Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me identify this small Greek bronze that has stumped me for a while. (I apologize for the poor photo quality, it was difficult to get good photos of such a small coin.) Size: 10 mm diameter Obverse: Beardless male head (Apollo?) facing right Reverse: Lyre, short legend (looks like it may be monograms rather than normal Greek letters) Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Look up the coinage of kolophon, in Ionia.They were striking these coins around 390BCE. Im pretty sure its from there. The obverse is indeed Apollo. I'm sure if you google it you can find one with a match for yours.
This baby looks fairly similar, eh? https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=278492 Oh, and here is another quickie CNG-link (I typed-in "apollo, lyre, ae") https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?PAGE_NUM=&PAGE=1&TABS_TYPE=2&CONTAINER_TYPE_ID=1&IS_ADVANCED=1&ITEM_DESC=apollo lyre ae&ITEM_IS_SOLD=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_1=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_3=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1 ... if you scroll through the examples you'll find a few more possible leads (good luck)
Hmm, I don't know about the Crete or Kolophon attribution. Tiny bronzes with (Apollo?) and lyre motifs were issued by many cities, particularly in Asia Minor. Since part of the ethnic isn't visible on the OP coin, until you find a coin with matching monogram I think the attribution is in question. Looks like a fun challenge! http://asiaminorcoins.com/ may be your best bet for finding a match.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone, looks like I have some more research to do. Fortunately I like research (I wouldn't be collecting ancients if I didn't).
