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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2196454, member: 42773&quot;]So I went down a little rabbit hole and came back out with a curious coin. A few weeks ago I bought this little booklet about amphoras, only because it was on sale for $1.50, but it turned out to be a very interesting read, describing a variety of significant archeological finds and reconstructing the ancient Mediterranean wine trade...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427446[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>So I thought I&#039;d go get myself a nice coin with an amphora on it, seeing as there were many lovely Greek types to choose from. Well, I ended up with a kantharos instead, which is not an amphora of course (amphoras were used for storage and transport), but rather a goblet with a built-in base and loopy handles...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427447[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantharos#/media/File:Greek_-_Red-Figure_Kantharos_%28Drinking_Vessel%29_with_Female_Head_-_Walters_482763_-_View_A.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantharos#/media/File:Greek_-_Red-Figure_Kantharos_%28Drinking_Vessel%29_with_Female_Head_-_Walters_482763_-_View_A.jpg" rel="nofollow">Source</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s the coin, seller&#039;s image...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427448[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Ionia, Teos, 3rd to 1st centuries BC.</p><p>AE13, 1.55g</p><p><i>Obv</i>.: TH / I - Ω - N; Griffin standing right with raised left (or right?) fore-paw (holding caduceus?), dotted border.</p><p><i>Rev</i>.: Kantharos with grapevines and grapes, three-stringed lyre at base, all within linear square.</p><p>Reference: unknown (SNG Cop 1450 var.?)</p><p><br /></p><p>The only reference I own for coins of Ionia is the BMC Catalog Volume XVI, and none of their listed varieties match up to mine. This is from page 314...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427449[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s nothing noteworthy, as those old BMC catalogs are hardly exhaustive, but the dealer&#039;s note to this coin was, &quot;Not in literature consulted.&quot; From my cursory research, it may not appear in the more comprehensive catalogs SNG von Aulock or SNG Copenhagen. Coins with kantharos only, in linear square, can be found, ie. <a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=112636#" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=112636#" rel="nofollow">CNG Künker 133 Lot 7602</a>...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427451[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Or G-N Auction 20 Lot 317...</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427452[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>These are the only two coins of similar type I&#039;ve been able to locate. They do not have the lyre at base or grapevines. They are both referenced as SNG Cop 1450, which is why I&#039;m tentatively calling mine SNG Cop 1450 var.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now it&#039;s not a particularly big deal to find an unpublished ancient coin, but it&#039;s not chopped liver either. So bottoms up! Show me your coins with a kantharos on them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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