Jump to content

Unidentified small silver - Lycia? Abdera?


wuntbedruv

Recommended Posts

A recent acquisition which is proving challenging to identify - any thoughts greatly appreciated. Diameter is 8mm, weight 0.7g. Seller thought it was probably Lycian dynasts but I'm not so sure. The incuse eagle head on the reverse appears similarly on coins of Abdera, but the obverse type is invariably a griffin. Here it seems to be Pegasus. 

Answers on a postcard, got me totally stumped.

 

coin2.jpg.040f71dc7c7252cd1c0e38146ad7ac47.jpg

coin1.jpg.e15f16de3c5423225ecabd2420afe979.jpg

  • Like 3
  • Heart Eyes 1
  • Thinking 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, wuntbedruv said:

The incuse eagle head on the reverse appears similarly on coins of Abdera,

Just to steer completely away from Abdera, I went through May and there's nothing. The closest is May 125 but the dotting  is completely different.

IMG_2565bg.jpg.d894d5ee9d26241e132d37d11906586e.jpg   IMG_2566.jpg.521c7f245f0382d96a19c9dee1e58880.jpg

 

Kunker  just did a huge sale of what  you'd expect to show up re the Lycian (very generally speaking) style Pegasos and there was nothing  like your coin. Ditto the  obvious eagle suspects from Elis, to Kyme to Sinope etc.  I know this answer isn't worthy of a postcard and usually I'd start worrying at a mashup but  Cilicia/Lycia etc etc do throw up some  unique coins. And stylistically it fits with some of these from that sale.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?search=pegasos&p=sale&sid=7708&s=b

Long shot, but the man who sold a huge number of these types in this sale might be able to help as he's supposedly a true expert. Can't hurt to ask them. That is  of course if it's not id'ed here or elsewhere before.

Last thought from me (no doubt thankfully!) is that area  did produce coins like yours with the dotted lines within the incuse AND being  inside a frame, which is  unusual. Like this framed dotted line.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=7708&lot=55

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

Long shot, but the man who sold a huge number of these types in this sale might be able to help as he's supposedly a true expert.

He is unfortunately deceased (as of about two weeks before the kunker sale) and so is Museler who almost certainly would have been able to help and had published the collection before =(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

Just to steer completely away from Abdera, I went through May and there's nothing. The closest is May 125 but the dotting  is completely different.

IMG_2565bg.jpg.d894d5ee9d26241e132d37d11906586e.jpg   IMG_2566.jpg.521c7f245f0382d96a19c9dee1e58880.jpg

 

Kunker  just did a huge sale of what  you'd expect to show up re the Lycian (very generally speaking) style Pegasos and there was nothing  like your coin. Ditto the  obvious eagle suspects from Elis, to Kyme to Sinope etc.  I know this answer isn't worthy of a postcard and usually I'd start worrying at a mashup but  Cilicia/Lycia etc etc do throw up some  unique coins. And stylistically it fits with some of these from that sale.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?search=pegasos&p=sale&sid=7708&s=b

Long shot, but the man who sold a huge number of these types in this sale might be able to help as he's supposedly a true expert. Can't hurt to ask them. That is  of course if it's not id'ed here or elsewhere before.

Last thought from me (no doubt thankfully!) is that area  did produce coins like yours with the dotted lines within the incuse AND being  inside a frame, which is  unusual. Like this framed dotted line.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=7708&lot=55

This is all extremely helpful, thanks very much! I too had initial authenticity concerns because of how unusual the obverse motif was, but I cannot see any features which suggest the coin is not genuine. Its certainly not cast and the metal looks fine.

 

I guess this will be a sparse ticket- 'Lycian???'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Hesiod said:

He is unfortunately deceased

I had  no idea. Thank you for  pointing  it out. I saw some  of  his coins already being resold by Waddell  with  his dates but assumed an error.

Ex: Dr. Kaya Sayar( 1933-2024) collection etc

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Benefactor

I'm not so certain the obverse is a griffin. It looks a lot closer to an archaic Pegasos IMHO - similar to the types this size often attributed to Lampsakos (though I understand the attribution is not agreed upon). Here's an example - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=11895622

However, Lampsakos isn't known for the eagle design. AFAICT the Abdera issue already mentioned is the closest there.

  • Yes 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...