Rhodes, Island off Caria, AE10 Rose

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Justin Lee, Feb 17, 2018.

  1. Justin Lee

    Justin Lee I learn by doing

    pjimage (18).jpg

    Rhodes, Island off Caria,
    AE10, 350-300 BC

    Obverse: Diademed head of Rhodos right, wearing earring and necklace.
    Reverse: Rose with bud to the right, P-O in field, possible remnants of uncertain symbol left near flan edge crack.
    References: SNG Helsinki 384-392 var; SNG Copenhagen 750-751 var; BMC Caria p238-239, 74ff var; SNG von Aulock 2796-2797 var

    1600px-Map_Anatolia_ancient_regions-en.svg copy.png

    The large and important island of Rhodos, off the south-west coast of Asia Minor, produced a considerable coinage in the archaic period from its three major cities, Ialysos, Kamiros and Lindos. After the Persian wars, no further coinage was issued on the island until the foundation of the new federal capital circa 408 B.C. This splendid city, situated on the northern promontory only 12 miles from the mainland, was given the same name as the island. It quickly achieved great prosperity and eventually became one of the principal trading centers of the ancient world. In the third century Rhodos exercised much political influence in the eastern Mediterranean, through the strength of its fleet. But in 167 B.C. the Romans declared Delos a free port, and the Rhodians, their prosperity now greatly diminished, sank into comparative obscurity. In Greek mythology, Rhodos or Rhodus (also known as Rhode) was the goddess of the island of Rhodes and the wife of Helios, and she was the daughter of Aphrodite and Poseidon (TrustedCoins.com).

    0132_Theater_in_Caunos.jpg Apollon_temple_acropolis_Rhodes.jpg Akramitis.jpg Lindos_Rhodes_1.jpg
     
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  3. Ancient Aussie

    Ancient Aussie Well-Known Member

    Another very nice coin with some great pics, looks like your on top already with your buy.
     
    zumbly and Justin Lee like this.
  4. chrsmat71

    chrsmat71 I LIKE TURTLES!

    You got some pretty cool coins out of that little lot!
     
  5. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

  6. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Definitely a nice lot for the price.
     
  7. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    That was the one I said might be a prutah with an anchor. @TIF was right - it's a rose.
     
    TIF likes this.
  8. Justin Lee

    Justin Lee I learn by doing

    Yep. I originally thought it was an eagle cuz the seller had the reverse upside down.
     
  9. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Question about these roses...

    I've never seen a rose that looks like the flowers depicted on coins of Rhodes. These Rhodes flowers seem to have six petals. Don't modern roses have more? Is it just a pared-down stylization? Some other type of flower?

    Examples of Rhodes roses from CNG's archives:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  10. Justin Lee

    Justin Lee I learn by doing

    My thought was that it was an artistic interpretation of a rose done by the celator(sp?). I did a quick Google image search and it appears there are different kinds of roses and some have different shapes, for example the rugosa rose. So knows which of the many varieties they were imitating, or if it truly was what we know of as a rose at all...?

    https://www.thespruce.com/growing-and-caring-for-rugosa-roses-1403053

    Rugosa-GettyImages-73898657-5a252d27ec2f640037da48d0.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2018
  11. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    That looks considerably more like the Rhodes coins. Thanks!
     
    Justin Lee likes this.
  12. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Modern roses (and horses, dogs, grain bananas etc. etc.) are the result of a thousand years of mankind playing with genetics to make living things 'better' by their definition. There are rose hedges and flowers that come from root stock below the graft that might seem closer to what the ancients saw in their world but most of them are far beyond what started the species way back when. I have a friend who runs a business selling apple trees of the varieties that grew in Virginia 200 years ago. Many of his varieties taste great but bruise so easily that they could not survive a trip to a chain grocery or might be expected to have a few bruises that I was told would not hurt me to eat when I was a kid but would never sell at Kroger. I know dogs as large as some horses shown on coins and a dozen other example of our playing with mother nature.
    I was born in New Castle, Indiana, home of the special rose greenhouses that produced long stem flowers carried by Beauty Pagent winners. Many of the buildings were destroyed by tornados before I was born but we used to play ball in fields next to the ruins of a time when a rose needed stems longer than the girl who was carrying them. The flowers were susceptible to many diseases and kept poorly. By the 1950's few existed and Rose City was no more. I suspect the roses in Rhodes were a bit past what nature invented and what grew in other places even then.

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    Marsyas Mike, Curtisimo, Ajax and 4 others like this.
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