Bucket list addition - Pantikapaion

[ambr0zie]

We all have bucket lists and the good news is that some of the coins we want are affordable. I knew that this was a matter of time as the coin I want to present is not rare (mostly caused by massive hoards appearing on the market). And many in excellent condition, with low wear and beautiful patinas. Of course, perfect condition means high price. I wanted a compromise between beauty and price - and I did better than I expected, as this coin was not popular for other bidders. I certainly do not complain. 

My example is not in top condition, but surely not bad either. Unpopular opinion - for me this is the perfect ancient coin - good details remaining, but signs of over 2 millennia passing - small imperfections but, again for me, lots of character added by these. 

21 mm, 7,17 g.
Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion. Ӕ tetrachalkon. Circa 325-310 BC.
Head of Pan right / Π-A-N, forepart of griffin crouching left, right front paw raised, sturgeon swimming left below.
Anokhin 111; SNG BM Black Sea 869-871; SNG Munich 19; MacDonald 69; SNG Cop 30.

A video with it, showing the excellent patina

The reasons I wanted this coin are pretty obvious. I like the artistry on both sides, especially the reverse. This is not the first griffin in my collection, but the most detailed. And let's not forget the sturgeon

Now I have some doubts regarding the obverse character. The majority of the attributions for this type indicate that the obverse depicts Pan. I am tempted to agree with this. 

But looking at the Wildwinds page for this city, the 4th entry, Anokhin 111, indicates Head of Silenos right with ass's ear and looking at the ear, this makes sense. 

Now here comes the fun part. Another Wildwinds entry on the same page - of you search for

SNG BM 869
Sear sg1700

indicates head of Pan. 

3rd entry - SNG Cop 30 - also head of Pan

4th and last - Sear SG 1700   also head of Pan. 

What is the explanation for this? Did Anokhin consider it's Silenos and the other attributions picked Pan? (it's clearly the same type). 

And let's see other Pantikapaion coins OR this category of coins - common but beatiful. 
 

 

[Roman Collector]

Coingratulations on acquiring a long-coveted showpiece!

[DonnaML]

Nice! Congratulations.

I have always assumed that these types depict Pan because of the pun on Pantikapaion. And because they say ΠAN on the reverse. It would kind of defeat the point if they were actually portraying Silenos instead, wouldn't it? 

Here are my examples of two different bronze types:

Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion, AE 19 mm., ca. 320-310 BCE, minted under Perisad I, 345-310 BC. Obv. Bearded head of satyr (Pan), right / Rev. Forepart of griffin left; below, sturgeon left; Π-A-N [PAN] around. Anokhin (2011) 1023 [Anokhin, V.A., Античные Монеты Северного Причерноморья (Ancient Coins of the Northern Black Sea Coast) (Kiev. 2011) (see https://bosporan-kingdom.com/111-3141/)]; Seaby 1700 [Sear, David,  (Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. 1: Europe (Seaby 1979) at p. 169]; BMC 3 Thrace 20 [R.S. Poole, ed. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 3, The Tauric Chersonese, Sarmatia, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, etc. (London, 1877) at p. 7]; HGC 7, 113 [Hoover, Oliver D., Handbook of Coins of Northern and Central Anatolia, Pontos, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Phrygia, Galatia, Lykaonia, and Kappadokia (with Kolchis and the Kimmerian Bosporos), 5^th to 1st Centuries BC, The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 7 (Lancaster, PA, 2012); MacDonald 69 [MacDonald, David, An Introduction to the History and Coinage of the Kingdom of the Bosporus. Classical Numismatic Studies 5 (Lancaster, 2005)]; SNG BM Black Sea 869-870 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Great Britain, Volume IX, British Museum, Part 1: The Black Sea (London, 1993); available online at http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org; see SNGuk_0901_0869 and SNGuk_0901_0870]; Anokhin (1986) 111 [Anokhin, V.A., Monetnoye delo Bospora (The Coinage of the Bosporus (Kiev, 1986)]. 20 mm., 7.87 g., 12 h. Purchased from Sphinx Numismatics, Markham ON Canada, Dec. 2020.

 

Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion, AE 20 mm., ca. 310-303 BCE, minted under Eumelos (Spartocid ruler of Bosporan Kingdom, son of Perisad I). Obv. Beardless head of young satyr (Pan) left, wearing ivy wreath / Rev. Lion head left; sturgeon below left; Π-A-N [PAN] around. Seaby 1701 [Sear, David, Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. 1: Europe (Seaby 1979) at p. 169]; BMC 3 Thrace 21-22 [R.S. Poole, ed. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 3, The Tauric Chersonese, Sarmatia, Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, etc. (London, 1877) at p. 8]; HGC 7, 114 [Hoover, Oliver D., Handbook of Coins of Northern and Central Anatolia, Pontos, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Phrygia, Galatia, Lykaonia, and Kappadokia (with Kolchis and the Kimmerian Bosporos), 5^th to 1st Centuries BC, The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 7 (Lancaster, PA, 2012); MacDonald 70 [MacDonald, David, An Introduction to the History and Coinage of the Kingdom of the Bosporus. Classical Numismatic Studies 5 (Lancaster, 2005)]. 20 mm., 6.43 g. Purchased from Kirk Davis, Catalogue # 77, Spring 2021, Lot 6.

Edited October 13, 2023 by DonnaML

[ambr0zie]

54 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

Nice! Congratulations.

I have always assumed that these types depict Pan because of the pun on Pantikapaion. And because they say ΠAN on the reverse. It would kind of defeat the point if they were actually portraying Silenos instead, wouldn't it? 

Great coins. This is the typical Pantikapaion I see in auctions - excellent condition and uniform patina. 

Yes, like I said I tend to agree with the most popular attribution, but I am not entirely convinced, as a catalogue author identified the obverse as Silenus with donkey ears. Visible on your example also. 

https://www.thecollector.com/silenus-dionysus-terrible-wisdom/

The PAN legend should be a clue pointing to Pan of course, but could it be just a hint for the city? 

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by ambr0zie

[DonnaML]

55 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

Great coins. This is the typical Pantikapaion I see in auctions - excellent condition and uniform patina. 

Yes, like I said I tend to agree with the most popular attribution, but I am not entirely convinced, as a catalogue author identified the obverse as Silenus with donkey ears. Visible on your example also. 

https://www.thecollector.com/silenus-dionysus-terrible-wisdom/

The PAN legend should be a clue pointing to Pan of course, but could it be just a hint for the city? 

 

I paid $140 for the first one on VCoins back in 2020; I don't know what examples like that are bringing at auction currently. 

As far as Pan vs. Silenos is concerned, why would Pantikapaion have consistently used an image of Silenos on its coins? What was the purpose? Just a random choice? Isn't it much more logical that it would have used Pan as a pun on the name of the city, and used the legend PAN as both a reference to the city and to Pan himself? Otherwise, why abbreviate the city's name in precisely that way? And what about the later coin showing a young Pan -- is that Silenos too?

And wasn't Pan a kind of satyr himself, with a goat's legs and ears? (Silenos, at least according to my Dictionary of Ancient Greek Coins, had a horse's ears.) A similar image, clearly of Pan, appears on the Roman Republican denarius of C. Vibius C. f. C. n. Pansa Caetronianus (Crawford 449/1a) a few hundred years later -- also a pun.

In any event, if the ears are the only justification for identifying the Pantikapaion image as Silenos, and one weighs that against all the reasons for identifying the image as Pan, I'll go with the latter. 

This, on the other hand, is definitely Silenos:

 Hellenistic molded Pottery Mask of Silenos (an attendant of Bacchus/Dionysos, usually depicted as elderly), ca. 3rd century BCE, grapevines in hair, traces of original black and white pigment. 5" H. Purchased from Artemis Gallery, Colorado USA, May 31, 2011; ex. Collection of Harvey Sarner, Palm Springs, CA (1934-2007), acquired 1984*:



*See this link to descriptions of the 13 antiquities in the Getty Museum collection acquired from Harvey Sarner: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/search/?view=grid&query=YToxOntzOjEzOiJwcm92ZW5hbmNlLmlkIjthOjE6e2k6MDtpOjM5MDg7fX0= .

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by DonnaML

[ambr0zie]

Again, this was a question based on the initial Anokhin attribution, used on Wildwinds also. 

And again, I mentioned that I tend to agree with the Pan attribution. 

[kirispupis]

Great pickup! Here are my two Pantikapaion coins.

Kimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion
Æ 7.23g, 20mm, 11h.
Circa 325-310 BCE
Head of bearded Satyr to right / Π-Α-Ν around forepart of griffin to left; sturgeon to left below
MacDonald 69; SNG BM Black Sea 869-71; SNG Stancomb 542; HGC 7, 113

 

Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion
Circa 300 BCE
AE 2.30g, 15mm
Head of youg Pan left.
Bow, arrow “ΠAN”
MacDonald 116

[Phil Anthos]

Of course it's Pan, the randy goat, for all the reasons mentioned above. These punning references were not unusual on Greek coins (ie; Rhodes/rose).

Pantikapaion, Thrace

304-250 BC AE 20 (20mm, 5.81g) O: Head of Pan left, wreathed in ivy. R: Bow and arrow, ΠAN below. MacDonald 116.1; SNG Poland II; NM Warsaw 178-79 ex Forvm Auctions

"Let us sing of the God Pan, He's half goat and He's half man, He'll f*** anything He can, and that's good enough for me. Give me that ol' time religion... "

Edited October 13, 2023 by Phil Anthos

[Prieure de Sion]

Perisad I; Tetrachalcon Kingdom of the Bosporus 330/315 BC; Material: AE Bronze; Diameter: 21.5mm; Weight: 6.53g; Mint: Pantikapaion, Kingdom of the Bosporus; Reference: MacDonald 69; Obverse: You can see the bearded head of Pan to right; Reverse: Forepart of griffin to left, sturgeon fish to left below. The inscription reads П · А · N for PAN (Pantikapaion).

 

[PeteB]

Here is one from that mint that is seldom seen, though non-Pan:

CIMMERIAN BOSPOROS, Pantikapaion. Time of Pharnakes. Circa 63-47 BC. Æ Obol (27mm, 12.43 gm, 12h). Obv: Wreathed head of young Dionysos right. Rev: Eagle standing left, head right, on thunderbolt; monogram to left, star to right. MacDonald 187; SNG BM Black Sea 945 var. (ethnic in two lines). VF, dark green patina. Exceptional for issue, and quite rare.

 

[panzerman]

Congrats on your bucket list Pan😉

 

However I do have a Pan from Phokaia

[Phil Anthos]

In my entire life I've never had my own bucket. 🤔

I'll have to put that on a list of things to get before I die. 

[panzerman]

My "bucket list" here is hopeing that scientists will discover how to stop ageing / better yet reverse it😀 

[Phil Anthos]

*sigh*

[lordmarcovan]

I like these.  🙂