Romismatist Posted July 10, 2022 · Member Share Posted July 10, 2022 Hello Everyone, I recently acquired a clutch of rather worn Athenian tetradrachms and two have countermarks on them. One is very distinctive and reminded me of a recent past thread talking about specific countermarks that identify where the coin would have circulated. I am not up to date with my Phonecian or other letters but thought that perhaps some of the folks within this forum would be able to help on these two (here's lookin' at you, @robinjojo)... Any help or guidance on understanding the significance of these countermarks and where these coins would have circulated would be appreciated. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romismatist Posted July 10, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 Just in case anyone is asking, I uploaded the same picture upside down to better present the "fleur de lis" type countermark better on the tet to the left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romismatist Posted July 10, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 There was a previous post in another forum from 2011 that referred to Peter van Alfen's chart of countermarks from AJN, but the link no longer works. If anyone has this chart or can post a picture, that would help, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted July 10, 2022 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted July 10, 2022 (edited) Nice owls! Even though they have circulated and have countermarks and test cuts, they are fascinating coins to study. I am not sure about the two countermarks on the first owl. As for the second owl, I have seen countermarks similar to the two on that coin. The lower cm could be a Paleo Hebrew "taw". That could be a banker's cm or possibly a cm authorizing the use of that owl for local commercial transactions. Edit: I took a second look at the Phoenician alphabet. This is a long shot, but the second countermark on the first owl might be a retrograde Phoenician "beth". That retrograde is more apparent in the second rotated photograph. Here's a link to the Phoenician alphabet: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phoenician_alphabet.svg Edited July 10, 2022 by robinjojo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romismatist Posted July 11, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 Great, many thanks, @robinjojo! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severus Alexander Posted July 11, 2022 · Supporter Share Posted July 11, 2022 The linear marks look more like chisel marks than test cuts. In this paper on a huge hoard of owls found in Syria in 2007 (buried c. 400 BCE), the author (Richard Buxton) says that these chisel marks indicate circulation in Anatolia and/or Syria. He also diagrams the most common countermarks from the hoard. One of yours is a bit similar to #5 but I don't see a match. My Starr group II owl has a chisel mark as well as one or two countermarks. (Early owls like this were included in the hoard in very small numbers.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romismatist Posted July 11, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 Wonderful, thanks for this, @Severus Alexander! One of the other owls has the #3 countermark in the table. At least I'm getting closer to learning more about their circulation... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.