Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
Unexpected horse detail
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 3344107, member: 19463"]I agree this is a magnificent coin but I believe that it brings up a good point about why we do not see more posts about these coins. These are not rare coins. There are thousands of varieties of Syracusan silver in many sizes and styles. Every die was a new and unique work of art to some degree and some, certainly including this one, were great art. Why. then is the finest specimen we have to praise and put on the cover of our high end catalogs missing the dolphins on the right? The die cutter was an artist but so many of these coins were just not well struck. This one is far above average. While there are enough of them that the die corpus has been published (Boehringer) specialists in the series have to deal with many poorly struck coins. Collect89 shared a well made coin with style earlier than is currently appreciated by most of us. It seems that Archaic coins are not as appreciated as they once were. If you check old sale catalogs and records of the finest collections, you will find many of the even finer dekadrachms. On average, they seem to have been made better but still many are a bit short flan. Compared to the owls of Athens, the design of the Syracuse tetradrachms had more important things to be lost by poor strikes. In Athens, we worry about helmet crests butt Syracuse loses dolphins, horse heads and charioteers. </p><p><br /></p><p>If I were completely unhampered by budget concerns, I would specialize in the coinage of Syracuse and certainly be proud to have coins as wonderful as this one. As it is, I have a very few.</p><p><br /></p><p>An early period tetradrachm</p><p>[ATTACH=full]885579[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>a later tetradrachm showing a severe die break but decent style</p><p>[ATTACH=full]885580[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>a 0.3g hemilitron of good style (1/40 of the 20 litra 'tetradrachm')</p><p>[ATTACH=full]885582[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>My smallest is this AR hexas or 1/6 litra = 1/120 'tetradrachm'. I really want to upgrade this miserable little coin but they are not easy to find. It weighs 0.05g but has lost some to the exfoliation so obvious in the photo. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]885584[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 3344107, member: 19463"]I agree this is a magnificent coin but I believe that it brings up a good point about why we do not see more posts about these coins. These are not rare coins. There are thousands of varieties of Syracusan silver in many sizes and styles. Every die was a new and unique work of art to some degree and some, certainly including this one, were great art. Why. then is the finest specimen we have to praise and put on the cover of our high end catalogs missing the dolphins on the right? The die cutter was an artist but so many of these coins were just not well struck. This one is far above average. While there are enough of them that the die corpus has been published (Boehringer) specialists in the series have to deal with many poorly struck coins. Collect89 shared a well made coin with style earlier than is currently appreciated by most of us. It seems that Archaic coins are not as appreciated as they once were. If you check old sale catalogs and records of the finest collections, you will find many of the even finer dekadrachms. On average, they seem to have been made better but still many are a bit short flan. Compared to the owls of Athens, the design of the Syracuse tetradrachms had more important things to be lost by poor strikes. In Athens, we worry about helmet crests butt Syracuse loses dolphins, horse heads and charioteers. If I were completely unhampered by budget concerns, I would specialize in the coinage of Syracuse and certainly be proud to have coins as wonderful as this one. As it is, I have a very few. An early period tetradrachm [ATTACH=full]885579[/ATTACH] a later tetradrachm showing a severe die break but decent style [ATTACH=full]885580[/ATTACH] a 0.3g hemilitron of good style (1/40 of the 20 litra 'tetradrachm') [ATTACH=full]885582[/ATTACH] My smallest is this AR hexas or 1/6 litra = 1/120 'tetradrachm'. I really want to upgrade this miserable little coin but they are not easy to find. It weighs 0.05g but has lost some to the exfoliation so obvious in the photo. [ATTACH=full]885584[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
Unexpected horse detail
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...