Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 2530655, member: 42773"]A fabulous, well-cut representative of its type! I rarely feel any jealousy at others' acquisitions, but you've managed to make me a bit green. It's possible the standard was based on the Persic shekel of 5.3g. There is evidence of earlier trade between the Sabaeans and the Achaemenid Empire. Whereas most of these coins were lumped together as homogeneous Southern Arabians, modern scholarship, based on typology and metrology, now distinguishes between coins of Qataban, Himyar, and Saba. Yours is indeed a Sabaean 1/4 unit, HGC 10, 735; Munro-Hay 1.1iii; Huth 175. Two other varieties are recorded, with monograms on the reverse. Mine is a coin of Qataban, minted on a standard close enough to the Philistian (tetradrachm = 16.3g) to allow us to call it a hemidrachm. I've lost my image of this coin so I'm using the seller's - I'll re-shoot it tomorrow. [ATTACH=full]540861[/ATTACH] Southern Arabia, Qataban AR Hemidrachm. Unknown ruler(s). Timna, circa 350-320/00 BC. Imitating Athens. Head of Athena right, Γ on cheek, wearing earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor / Owl standing right, head facing; [olive sprig] and crescent behind, Royal Qatabanian monogram, composed of South Arabian letters h and l, and AΘE to right. Munro-Hay p. 71, 1.0aii, pl. 48, 30-32; HGC 10, 711. 1.98g, 11mm, 9h.[/QUOTE]