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My slightly less than $500,000 coin!


kirispupis

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I'm sure many of you are familiar with this beauty that recently sold at NAC - https://www.biddr.com/auctions/nac/browse?a=4517&l=5379445

Well, I didn't buy that one because I value my marriage and house and Artemis looks absolutely miserable on that coin. Instead, I picked up this one.

abydos_3.jpg.b60cb28f5580e865b6fbb25ee5047f3b.jpg

Troas, Abydos.
3rd century BCE
Ae 6.84g, 20mm
Obv: Turreted and draped bust of Artemis facing slightly right, bow and quiver over shoulder.
Rev: ABY. Stag standing right within wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 48; SNG von Aulock 1450

 

I grant that the details aren't quite up there with the NAC coin and there's the little matter that theirs is gold and mine is bronze, but on the other hand mine is three millimeters larger and Artemis isn't so miserable. Still, I recognize that my coin probably won't receive quite the bids that NAC's did, but I'm okay with that.

Artemis, of course, is widely depicted on Abydos' coinage and the stag on the reverse is also a common emblem of Artemis. I do kind of wonder though whether that glittering crown spooked some of the wildlife she hunted. Clearly she has her quiver, bow, and crown so this was her field gear. I'm not a hunter, but when I photograph wildlife I wear drab colors and I have camo over my lens, so I would imagine a golden crown may have caused some issues, but then she was Artemis so maybe she hit them at extremely long distances.

Then again, they didn't have carbon fibre or fiberglass arrows back then that could survive the force necessary to propel an arrow such distance, so that would have been an issue. Of course, one could argue that Artemis could have invented those materials for all we know.

This is another reason why I believe my coin is more interesting. On NAC's, she just has some earrings that were probably so 340 BCE's from a designer who'd been exiled and therefore she was absolutely miserable. On mine, she's switched back to her hunting gear (and so it must date later than 330 BCE) and is much happier. However, the crown proves that she must have been using some high quality arrows, and presumably a compound bow, and hence my coin says a lot more about Artemis and the history of archery.

Feel free to show your own coins that are just a bit below far more expensive examples!

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6 hours ago, kirispupis said:

this beauty that recently sold at NAC

When I was looking  up nosebleed Greek gold  prices for my post yesterday on Kyrene,  I found the miserable Artemis had sold for even more back in 2010 - 1m chf!

https://www.coinarchives.com/a/openlink.php?l=377735|685|84|a558bb32684b4d8fcd55c3f532e0e6e8

That's quite the loss in a raging bull market for  premium coins.

As for poor examples of amazing types, I have plenty! One of these Akragas eagle/crab combos is mine,  one  not. One 55k the other 1.5% of that. Mine has a "better" known pedigree though! That's how  I console myself as  I stoop, weeping bitterly...

 

00062q00-orig_orig1.jpg.4e24fe847a94f4b11c3906e01cac6f91.jpg    image00119.jpg.dcd0417908b61b1648587dfda4e4fb05.jpg

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19 minutes ago, Deinomenid said:

When I was looking  up nosebleed Greek gold  prices for my post yesterday on Kyrene,  I found the miserable Artemis had sold for even more back in 2010 - 1m chf!

https://www.coinarchives.com/a/openlink.php?l=377735|685|84|a558bb32684b4d8fcd55c3f532e0e6e8

That's quite the loss in a raging bull market for  premium coins.

As for poor examples of amazing types, I have plenty! One of these Akragas eagle/crab combos is mine,  one  not. One 55k the other 1.5% of that. Mine has a "better" known pedigree though! That's how  I console myself as  I stoop, weeping bitterly...

 

00062q00-orig_orig1.jpg.4e24fe847a94f4b11c3906e01cac6f91.jpg    image00119.jpg.dcd0417908b61b1648587dfda4e4fb05.jpg

Your handsome eagle/crab example is nothing to weep about 😏.

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Posted · Supporter

I've shown this one before, but it's probably my best example of an inexpensive version of a very expensive type.

First, the pricey one, auctioned by NAC in 2018, and which hammered for about $10,000:

4955097.jpg.3e09f350a0d79cd076872f7f5e94d4e7.jpg

 

 

 

AANNNDD mine, which hammered for a grand total of 26 EUR, or about one-quarter of one percent of the other coin:

SeptimiusSeverusasbridge.jpg.976378261099205d22d396d10614e087.jpg

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, AD 193-211
AE As (25.59, 9.08g, 12h)
Struck AD 208. Rome mint
Obverse: SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate bust of Septimius Severus right, with aegis on left shoulder
Reverse: P M TR P XVI COS III P P S C, bridge of single curved span, flanked by triple triumphal arches surmounted by statuary, five figures crossing bridge, boat in river below
References: RIC IV 786b (R2), RCV 6472
Corroded surfaces. A very rare type. The exact identity of the bridge pictured is uncertain, but theories include a military bridge built over the Firth of Forth during Severus's Caledonian campaign, the Milvian Bridge north of Rome, or some other bridge in Rome.

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