A pharaonic owl that seems to have visited the Seleucid Empire - anchor countermarked

[robinjojo]

Here's a coin that I think warrants its own thread, due to a very distinctive countermark, along with two other countermarks as well.

This imitative owl is a very recent arrival from VCoins.  Since I am awash in owls of various stripes, I would have passed on this coin were it not for its well centered and bold obverse countermarks.

Egypt, imitating Athens, pharaonic owl, circa late 5th-mid 4th century BC,

16.69 grams

 

I think the central cm is an anchor.  It really is quite distinctive in form.  It might have been struck over another cm.  To the upper right of it is what appears to be an Aramaic beth, slightly rotated.

An anchor of a very similar style appears on some of the well known coinage of Thrace, Apollonia Pontika, mid 4th century BC .

Photo courtesy of CNG

The Seleucid kings also had a longtime tradition of using the anchor countermark on coin whose origins were outside the empire, as a means of sanctioning their circulation.

Pamphylia, Side, AR tetradrachm, circa 205-100 BC.   Seleucid anchor countermark on obverse.

16.20 grams

The OP coin has another cm, to the upper right of the central cm.  I believe this smaller yet quite bold cm is an Aramaic "beth",  rotated about 90 degrees due to space limitations

.  

Finally, there is a much smaller and rather blurry cm on the reverse, to the right.  This could be an Aramaic "sadhe" when rotated 180 degrees, but this is just a guess on my part.

  

 

While the cm style on the OP coin more closely resembles the anchor used by Apollonia Pontika, I think it far more likely that the anchor cm was applied by someone, in an official or unofficial capacity, in the Seleucid Empire, following the death of Alexander III.  The presence of one clear Aramaic character on the obverse, prominently next to the anchor, supports this guess.  I know of no pharaonic owls found in what was Thrace, but doesn't mean that there were none; these coins, Athenian and imitative, had a wide area of circulation in that broad ancient region of the Levant and further east.  But Thrace?  I don't think so.  Additionally, I imagine that any countermark characters used in Thrace would be Greek, not Aramaic.   

So, there it is.  Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by robinjojo

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

It's very interesting.  Could the anchor be a combination of two countermarks, like the ones on my recent owl, which together make something different than the originals; in this case an anchor?  GinoLR pointed out that mine had two countermarks, one on top of the other, although the bottom one looked like a scorpion to me.

 

It's a very interesting numismatic mystery.

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I really like these.  It's a great addition to your amazing collection!  The countermarks and other things add more interest.

[robinjojo]

5 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

It's very interesting.  Could the anchor be a combination of two countermarks, like the ones on my recent owl, which together make something different than the originals; in this case an anchor?  GinoLR pointed out that mine had two countermarks, one on top of the other, although the bottom one looked like a scorpion to me.

 

It's a very interesting numismatic mystery.

 

Thanks!

I might post this coin on Coin Talk to see what Gino might have to say about the cm.

[kirispupis]

This is a nice addition!

I agree with the anchor countermark. Leu sold several owls with a similar countermark - Owl1, Owl2. Interestingly, Leu did not list them as imitative but as Athenian, but I'm not a good judge of the style.

In terms of the Aramaic beth, I'm not so sure. There certainly appears to be something that may have been part of the CM, but it's too challenging to tell IMHO.

For the CM on the reverse, one of Leu's coins also has a CM in the exact same spot. Theirs resembles a turtle and they listed such, while yours doesn't look like a turtle. The best I can label it is a 'non-turtle'. 

My suspicion is - whatever the use of the countermarks - your coin and Leu's underwent the same process. 

I looked for other anchor countermarks, and the coinage of Aspendos, Side, and Phaselis had them quite frequently, but those coins were from ~200 BCE while yours seems clearly older. The shape of the countermark is also different.

Again, I have no credibility here, but I agree with the countermark as Seleukid.

Overall, a great pickup. You should consider creating a website with your coins and observations/research, because you're amassing a very important collection of owls.

[robinjojo]

Thanks!  I guess that "beth" Aramaic character is also a guess, but the form seems consistent with examples I have seen through Google.  I am by no means an expert or even very knowledgeable in the areas of Aramaic or any other ancient language. 

I am pretty certain that this coin circulated in what is now Syria.  Hoards of these owls came out of this country and other parts of the region, including Iraq.  Oddly, though, the anchor counterstamp is not apparently included in the table of countermarks from the 1989 Syrian hoard.  Perhaps this coin came out of Syria in 2022, when a fairly good sized group of mostly imitative owls appeared on the market in Israel, auction venues and retail sellers.  Not too many are appearing now, but that of course can change, sometimes dramatically when a huge hoard quickly makes an appearance. 

Edited April 14 by robinjojo

[ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΦΩΝΣΟΥ]

A friend of mine from Syria told me that when they fled Syria in a hurry in the 90s they tossed his grandfather's coin collection in the trash!? There were over 100 coins of all kinds 😲

[robinjojo]

5 hours ago, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΦΩΝΣΟΥ said:

A friend of mine from Syria told me that when they fled Syria in a hurry in the 90s they tossed his grandfather's coin collection in the trash!? There were over 100 coins of all kinds 😲

Yes, that is sad but an almost predictable outcome in the chaos of war.  Much is lost in lives, cultural objects and treasure.

Edited April 15 by robinjojo

[Sulla80]

On 4/13/2024 at 6:11 PM, robinjojo said:

Here's a coin that I think warrants its own thread, due to a very distinctive countermark, along with two other countermarks as well.

This imitative owl is a very recent arrival from VCoins.  Since I am awash in owls of various stripes, I would have passed on this coin were it not for its well centered and bold obverse countermarks.

Egypt, imitating Athens, pharaonic owl, circa late 5th-mid 4th century BC,

16.69 grams

 

I think the central cm is an anchor.  It really is quite distinctive in form.  It might have been struck over another cm.  To the upper right of it is what appears to be an Aramaic beth, slightly rotated.

An anchor of a very similar style appears on some of the well known coinage of Thrace, Apollonia Pontika, mid 4th century BC .

Photo courtesy of CNG

The Seleucid kings also had a longtime tradition of using the anchor countermark on coin whose origins were outside the empire, as a means of sanctioning their circulation.

Pamphylia, Side, AR tetradrachm, circa 205-100 BC.   Seleucid anchor countermark on obverse.

16.20 grams

The OP coin has another cm, to the upper right of the central cm.  I believe this smaller yet quite bold cm is an Aramaic "beth",  rotated about 90 degrees due to space limitations

.  

Finally, there is a much smaller and rather blurry cm on the reverse, to the right.  This could be an Aramaic "sadhe" when rotated 180 degrees, but this is just a guess on my part.

  

 

While the cm style on the OP coin more closely resembles the anchor used by Apollonia Pontika, I think it far more likely that the anchor cm was applied by someone, in an official or unofficial capacity, in the Seleucid Empire, following the death of Alexander III.  The presence of one clear Aramaic character on the obverse, prominently next to the anchor, supports this guess.  I know of no pharaonic owls found in what was Thrace, but doesn't mean that there were none; these coins, Athenian and imitative, had a wide area of circulation in that broad ancient region of the Levant and further east.  But Thrace?  I don't think so.  Additionally, I imagine that any countermark characters used in Thrace would be Greek, not Aramaic.   

So, there it is.  Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Far from any area that I can suggest that I have expertise, but I do have several anchor countermarked tetradrachms. 

https://www.sullacoins.com/post/between-the-seleucid-and-attalid-kingdom

Your countermark doesn't look like a Seleucid anchor to me, perhaps an owl of Syrian origin? with Persian style countermarks: more like those on Persian sigloi??  I would like this suggestion better if there were a countermark in van Alfen's paper that looked more like yours.

This paper may be helpful: van Alfen, Peter G. “The ‘Owls’ from the 1989 Syria Hoard, with a Review of Pre-Macedonian Coinage in Egypt.” American Journal of Numismatics (1989-), vol. 14, 2002, pp. 1–57.

[NewStyleKing]

I'm not a believer. 

For papers on pamphylian Alexanders try Meadows and MacIntyre for Seleucid eras, via academia.edu.