Pavlos

On 12/25/2022 at 3:19 PM, Simon said:

Love it, Celtic coinage is becoming more interesting to me. So thank you for sharing your 2022 pick and I wish you a successful and Happy 2023. 

Thanks a lot Simon! A happy 2023

22 hours ago, robinjojo said:

Yes, I know what it is like going through a lean year numismatically.  I am glad that you have finally acquired and moved into your home - that was a long hard road for you.

That Celtic tetradrachm is a very interesting coin, in a style that I have not seen before.  One of the fun aspects of this coinage is the wide range of styles, from literal to abstract imitations of Greek designs.  

I'm looking forward to seeing your posts and coins in 2023!

Here's an example of an Eastern Celts tetradrachm that I picked up in 2020 from Roma E-Sale 68, lot 2.

Thanks a lot for your support! I hope next year I will be more abundant in coins. Also a very nice coin, that reverse is so abstract, even more than mine. Your engraver did manage to engrave Herakles his head mirrored so the coin would turn out the same as the original.

20 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

Pavlos, I think our coins are cousins 😂.

Haha indeed, lovely obverse, some real celtic art.

16 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

@Pavlos, it's Fantastic to see you on this forum!!!  I for one am kicking myself for not having sent you an invitation here, via the other one.  Congratulations on the house renovation --especially getting the worst of it done!

With the dramatic stylistic departure from the prototypes, I have to chuckle at how, regarding the anatomical details, the Celts just kind of 'cut to the chase.'  :<}

Thanks a lot! 🙂 Glad to see you on the forum!

Wonderful owls! I enjoyed seeing and reading about each of them. I am surprised how well made these pharaonic owls are. The Lihyan one is also great.

1 hour ago, Celator said:

Hello my old friend, glad to see you made it over here. Did you buy a house? 

Always liked the portrait on that Megas.

Hello! Long time no speak. I didn't recognize you because of the different name. I just joined a few days ago. I went through a tough renovation for my house, so I was inactive for a long time. Glad to be back.

Nice big bronze of Antiochos III!

Here is my tetradrachm I have showed recently in another thread:

Thank you all for the nice comments!

On 12/18/2022 at 2:22 PM, The Pontian said:

@Pavlos Dionysos seems to have been a quite popular God in Thasos . It was depicted in a lot of coins from different periods and even when he wasn't depicted , a satyr and a nymph was used . Satyrs and Nymphs were followers of Dionysos so the island seems to have been a Dionysos fans area 😄 .

Here are some examples , (none of them are mine ) :

Indeed, Dionysos is very popular in Thrace, there were different oracles and cults there.

I have this nice tetradrachm of Maroneia in Thrace, featuring Dionysos on both sides of the coin!

Thrace, Maroneia. AR Tetradrachm, struck circa 189/8-49/5 B.C.

Obverse: Head of youthful Dionysos to right, wearing ivy wreath.

Reverse: ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΜΑΡΩΝΙΤΩΝ Dionysos, nude but for chlamys draped over his left arm, standing left, holding grape bunch in his right hand, two narthex stalks in his left; flanking his feet, two monograms.

Reference: HGC 3.2, 1556. Cf. Schönert-Geiss 1347-9 (dies not recorded).

13,55g; 31.5mm

From the Vineyard Collection, ex I. Vecchi FPL 7, October 1997, 260. 

I also have another example on Lesbos island, there is a cult worshipping a wooden mask! Pausanias relates a story of Methymnaean fishermen dragging up in their nets a xoanon (Archaic wooden cult image) of olive wood which was pronounced by the Delphic oracle to be Dionysos Κεφαλλήν (head). The people of Methymna started to offer sacrifices to it and sent a bronze copy to Delphi. This led to a cult on the island and Dionysos was worshipped as an important deity on the island. The cult figure is standing on a prow because obviously the xoanon has been found by a ship. See my related coin below.

Lesbos, Mytilene. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. AE Tetrachalkon.

Obverse: Head of Zeus-Ammon to right.

Reverse: M-Y/T-I Terminal figure of Dionysos facing on prow; grapes to left. Reference: BMC 134. HGC 6, 1048.

7.8g; 18mm

For me 2022 was not a successful year in terms of numismatics, my time and finances were focused on the renovation of my house. I am sure this will change for next year. Nevertheless I still got this only coin (so far) in 2022, it is a coin that is not entirely in my collection focus, but I always wanted to have a Celtic imitation based on a Greek coin and this one shouts a lot except Greek!

I got it for a very good price when I saw for how much it went for in previous auctions, and the coin is also from the Hermann Lanz Collection and published in M. Kostial, Kelten im Osten - Gold und Silber der Kelten in Mittel- und Osteuropa - Sammlung Lanz (Staatlichen Münzsammlung München, 1997).

Celts in Eastern Europe. AR Tetradrachm. Thasos Type. Circa 2nd - 1st century BC.

Obverse: Celticised head of Dionysos to left, wearing ivy wreath.

Reverse: Stylised Herakles standing to right; legends reduced to pellets around, four pellets-in-annulets around.

Reference: Cf. Göbl, OTA pl. 50, class V/A, 8 (rev.); Lanz/Kosital 996 (this coin).

15.05g; 35mm

Dionysos is almost unrecognizable, and Herakles is not much better as well! It looks more like a Barbarian naked fanatic.

Just to give a comparison this is the 'original' Greek design (NOT MINE, courtesy of CNG):

Thank you all for looking! 

Great pickups! Ofcourse wonderful gold Roman coins, but being fond of Greek coins the Athens tetradrachm is absolutely stunning, even with the testcut. The Gortyn stater is a win win with such clear details, they are often in quite bad condition and still go for high prices. A good year 🙂 

Nice addition! I like the coins of Lesbos due to the great variety, take a look at the hektes for example. The coin type you have is still on my wishlist. I do have another silenos coin from Lesbos. Very tiny but nice details.

Islands off Mysia, Lesbos, Methymna. AR Tetartemorion. Circa 500/480-460 B.C.

Obverse: Facing head of Silenos.

Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square.

Reference: Hauck & Aufhäuser 14 (1998), 75. Leu Web Auction 11 (2020), 859.

0.31g; 6mm

Congrats! 🙂 Seleukid coins are lovely, I have a lot of them! Nice example.

Too often he is remembered only as the man who lost to the Romans at the battle of Magnesia, Antiochos however, was one of the most powerful and capable rulers at the time. Having emerged from civil war in 223 BC as the sole survivor of the Seleukid dynasty, he shouldered the burdens of a weakened and divided realm. Though defeated by Egypt in the Fourth Syrian War, he gradually restored full control over the empire. His great Eastern campaign took back India for the first time since Alexander and, returning west, he went on to conquer Thrace and finally freed Syria from Ptolemaic control. Then came intervention in Greece and the clash with Rome leading to the defeat at Magnesia and the restrictive Peace of Apamea. Despite this, Antiochos remained ambitious, campaigning in the East again. When he died in 187 BC the empire was still one of the most powerful states.

This is my Antiochos III from Antioch:

Antiochos III Megas (223 - 187 B.C.). AR Tetradrachm. Antioch mint. Series 3, circa 204–197 B.C.

Obverse: Diademed head of Antiochos III to right.

Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY. Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding arrow in his right hand and resting his left on grounded bow; to outer left, bow in bowcase. Reference: SC 1044.5a; Le Rider series 3-4, obv. A12; BMC 27; HGC 9, 447u.

17.07g 

Lovely coins! I really like the archaic coinage of Kyrene, and that Tenos tetradrachm is stunning! I would love to have one as well.

@kapphnwn Very interesting thread, and I think you use good logic in determining the chronology. I was unaware of the whole situation about the Alexander coins in Egypt, but it makes sense. Also interesting to read about the different issues in Macedon related to an event. A lot of times tetradrachms were only struck for military purposes and sudden emissions are often related to some kind of ware preparation or other event.

Here a very late tetradrachm in the name of Alexander from Mesembria, it is struck in the event of Mithridates VI Eupator's arrival to Thrace/Greece.

Alexander III "the Great". AR Tetradrachm. Civic issue, Mesembria mint (80-72/1 B.C.). Struck in the time of Mithridates VI.

Obverse: Head of Herakles wearing lion's skin right, with the features of Mithradates VI.

Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / MEΣAM, Zeus seated left, holding spear and eagle; to left, ΔIO.

Reference: Price 1128; Karayotov I 316; HGC 3, 1570.

16.10g; 33mm 

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

Hi All, its Pavlos from cointalk. 

I am glad to join this forum and see everyone again to share and enjoy our hobby. I have been inactive on cointalk and actually with coin collecting all together due to work and extensive renovation of my house. I occasionally have kept in touch with @robinjojo, and I was actually unaware of everything that happened on cointalk and the transfer of the people to this forum. Anyhow, I look forward posting here and seeing all the nice coins and interaction.

Cheers!