A threesome pickup from my local coin shop, including an Alexander III tetradrachm with the "wow" factor

[robinjojo]

First, totally unrelated to Greek coins or any coins for that matter, Happy birthday Johannes Brahms!  #190!  One my favorite 19th century composers. 

Now, back to the coins.

My local coin dealer, Sal is about to embark on a trip to Italy, including a visit to his extended family in Sicily. So, I went through his inventory of ancients again and picked out three.  We agreed on $2,500 for the lot.  Following day, Saturday, I returned with some gold bullion coins and a few Mexican cobs and Mexican republic coins, coins that he is looking for.  We agreed on a basic swap, plus $100 cash to me, a pretty fair deal I think. I don't like pressing for more money.  The way I look at, if both parties feel good about a deal, the better it is for keeping good long-term relationships.

Here are the coins.

Antiochus VII Sidetes, tetradrachm, Antioch, 130–129 BC.

SC 2061.2; HGC 9, 1067d

16.71 grams

This is a rather common coin with examples readily available at the retail and auction levels.  I have an example from Tyre but not Antioch, so this my first selection.  I find the portrait nicely executed for this type, with the eyes of Antiochus VII gazing upwards.  Also, there seems to be a character of some sort between the neck and the ribbon.  As far as I can tell, it looks like an Aramaic "T".  It is clearly not part of the ribbon or hair, and I don't think it is a die flaw or rust, although rust is apparent elsewhere on the coin.  I've included an enlargement of the area.  If anyone has information, I'd appreciate the feedback.  Could be a die engraver's initial, or a control mark of some sort?

 

The second coin selected was, surprise! an owl.  Who would have thunk it?  I just have a congenital weakness for ancient coins with their original patina, something that is rather scarce among standardized classical owls, the vast majority cleaned or over cleaned and entombed in plastic sarcophagi.  This coin hasn't been subjected to this treatment - bravo!  Long may this owl grace collectors' hands unimpaired by a plastic slab.

Athens, owl, 440-404 BC.

HGC 4, 1597. SNG Copenhagen 31-40. Kroll 8

17.20 grams

 

Finally, the best for last.

Alexander III, tetradrachm, 323-320 BC, Amphipolis.

Price 103; Mueller 153; Demanhur 895-908.

17.23 grams

Obverse: Alexander III facing right, wearing a lion headdress.

Reverse: Zeus seated facing left, holding eagle and staff; ΑΛΕΞΑΝ∆ΡΟΥ to right; star in circle to left.

In addition to being a high grade example, the styling of the portrait of this early posthumous coin, with Alexander's eyes pointed heavenward embodies the deification of Alexander immediately following his sudden death in 323 BC, in Babylon.  The coin was struck on a fairly narrow thick flan, but the centering is very good; obvious care was taken preparing the dies, especially the obverse, as well as in the striking.

 

Post your coins of Alexander, Athens, Seleucid or anything you wish!

Thanks!

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by robinjojo

[sand]

On the Antiochus VII tet, the marking between the ribbon and the neck, looks similar to a double cornucopia, which was common on ancient coins of the Middle East. For example, ancient Judaean coins, and ancient Nabataean coins. However, the marking has a sort of dark bar at the top, but the dark bar could just be random corrosion. Or, perhaps the marking is merely a curl of hair. I searched ACsearch, but I didn't find any Antiochus VII tets with a similar marking. The more I look at the marking, the more it looks like a curl of hair.

[robinjojo]

Thanks. 

That character or symbol seems to be similar to the Aramaic "semkath" or 'tet" but it could be something else.

[NewStyleKing]

Is the Seleucid Seleucid or a cappadocian copy?  The work by Krengel  or Lorber is on academia or JSTOR about Cappadocian copies. It looks like a hair curl to me!

 

E. Krengel and C.C. Lorber, "Early Cappadocian tetradrachms in the name of Antiochus VII," NC 169 (2009), pp. 51-104.

C. Lorber, A. Houghton, and P. Vesely, "Cappadocian tetradrachms in the name of Antiochus VII of Syria," NC 166 (2006), pp. 49-98.

Edited May 8, 2023 by NewStyleKing

[robinjojo]

I'll look into it.  Thanks for the links.

[kirispupis]

That's a beautiful Alexander tet!

In terms of the Seleukid coin, I agree with @NewStyleKing that it looks like a hair curl.

I wish my local coin store had coins like these. I visited them six months ago and they had exactly three ancients: a Koson gold priced at 2x what it should normally be and two common Romans both priced way above what I would pay elsewhere. A few weeks ago I visited them again and they had the same three coins.

[robinjojo]

Thanks

You could be right.  I've never seen an Antiochus VII tetradrachm with character on the obverse field, so it could be just a random design extension of the hair or perhaps a bow of the ribbon.

Edited May 8, 2023 by robinjojo