsp; However, I have my doubts about the explanation of the reverse type.&nbsp; If you rotate the reverse counterclockwise 90 degrees from the orientation I&#039;ve shown, it does sort of vaguely resemble the pattern of mountains to the east of Ephesus.&nbsp; However, the resemblance isn&#039;t that strong, and my bigger problem is that relief maps were not used in the ancient world at all, as far as I can tell, so I&#039;m not sure why that explanation of the reverse type would suggest itself.&nbsp; (I don&#039;t have an alternate explanation of the design, but I still find the &quot;relief map&quot; idea implausible.)&nbsp; The attribution to Ionia is a bit more plausible- neighboring Lydia is the source of the obverse type, which was also copied on a rare bronze of Caria, so it would fit the regional coinage tradition.&nbsp; Ideally, I&#039;d like to see the attribution to Ionia confirmed by find spots (if this hasn&#039;t already been done).</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin type is somewhat scarce- I found three examples currently on Vcoins (using search term &quot;Achaemenid&quot;) and couldn&#039;t find any on Wildwinds under &quot;uncertain cities of Ioinia&quot; (though I did find one bronze, BMC 11, with the same obverse but a reverse with a pattern of squares).&nbsp; Unfortunately, I don&#039;t have either of the references cited by the seller, and would really like to know what they say and how they justify the Ionian location and especially the ID of the reverse type.&nbsp; I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone with the relevant references, or any other facts, theories, or speculations you might have about this coin.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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