Need a good reference for Phokis bronzes

[kirispupis]

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in picking up a bronze coin from Phokis, but the kicker is I want to be confident that it's not from the Third Sacred War. However, since my collection is Philip II, Alexander III, and the Age of the Diadochi, that means I'm looking for a coin that was either minted right before the war, or (more likely) during the reign of Alexander or after his death.

I know it sounds a bit superstitious, but in ancient times the Third Sacred War coinage was cursed, and so I don't want to add one to my collection, but I would like some representation from Phokis.

From some research, the "bull" coins appear to be from after the Sacred War, but I've seen widely varying attributions there and would appreciate a resource that provides more info. I have found BCD's sale online, but I don't see much justification in the dates.

[expat]

40 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in picking up a bronze coin from Phokis, but the kicker is I want to be confident that it's not from the Third Sacred War. However, since my collection is Philip II, Alexander III, and the Age of the Diadochi, that means I'm looking for a coin that was either minted right before the war, or (more likely) during the reign of Alexander or after his death.

I know it sounds a bit superstitious, but in ancient times the Third Sacred War coinage was cursed, and so I don't want to add one to my collection, but I would like some representation from Phokis.

From some research, the "bull" coins appear to be from after the Sacred War, but I've seen widely varying attributions there and would appreciate a resource that provides more info. I have found BCD's sale online, but I don't see much justification in the dates.

Looking though these might clarify it a little. I know very little about the coinage so can't really help more.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/phokis_federal-1.html

Edited May 30, 2023 by expat

[Phil Davis]

1 hour ago, kirispupis said:

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in picking up a bronze coin from Phokis, but the kicker is I want to be confident that it's not from the Third Sacred War. However, since my collection is Philip II, Alexander III, and the Age of the Diadochi, that means I'm looking for a coin that was either minted right before the war, or (more likely) during the reign of Alexander or after his death.

I know it sounds a bit superstitious, but in ancient times the Third Sacred War coinage was cursed, and so I don't want to add one to my collection, but I would like some representation from Phokis.

From some research, the "bull" coins appear to be from after the Sacred War, but I've seen widely varying attributions there and would appreciate a resource that provides more info. I have found BCD's sale online, but I don't see much justification in the dates.

I suspect you won't be able to pin this down to your satisfaction. I'm not aware of a dedicated study of this coinage. The best resource is the NAC/BCD catalogue which you rejected.

[Hesiod]

Have you read the BCD catalogue –– specifically the catalogue, and not the acsearch/coinarchives listings? It's the most recent scholarly writing about this in a organized fashion, and details both why he wants certain dates and refers to Picard (the published major reference) and about why he disagrees with certain dates. If you're not happy with his discussion I am not aware of more recent scholarship.

 

Keep in mind that acsearch/coinarchives does not include any of the scholarly text that is outside the lot description for a specific coin itself, but BCD frequently has more overarching discussions at before his coins.

 

You can read a pdf of the catalogue here: https://www.arsclassicacoins.com/catalogues/auction-55/

[kirispupis]

1 hour ago, Hesiod said:

Have you read the BCD catalogue –– specifically the catalogue, and not the acsearch/coinarchives listings? It's the most recent scholarly writing about this in a organized fashion, and details both why he wants certain dates and refers to Picard (the published major reference) and about why he disagrees with certain dates. If you're not happy with his discussion I am not aware of more recent scholarship.

 

Keep in mind that acsearch/coinarchives does not include any of the scholarly text that is outside the lot description for a specific coin itself, but BCD frequently has more overarching discussions at before his coins.

 

You can read a pdf of the catalogue here: https://www.arsclassicacoins.com/catalogues/auction-55/

Thanks! I have read through this before. It's very interesting, but it mostly confirms my suspicion that most of these issues (probably all of them without a general's name) cannot be dated.

I've decided to remove a Phokis federal coin from my list. I do have a coin from Elataia that should cover it.