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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ancientnoob, post: 2218893, member: 44140&quot;]When we think of Greek coins we think of the owls of Athens, the turtles of Aegina or the colts of Corinth. We picture the beautiful renderings of Gods and Kings of great stature glorified by descriptive titles. Many of these coins are well documented, long studied and admired both in antiquity and the modern era.</p><p><br /></p><p>A collector of ancient coins can not ignore the unmistakable appearance of a fine Greek coin with a beautiful portrait crafted with care so long ago. This coin is certainly no exception.</p><p><br /></p><p>A coin with this date and monogram is considered possibly unique on the FORVM site.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i>&quot;Nicolet-Pierre, &quot;Thionèsis, roi de Characène (25/24-20/19 ou 19/18 avant J.-C.)&quot; in Revue Numismatique. 6e sér. 20 is the primary reference for Attambelos and Thionèsis, his successor. It does not include an example of an Attambelos coin for this date. The date is included in the listing on p. 52 with the note, &quot;Trésor 1976 ?&quot; This note seems to be questioning if an example was in the hoard found in 1976, the hoard which provided the impetus for her research. Prior to discovery of that hoard, and in accordance with Hill, it was believed Attambelos&#039; coinage and presumably his reign ended in Seleukid year 279, 34 - 33 B.C. Nicolet-Pierre includes a specimen dated Seleukid year 288, 25 - 24 B.C.; which is now believed to be the last year of Attembelos&#039; reign&quot;</i></p><p><br /></p><p>I purchased the coin knowing it was exceptional for having a date (Seleucid Era SE). I didn&#039;t realize the date was considered possibly unique Z-Π-Σ, 7-80-200; SE 287 (BC 26/25)[ATTACH=full]434422[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My coin also possess the this Π monogram, although it looks a lot like the Hebrew letter TAV... TAV carries a meaning with loosely fits &quot;Truth&quot; The small extension off the left vertical is opposite the top right vertical extension on the Π in the date. Has this been properly described? Any correlation? Cross cultural link? I don&#039;t know a lot about Hebrew script or the development of regional languages in the area at the time and I am purely making an uneducated and unresearched, observation.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]434423[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The top example at this link is the coin of unique comparison...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=2025" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=2025" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=2025</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The coin in the link is markedly heavier than my coin, nearly 4 grams different. My example is clearly debased silver (billon). Having a diameter of 27 mm and a weight of 10.64 grams. This series shows a great fluctuation in weight, while maintaining similar diameter. It must have been more important to look good than weigh good.</p><p><br /></p><p>Along with a lot of text you have a monogram or control mark of which several variations exist.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]434433[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Kingdom of Characene</p><p>Kuwait, Charax-Spasinu</p><p>Attambelos I (r. BC 47-24)</p><p>Bi Tetradrachm (s. ZΠΣ 287 SE AD 26/5)</p><p>Obverse: Diademed bust of Attambelos I right.</p><p>Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ATTAMBHΛOY behind, ΣΩTHPOΣ / KAI EYEPΓETOY before, Herakles naked seated left on a cuirass holding club, monogram above arm, Π below arm, ZΠΣ (date) in ex.</p><p>Ref: Unlisted date. Note, Trésor 1976</p><p>Note:Unique Date VF, cupric deposit. ex. Mervin Collection 8/2015</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]434434[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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