Featured Progressive obverse die deterioration on a decassarion of Side in Pamphylia

Post your coins of Side, coins with die damage, or anything you feel is relevant!

Background:

Side (modern Selimiye)[1] was the principal city and port of ancient Pamphylia, originally situated on the Mediterranean coast west of the mouth of the Melas (Ancient Greek: Μέλας; now Manavgat) River, in southwestern Turkey. (The site is now inland.)



Though the city was founded by Aeolian Greeks, the Sidetic language[2] was spoken there. According to Arrian, when settlers from Cyme came to Side, they could not understand the dialect.

Having a good natural harbor and two artificial harbors for larger vessels, it was the most important port in Pamphylia. Alexander the Great occupied the city (333 BC), and the Rhodian fleet defeated that of the Seleucid king Antiochus III there (190 BC). In the 1st century BC Cilician pirates made Side their chief slave market.

The consul Servilius Vatia defeated these pirates in 78 BC as did Pompey in 67 BC, bringing Side under the control of Rome and beginning its second period of ascendancy, when it established and maintained a good working relationship with the Roman Empire.

Augustus placed Pamphylia and Side in the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC, after the short reign of Amyntas of Galatia between 36 and 25 BC, after which Side began another prosperous period as a commercial center through its trade in olive oil and slaves and by piracy. By the 3rd century AD, its population had grown to 60,000 inhabitants. As in most towns of similar size, wealthy merchants paid for such tributes as public works, monuments, and competitions as well as the games and gladiator fights, many of which are celebrated on the coins of this city.

Under Gallienus, the city gained its first neocorate, which is celebrated on the coin of Salonina, below. This allows the coin to be dated to Gallienus' sole reign, AD 260-268. Three neocorates for Side were held under Aurelian and an unparalleled six in the fourth century![3]

Most of the extant ruins at Side date from this period of prosperity. The great ruins—excavated by the Turks from 1947 to 1966—cover a large, walled promontory; one of the most prominent remains is a colossal theater, built upon arches and considered one of the finest in Anatolia.

The coin in my collection:


Cornelia Salonina, AD 253-268.
Roman provincial Æ decassarion, 18.56 g, 28.8 mm, 12 h.
Pamphylia, Side AD 260-268.
Obv: ΚΟΡΝΗΛΙΑ CΑΛΩΝΙΝΑ CЄΒΑ, diademed and draped bust, r., I (=10) before
Rev: CΙΔΗΤΩΝ ΝЄΩΚΟΡΩΝ, Apollo standing, facing, head l., holding patera and resting on scepter surmounted by flower(?)
Refs: Lindgren III 669; SNG von Aulock 4861 (same obv. die); SNG PFPS 872; BMC --; Sear GIC 4647 var.

An analysis of progressive die deterioration:

On the obverse of my coin, there is a die break above and involving the P in ΚΟΡΝΗΛΙΑ. The die becomes progressively damaged over time. This obverse die was also used with a second die of the same reverse type, as well as with at least two different reverse types.

A similar degree of die deterioration is seen on this example used in conjunction with the Athena standing left, dropping pebble into vase and holding palm reverse type (SNG PFPS 877 var.; CNG Electronic Auction 220, lot 288, Oct 14, 2009 (incorrectly attributed)):



A bit more advanced state of die deterioration in the same location is seen on this example with the Athena standing left, resting hand on shield and holding scepter reverse type (SNG von Aulock 4862; Naumann, Auction 50, lot 373, Feb 5, 2017):



With further use, die breaks appear at the bottom of the letters ΗΛΙΑ and before the C in CΑΛΩΝΙΝΑ, as on this example of the Apollo standing type, but with the second reverse die (Roma E-Sale 23, lot 333, Jan. 9, 2016):



With further use, the die break involving ΚΟΡΝΗΛΙΑ becomes more extensive, as on this example of the Athena standing left, resting hand on shield and holding scepter reverse type (SNG von Aulock 4862; CNG Auction 37, lot 64156, Sept. 10, 2001, Wildwinds specimen) ...



... and on this example of the Apollo standing type and the second reverse die (CNG Electronic Auction 413, lot 266, Jan. 31, 2018):



Further study might reveal an earlier, undamaged die-state, as well as subsequent die deterioration from usage beyond the examples shown here. Moreover, additional examples of reverse dies and types may yet be uncovered with further research.

~~~

1. Much of the background material consists of common knowledge as summarized in "Side, Turkey." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side,_Turkey.

2. "Sidetic Language." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidetic_language.

3. Price, S. R. F. Rituals and Power: the Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 272.

 

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An interesting analysis. Clearly the dies were used to the point where they were on the verge of complete destruction.

Some of the tetradrachms of Syracuse also show major die breaks and wear, as exemplified with this coin currently listed in the CNG Electronic Auction 465:

 

My Side coin is from a different die so is of no value here but my Syracuse is about half way in the middle of the destruction of the reverse die.
Boehringer 703 (v345/R481) I have loved this coin since 1991 largely because of the reverse strike showing the workers were favoring the unbroken side of the die. In NGC standards, I'd say this was 5/5 for strike on the lower right and 0/5 on the upper left. It did not work. I have seen later states of this die with much worse a break. One has to wonder how much time elapsed between the start of the break and the completion of the replacement die (R482?). I would love to have two more of these coins. One should be the earliest state before there was a break of any consequence and one from the last strike before the thing went to the trash. Seriously my current financial status makes it unlikely I will ever buy another Syracuse tetradrachm let alone a pair to show this progression. I have always wondered at the mint policy that created such great dies and allowed absolutely abysmal hammer work. This is from the later period of the great tet series. Finding coins even half-decently centered and struck coins (with both horses' heads and the charioteer on flan) is hard.


https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=225559
https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=68481
On this last one note the extension of the cud missing across the top and the fact that there was no effort made to favor that side by angling the die.

 

Why was Athena associated with a pomegranate in Side? If you search "Athena pomegranate" on acsearch, you get 1090 entries, pages and pages and pages of coins from Side. It was obviously a local feature of the goddess.

Here's Domitian on a coin with Athena carrying pomegranate...

 

Bit different but here's a 10 Assaria type of Gallienus from Perga Pamphylia:

Obv: Bust right, I before
Rev: Legend in four lines

 

I remember reading somewhere that Side means pomegranate in the local language.

 

That would explain it!

 

Very cool coin, love the writeup, and MAPS... always cool!

Here is my Side:

Pamphylia-Side 190-36 BCE AE 15mm Minerva R - Nike L wreath Sear Grk 5440 SNG Cop 408ff
Ex: The ever cool Coin Educator: @Valentinian

Heck! with the Ancient Greeks, let's go back further where the Side Languange has roots...

Side was a part of the HITTITE EMPIRE... 1600-1178 BCE - Yeah, they even had Wilusa (Troy) as part of their Empire... They were the First Indo-European speaking Empire.



Hittite Steatite Head of a Man Amulet 2nd Millennium BCE 15 x 20 mm Intact side


Hittite Steatite Head of a Man Amulet 2nd Millennium BCE 15 x 20 mm Intact front-Side
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittites

These were the guys that Rameses II fought at the Battle of Kadesh... Rameses told everyone HE won, as the Hittites stated THEY won. Lotta dumb mistakes from Rameses II side, but I understand it was really a draw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kadesh


Egypt Scarab RAMESSES II cartouche 19th Dyn 1292-1189 BCE winged uraeus cobra 4.1g 19mm Gustave Mustaki collection acquired from Egypt in 1948

 

Side is Greek for pomegranate.

 

Here's another coin of Salonina from Side with obvious obverse/reverse differences.

Obv: Diademed and draped bust right
Rev: Legend in seven lines (Declaration of Side as an ally of Rome), all within wreath

The obverse is grainy and barely legible with a c/m before the bust. The reverse has clear lettering and little wear. I always thought that this was possibly environmental as with the coin in water with the obverse facing up but that really doesn't fully explain the appearance.