Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bing, post: 2233698, member: 44132&quot;]Actually, the devel had nothing to do with it.&nbsp; It was you guys.&nbsp; I&#039;ve seen your personal copies of this coin, and I&#039;ve wanted one for a while.&nbsp; So, just before I left on my trip, I found this one for sale at a price I could afford.&nbsp; Of course, there had to be something wrong with it.&nbsp; It has a hole.&nbsp; But I think the hole was placed in such a fashion so as not to detract from the devices. Oh, and it&#039;s a little porous to boot.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]439576[/ATTACH]</p><p>MACEDONIA, Eion</p><p>AR Trihemiobol</p><p>OBVERSE:&nbsp; Goose standing right, head reverted, lizard downward to left above</p><p>REVERSE:&nbsp; Quadripartite incuse square</p><p>Struck at Eion, 460-400 BC</p><p>0.66g, 11mm</p><p>SNG ANS 273-284</p><p><br /></p><p>Edited notes from John Mixter on December 8, 2006:</p><p><br /></p><p>This artistically interesting issue with an animal that is not commonly seen on Greek coinage is generally considered to have been issued at the Macedonian seaport town of Eion. Eion occupied a site on the mouth of the river Strymon (modern Struma) and was a place of considerable strategic importance during the Persian invasions of Darius I and Xerxes I and later to the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War. The coinage of Eion is generally regarded as fifth century (circa 510/500-437 BC) and features a bird most often described as a goose. The significance of the goose type presumably makes reference to the scenes from rural life at the time, as with other iconographic themes on coins of other cities in this region. It is said that aquatic birds still frequent the shores and marshlands of Lake Cercinitis at the mouth of the Strymon near where Eion is believed to have once been located. The sophistication of the engraving on these animals is surprising, especially when you consider that the actual die the artist had to work with is less than seven and a half millimeters in diameter, in relation to the overall flan size of nearly twelve millimeters. The other symbol employed on the Eion coinage, a lizard or salamander, might be denominations markers or designed to enrich or modulate the meaning of the coin type itself. One additional aspect is that the Eion mint seems to have made its dies smaller than the intended flans so many examples, particularly those of the later series, have plenty of metal outside the dotted border. The reason for this unusual minting practice is unclear, but nevertheless makes for exceptionally attractive examples. The reverse depicts a small, shallow quadripartite incuse square.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in