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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2834807, member: 81887&quot;]I did pretty well in Frank Robinson&#039;s latest auction and thought I&#039;d show off my latest acquisitions.&nbsp; First off is this didrachm of Tyre:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]669029[/ATTACH] </p><p>Phoenicia, Tyre.&nbsp; AR didrachm.&nbsp; c.360-332 BC.&nbsp; Obverse: Melqarth riding hippocamp right, waves and dolphin below.&nbsp; Reverse: Owl facing, crook and flail behind, numeral 3 to right.&nbsp; Cf. SNG Cop. 306 ff.,&nbsp; cf. Sear Greek Coins 5914-15.</p><p><br /></p><p>Tyre was one of the main cities of the Phoenician civilization.&nbsp; It was already in existence by 1350 BC, when it is mentioned in letters to the Egyptian pharaoh.&nbsp; Tyre drew its wealth from maritime trading, including valuable purple cloth dyed with extract from a local marine snail, and founded a number of colonies across the Mediterranean, including Carthage.&nbsp; The city is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible; it was the home of King Hiram and the notorious Jezebel, and Jesus is said to have traveled and preached in the vicinity of Tyre.&nbsp; It was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian empire in 539 BC and remained subject to Persia until the city was taken by Alexander the Great after a lengthy siege in 332 BC.&nbsp; The city continued to be important into Roman times, and is still inhabited today.&nbsp; The obverse of the coin is thought to depict Melqarth, an important local god who was later identified with Heracles.&nbsp; The numbers on the reverse may indicate regnal years of a local king, as various numbers up to 17 are recorded.&nbsp; The crook and flail are symbols of kingship, which are often seen in art of Tyre&#039;s Egyptian neighbors (check out what the pharaoh is holding in his hands in most depictions).</p><p><br /></p><p>This is a very thick (almost 5mm) and very irregularly oval coin.&nbsp; It reminds me of the typical Achaemenid siglos, except for having designs on both sides.&nbsp; Clearly the Achaemenid Persians never bought into the whole &quot;coin=round&quot; idea.&nbsp; Though hardly a gem coin, I think it is quite attractive- all the design elements are clear and reasonably centered, and the artistic style is distinctly Phoenician.&nbsp; Share your Tyre coins, or hippocamps, or Frank Robinson wins, whatever you can tie in.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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