Gorgons and My First Obols

[LONGINUS]

Medusa is one of my favorites...

...of the Greek demons, monsters, and Titans and for me the most disturbing. I can remember several folks from my childhood, whose icy glare could turn me to stone 😨 !

My recent acquisitions include Abydos and Pisidian obols and a Amisos denomination. Coins of these regions are fascinating but not of my primary interest so this modest collection is as far as I plan to go — for now.

 

 

I’d love to see coins from your minor collections that are outside of your main interest.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by LONGINUS

[kirispupis]

Nice gorgons and of course your display is top-notch.

I don't generally collect Skythian kings, but I'm kind of interested in Skythian kings. Recently, I've found a couple somewhat rare ones for decent prices, so I picked them up. I'm not sure if I'll ever create a collection here, but once in awhile I intend to still pick a few up.

Kings of Scythia. Charaspes
Circa 190-188 BCE
AE 23.26mm 10.2g
Obverse: Jugate heads of the Dioscouri right
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ XAPAΣΠOY / ME, eagle standing right on thunderbolt.
SNG BM Black Sea 350
Ex Marc Breitsprecher

Kings of Skythia, Skilouros
Olbia, circa 130-114/13 BCE
Æ 2.79g, 15mm, 12h.
Laureate head of Apollo to right
/ [Β]ΑΣΙΛΕ[ΩΣ Σ]ΚΙΛΟΥ[PΟΥ], kithara; OΛ below
Frolova, Skilura -; SNG SHM Moskau -; Anokhin (2011), 578 = CNG, Triton XVI, 105; HGC 3.2, 2045
Ex collection of GK
Ex Roma

[ambr0zie]

Congratulations for your coins and the presentation. Small Greek denominations and coins with gorgons are areas in my interest.

I am a generalist collector (didn't find a certain area to make me want to specialize) so many coins are singular in my collection, to represent a historical figure, a period, a state. As I mentioned before, I keep my coins in the order I bought them in. But I consider these coins in my collection chapter "Coins from outside my standard areas".

I will present 3 coins in areas I will probably not develop further. First is one from Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt (also an obol denomination - however very different to the small silver Greek obols)

Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Tyre. Ptolemy III Euergetes 246-221 BC.
Bronze Æ 24 mm, 10,62 g
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy III Euergetes Æ Obol. Tyre, 246-222 BC. Diademed head of Zeus Ammon to right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMAIOY, eagle with closed wings standing to left on thunderbolt; club to left. CPE B468; Svoronos 708; SNG Copenhagen 495.

Other 2 examples are coins from Parthia:

Kings of Parthia. Ekbatana. Artabanus II, cca 10-38
Drachm AR
18 mm, 2,87 g
Obv/ bare-headed bust left with medium square cut beard, wearing diadem with loop at the top and three ends, hair almost straight, earring visible; border of dots
Rev/ beardless archer, seated right on throne; in right hand, bow; below bow monogram 26; Greek inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ / ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ / ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣ / ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ legend on left read from outside
Sellwood 63.6

 

... and Cappadocian Kingdom

Kings of Cappadocia. Eusebeia-Mazaka. Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios 96-63 BC.
Drachm AR
16 mm, 4,45 g
Year 27 (69/8 BC). Diademed head r. R/ Athena standing l., holding Nike and spear, hand resting on shield at her side; monogram to inner l., ZK (date) in exergue. Simonetta 37b; HGC 7, 846.

 

[ominus1]

...mask of Medusa(Roman tho) and a Gorgon shield fractional..:)

[NewStyleKing]