Ares Galley Ship Greek Coin.....Greek City of Pantikapaion in Tauric Chersonesos. Bronze 13mm (2.66 grams) Struck 3rd-2nd Centuries B. C. Rare, possibly unpublished type? Helmeted head of Ares, right. ITAN, Forepart of galley right. Double strike and overstrike error combined Hello everyone, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself? I am a novice at this Ancient Coin Collecting/Identifying, etc. But, looking to learn from some of the obvious Masters here? In just the last day and a half, since I Joined this Forum, I have been given and seen, some really excellent, knowledgable, answers here and I look forward to reading and learning more, thank you! I am and have been for over 40 years, a Metal Detectorist, now retired, age 65. If my description has any errors in it, I apologize, as my old eyes seem to reverse and jumble up letters now? I try my best to identify what I am seeking answers too. Bought this coin at Auction recently. Have several pages of information on it. Excellent information, but as to stated "rarity" and as to, "value", I have no idea? Any information you have, or possible avenues for research, will be greatly appreciated, Thank you Sincerely, Big Red
Welcome to CT Big Red. However, sorry, but I know nothing about your posted coin. I have other coins from Pantikapaion, but they all have Pan on the obverse with various reverses.
This one is beyond me. It does seem odd, however that the OP listing reads like something copied from a catalog listing but I can not find something similar searching on any of the terms. I see nothing that would make me look in Pantikapaion but would allow the possibility that the coin was something else overstruck on such a coin. Where did you get the "several pages of information on it"? Understand a problem with ancients: Rarity and value have much less a link than you might think. There are thousands of coins that are extremely rare or even unique but there is no demand for them unless they also carry some interest to the market. What I see here is not rarity but a poor condition bronze that can not be matched to the references I have available. That means I am not in the market for the coin. I suspect, there are those who would buy it for the challenge of the ID but to get any price for the coin you will have to provide confirmable details that ID the types involved. The letters suggest a flipover doublestrike of the bow or bowcase types as a possibility but there is something above that that could be Ares helmet. The coin is a mess. To be more, it needs a map pointing out how it got there.
A flip-over double-strike is exactly what it is, and it's unquestionably from Pantikapaion. The letter at 6 o'clock on the second image is clearly pi, followed by alpha, followed by nu - ΠΑΝ. These coins only had an inscription on one side, the reverse, so that fact that this one presents lettering on both sides confirms a flip-over double-strike. But is it a galley or bow type? I've only seen the galley types on the larger denomination bronzes - in the 30mm, 12g range. That doesn't mean small denomination ones don't exist - I just haven't seen them. But I suspect this is the common bow type, and the double-strike has so jumbled the devices that it looks like the prow of a galley. One way or another, the coin would probably have some value to a collector of coins from Pantikapion, as an addendum to his/her set of "nice" pieces. I occasionally buy interesting errors, but I refuse to pay any sort of huge premium for them just because they're errors. If I collected coins of Pan, I might be willing to pay $20-$30 for it, but my pockets are rather shallow, so take that as an opinion of a miser.
Also, I see that you purchased this coin from a certain seller on eBay whose shtick is to price a coin extremely high, put it on sale for 600% off, and allow buyers to make offers. I think you paid a bit too much for it, but not drastically so. He probably would have sold it to you for $30. I've made him some extremely low-ball offers that I didn't think he'd accept, and yet, he did.
