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<p>[QUOTE="Pavlos, post: 3269331, member: 96635"]I have obtained two more Epeiros additions which I am really happy about. First coin is a diobol from the Epeirote league. I have a <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-the-first-coin-from-my-home-region.324921/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-the-first-coin-from-my-home-region.324921/">drachm</a> of this and a diobol is a great addition since it is a quite scarce denomination. The second coin is a rare municipal mint from Ambrakia during the Epeirote League.</p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/LPfjaqV.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b>Epeirote League Diobol (234–168 B.C.). Mint ?</b></p><p><b>Obverse:</b> Head of Zeus Dodonaeus right wearing oak wreath, monogram behind.</p><p><b>Reverse:</b> ΑΠΕΙ - ΡΩΤΑΝ; thunderbolt, oak wreath around.</p><p>1.41g; 14mm</p><p><br /></p><p>The mint of these Epeirote League coins is a bit of a mystery. In what city is it minted? Is it Dodona, is it Phoenice or is it Kassope, or who knows another city?</p><p><br /></p><p>Phoenice is the capital of the Epirote Republic and makes known municipal bronze coins and it is thought that the federal mintage occurs there as well, because after all it is the capital and the political center.</p><p><br /></p><p>However others think the mintage was at Dodona, it's Zeus oracle was considered second only to the oracle of Delphi in prestige. Zeus was worshipped there as Zeus Dodonaeus because of the sacred grove of oaks. Zeus Dodonaeus is the one visible on all the coins of the Epeirote League. Also, King Pyrrhos made Dodona the religious capital of his domain and beautified it by implementing a series of construction projects (i.e. grandly rebuilt the Temple of Zeus, developed many other buildings, added a festival featuring athletic games, musical contests, and drama enacted in a theatre). Wouldn't it be obvious the mintage would be there? Dodona did not make any coins in his name and William Martin Leake takes that as another argument to place the Federal coinage in Dodona.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/bUn8H37.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>However, other scholars disagree and say if Dodona did not make any municipal coins in his name it would be very unlikely it did mint federal currency. They suggest the place of mintage is in Kassope. The style of coins of the federal currency is very much alike the municipal coins of Kassope. Also, the ruins of Kassope are among the most extensive in Northern Greece. However, one of the authors does claim that the didrachms and some drachms of the Epeirote league have a different style than the municipal coins of Kassope and the Kassopaian style federal drachms, indicating there could be multiple mint places.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8kexJzf.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>In the above picture two coins are seen, the bottom one is the drachm I own, the so called 'Kassopaian style'. On the top the drachm with a different style which the author claims it is most likely from another mint place than Kassope.</p><p><br /></p><p>Morale of the story? We don't know yet!</p><p><br /></p><p>My other addition:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/bmbnmzp.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b>Ambrakia Municipal Bronze coin (238–168 B.C.) - Epeirote/Aetolian style. Rare.</b></p><p><b>Obverse:</b> Laurate head of Apollo right.</p><p><b>Reverse:</b> AMBP; Zeus to right hurling thunderbolt.</p><p>6.75g; 20mm</p><p><br /></p><p>Ambrakia is a bit of an interesting town. Originally a Corinthian colony, captured in 338 B.C. by Philip II and after 43 years of occupation it was given by the son of Kassander to Pyrrhos, king of Epeiros in 294 B.C., who made it his capital, and adorned it with a palace, temples and theaters. Since then Ambrakia started to get an "epeirote" identity. Ambrakia was part of the Epeirote League, however because of the position of the city, it was only little under control by the league. Because of this it got some sort of autonomy, and minted both bronze and silver coin in their own name and not in the name of the Epeirote people. During the war of Epeiros with the Aetolian league and Akarnanian league in 220-205 B.C., Ambrakia continuously switched between leagues. That is why 3 types of bronze coins from Ambrakia can be categorized, the Epeirote style, Aetolian style and the Akarnanian style. The Epeirote and Aetolian style are very much alike and are quite impossible to separate from eachother. The Akarnanian style however, is almost identical to the coins from Akarnania and is easily to distinguish, this is because the Akarnanians featured the man-headed bull on their coins. These Akarnanian style coins are very cool and I am actively looking for them, unfortunaltly they are rare and quite pricy.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the above municipal Epeirote/Aetolian style coin I purchased is both Zeus (reverse) and Apollo (obverse) visible. Zeus has always have a special position in Epeiros, worshipped as Zeus Dodonaeus, Zeus Naios (god of the spring below the sacred oak in the Dodona sanctuary) and Zeus Bouleus (Counsellor). However, Apollo had a special position in Ambrakia because the sacred conical stone (vaitylion) of the Apollo Ayiéfs (guardian of streets and roadways) is situated there. For this reason, coins from Ambrakia often have the obelisk of Apollo on their coins.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.acsearch.info/media/images/archive/93/1650/1537329.m.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><i>Drachm from Ambrakia during Epeirote League, extremely rare. On the reverse the sacred conical stone of Apollo is visible.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>I hope you guys like this read into the more "unknown" part of Greek history (since not many people collect coins from Epeiros).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Pavlos, post: 3269331, member: 96635"]I have obtained two more Epeiros additions which I am really happy about. First coin is a diobol from the Epeirote league. I have a [URL='https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-the-first-coin-from-my-home-region.324921/']drachm[/URL] of this and a diobol is a great addition since it is a quite scarce denomination. The second coin is a rare municipal mint from Ambrakia during the Epeirote League. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/LPfjaqV.jpg[/IMG] [B]Epeirote League Diobol (234–168 B.C.). Mint ? Obverse:[/B] Head of Zeus Dodonaeus right wearing oak wreath, monogram behind. [B]Reverse:[/B] ΑΠΕΙ - ΡΩΤΑΝ; thunderbolt, oak wreath around. 1.41g; 14mm The mint of these Epeirote League coins is a bit of a mystery. In what city is it minted? Is it Dodona, is it Phoenice or is it Kassope, or who knows another city? Phoenice is the capital of the Epirote Republic and makes known municipal bronze coins and it is thought that the federal mintage occurs there as well, because after all it is the capital and the political center. However others think the mintage was at Dodona, it's Zeus oracle was considered second only to the oracle of Delphi in prestige. Zeus was worshipped there as Zeus Dodonaeus because of the sacred grove of oaks. Zeus Dodonaeus is the one visible on all the coins of the Epeirote League. Also, King Pyrrhos made Dodona the religious capital of his domain and beautified it by implementing a series of construction projects (i.e. grandly rebuilt the Temple of Zeus, developed many other buildings, added a festival featuring athletic games, musical contests, and drama enacted in a theatre). Wouldn't it be obvious the mintage would be there? Dodona did not make any coins in his name and William Martin Leake takes that as another argument to place the Federal coinage in Dodona. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/bUn8H37.jpg[/IMG] However, other scholars disagree and say if Dodona did not make any municipal coins in his name it would be very unlikely it did mint federal currency. They suggest the place of mintage is in Kassope. The style of coins of the federal currency is very much alike the municipal coins of Kassope. Also, the ruins of Kassope are among the most extensive in Northern Greece. However, one of the authors does claim that the didrachms and some drachms of the Epeirote league have a different style than the municipal coins of Kassope and the Kassopaian style federal drachms, indicating there could be multiple mint places. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/8kexJzf.jpg[/IMG] In the above picture two coins are seen, the bottom one is the drachm I own, the so called 'Kassopaian style'. On the top the drachm with a different style which the author claims it is most likely from another mint place than Kassope. Morale of the story? We don't know yet! My other addition: [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/bmbnmzp.jpg[/IMG] [B]Ambrakia Municipal Bronze coin (238–168 B.C.) - Epeirote/Aetolian style. Rare. Obverse:[/B] Laurate head of Apollo right. [B]Reverse:[/B] AMBP; Zeus to right hurling thunderbolt. 6.75g; 20mm Ambrakia is a bit of an interesting town. Originally a Corinthian colony, captured in 338 B.C. by Philip II and after 43 years of occupation it was given by the son of Kassander to Pyrrhos, king of Epeiros in 294 B.C., who made it his capital, and adorned it with a palace, temples and theaters. Since then Ambrakia started to get an "epeirote" identity. Ambrakia was part of the Epeirote League, however because of the position of the city, it was only little under control by the league. Because of this it got some sort of autonomy, and minted both bronze and silver coin in their own name and not in the name of the Epeirote people. During the war of Epeiros with the Aetolian league and Akarnanian league in 220-205 B.C., Ambrakia continuously switched between leagues. That is why 3 types of bronze coins from Ambrakia can be categorized, the Epeirote style, Aetolian style and the Akarnanian style. The Epeirote and Aetolian style are very much alike and are quite impossible to separate from eachother. The Akarnanian style however, is almost identical to the coins from Akarnania and is easily to distinguish, this is because the Akarnanians featured the man-headed bull on their coins. These Akarnanian style coins are very cool and I am actively looking for them, unfortunaltly they are rare and quite pricy. On the above municipal Epeirote/Aetolian style coin I purchased is both Zeus (reverse) and Apollo (obverse) visible. Zeus has always have a special position in Epeiros, worshipped as Zeus Dodonaeus, Zeus Naios (god of the spring below the sacred oak in the Dodona sanctuary) and Zeus Bouleus (Counsellor). However, Apollo had a special position in Ambrakia because the sacred conical stone (vaitylion) of the Apollo Ayiéfs (guardian of streets and roadways) is situated there. For this reason, coins from Ambrakia often have the obelisk of Apollo on their coins. [IMG]https://www.acsearch.info/media/images/archive/93/1650/1537329.m.jpg[/IMG] [I]Drachm from Ambrakia during Epeirote League, extremely rare. On the reverse the sacred conical stone of Apollo is visible.[/I] I hope you guys like this read into the more "unknown" part of Greek history (since not many people collect coins from Epeiros).[/QUOTE]
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