Further research into the nine-pointed star and a new collection

[kirispupis]

I apologize that I didn't just continue my older thread, but I've spent an awful lot of time on this investigation so decided for a fresh post.

To summarize, I purchased a mystery coin that contained a nine-pointed star. In order to determine its origin, I felt an important key was why there were nine points instead of the standard eight. During the research, I found that the types of Kolone usually had eight-pointed stars, but had several dies with nine-pointed stars. I therefore felt the answer resided in Kolone, so I added a nine-pointed version to my collection.

Here are both.

TROAS. Kolone
4th century BCE
Chalkous AE 15.5 mm, 3.79 g
Helmeted head of Athena to right. Rev. KOΛΩNAΩN between the rays of an eight-pointed star.
SNG Copenhagen 277. SNG von Aulock 1552

 

Troas, Kolone
4th century BCE
AE 10mm 1.10g
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right.
Rev: KOΛΩNAIΩN within star or stellate pattern of nine rays.
SNG Copenhagen 277; SNG von Aulock 1559

 

I turned my efforts to the history of Kolone, but unfortunately we have very little information. There was a temple to Apollo Killaion, mentioned by a Dais of Kolone, who wrote a detailed history of the city that's sadly been out of print for at least 1900 years. I could find very little archeological information of note, though the ruins of the ancient city have been located and coins similar to these found there.

My first thought was that perhaps there were eight something that became nine somethings, but in truth the answer turned out far simpler.

The literature widely attests Kolone as an Aeolian city. It's believed to have been colonized by Methymna on Lesbos and was under the control of Tenedos for a period of time and both were Aeolian. However, the strongest proof is its coins themselves. Those with eight points spell it KOΛΩNAΩN, which is the Aeolian spelling.

The rest of the Greeks (or at least Attic Greek) spelled it KOΛΩNAIΩN and at some point, Kolone switched to this spelling. How do I know? Because that's what's written on my other Kolone example, and the reason for the nine points now becomes evident.

In order to follow the pattern where one letter is between each point, the engraver had to add an extra one for the 'I'. You can clearly see this on my example, though the 'N' is mostly off flan. Therefore, I strongly believe that there was no spiritual difference between eight points and nine points. It was strictly an aesthetic change.

However, that brings the obvious question on why Kolone switched from the Aeolian to "standard" spelling. I could find no information other than the following:

• It's unclear when Tenedos lost its hold over mainland Troas, but when Alexander the Great arrived, Tenedos submitted to Alexander without a fight. Persia then sent a fleet against them and forced them to revolt against their will from Alexander, but once they left they reverted back to Alexander. Therefore, it does not appear there was any major conflict here during Alexander's time.
• Things changed after his death in 323 BCE. It's unclear exactly who controlled the Troad let alone Kolone at any specific time, but it's believed to have been under Antigonos for some period, and after he died under Lysimachos. It may also have been under Lsyimachos earlier, but that's uncertain.
• In 306 BCE, Antigonos forced the inhabitants of Kolone and four other nearby cities to create the city of Antigoneia, which was later renamed by Lysimachos to Alexandria Troas.
• Kolone appears to end with the foundation of Antigoneia. While several other cities such as Skepsis were refounded, there is no evidence I found that the same occurred with Kolone, and appears unlikely given the short distance involved.

Therefore, I can only offer the following suppositions.

1. The people of Kolone voluntarily changed the spelling of their city
2. The city was actually refounded with the standard spelling after the creation of Antigoneia and existed separate for a short period of time.
3. A dramatic population shift or battle significantly reduced the Aeolian population in the city and resulted in the standard spelling.
4. A ruler such as Antigonos forced the spelling change (though I'm not sure why he cared)

I do feel that, whatever the reason, it was intentional. The citizens of Kolone seemed very proud of their Aeolian heritage and proudly displayed it on their coins. I believe it highly unlikely they would change it for an inane reason.

So, that brings me back to my original mystery coin.

Gargara (?), Troas
3rd-2nd centuries BCE
Æ 12mm, 1,92g
Obv: Head of Hermes, right, wearing petasus; caduceus behind
Rev: Nine-rayed star
Unpublished; May be unique

 

I've spent a lot of time looking at this under a magnifying glass, and I might see some traces of letters, but nothing definite (though one does look like an 'E'). Based on my findings above, what can it tell me about this coin?

Well, it does put my identification of Gargara in doubt, since that city was spelled ΓΑΡΓΑΡΕIΩΝ with 10 letters, unless they also used the Aeolian spelling as they were an Aeolian city too. Later coinage used ΓΑΡΓΑΡΕIΩΝ though. The primary reason for the identification of Gargara was the fact that the obverse matches exactly a rare coin with ΓΑΡ on the reverse.

To better answer the question, I'll probably need to focus on the connection between Hermes and the Troad and Gargara in particular, so I have some more research and reading ahead.

Now, if you've read this far, I promised a new collection in the title.

Due to my increased interest in stars on coins, I've decided to start a new collection on Hellenistic coins with stars! I still have to write up the meanings behind the different numbers of points, but here's what I have so far - https://ancientcoinstories.com/star-symbols/
 

Feel free to add your remarks or coins with stars!

 

[Deinomenid]

Fascinating! I found a little more on  9 pointed stars, once more  in the "weird" world  of Pythagorean thinking. (I mean other than theories about  9 Muses or the  9 visible then celestial  bodies. Or the 9000 years.) The enneagram they reportedly used. It's been co-opted by all sorts of curious modern belief systems so fair warning  if you Google it. It was referred to as a  9 pointed star. And often shown  in a circle (- coin?)

I only mention it as Pythagoras was reported as being  born in Kolone by Iamblichus though this version has Sidon https://archive.org/details/lifeofpythagoras00iamb/page/6/mode/2up  I know Samos  is the most commonly named place for his birth, but there was a clear connection, if  only  in belief not fact.

 

 

Edited April 29 by Deinomenid
typo/url

[kirispupis]

14 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

Fascinating! I found a little more on  9 pointed stars, once more  in the "weird" world  of Pythagorean thinking. (I mean other than theories about  9 Muses or the  9 visible then celestial  bodies. Or the 9000 years.) The enneagram they reportedly used. It's been co-opted by all sorts of curious modern belief systems so fair warning  if you Google it. It was referred to as a  9 pointed star. And often shown  in a circle (- coin?)

I only mention it as Pythagoras was reported as being  born in Kolone by Iamblichus though this version has Sidon https://archive.org/details/lifeofpythagoras00iamb/page/6/mode/2up  I know Samos  is the most commonly named place for his birth, but there was a clear connection, if  only  in belief not fact.

That's an interesting theory and I definitely appreciate the research help. I would certainly love for this to be true because it would increase interest in my two coins exponentially, the following make me pause

• The enneagrams I've seen in photos (I admit until you mentioned it I wasn't familiar with the shape) look considerably different than the nine-pointed stars on these coins
• Since Pythagoras was long before this time, and Kolone wished to honor him so, wouldn't they have minted nine-pointed stars from the start?

Edited April 29 by kirispupis

[Deinomenid]

13 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

wouldn't they have minted nine-pointed stars from the start?

All highly likely. I just thought I should throw it out there as it woulds be a huge up to the value and  interest if true. Of course, when you come to sell  you could write -

"Some say that the coin represents a hugely rare and important...." Plenty do worse! 😀

[JAZ Numismatics]

The answer may be simpler. There are numerous instances of neighboring cities issuing coins of similar types, either because of aesthetic influence, or commercial interchangeability. I'm old enough to remember growing up in a city somewhat close to the Canadian border (Seattle), and routinely finding Canadian currency in circulation, which in the 60's and 70's was accepted at face value. The pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters were the same size and fabric as US issues, and you could even spend your Canadian paper money in the US if you had some left over from an trip across the border. If the mystery coin is from Gargara (and I don't know if it is), that may be at least part of the equation.