Want advise on Greek fractional silver coins

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Sallent, Nov 30, 2015.

  1. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    I've been doing some reading on different silver denominations for ancient Greek coins, and I think I want to acquire some of the smaller silver denominations such as obols, tetrobols, etc. There seems to be a lot of variety from all over the ancient Greek world, and I'm a little confused as to which direction I should be heading. Can you guys suggest any particular examples of Greek fractional silver that I should be looking at? I know this is all subjective as what some enjoy may not be the same as what others like, but maybe with some orientation and some suggestions I can go from here and narrow my search a little.
     
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  3. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    I'm sure when many of the others see your thread, you'll receive tons of advice, especially from TIF or Steve etc. who are heavily collecting in that area----I'm just returning to it myself.....or 'Greeks' in general anyway.
     
  4. Ardatirion

    Ardatirion Où est mon poisson

    The most exciting areas of fractional silver are going to be the Thraco-Macedonian region (including both Macedon, Thrace, and the Uncertain 'Thraco-Macedonian' tribal and civic issues), and western Asia Minor (mostly Ionia and Caria). You can also find some neat Cilician fractions.

    I'd recommend finding a copy of "D. Klein. Eine Sammlung griechischer Kleinmünzen. Nomismata 3. Berlin. 1999." and probably also Rosen, and the Macedon volume of SNG ANS.
     
  5. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    => no!!
     
  6. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    :rolleyes:

    ... just jokes ...

    Ummm, but as you already stated in your intro => "I know this is all subjective ..."

    Yah, if I were you I would merely go searching "Greek obols" in the CNG archives, or any archives and try to find a niche (but not animals, my friend)


    ;)

    https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?PAGE_NUM=&PAGE=1&TABS_TYPE=3&CONTAINER_TYPE_ID=2&IS_ADVANCED=1&ITEM_DESC=greek obols&ITEM_IS_SOLD=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_1=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_3=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1

    above is a link to "greek obols" ...

    Ummm, I hate giving away my sweet fishin' holes, but if you want to narrow-down your search, you may want to search "Thessaly, Thrace, Troas, and Ionia" ........ all winners, my new coin-friend!!

    *edit* => after looking at my link, it really wasn't that good (sorry, I tried)

    Oh, and there is an unwritten rule-of-thumb => if you see our names in auction, stay clear and we'll do the same

    good luck hunting (that's the fun part)

    cheers
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2015
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  7. Ardatirion

    Ardatirion Où est mon poisson

    Obols are even a bit larger than I'd consider a real fraction. Search "Tetartemorion" and "Hemiobol" for the real tiny stuff. Add in "Thrac" or "uncertain" to narrow it down a little bit.
     
  8. hoth2

    hoth2 Well-Known Member

    I love fractional silver. The idea that someone hand-engraved a die that's only a few millimeters across, and then people somehow kept track of a five-millimeter coin is amazing to me.

    This might be too specific an answer, but I think the Kyzikos lion/boar is a great starting point. It comes in several denominations, has multiple devices on each side, and is super common and so a nearly risk-free way to get your feet wet.


    https://www.google.com/search?q=mys...QNIgKHTljD2YQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=kyzikos+boar
     
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  9. Napata

    Napata Active Member

    Oh these goddamn wonderful silver fractions...there are so many for Achaemenid coinage (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/12, 1/16, 1/24 and 1/32). Then, if we want to consider Satrapic coinage with a reference to the "toxotai" ( the running Persian "archers"), one can find plenty with Greek denomination coins (or Pheonician ones). Tertatemorion ("1/4 part silver") is one example.
     
  10. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

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  11. Napata

    Napata Active Member

    Damn CNG...they don't accept Paypal...
     
  12. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Yah, I hate that also (but I love CNG, so I throw my VISA-number out there like it's a fricken flag!!)

    :woot:
     
  13. hoth2

    hoth2 Well-Known Member

    I've been wanting to grab one of the Chersonesos lions for quite a while but the stars haven't aligned yet (my star is somewhere near the intersection of too ugly and too pricey on the inverse relationship graph of those two things). I also recently heard that it's a commonly-faked coin, which has made me a little gun-shy.
     
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  14. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    Yeah, 'hoth2', me too!
     
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  15. hoth2

    hoth2 Well-Known Member

    Maybe the trick is to believe in the kindness inside of every human being and trust that what you're buying is what the seller says he's selling.

    I find this idea particularly attractive because the alternative is to pay the vcoins markup, which is much harder.
     
  16. 4to2centBC

    4to2centBC Well-Known Member

    Consider the premium an insurance policy. Some folks don't buy insurance.

    I buy insurance. That's just me.
     
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  17. Collect89

    Collect89 Coin Collector

    Here is mine. It has incredibly fine details on such a tiny coin.
    image.jpg

    MYSIA. Kyzikos.
    AR Obol ca. 450-400 B.C.
    0.85 grams, 11 mm
    (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/amazing-iona-militos.267653/page-3#post-2221205)
     
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  18. Collect89

    Collect89 Coin Collector

    image.jpg


    ATTICA. Athens.
    AR Hemiobol
    454-404 B.C.
     
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  19. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Well, by thrifty I would prefer to spend less than $160 a coin if possible, after all, I do have a few more Roman Republic coins I want to make sure I save up for...so yeah, I'm going to go "thrifty" (below $160 a coin) on Greek coinage for now... if that's possible. I guess if I have to spend more I could, but it would not be too ideal for my RR denarii purchase plans.
     
  20. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    That someone could sit there and engrave such fine details into such a tiny die to allow something like this to be minted, just blows my mind. Specially considering no magnifying lenses or modern tools were used. It is quite a feat of artistic skill and patience.
     
  21. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    I have very humble examples of both of the prementioned types ...

    boar & lion b.jpg boar & lion a.jpg chersonesos a.jpg chersonesos b.jpg

    ... I snagged a sweet deal and scored the Chersonesos for $40 (delivered)

    :rolleyes:
     
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