Recently, I bid on a tetartemorion from the firm Savoca-Coins. Due to the condition of the said coin along with a lack of identification, the competition was non-existent. Picture instead of link below because eBay eradicates all data after 6 months since page creation. Item reference number can be seen too. Now, it is time to attempt to an identification. So, here is the cute tiny coin. The obverse is distinctive by the mound shaped as a heart with a dot (upper part). From what I have seen all around databases, it looks like to be the representation of the silphium fruit, the fabled one whose appreciation was immense to a point the plant went extinct. The reverse might either be the quartipartite square incuse...or maybe a seed pod of a silphium plant. It is hard to tell. What do you think, guys?
Hmm. Design-wise, I could believe it but is the type known to exist in the tetartemorion weight range?
The reverse looks to me like a quartipartite square incuse (which is a fairly common reverse on Greek tetratemorions), with possibly a dot in one of the quadrants.
Reasonable Candidate While browsing my favorite coin firms on eBay, I noticed a couple of tetartemorions from Savoca-Coins that give me reasonable leeway to identification. Here are these coins: Tetartemorion #1 Tetartemorion #2 Tetartemorion #3 Here is a small visual analysis although both original photo from Savoca-Coins and mines don't do justice. Sadly, without the incredible apparatus of dougsmit for big magnification, I can't do better. However, while using manipulating the lil' coin at different angles, some features appear more clear. Region of Ionia City-state of Kolophon Obverse: Archaic bust of Apollo Reverse: Quartipartite square incuse It is a fairly common coin it seems. Indeed, I need to put a shameless plug about the Achaemenid Persians since it's about Ionia: In royal inscriptions, the dahyava-list (roughly people-list or country-list) listed Ionia as Yaunā. Just like Greeks tagged every foreigner as barbaros talking the "bar bar bar" language and conflated Medians along Persians, the Achaemenid elite reduced the Asia Minor Greeks as "Yaunā" people. Also, having fun with cuneiforms...the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great mentions Ionia in the three present languages. Old Persian for administrative elite, Susian as the Zagros/Kuzistan region was formerly Elamite and Babylonian as lingua franca (until Aramaic took over). Anyways, the case is closed for the tetartemorion.
