I know most of us are already forging ahead with 2017 acquisitions, but I'm still mostly occupied with 2016 purchases. This little Thessalian fraction is one of my favorites of the bunch. It's not in great shape - it's heavily crystallized, darkly toned, and a broken-off bit of metal before the portrait has been stuck back on with glue - but it's an issue that's hard to come by and an intriguing one for those of us who like obscure deities (and animals) on our coins. A CNG auction for one example notes that the issue is "extremely rare and coveted" and a Nomos auction has it as "an extraordinary and unexpected coin of great interest and charm". And now that I'm done hyping it, I hope you won't be too underwhelmed when you see my humble example below . THESSALY, Pherai Quite Rare. Repaired. AR Hemiobol. 0.27g, 8.3mm. THESSALY, Pherai, circa 360s-350s BC. BCD Thessaly II 694; Imhoof-Blumer 1908, p. 93, 277, pl. VI, 38; see also Nomos 4, 1306 corr. O: Head of Ennodia right: R: Φ-E, hunting dog sitting right. Ex BCD Collection The obverse has a portrait of the Thessalian goddess Ennodia, whose chief centre of worship was the city of Pherai. Ancient writers identified her with Artemis and Hecate, and like them, she was often shown bearing a torch and in the company of a dog. Ennodia's name means "the one on the road", and she was a goddess of witchcraft, ghosts, poisons and childbirth. In later centuries, the worship of Ennodia spread to Argos, Kolophon, Macedonia, Sikyon, and also Athens, where the cult of Artemis Pheraia was attested to by Pausanius. On the reverse there is a wonderful depiction of a seated hunting dog. In Hymn to Artemis, by the 3rd century Hellenistic poet Callimachus, one of the names by which Artemis is hailed is "Lady of Pherae", a reference to Ennodia. In recounting how she came to acquire her pack of hunting dogs, Callimachus writes that Pan gave her six fierce male hounds ("two dogs black-and-white, three reddish, and one spotted"), with a further seven, swift Kynosourian bitches, to complete the pack and bring its total number to thirteen. I imagine that our dog here must be one of them. Please feel free to share your coins of Pherai or coins with dogs on them!
Condition is much less important when there is a good story to go along with the coin! That's a good doggie Here's a dog of a dog, purchased for its rarity and because I wanted a third dog coin for my Pink Floyd Animals in Ancient Coins set: THRACE, Madytos c.350 BC AE13, 1.86 gm. Obv: bull butting right. Rev: dog seated right, ear of grain behind. M-A Ref: Sear 1624 cf.; Copenhagen 923-6 The other two dogs from that odd set: Roman Republic, C. Postumius 73 BCE, Rome AR denarius, 18.74 mm, 3.6 gm Obv: bust of Diana right, bow and quiver over shoulder Rev: hound running right, spear below; C. POSTVMI, TA in exergue Ref: Crawford 394/1a Roman Republic, L. Caesius 112-111 BCE AR denarius, 3.92 gm Obv: bust of Vejovis (some references say Apollo?) from behind, head turned left, holding a thunderbolt, legend AP; dotted border. Rev: Lares praestites seated with heads left, dog between, bust of Vulcan above; legend LA-RE; dotted border. Ref: Crawford 298/1. Sydenham 564. RSC Caesia 1 ... http://prezi.com/q7mw1k1zur65/pink-floyd-animals/
Nice. I like the hound reverse. Nothing wrong with a little break or wear. I'm still waiting for one more 2016 purchase to be delivered.
Great coin zumbly ! If my dog sits in that position, she usually produces a big pile of sh.. Like your Caesius denarius TIF , looks like me and my wife and our dog watching TV, our dog especially likes to watch Dr.Pol , a country fellowman. No dog coins (yet)
Haha... I've not been able to help thinking the same thing, actually! Perhaps that was the original idea? Only one solution to this problem .
One incredible coin @zumbly ! I really like that one! Great write up, and I like the story of Ennodia... had no clue of this Goddess. I have a few dogs... nice little pack, all within the Roman Republic. RR Aes Grave AE Quadrans Dog 3 pellets Six spoked wheel Craw 26/6a Th-Vecchi 34 RR Anon AE Half-Litra 234-231 BC Roma Phrygian Dog Sear 598 Craw 26/4 RR C Mamilius 82 BCE AR Den Serrate Mercury caduceus Ulysses Dog Argos Sear 282 Craw 362/1
To make you feel better, I have posted my dog coin, which seems to be in worse shape than others on this thread! Sicily, Segesta, Circa 412/0-405/0 BC, 0.55g chipped 12mm litra Head of the nymph Segesta facing slightly left EΓES (retrograde); Dog standing left, shell before, gorgon above dog Sear GCV #903 H. C. Lindgren, sale 77, November 2002, lot 3 As I recall I bought this without seeing a photograph, just from Lindgren's description. Photo taken today with a $35 USB microscope from Pluggable. http://plugable.com/products/usb2-micro-250x/
A great addition! Roman Republic, C. Antestius, 146 B.C. Silver denarius, SRCV 95/1, Sydenham 411, Crawford 219/1e, RSC I Antestia 1, VF, Rome mint, weight 3.971g, maximum diameter 17.3mm, die axis 90o, 146 B.C.; obverse head of Roma right in winged helmet, C ANTESTI behind, X below chin; reverse Dioscuri riding right, puppy with both fore feet raised below, ROMA in a linear frame in ex, linear border
Whoa, Ed, that dog coin is r̶u̶f̶f̶ rough . Thanks for posting it... one of these Segesta dog coins is on the perpetual want list.
Called, as in denomination? Unknown, as is often the case. There are various naming schemes but sometimes we just don't know the local ancient name for the denomination. In that case, just note the size as I have done here: AE 13 (AE is the abbreviation for bronze; 13 mm). Some information about denominations can be found on various ancient coin websites. Keep in mind that some of these charts are just theoretical or a modern means of communicating about various coins. Greek denominations A chart by weight and region. It is only for silver coins and is imprecise and speculative. I don't have any such tables bookmarked for Greek bronze or gold. Roman coin denominations varied by era. Some reading: http://www.unrv.com/economy/roman-coin-denominations.php https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Denomination (also repeats the Greek denomination weight chart) Roman Provincials throw more uncertainty into the mix. Provincials were coins issued by semi-autonomous cities/regions.
Thank you. Much appreciated. Do the most sought after coins that feature dogs come from Segesta? Ancient coins that feature dogs seem to be quite rare - some more than others. Is that correct?
Z-Bro, that's an awesome OP-hound (congrats) I always find it difficult to know if some of the wolf coins may be dog coins? (the wolf examples always remind me of my sweet dog, Larry) ... but in this case, I'll just post my few humble dog coins ...
Thanks, Steve. Wolf/dogs are all cool with me, as are fox/dogs... yup, not going to let you post your L. Papius without tossing in my die-brother example . I've tried photographing this one soooo many times without being totally satisfied with the results. This pic is last week's attempt...
Okay, hey since we're talkin' about L-Papius examples ... how 'bout this rare baby? Now "that" looks like Larry with a rubber toy!!
cool dog coin Z, and a cool obverse as well...had no clue who ennodia was! i don't have a dog coin! we did add a little dog to your family recently, here name is rosie and she is a cute little pain in the butt. here is our other dog max you have seen before, he's a grumpy old man now...like me.
