A target added - Maussolos

[ambr0zie]

A long time ago I saw a coin posted by a member and for more than one reason I immediately added this type on my wish list (and I would love to see it again in the thread, the owner will know what I'm talking about)

My example is on the humble side and also just a drachm, not a tetradrachm, but It's beautiful enough to tick this box. 

14 mm, 3,51 g.
Greek satraps of Caria, Halicarnassus. Maussolos. AR drachm. Circa 377/6-353/2 BC. Laureate head of Apollo facing slightly right / [M]AYΣΣΩΛ[ΛO], Zeus Labraundos standing right, holding sceptre (or spear) and labrys; behind, ME monogram.
SNG Copenhagen 593; SNG Kayhan I, 876..

Why did I want this type? Well, more than I reason. One can simply not resist an ancient duck face. I also like the pose of Zeus, holding the labrys (although I can't unsee that it looks pretty much like a guy preparing to cut down a tree) 

The main reason is the fact that this satrap remained in history for his tomb, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. This was ordered by his wife and sister, Artemisia, for the memory of Maussolos. And the term "mausoleum" became today a noun meaning a large building hosting a town or a group of town. 

This is how the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus looked like

 

The Mausoleum of Augustus 

And another mausoleum, from the town I was born in, build to commemorate the heroes who died in one of the largest battles in WW1 

 

Please post anything you feel relevant: people from antiquity who left something important behind; ancient duck faces; weapons, anything. 

Edited May 2 by ambr0zie

[Anaximander]

One of the Wall Street banks was Bankers Trust, at 14 Wall St., in New York City (the city where I was born and went to university). Its uppermost stories were designed with the mausoleum of Halicarnassus in mind.

Building images courtesy of Wikipedia (public domain in the USA) and Google Maps. 

Here is my tetradrachm of Maussolos. 

Edited May 2 by Anaximander
Reduced the size of photo for 14 Wall Street, and added dealer tag for the coin of Maussolos.

[Deinomenid]

I was late for a game against Carnegie Mellon once and ran across town (centralish Pittsburgh) and ran past this. Nearly thought I had fallen through a gap  in the time/space continuum as I had no idea it was there. Been in a couple of  times since. Well worth a look.

 

 

 

[kirispupis]

Great addition! I have nothing from Maussolos, but I do have a later coin from Pixodaros.

It's possible that my coin was used to purchase souvenirs at the Mausoleum.

Satraps of Karia, Pixodaros AR Didrachm.
Halikarnassos, circa 341/0-336/5 BCE
Laureate head of Apollo facing, turned slightly to right / Zeus Labraundos standing to right, holding double-axe (labrys) over shoulder and lotus-tipped sceptre; ΠIΞΩΔAPOY to right.
HNO 241 (temporary); SNG Copenhagen 596-7; SNG Kayhan 891; SNG Von Aulock 2375-6;
6.53g, 19mm, 1h.

[Curtisimo]

Great example @ambr0zie! Congrats on marking off a great historic type.

Here is mine:

Satraps of Caria
Maussolos 
AR Tetradrachm, Halikarnassus mint, struck ca. 377 - 352 BC
Dia.: 23 mm
Wt.: 15.06 g
Obv.: Laureate head of Apollo facing three-quarters right
Rev.: MAYΣΣΩΛΛO, Zeus Labraundos standing right
Ref.: BMC 1 var; SNG Von Aulock 2359 var.; Traité II, 91
Ex Roma Auction II, lot 302 (Oct. 2, 2011)

 

[ambr0zie]

1 hour ago, Curtisimo said:

Here is mine:

 

When I wrote the first paragraph, I had your coin in mind.

[taja1948]

SATRAPS of CARIA. Maussolos. Circa 377/6-353/2 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 15.25 g, 12h). Halikarnassos mint. Struck circa 370-360 BC. Head of Apollo facing slightly right, wearing laurel wreath, drapery around neck / Zeus Labraundos standing right; ME monogram to left, MAYΣΣΩΛΛO to right. Konuk, Identities 21; Babelon, Perses 397 var. (no monogram); HN Online 227; SNG von Aulock 2358; SNG Kayhan 873; SNG Lockett 2907 = Pozzi 2624 (this coin); BMC 8; Traité II 95. Lovely old collection tone, small die break on the obverse. EF.

From the G.W.H. Collection, purchased from Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. Ex Richard Cyril Lockett Collection (Greek Part IV, Glendining, 21 February 1961), lot 2382; Prof. S. Pozzi Collection (Naville I, 14 March 1921), lot 2624.

[Deinomenid]

Thematically similar but not Maussolos -

Satraps of Caria, Hidreios (351-334 BC), drachm, laureate head of Apollo facing slightly to right, rev., ΙΔΡΙΕΩΣ, Zeus Labraundos standing right holding labrys and spear.

 

[kirispupis]

3 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

Thematically similar but not Maussolos -

Satraps of Caria, Hidreios (351-334 BC), drachm, laureate head of Apollo facing slightly to right, rev., ΙΔΡΙΕΩΣ, Zeus Labraundos standing right holding labrys and spear.

 

Very nice! What I wonder is whether there's been some die study of these coins (Idreios) to identify whether there were any shared obverse dies with the coinage of Pixodaros. AFAIK that would strongly boost my theory that Ada minted coins in the name of her husband/brother.

It seems unlikely to me that the female rulers would have just ceased minting coins but more likely that they just continued the coinage of the last male, so Artemisia II issued coins in the name of Mausolos and Ada minted in the name of Idreios (not sure about her second reign though).