Its rough, but distinctive enough that I should be able to ID it...but alas I have thrown in the towel. Mixed in with a lot of Greeks and RR coins I came across this 15MM AE. The obverse makes me think of Herakles w lion skull cap. And it has writing in what looks like Greek? Not sure about that reverse but it also has writing. Any help IDing my coin would be appreciated.
Well, I'll be! Thanks @Victor_Clark & @Ken Dorney. I doubt I would have ever gotten that one. This type is not on AC search nor Wildwinds (at least not that I could find). I am gonna have to start using RPC Online in my searching.
Pretty neat! I hadn't seen a Telesphorus with Herakles (wearing lion skin headdress) obverse. My only "creepy little dude" is a common type from Marcianopolis. MOESIA INFERIOR. Marcianopolis. Elagabalus (218-222) AE 17, 2.5 gm Obv: AVT K M AVP ANTΩNINOC; laureate head right. Rev: MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN; Telesphorus standing facing. Ref: Varbanov 1422.
Thanks @TIF! He is a creeper, isn't he?! I was thinking mine kind of looks like Little Red Riding Hood. I was just on Wikipedia reading up on him when you sent this. Here is the little they have on him: In ancient Greek religion, Telesphorus (Greek: Τελεσφόρος Telesphoros) was a son of Asclepius. He frequently accompanied his sister, Hygieia. He was a dwarf whose head was always covered with a cowl hood or cap. He symbolized recovery from illness, as his name means "the accomplisher" or "bringer of completion" in Greek. Representations of him are found mainly in Anatolia and along the Danube. Telesphorus is assumed to have been a Celtic god in origin, who was taken to Anatolia by the Galatians in the 3rd century BC, where he would have become associated with the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, perhaps in Pergamon (an Asclepian cult center) and spread again to the West due to the rise of the Roman Empire, in particular during the 2nd century AD, from the reign of Hadrian
I sometimes forget to check RPC online myself. What we need is a stand alone thread on the various specific databases out there which are searchable. I always seem to forget to bookmark things!
