New MFB

Picked up this one recently. It is a quarter unit, c317-270 BC, and would fit between 304 and 305 in the Potamikon catalog.

Apollo left, possibly a delta behind/Forepart of Acheloios Sebethos as a man-faced bull to right, (dolphin to right above), delta before legs. 1.83g

It is interesting to think of all the varieties that existed back then. So this one comes after the type with gamma but before the type with lambda. Were there issues for all the other letters in between (and beyond)? Not to mention the placement of this one before the bull is undocumented. Just how often did that happen? I wish there were a new hoard to fill in the gaps!

 

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Congrats on the man-faced bull (yah, those are awesome!!)



I have a couple of sketchy examples, but zero real knowledge regarding your query (big surprise, eh?)

 

Nice. Good color too

 

Congrats on a very interesting coin.

 

Congrats

 

Pretty cool. Can you tell us the approximate diameter? Just curious for learning purposes.

 

I love your dedication to MFBs! Lovely coin.

 

Very interesting!

 

About 13mm at its widest point.

Although it is fairly well centered in terms of Apollo and the MFB, we're missing the dolphin above and, more crucially, whatever device was behind the bull. I think I see remnants of something and there's virtually always something there.

 

I just checked the catalog. The alphabetical ordering starts just after this phase (Taliercio III / MSP I, 318-388), but that gets abandoned for Phase IV when symbols rather than letters become the system of arrangement again (like they used for Phase II, where this coin fits).

So this series wasn't arranged alphabetically, it came just before that.

Funny when you have to refer back to your own book to correct yourself

 

Interesting coin, Nick! When I saw the thread title, I thought your second volume was being published and I got excited.

 

It won't be for a few years. The catalog is almost done, but the narratives for each mint haven't been started (or any reassessment of dates), and the main essay on nymphs / Nike hasn't been started since we are still assembling a bibliography.

 

Hmmm...hope I live that long...

 

@Nicholas Molinari , you have me fascinated with Achelous now. Yours is really cool!

Just got this guy in from Frank Robinson. In-hand, it is INCREDIBLE. Beautiful coin!
This is Frank's pic as well as his attribute:

GELA, Didrachm, 490-480 BC, Horseman with spear r/Forepart of man-headed bull r; cudlike die break at rev upper right edge

 

We discussed, and you determined this is not a MFB.

But that strike error on the chin really makes it look like a beard...

This one is incredibly tiny. Not my smallest coin, but it is SMALL:


Uncertain of Western Asia Minor, ca. 5th c. BC, silver tetartermorion, 5mm, 0.15g
Obverse: Young male (female?) head r.
Reverse: Forepart of bull r.
Reference: Kayhan -
Grading: VF+ , obv. o/c, slightly porous, toned, extremely rare
Comment: This is an apparently unpublished type, with nothing matching the design in numerous references consulted. Lacking visible legends (and being almost certainly an anepigraphic type to begin with), the main clues would come from style, metrology and possible association with other types from the lot it came in. These are predominantly Western Asia Minor fractions (mainly in Attic or Milesian (hemi?)tetartemorion weight range) of the 5th c. BC. The forepart of bull with partly facing head is consistent with several types that K. Konuk in CNG Kayhan assigns to an "uncertain mint of Karia" - and more so than alternative depictions from, say, Magna Graecia or Cretan Gortyna - but they seldom appear facing right (cf. Kayhan 960) and even then invariably on larger denominations (cf. Kayhan 968). Above all, however, in those listings (which extensively cross-reference the related Keckman, Troxell, Rosen and Berry catalogs) there is no pairing with the present finely styled head, leaving this as another among the mysteries of Asia Minor fractional silver.

 

That's a beautiful example. I hope you find time to take a better pic. Rarely is the obverse (guy on horse) that clear!

Here is my much worse (but still beloved) didrachm:

 

Have you seen this in hand yet?

 

Yes. it is a tetartermorion and very tiny. I looked hard at it under my magnifying glass... and I keep thinking it looks like Acheloos vs. just a Bull.

 

I hope it is. Can you get a better picture of it?

 

I will try. Wish I could put it into your hand to look at.