That's the first time I encounter such a thin and strange reverse on any Greek or ancient coin. There are also significant clear letters. I believe the obverse could be identified as well. The coin weighs just 3.86 g. Hope you can guess. Thank you..
The coin is from Arados with Zeus on the obverse. The front of the prow has a triple can opener for use in ramming other ships. Above it are Phoenician letters (our are different but I do not know what they read) while below are numbers, the date, which on mine are 5+10+100=115, I believe.
Boy that's a nice coin, Doug. So often the inscriptions on these are missing. You've got all the numerals in the date and the letters above, plus beautiful color all around.
As a general rule, I consider it good to pick up common or cheap coins that have clear legends and types. In general dealers don't ask for more for a decent, readable example of a $15 coin (bought in a small shop in Kentucky from a dealer who read less Phoenician than I do, if that's possible) than they do for an identifiable but illegible one. I admit I was hoping to figure out what the letters were but I fail to find them in alphabet lists. Maybe someday?
Wow fellas, those are both great prow-coins!! (congrats) ... super eye-appeal on your sweet example, Doug (very nice!)
It is by luck that I read Phoenician letters. Please notice that the inscription above Doug's ship is totally different than mine. You know that the Greek alphabet derives from the Phoenician alphabet. The latter is read from right to left, just like Hebrew or Arabic. Well, reading from right to left above Doug's ship We find the 2 Phoenician letters Alef and Ra . That would stand for Arados in ancient Phoenicia. As for my coin, the first Phoenician letter above the prow is Noun which stands for the Latin letter N. What could that mean ? I don't know . Maybe I need to clean the coin to read all the letters. Please let me read your opinion. Thanks.. Charles
The letters are MA, sometime NA. According to Hoover... "The meaning of the abbreviated Phoenician inscriptions that appear on almost all Aradian issues in the Persian period is controversial. The basic inscription MA has been variously interpreted as an abbreviation meaning 'Marathos and Arwad,' 'Ba'al-Arwad,' 'kingdom of Arwad,' or 'king of Arwad." (HGC 10, p. 11) Your coin is obviously not of the Persian period. However, the Aradians recapitulated some earlier silver types, in bronze, during the Seleucid era. This is one of them.
Thank you. I recall recently pointing out that we on this list are expected to help one another by answering questions back and forth. I appreciate the lesson in Phoenician.
Great JA. You got what I meant. Now I went back to my coin and found out that the third letter from right to left is Meem. That would stand for M in our Latin alphabet. So, we have N as first letter and M as third letter. The letter in the middle or the second Phoenician letter is maybe the key to all of this. It's not quite visible on my coin which needs to be cleaned. Then , just remember that the Phoenician alphabet did not include vowels. The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet and developed it with vowels to form what we speak and read today.
Yes, from what I can see in the catalogs, there were a number of variations in the letters: MA, NA, MAN, etc.
