Benefactor kirispupis Posted September 15 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted September 15 Recently, while reading through David R. Sear's compendium of Greek cities, I noticed a beautiful coin from Chersonesos. It was at this point that I realized Chersonesos was a separate city in the Tauric Chersonesos, as opposed to the Thracian Chersonesos that I already have. I'd in fact already noticed these coins, but had passed them by because I thought I already had an example from the city. 😞 For what it's worth, "Chersonesos" means "peninsula" in Greek, and there are other cities with the same name who also minted coins. My belief is it was one of those names chosen when no one could agree on a better one. Luckily, though Tauric Chersonesos examples aren't common, one showed up at an auction house I frequent, and the night before it went live I researched and came up with a maximum bid for that coin. That's when I noticed this one show up for sale, at exactly the max bid I was intending! Bosporos, Tauric Chersonesus ca 300-290 BCE Artemis Parthenos running left, holding bow in left hand and spearing fallen stag. Rev: ΚΛΕΜΥΤΑΔΑ. Bull butting left over club. 21mm, 6.86g SNG Stancomb 481 ex-Rudolf Hoesch (1904-1990) collection bought from M&M AG Basel in 1955 This one's a much nicer example and has great provenance, so I didn't bother with the auction and added this one. The ancient city of Chersonesos is roughly modern Sevastapol, though it wasn't built over by the modern city and the (rough) ruins are still visitable. There has been some effort to create a protected area around the ruins, but the presence of the Russian Black Sea fleet has discouraged it. Today, the remains are considered threatened by the modern city and a high number of tourists. It was founded in roughly 500 BCE by settlers from Herakleia Pontika and remained mostly independent as the Bosporan Kingdom grew out of Pantikapaion, until it finally capitulated in 110 BCE. The coin was previously owned by Rudolf Hoesch (1904-1990), whose collection was recently sold by Busso Peus, though this coin doesn't appear to have been in that sale. His specialty was "Animals & Hunting", and clearly this issue must have intrigued him. Chersonesos was mentioned by ancient writes, though with very little detail. By the time Strabo mentioned it, the ancient Chersonesos was in ruins. In terms of the typography, there's an interesting paper by Ruja Popova, which I found a bit difficult to follow, but roughly correlates an ancient Skythian "Great Goddess"/Parthenos with Iphigenia and then Artemis. She briefly discusses Chersonesos' coinage with: On other coins minted in the same centre she can be seen also as Ταυροπολος with a pro- tome of a bull on the reverse. Some bronze coins from the Chersonesus feature on the averse a bull about to kneel on his forelegs, head bent down, a wreath around his neck, ready to be sacriiced; on the reverse – a goddess spearing a deer. My example doesn't have a wreath, but butting bulls were common on ancient coins (I have many other examples) and typically represent the moon, fertility, or rebirth among other things. Feel free to show your coins that said "buy me" or anything from the Tauric Chersonesos! 21 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted September 15 · Supporter Share Posted September 15 Nice coin with great artistic details! This little dichalkon looked so sad without any bids, I couldn't resist placing one at an impulse, and won at opening price: EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA Time of Claudius AE Dichalkon (14.78mm, 1.50g, 12h) Struck AD 45/6 Obverse: ΤΙΒ ΚΛΑV, laureate head of Claudius right Reverse: L-Ϛ, eagle standing right References: RPC Online, Vol. I, No. 5171 ( 4th specimen this coin) This coin illustrated on wildwinds.com Very rare. Smooth dark surfaces. Excellent condition for the type. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayAg47 Posted September 16 · Member Share Posted September 16 (edited) My latest one, the Aegina stater, I’ve been eying this listing on eBay for a long time without anyone bidding on it and the seller kept relisting it. Definitely not the best photos of the coin, with the plastic obscuring the details. Although I was pretty sure it might be real I had my budget tied up in other coins, and when the listing was about to end I just threw in my opening bid and won it for just 400 Aud, certainly a deal for a turtle with a 40 year provenance and one that belonged to a well known collector in Australia. Turned out the coin was actually listed by his son! This is the sellers photo: My photo: Aegina Ar Stater 500-490/480 BC, 17mm, 11.85g Obv: Smooth shell sea turtle. Rev: Proto-skew incuse pattern. Asyut Group VIc 'late thin collar', cf.533-540, Sear 1857, SNG Delepierre 1681. Ex Colin E. Pitchfork Ex Spinks Numismatic Circular, February 1984. Edited September 16 by JayAg47 17 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzerman Posted September 16 · Member Share Posted September 16 Beautifull coins! I get this impulse more often then not. My only problem/ never enough $$$$ too realize my urges. This coin/ ex: Roma Auction caught my eye/ I ended up winning it! Mallorca AV Real d'or ND Mallorca Mint Pedro IV "the Cruel" 1337-85 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_v_a_n Posted September 16 · Member Share Posted September 16 (edited) I was tempted by this tet and buy it despite absence of any plans for second example of Alexander's type tet. It appears to be a very impressive piece in hands much more stronger than my standard babylonian tet from ave. Amazing details of Nike's face. Edited September 16 by I_v_a_n 13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcwyler Posted September 16 · Member Share Posted September 16 I've got a few sellers saved on Vcoins, although I normally buy from auctions. Those sellers then send emails about their latest offerings. Saw this one, from Lodge Antiquities, and bought it in a matter of seconds. I knew I'd want a siglos one day, but I think it was the countermarks that made me pull the trigger. Darius II - Xerxes I (420-350 BC). Ar siglos (16mm, 5.42g). Persian king right holding dagger and bow, countermark in right field / Incuse punch with countermarks. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croatian Coin Collector Posted September 21 · Member Share Posted September 21 (edited) Ancient Chinese State of Chu Gold Ying Yuan (minted sometime between 400 BCE and 220 BCE): Edited September 21 by Croatian Coin Collector 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth77 Posted September 21 · Member Share Posted September 21 (edited) This one was offered on ebay.fr in early summer 2018. It's an emission for Jean II de Dreux, naming him both Duke of Brittany AND Earl of Richmond. As a young man, the guy accompanied Louis IX to the ill fated Eighth Crusade and then moved on with Charles d'Anjou and Edward Longshanks to Sicily and the Holy Land for Edward's Ninth Crusade (1271-2). To his shame he also took part in the debacle and caricature that the "Aragonese Crusade" was, alongside Philip III of France. In 1290 when this coin was struck, Jean was already Peer of England. The coin has Jean's titles and an excellent representation of the Dreux-Bretagne coat of arms, but not on a shield but rather spread out on the whole middle field of the coin. Edited September 21 by seth77 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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