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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ryro, post: 8092129, member: 91461&quot;]Fun thread idea and wonderful coins!</p><p>One man&#039;s wretched is another man&#039;s cherry coin with a small issue. But rarities are rare for all.</p><p>Here are a few ugly buddies of mine that you don&#039;t see often, and to mix it up, from Greece.</p><p>Everybody loves Crete. Here&#039;s one I&#039;ve not shared and his popular friend[ATTACH=full]1406499[/ATTACH]</p><p>Crete. Gortyna circa 85-82 BC.</p><p>Bronze Æ</p><p>12 mm, 2,06 g</p><p>Head of Hermes right, wearing petasos / Bull standing right, with head lowered, [ΓΟΡΤ] below.</p><p>nearly very fine</p><p>Svoronos, Numismatique de la Crete ancienne 188 var. (kerykeion above bull); SNG Copenhagen 454-6 var. (bull butting); cf. CNG E-345, lot 41. Previous Savoca silver 95 lot 94 Feb 2021.</p><p>Purchased from Savoca November 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1406501[/ATTACH]</p><p>mso-ansi-language:EN&quot;&gt;CRETE, KNOSSOS.</p><p>AE (2.54 g), approx. 200-67 BC BC: head of the bearded Zeus to the right. Back: Labyrinth between ΚΝΩΣΙ / ΩΝ. Svoronos, Crete 116.2.00, Lindgren. Nice. Ex BAC Numismatics 2/9/20201</p><p>And another coin I keep putting off doing a write up on:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1406502[/ATTACH]</p><p>LESBOS. Uncertain. BI 1/12 Stater (Circa 500-450 BC).</p><p>Obv: Head of African right.</p><p>Rev: Uneven incuse square.</p><p>SNG von Aulock 7715; SNG Copenhagen 295 var. (head left); HGC 6, 1086.</p><p>Excellent portrait.</p><p>Condition: Very fine.</p><p>Weight: 0.85 g.</p><p>Diameter: 8 mm.</p><p>Purchased from Savoca 4/2021</p><p>&quot;We know that the Greeks were well acquainted with black Africans, since they appear often in Greek literature as mythical or semi-mythical characters and warriors; it appears that they were known in the Greek world as early as the Minoan period, where they were employed by Minoan commanders as auxiliary troops. Indeed, if we may believe Quintus of Smyrna, the Greeks encountered black Africans in the army of Memnon at Troy. Black African contingents also formed a part of Xerxes&#039; army and according to some scholars fought at Marathon (see Frazer, J. G., 1913: Pausanias&#039; Description of Greece, II. Macmillan, London, pg. 434; and Graindor, P., 1908: Les Vases au Nègre. Musée Belge, pg. 29).</p><p>Of the surviving art objects representing black Africans, many appear to be the work of artists who modelled from life. These depictions invariably display an astonishing degree of individuality, vitality, and energy, presenting scenes and designs that appealed to the craftsmen; one might surmise that the exotic appearance of such individuals presented the artist with a challenge to represent the distinctive features of black peoples. The closest parallels we find in the numismatic record for this portrait can be seen in a very rare hekte issue from Phokaia (Bodenstedt 24), the silver staters of an uncertain (possibly Karian) mint that have appeared in 2008 (Gemini IV, 195) and 2009 (NAC 52, 177) that bear an incuse head of a negroid man, and a very rare series of coins from Kyzikos.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>And this coin might not look too wretched but was a black rock completely covered in super hard muck when I got it in a lot with no idea what was underneath. A few hours of electrolysis fixed that and 2,000 years or so of being wretched...and turns out it&#039;s a rare coin of Argos (that&#039;s right! where the Argonauts get their name) with a rare head of Hera!:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1406500[/ATTACH]</p><p><b><u>Argolis, Argos </u></b></p><p>Æ Dichalkon. Circa 280270/60</p><p>BCE Head of Hera</p><p>right, wearing stephane inscribed</p><p>APΓE/Athena</p><p>Promachos left. BCD</p><p>Peloponnesos1100-4;</p><p>3.90g, 18mm 6h.</p><p>Very Fine[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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