Curtis JJ

Good topic! As a collector of Roman "Captives Coinage," I have a lot of Victories among my RIC's. One interesting theme I've come across in my reading and forum-browsing is that, over time, the captive became an "attribute of" Victory, much like the wreath and palm were attributes of Victory, or thunderbolt an attribute of Zeus/Jupiter. (I.e., Even if just one of them was depicted, seeing the captive actually implied the presence of Victory, and seeing the Victory implied the presence/theme of captives.) I can't quite recall where I read that at the moment... Here's one of my recent Victory-captive coins, a Gordian III Sestertius from the Leu 12 - Adrian Lang sale (it was also in the important Gordian III collection of George His, CNG 69 [8 Jun 2005], 1465, which Leu failed to note). I find it really interesting how the captives on Roman coins moved from prominent positions (e.g., on the early Julius Caesar denarii or Vespasian's Judaea Capta coinage) to subordinate (artistically) positions. Actually, this kind of image, Victory balancing something on a captive did begin with Judaea Capta coins under Titus (denarius w/ small captive under the shield/trophy); see also the first "trophy tableaux" on Fundanius and Coelius quinarii (though the captive was just at the foot of the trophy, no balancing required). This specific image may have started with Gordian III, but was also used by Valerian (VICT PART types) and I'm sure others. (On the Maximinus version, Victory holds up a wreath above the captive instead of balancing a shield on his head.) Below is the Leu 12 photo (I was thrilled to find the patina looked even better than in the photo; here's the coin-in-hand video on Imgur, also shared on a blog post, which also describes some remarkable similarities between the George His & Adrian Lang Collections): Sometimes, of course, Victory would just be trampling on the captive, here a Sarmatian one, much as Sol used to do to the (usually Eastern) captives under Aurelian. This one from the recent Leu WA 21, holding as much of her other paraphernalia as she could (I guess with the trophy and palm she didn't have a hand free for a wreath):

Oh, also, for Alexander III type Celtic imitations, here's a quick (0:35s) video (hope video shows up, if not I'll try embed code -- also just put it on Youtube and on Imgur, so it should be visible there): Three of my Celtic Alex. III Drachm/Hemidrachms in hand, alongside an official Drachm (Troas, Abydos, under Antiogonos) and Hemidrachm (Babylon, Price 3605, late lifetime, 325-323 BCE, a little coin that I really love). I'm not sure if the third one was clipped down to hemidrachm size or struck that way: Celtic Alexanders X3 cf Alex III drachm hemidrachm.mp4

Celtic coins are really fun. I have only a few but have learned a lot about Celtic / La Tena cultures from Britain to E. Europe by studying them. It's really fascinating how they took imagery from Greek and Roman coins, but then adapted them to their own aesthetic sensibilities. I'd recommend reading about Celtic art more generally for anyone who likes the coins. I have a bibliography on the topic, much of it can be found online, but I don't seem to have the links. Here are a few online that I found worthwhile: https://museum.wales/articles/2007-05-03/Celtic-Art-in-Iron-Age-Wales/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_art Paul Jacobsthal. 1935. "Early Celtic Art." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs Vol. 67, No. 390: https://www.jstor.org/stable/866191 (requires free account if you don't have one, but well worth it, as it includes Numismatic Chronicle and other numismatic publications) Edit, forgot, here's a coin! Celts in Eastern Europe “Baumreiter” AR Drachm (3.35g, 15mm, 10h), 3rd cent. BCE. Bearded head / Rider on horse. Kostial - Lanz 422 (this coin)

At least in my experience, you are probably right about being the only woman. It's something that bothers me about my local coin club (although ONE woman was recruited to join in the past year, of about a dozen usual attendees). Also, it's 100% white. Almost exclusively old white guys, which I find an uncomfortable feeling (as a 40 something white male). That said, I do love going to an in-person group. BTW, I do think there is at least one rather "famous" (as much as coin clubs can be) and storied coin club in NYC. I know there are members on the other coin forums (I'm sure ones you'd recognize by usernames), so probably some hanging around here too.

How about another ex-Huntington Dupondius? (This one is 1001.1.22981 -- the 1001 accession numbers were adopted by ANS from HSA; the 1944.... numbers ones where ANS gave a new number separate from HSA's. I've always wondered if that white stuff is plaster from a cast someone made at ANS or HSA?) NEXT: More Seated Left imagery (a favorite them of mine... it's all Ba'al.)

Wow, that is REALLY close! A lot of people would've concluded it was the same coin & been satisfied -- well done being careful in your comparison! It's the centering, too, that makes it so close, combined with the dies. It's always surprising to me how often this happens. It must be that the same crew stamping the coins tended to get them off-center the same way, time after time. I'm sure people who do die studies also notice this, but I'm always amazed when I'm researching provenances, how many of them will have virtually identical centering and flan shape. I have a Tarsos stater that's 15% off-center on the obv (toward 7h) and 10% on the rev. (to 5h); I've found my coin illustrated in several sales from the 1990s, but I've also found numerous other near-matches from the same die pair, with similar state of preservation, and -- remarkably -- the exact pattern of de-centering and striking flatness in the same places! I'm sure if someone wanted they could figure out a way to quantify it and maybe even identify clusters of coins struck by the same crews at the mint!

That's a great skill to have @Carausius! I find the more time I spend doing "plate checks" (mindlessly flipping through catalog after catalog on Uni Heidelberg, Archive, or BNF-Gallica / INHA) the more I develop at least a temporary photographic memory, and start finding the same coins all over the place (even if not in my collection!). The hardest, most frustrating part often comes: Realizing I recognize that one little Abydos AE or Messene Hemiobol, but having no idea which of the 50 catalogs I scanned this week illustrated it! (Those two turned out to be Prowe-Egger III and Slg. H. Otto.) @Phil Davis -- I love tray photography! Much more satisfying than seeing coins in high resolution with transparent backgrounds. I've never been able to figure out how some people can get them all in focus, though. I'm happy to just to capture a "feel" for the group. As for safety deposit box, I actually went and removed most of my favorites all at once to take group "tray photos" for a banner image when I decided to make a website last year. It was really exciting having them all together, but also very terrifying!

It's been 2-3 weeks so my comments may not apply but I've made several orders from Artemide (both the San Marino [srl] and Vienna [GmbH] offices) and always found them to be prompt (shipping within a few days or less, I think) and very professional. Good enough they never gave reason to think twice. (Only delay was in Customs when I owed a duty to US import because it included a gold coin over a certain value, which is pretty rare. I was glad they declared everything properly; I got a little nervous or outright upset when I see deceptive customs declarations on my packages.) Shipments from Europe to the USA (if that's where you are) can take a long time these days depending on the current circumstances of air transit and how backed up Customs are. But that's out of their hands. You may have figure this out in the meantime: For the enormous photos here, I just double-click on them, and reduce the size to width=400 or 200 or however small the coin deserves!

Nice one @DANTE! I've got one of these ones too and love this type (much more so than the slightly smaller less artistic type, which often doesn't get differentiated from this one). Interestingly, it seems like opinion is shifting and many people now think it's from Olbia, but I'm not sure the evidence is terribly strong either way. I hope this also qualifies as a rough incuse reverse: Lesbos, Koinon (?) Billon 1/48 Stater (5.5mm, 0.26g), c. 525-513 BCE. Two eyes (or grains or shields?) / Quadratum Incusum. Rosen 548 in Nancy Waggoner, Early Greek Coins from the Jonathan P. Rosen Collection [ACNAC 5] (1983, NYC: ANS), p. 35 & pl. 20 (this coin illustrated); also cited in van Alfen & Galst Ophthalmologia Optica & Visio in Nummis (2018, NYC: ANS) p. 546 (this coin cited). People debate if those are eyes, shields, or grains... NEXT: Any kind of UNCERTAIN IMAGERY (or anything else debated) on a coin...

Excellent!!! I'm very glad to know you got it!

Yes, you're absolutely right about this! (I've bought a bunch myself -- though I started to be more cautious about some firms after a while.) These include a lot of types that were formerly considered very rare. Apparently flooding out of Turkey or the Middle East. Here's just one example: I've noticed a recent surge in examples of the really cool, fabled "optical illusion" Cilicia Hemiobols (Winzer 3.5, two confronted female heads, their faces overlapping in a triangle and sharing one eye, copying the earlier [?] incredible Hekte type from Lesbos, and possibly with a portrait of Artaxerxes III on the reverse). They used to sell for multiple $1,000s a couple years ago. (Actually, Leu's example a few weeks ago still hammered at 1100 CHF at their Web Auction 20.) I've seen several others at the budget auctions recently (including several examples on ACSearch -- in fact, more in the last 12 or 18 months than in all of previously recorded numismatic history!). So it's become a lot less rare than a few years ago (and/or some of them are fake). Here's a potential gift: Right now, there is a completely misidentified one on VCoins (popped up a few weeks ago, it's still there!), STILL up and COMPLETELY misidentified for under $80. The seller seems to have no idea. I probably should buy it, but apparently I'm not going to pull the trigger (I try not to buy totally unprovenanced coins from certain regions, including this one). If anyone is into small silver and competent to judge the value and authenticity, I'd say that one could be a tremendous steal (assuming it's genuine). If someone buys it, let me know how you like it! (I watch-listed it weeks ago, but apparently no one else has gone for it, so I don't think I'm spoiling anyone's dreams of saving up for this one.)

Edit: Forgot to say, @O-Towner, I love those left-facing Theodosii with Tau-rho's over the campgate. Those are remarkable! Apparently I used to really like Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor campgates because I accumulated a bunch of them, and didn't seem to care much about condition. A couple of these may have been sold. I have a few others, but these are the photos I could find quickly. I still have a soft spot for Late Roman Bronze AE4s (including the really late ones that are usually not readily identifiable due to poor striking and miniscule flan size). For good measure, a couple earlier ones that look nicer!

This is really interesting work. Well done, finding what may be the best example of that obverse die. No doubt that'll be helpful for others in the future trying to check for tooling if new examples are found. I may have showed these on other Faustina Fridays, but I've been curious about the Provincials from Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala. Usually they're described as "...crescent on forehead." But what is it? What's it doing on her forehead? Is that a local symbol (part of the Cult of Helios maybe)? I don't think I've seen it elsewhere. Even with really nice examples, it's really hard to find any clues to what it is or how stays up there. Cilicia, Hierapolis-Castabala. Faustina II (Augusta, 147-175 CE), Æ Triassarion (29mm, 10.11 g, 6h). Draped bust right w/ crescent on forehead. Radiate Helios standing left, raising hand and holding scepter, torch to left; countermark left: T (incuse). This example = SNG von Aulock 5572 = Robert (1964) 27, pl. XXVI.77 = SNG Levante 1586 = RPC IV.3 4976 (temporary), ex. 6 = Isegrim Database 32247 ex. 1. Cited in Howgego GIC 686 (as Robert 77). Below is an RIC example that I got for the obverse which I found really entrancing and lifelike. (Almost a smile; she looks like she's really looking at something. Like, really.) On this one, not only are the overlapping strands and layers interesting, but so is the bun in back at the nape of her neck. Different angles/lighting show slightly different details of hair. I'm glad to see your various examples, because I've always had trouble figuring out just what's going on in all these hairstyles. Faustina II (Augusta, 147-175 CE) AR Denarius (3.21g, 19mm), Rome 161-164 CE. Draped bust right. Hilaritas standing left, holding cornucopia and palm frond set on ground. RIC III Aurelius 686; RSC 111; Göbl MIR 18, Fa15-4/10b. Ex-Artemide Aste srl e-Auction 11 (San Marino, 26 Jan 2020), Lot 450.

That's a great example for a Skotussa Hemi! I feel like this is even scarcer than the Artemis / Poseidon type. Even with that crystallization or granularity, fully-centered ones like this are impressive little coins. It's a really nice reverse die, I LOVE the horse on this one!

Interesting, it's an impressive collection. I was aware of one or two other specialist Gallienus collections from auction catalogs (most recently E. Mensch & A. Bauer; the N. M. McQ. Holmes Collection of the Valerianic dynasty; there's also apparently a Dan Hoffman Collection of Gallienus). I'm sure there will come a time when I want to use it as a reference. Apparently a handful of his coins were sold at Roma Numismatics in 2020, but it seems like he held onto several (!) of them. I'm going to keep an eye out; if I can get just one new Gallienus, I'll try to get a Reinhardt, preferably one also ex Mensch. (I notice from the bibliography that they seem to have been collaborators.) Too bad I missed the ex Reinhardt Gallienus As from the Adrian Lang Collection (unfortunately about 50X what I budget for Gallienus!).

Oh, this is fun too! Okay, Archaic. This coin was originally from Ionia, Erythrai (520-480 BCE) but ever since Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert's (2020: Group 2, 10 [this coin]) excellent die study it's been struck in Bithynia, Herakleia Pontika, 530 BCE. Bithynia, Herakleia Pontika EL Hekte (2.59g, 10mm), 530 BCE. Head of Herakles / Quadratum incusum. Ex Artemide Aste LII (San Marino, 26 Oct 2019), 102 & Savoca Numsmatik, 18th Silver (Munich, 8 Oct 2017), 153. NEXT: Hat or Headdress made out of an Animal.

Here's a group photo of my "Lindgren Exhibit," including 8 coins from the Henry Clay Lindgren Collection, at least 5 of them illustrated in his books. All but one coin came from recent CNG e-Auctions (and even the eighth coin -- the bright, coppery one at bottom -- came from a previous CNG e-Auction years before I bought it!). The two volumes shown in the photo (Lindgren II [1989], Europe, and Lindgren III [1993], "more") were bought elsewhere, but I did just win a copy of Lindgren I (w/ Kovacs, 1985, Asia Minor, the hard one to find) from the last CNG e-Auction (along with a Konvolut of 15 other books!). They don't arrive until tomorrow, so I just showed my printout of the listing. It wasn't a bargain ($120 + fees is basically retail), but I got impatient. (Incidentally, my Lindgren III is a signed & inscribed copy to Mark Millman, San Francisco, 1996 -- all I know is Millman was a California ANA member in 1992 & 1995 -- anyone know him?) Below is my favorite Lindgren, an AE Hemiassarion (18mm, 3.85 g, 12h) of Domitian from Cilicia, Anazarbus, dated CY 112 (AD 93/4). The reason it's my favorite is, in part, because it's the only coin I know to be illustrated in two Lindgren Vols (Lindgren & Kovacs [1985] 2192, corr. = Lindgren III [1993] 773, corr. again [!]) and, in fact, described four times (it's also in the Errata for each volume)! It appears Rupert Ziegler first figured out it was Domitian of Anazarbus, not Caligula from Caesarea or Irenopolis, and published it in his volume on Anazarbus (Ziegler [1993] 73.3, Vs1/Rs2). The same coin was also published in two (!) RPC volumes, plus two Supplements (and, of course, RPC Online), the original having been officially recanted in RPC Supplement 1 in 1998 (RPC I [1992] 5456 [Caligula, later deleted] = RPC II [1998] 1750 = cited in RPC Suppl. 1 [1998] & Consolidated Suppl. 1-3 [2015])! It may have been cited elsewhere (probably has been), but those are the major ones. Some of my favorite coins to collect are those involved in debate, with errors, corrections, and disagreements. (Hence I like certain Parthian and Cappadocian types -- I'll post some of those disputed types elsewhere!) That's the photo from CNG EA 510 (23 Feb 2022), Lot 419. Also ex-MDA Collection (an interesting one with lots of great RPC from Cilicia). I was also glad that CNG didn't provide a lot of that provenance/publication detail, which left a lot more for me to research. (And, in order to limit my spending, I try to only bid on coins if I think I know something about the provenance that's not cataloged.) Another nice thing: Under $100 including fees. (Most of the others were even cheaper, certainly much cheaper on average; I got 5 in one group for ~$20 each!).

Thank you! Wow, what great stuff I've been missing. Glad I finally found the party and signed up here!

I'm gonna confess I never thought of Davissons as being "affordable"! Maybe that's just the particular stuff I'm looking at though... Usually they have lots of stuff I love, but the opening bids a bit higher than I want to pay. Actually, when it's coming from collections that have been off the market a while, I sometimes find the opening bids attractive. But when they've (or their consignors have) just won something at a Swiss e-auction a couple months ago, and set the opening bid at 2-3X the hammer, I leave it on my watchlist, but don't seriously consider bidding! In the US, seems like we're getting the extra benefit right now of currency conversion swinging our way. (Suddenly I don't have to multiply my Euro bids by 1.2 anymore to figure out what the hammer will be in dollar equivalent!)

Those are cool types! Depending how exactly it's defined, I may have only one Crusader coin. (I suppose there might be other unidentified/iable ones among piles of low grade "group lot" coins.) The thing I really like about this region and period is the cultural influence and overlap. Just as there were Islamic coins imitating Christian coinage, there was a period when Crusader coins imitated Islamic coins. Others will know the details better, but my reading was that the original design with the Kalima / Islamic legends was eventually forbidden by Papal decree. Following that, there are some cool varieties of these AR Dirhems, still in Arabic, but with crosses in the center, and giving a Christian legend. This one, I believe, is more, uh...faithful to the original design of the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir Dirhams, struck in Damacus, c. AH 648. The CNG description: "CRUSADERS, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Imitation Dirhams. Mid to late 13th century. AR Dirham (20mm, 2.91 g, 10h). Imitating a Dimashq (Damascus) mint issue in the name of the Ayyubid al-Salih Isma'il and the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir. Uncertain mint. Dated AH 648 (AD 1250/1). Cf. Balog & Yvon 37 (AH 641); Metcalf, Crusades –; CCS 3." Ex Jay Galst Coll. (Triton XXV [Online, 11 Jan 2022], 6767); Erich Wäckerlin (Coins of the Crusader States and Their Successors, Munzen & Medaillen GmbH 47 [23 May 2019], 217.2); Münz Galerie München (Jan 1988). The following is not a Crusader coin, of course, but a slightly earlier Artuqid AE Dirhem (Mardin, mid 12th Cent. CE), and the direction of influence is reversed. Diademed male heads on obv., facing female head on rev. The exact artistic influence is debated, but it's clearly in the tradition of late Roman / Byzantine coinage. (In my view, the reverse of this Septimius Aureus [the Aureus isn't my coin!] is a very likely model for the female head -- Julia Domna, just check out her hair! -- and even the two sons, Caracalla and Geta, could be turned slightly forward to get the obverse design, at least for one of the potential influences.) Image Credit: Kunker. ICV 1203 (this coin illustrated) = Wilkes, Islamic Coins & Their Values, vol 1, p. 117. The reverse a possible influence (just one of multiple, probably)? (Image Credit: CNG - cngcoins.com archive -- not my coin!)

I’ve managed to overcome my recent spell of "hermitism" (apologies for any messages I haven’t replied to!) so that I could mention today’s (completed) auction of a small and delightful, but sadly ignored, scholarly collection of Satrapal, Asia Minor, and Persian AR Fractions: “Die Sammlung Gert Cleff - Teil 1” at Gorny & Mosch (e-Auction 288, Lots 1-84). It included many rarities and published or otherwise important coins, albeit with a rather specialized focus (i.e., small and tiny silver from the Achaemenid, Persian, Cilician / Anatolian, and "eastern Greek" world). Though small (84 coins), it's a collection that I'm sure will be appreciated by anyone who enjoyed Dieter Klein’s (1999) Sammlung von griechischen Kleinsilbermünzen… (at least the “Eastern” parts) or Axel Winzer’s (2005) Antike Portraitmünzen der Perser und Griechen… or Nancy Waggoner's (1983) ANACS #5 sylloge, Early Greek coins from the collection of Jonathan P. Rosen (or CNG’s recent "Klasma Asami Collection of Greek Fractions"). I know nothing of “Gert Cleff.” (Google gives zero help... Zero. Odd.) Gorny & Mosch calls it “Teil I,” so there should be more to come. It was described as “Könige und Satrapen” (tr., “Kings and Satraps, The Gert Cleff Collection - Part 1”). Unclear to me from the grammar if the other parts will be more of the same. Many lots went unsold, others well below the conservative estimates or previous auction hammers from a decade or two ago (note: the "starting prices" given by Sixbid were actually the estimates; they actually started lower, at 75%, I believe). (Not my area of expertise, but I thought everything went too low, even by the old price standards of last decade.) I wish I'd budgeted A LOT more. I may still go for some of the unsold, but the best coins at least went for the minimum (!). Here are some of my (winning) bids (credit for all photos: Gorny und Mosch) Lot 3. A rare Themistocles (the famous Athenian general, 6th-5th BCE) AR Hemiobol (7mm, 0.36g) of Magnesia. (More narrative is given [in German] in the previous Lot 2, a really exceptional example of the usually ugly type -- like mine!.) This example cited in Nollé – Wenninger’s (1998/1999) important JNG article. Notice how they oriented the reverse image incorrectly (the QE monogram -- the most important part of the coin! -- should be rotated 90' clockwise), a mistake repeated in many lots: Lot 42. Rare-ish AR 1/4 Siglos (8mm, 1.26g), Klein 764 plate coin. (I'm sure it was ex. rare when Klein published his book, but small coin discoveries and publication have skyrocketed in recent decades, both as metal detectors improve -- to the understandable dismay of archaeo-conservationists -- and digital imaging technologies make it possible to appreciate coins that were previously discernible only to bright-eyed 19-year old flight school candidates.) I was the *only* bidder on this one at the 48 E open. In 2015 it hammered at 90E at Munzzentrum 174, Lot 184. (Another specimen, the prior Lot 41, went unsold at 48 E [!]; it was nicer [maybe much nicer], but without the provenance/publication history, at least as far as I know. There were a lot of Sigloi that looked pretty good to me, incl. a fascinating run of nice banker's marks, many unsold or sold at what I considered absurd prices.) BEST FOR LAST! Lot 69. A charming Persis AR Hemidrachm of Manchir III (AKA Minuchetri III). Ex Peter Robert Franke (1926-2018) Collection & Ex Robert Gonnella Collection, illustrated twice on PDC (PDC 47121 = Peus 393, Lot 320 & PDC 39483 = Peus 388 [Gonnella], 273). I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s published (or at least cited) elsewhere as well (I’d be surprised if not, since that’s what I found in a couple min.). The only provenance given was Grün 64, 1536, where it hammered for 260 Euros in 2014. I got it for 90Euro, which means only one other bidder clicked above the 80E min. from my pre-bid. (My planned maximum was, uh, HIGHER! It'll be a nice companion to the Parthian/Persis ? Diobol from Bob L's Koinon article (Fig 21), which I picked up from CNG in Feb.) If anyone knows more about the consignor/collection, I’d love to know. The entry in my "provenance glossary" can't go empty, so I've patched together what info I could so far. The collection (or this part) was formed mostly between the late 1990s and early 2010s, the coin acquired mainly from German auctions. Several coins were ex Slg. Peter Robert Franke (but noted only as Grün 64) and several of the 84 coins were published (more of them than the catalog indicated; I found some in a short time). If I'd known how affordably the others would go, I'd have kept bidding on Lot 10, a very rare and absolutely astonishing 5mm, 0.12g Tetartemorion (Hemitetartemorion?) from the PRF sale. (At least that one came pretty close to the 2014 hammer, 150 vs. 170 E eight years ago. If not for me, I think it might've gone for the opening bid of 75E! The improved photography, though, shows it's a much better coin than the 2014 Grun 64 catalog indicated, especially for one so tiny. Another nice Slg. PRF coin, this one a Satrapal bronze, Lot 51, went for 70 E, barely half the 130 Euro hammer at the Grun PRF sale.) It seems to me there was much more to find in the way important collection provenances and publication history than given by the cataloger. I don't know this literature well, but if I'd had more than a couple hours notice, I'm sure I'd have found more info. I suspect that those who know this kind of coinage well (I do not) will likely recognize or be able to find more of the coins published/cited in the literature. I live for this kind of sale (numismatically speaking), but I would've missed it entirely except for a happy accident. (If I learned of it later today, I'd have been heartbroken... Heartbroken AND outraged!) I only learned of the auction hours beforehand because I accidentally clicked on a Gorny und Mosch email about “Military Badges….” (The remaining 1,250+ lots appear to be non-numismatic. A shame for “Die Sammlung Gert Cleff,” and the community of lovers of tiny Greek Fractions, but lucky for me.) It seems I received at least one other email a few days ago, but ignored it because I didn’t think it was about coins (G&M sends emails about all kinds of art/antiquities/etc. sales). I can’t find the auction on Numisbids (what I usually use) or Biddr; I did find it on Sixbid once I went looking, but I don't usually use that site. Another unforced error: At least a few auction images were upside down. That can't have helped. If you collect Achaemenid / Persian coins, I'd recommend checking the unsold lots / after-sale when it's up (as noted above, Sixbid gives the "estimates" as "starting prices," they actually opened 25% lower). The collector clearly had a predilection for tiny rarities, and the extent of my expertise was only to know that they deserved better than they got!

That's a fantastic countermark @Ryro! I love when you can tell that the person placing it did so very carefully (or with tremendous luck). I've got a little subcollection with a few dozen countermarks on bronze Greek, RPC, and RIC. I don't have a horse-over-elephant, but I do have a mouse-opposite-horse! It's one of my most recent countermark pickups (about the same time I also bought a group lot of Richard Baker's Greek cm-coins from CNG, but none as interesting). I think this is my first one of the countermarks that "comes up" (the horse, lower-right image closeup) from the surface of the coin. (I.e., where one is struck normally incuse, but on the other side there is also a small countermark die, which basically functions like an obverse die.) I don't know the term... would we call that "raised," or maybe "in relief"? There's a second one on the same coin, a "relief" lyre opposite the usual "incuse" lyre. The same group of 2-5 countermarks (mouse, Apollo [?], "relief" horse head, "incuse" lyre, "relief" lyre) appear regularly on these Alexandria, Troas bronzes with Apollo facing (unfortunately, Apollo's facing head is almost always obliterated). The horse is actually the "obverse" to the countermark of Apollo (?) laureate, facing left. But on my specimen, the mouse was struck partially over the Apollo cm, so it's also nearly opposite the horse (which luckily survived). Interestingly, the lyres and the mouse countermarks seem to be addressing different aspects of Apollo. Most Greek and Roman Provincial collectors are familiar with Apollo Musagetes (or Apollo Citharoedus, that is, Apollo the musician god). The "other Apollo" being invoked on this type is the fascinating Apollo Smintheus [alt: Smyntheus], "the 'Mice-Slayer', who sometimes protected the Greeks against disease-ridden vermin and at other times punished mortal hybris by sending debilitating plagues" (Leu WA 19 [26 Feb 2022], 1058). Troas, Alexandria is the main site of the Cult of Apollo Smintheus, and a temple in his name. There's a nice Numiswiki article, apparently authored by Joe Sermarini in 2007. (Perhaps it was also a case of "temple sharing," and the temple served the Apollo of Music too? I've seen it suggested that the mouse counterstamps may have been part of a ritual or donative, maybe responding to a plague or outbreak of vermin or some such... Greek religion is fascinating but also confusing to me, having been born in one of the recent millennia!) See also Mabbott Collection example, Part I, Lot 1346; Lindgren III A300a (Plate 94), same mouse & lyre; Wroth, BMC Troas, p. 12, No. 34 (not illustrated); Savoca 4th Blue (29 Dec 2017), 314; same host with different countermarks, see the Munzkabinett Berlin example (Inventory No.: 18268248) on Corpus-Nummorum.eu.