filolif

next: anything from Kyrene

A little late but here's a fairly superb owl.

ATTICA, Athens. Circa 454-404 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 17.14 g, 1h). Helmeted head of Athena right, with frontal eye / Owl standing right, head facing; olive spray and crescent to left; all within incuse square. Starr pl. XXII, 1’–3’; Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597. 

Using a liberal definition of "Alexander tetradrachm", here's one my favorite coins featuring Alexander.

Continental Greece. Kings of Thrace. Lysimachos (305-281 BC). AR Tetradrachm. Lysimachia mint. Struck 297 / 6-282 / 1 BC. Obv. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon. Rev. Athena Nikephoros seated left, resting arm on round shield set on ground; spear in background, monograms in inner left and in outer right fields. HGC 3 1750a; Thompson 12. AR. 17.05 g. 29.50 mm. 

Next: Another Alexander Tetradrachm 

Nice to see this thread come back. 

Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter AR Tetradrachm. Alexandria, circa 305-282 BC. Diademed head to right; Δ behind ear, c/m: H or Z within incuse circle and graffito before / ΠΤΟΛEΜΑΙOΥ BAΣΙΛEΩΣ, eagle with closed wings standing to left on thunderbolt; P above monogram to left. CPE 168; Svoronos 255; SNG Copenhagen 70. 14.27g, 26mm, 1h.

Imitative Athenian Owls are just fine too. Here's one of mine:

Philistia (Palestine)(?), uncertain mint AR Tetradrachm. Imitating Athens, circa 450-400 BC(?). Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, round earring with central boss, and pearl necklace; uncertain symbol or letter on cheek / Owl standing to right with head facing, olive sprig and crescent behind, ΑΘΕ before; all within incuse square., cf. Van Alfen, Mechanisms III.C.2. 17.09g, 24mm, 6h. 

7 minutes ago, TuckHard said:

Seleucid Empire
Issued 223 to 211 BC
Issued under Antiochus III at the Antioch Mint
AE size E | 1.74 grams | 10mm wide
Obv: Bust of Apollo right
Rev: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY, Apollo left, leaning on bow
Ref: Seleucid Coins pt1 1052, Z#293161

Next: more Antioch!

SELEUCIS and PIERIA, Antioch. Nerva. AD 96-98. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 12.77 g, 1h). Dated "New Holy Year" 1 (AD 96/97). ΑΥΤ ΝΕΡΟΥΑΚ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ, laureate bust right, aegis at point of bust / ΕΤΟΥC ΝΕΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΥ Α, eagle standing right on thunderbolt, with wings spread, palm frond to right. McAlee 419; Prieur 149; RPC III 3476. 

Next: Even more Antioch?

4 hours ago, NewStyleKing said:

 

Just a few..............................

That's what I call a owl!  I've got lots more!

What a group! Always love to see your new styles. And thanks to everyone else who has posted so far!

Here's another of mine. One of my early transitional mass issues that I have a fondness for with it's subtle toning.

I'm a big fan of Athenian owls and would love to see more of them posted. So post your archaic, classical, pi-style, new style owls! 

🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉
To start, here's one of my favorite classical owls, despite the test cut.

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 454-404 BC. Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, round earring with central boss, and pearl necklace / Owl standing to right with head facing, olive sprig and crescent behind, ΑΘΕ before; all within incuse square. Kroll 8; Dewing 1591-8; SNG Copenhagen 31; HGC 4, 1597. 17.07g, 25mm, 8h.

Looking forward to seeing yours!

Thanks everyone! Here's another from my collection that I've never posted.

Islands off Attica, Aigina, silver Stater, c. 456-431 BC, tortoise with segmented shell, countermark on shell, ΓA graffiti in field, rev. incuse square with windmill pattern, 12.38g (Meadows, Aigina, Group III).

I have quite a few coins I've never posted but I've recently been taking more videos and photos of them to share.

MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.13 gm, 10h) . Late lifetime-early posthumous issue of Aradus, ca. 328-320 BC. Head of Heracles right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied before neck / AΛEΞANΔPOY-BAΣIΛEΩΣ, Zeus enthroned left, left leg drawn back, feet on ground line, eagle in right hand, scepter in left; ΣΩ monogram in left field, AP monogram below strut. Price 3321.

New arrival!

PHOENICIA, Tyre. ‘Ozmilk (Azemilkos). Circa 349-311/0 BC. AR Shekel (22mm, 8.63 g, 12h). Dated RY 12 (340/39 BC). Deity, holding reins and bow, riding hippocamp right; two lines of waves below, dolphin right in exergue / Owl standing right, head facing; crook and flail in background; ||– O (’ [for ‘Ozmilk] and 12 [date], in Phoenician) to right. E&E-T Group II.2.1.23, unlisted dies; HGC 10, 349; DCA 918. Iridescent tone, traces of find patina, off center, some porosity, Aramaic graffiti in field on reverse.

https://streamable.com/edez78

1 hour ago, Prieure de Sion said:

Next: same theme, more greek monograms please.

Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter AR Tetradrachm. Alexandria, circa 305-282 BC. Diademed head to right; Δ behind ear, c/m: H or Z within incuse circle and graffito before / ΠΤΟΛEΜΑΙOΥ BAΣΙΛEΩΣ, eagle with closed wings standing to left on thunderbolt; P above monogram to left. CPE 168; Svoronos 255; SNG Copenhagen 70. 14.27g, 26mm, 1h.  

Next:  keep the Greek monograms coming!

Big fan of the colors on this New Style Athenian tetradrachm featuring Helios.

3 hours ago, Ryro said:

next: someone whoes hair looks wet

I think this qualifies? It looks like Zeus Karneios just took a swim.

Next: Any coin with a plant on it.

After a 2 month trip, this New Style has arrived!

Attica, Athens, silver tetradrachm, (167-166 B.C. or 135-134 B.C. revised date), (16.51 g), obv. head of Athena Parthenos to right, wearing triple crested Athenian helmet, ornamented with Pegasos, dotted border, rev. owl standing right, head facing on prostrate amphora, to left a standing Asklepios with staff and snake, A QE across, on left side across ME, to right side across in five rows NED/EPI/GENO/NIKOG/SOFA on the amphora letter E, below amphora DI, all within olive wreath, (cf.S.2555, Thompson 351a [example in London Pl.35, from the same obverse die], HGC 4, 1602). Nearly extremely fine and very rare.

Thompson reports 101 known tetradrachms featuring Asklepios, from 9 obverse and 63 reverse dies and only one example from this obverse die. There is a difference of 32 year less between Thompson and the suggested revised chronology. This would make this issue 135-4 B.C.  Asklepios (Asclepius) was the god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He was also the patron god, and reputed ancestor, of the Asklepiades (Asclepiades), the ancient guild of doctors. Asklepios was the son of Apollo and the Trikkaian (Triccaean) princess Koronis (Coronis).

IMG_0877.mov

2 hours ago, Ryro said:

Next: triskeles

The classic Aspendos Stater.

Next: Any coin with a crab 🦀🦀🦀 on it.

I don't think you're paying that California sales tax unless you're in California. I didn't want to assume just in case you aren't.

Probably not a lot of incentive for them to offer more reasonable fixed prices when they were able to sell quite a number from this list. If someone will pay it, they'll keep listing it at that level. It doesn't really matter how unreasonable it looks to most buyers.

I wouldn't exactly read too much into a single auction and draw a broad conclusion. Each auction is unique. There is a reason most auctions don't list consigners original purchase price. Spink listed them to try to help juice the prices because they know they are high. In this case, because the consigner seems to have overpaid for the quality of the coins. But some coins in this sale did pretty well too (even with the original overpayment).

On 12/15/2022 at 10:28 PM, happy_collector said:

Thanks, @filolif. I love archaic owls, but good ones are generally out of my budget these days. I ended up making sacrifices here and there. As for the reduced coin weight, I definitely think that some metal was removed in the test cut process. Probably first test cut, and then peel off the overflow metal on the Athena side. Just my thoughts.  

Totally understandable with the expense of archaic owls. You're probably right that the cut reduced the weight. It's still an extremely attractive archaic owl though! Great pickup and thanks for sharing!

On 12/13/2022 at 3:33 PM, happy_collector said:

10. The Athenian Owl tetradrachm is the coin that brings me into collecting ancients. An archaic Owl tetradrachm is one of my dream coins. With limited budget and many other priorities, I decided to settle on this one. It got a very sharp obverse and reverse, but the tradeoff is also obvious. However, it does fits my budget. Maybe I’ll add another one in 2023 or 2024 if the price is not as crazy. 

010 – ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 510/500-480 BC. AR tetradrachm
Obv: Head of Athena right, hair in straight braids along brow line
Rev: AΘΕ, owl standing right with closed wings, head facing
HGC 4, 1590. Seltman Groups C, G and M.
23mm, 15.54 gm, 8h
NGC AU 4/5 - 2/5, test cut.
Heritage Auction. May 2022.
 

Fantastic list! I was watching some of those coins myself. Incredible details on the archaic owl. Do you have any sense of why the weight is so low? 15.54g seems very low to me. Was some metal removed in the process of the test cut? Congrats on some great acquisitions this year!

Almost certainly one of my Aegina tortoises. This one is pretty thick:

https://streamable.com/q2m3t9

Sorry you had to deal with this. 😞 I tend to avoid the smaller auctions because I fear the shenanigans you've encountered. Just not worth the hassle to me. Willing to name any names so that others might avoid some of the unscrupulous actors?
 

Random coin from my collection. Kushan Kanishka III Gold Dinar. 

Kanishka standing left, holding filleted standard, sacrificing over altar to left; filleted trident to left; ga in Brahmi to right of altar; gho in Brahmi between legs; hu in Brahmi to right of scepter / Ithyphallic Siva standing facing, holding a garland or diadem and trident; behind, the bull Nandi standing left; to upper left, pellet above tamgha.

My favorite coin has two animals on it. The sea eagle and crab on my Akragas Tetradrachm. I will be taking better photos soon.