Alexander the Great and Nero didn't manage this, but I did

[kirispupis]

I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, but this weekend I'm hitting a milestone birthday - a big 50 - and so I decided to make a big splash with a very special coin.

For some time I eyed it at auction, then looked up the handful of previous sales. To me, it embodied my birthday completely and so I planned for a bid quite a bit higher than the max for the type and patiently waited for it to go live. And... I lost the coin...

I can't really complain. I did everything right. I waited for the last second to place the very highest bid I could swing and I didn't buy any "snacks" beforehand. Someone else just had a higher max, though as a minor consolation my last second bid cost him an extra $1k. Had he bid against Nero, who shared my birthday, the outcome would have likely been different. Needless to say, I was bummed, but I quickly made up for it.

I pored through all my favorite sellers, looked at my built-up wish lists, and put in the largest combined coin order I've ever done. I ordered a total of 32 coins and so far only three of them have been delayed/misplaced by USPS. None were expensive, but each has something special about it. I placed all orders on the same day, and naturally those from London arrived first, followed by two from a seller an hour north of me the next day.

Each of these coins has something special about it and can take a full post, so I'll have a lot of material to go over and I'll have a lot of time to write them once my wife notices how much I spent. The coins cross collections. I added a number of cities, more than doubled my sculptures collection (not difficult since I only had four), picked up a few Roman emperors, and even filled a hole in my extremely difficult people collection.

To start, I thought I'd share this coin whose obverse I absolutely love. It doesn't fill a particular niche (I already have an example from Erythrai) but was a coin I admired for some six months before grabbing.

Ionia, Erythrai
Dionysios, son of Anaxipoles, magistrate
c. 260-250 BCE
Æ 21mm, 5.95g, 3h
Head of Herakles r., wearing lion skin. 
R/ Bow-in-bowcase above; ΔΙΟΝΎΣΙΟΣ ΑΝΑΞΙΠΟΛΙΟΣ ΕΡΥ across centre; below, head of Herakles facing slightly r. and club
Kinns 179; SNG Copenhagen -; BMC Ionia p. 136 no. 170

 

Of course I fell for the three-quarter image of Herakles facing. AFAIK the only other similar image of Herakles on an ancient coin is this stater from Herakleia Pontika. Note that my example was considerably less than $50k. I must admit that I at first thought it was an image of a pirate. In fact, it would make a pretty good pirate currency IMHO.

The dating of these issues is a bit disputed. The type is mentioned in BMC Ionia as 200-133 BCE, and this magistrate is listed there. However, SEG XXXVII lists a gray blue marble base found at Erythrai with honors listed for a Dionysios son of Anaxipoles. The base is dated to the 3rd century BCE. They then mention:

a Dionysios, son of Anaxipolis, is attested as mint-master; an Anaxipolis, son of Dionysios 15 on record in |. Erythrai 201 A L. 23 (between 300-260 B.C. [is he the father of our honorand ?, Pleket]), 

For this region, LGPN dates the coin to 260-250 BCE. I found no other son of Anaxipoles under the known magistrates from coins, but I did find several other Dionysios with different fathers, as well as a number of sons of Dionysios, which of course could be any of them. The referenced mentioned is this one, but I've been unable to find a copy online.

 

H. Engelmann and R. Merkelbach, Die Inschriften von Erythrai und Klazomenai (Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien 1-2), 2 vols., Bonn 1972-1973.

The depiction of Herakles here has to do with a story you don't typically hear on the standard "12 Labors" tour. A long time ago, in Erythrai, there was a worm that was causing havoc with the grape crops. Now some say it was in fact a serpent, and others state that it was a really big worm, but regardless, Erythrai had worm(s). Enter Herakles.

Using his unmatched strength and power, Herakles managed to defeat the worm. He may have flicked it off a leaf. He may have used the club on this coin. He may have stepped on it. We don't truly know, but we do know that the countryside was very thankful (or merely they judged an approach on his vanity was best), but when it came down to the judges the event was not deemed worthy, for some reason, of the 12 labors.

Regardless, I'm very happy to now own this coin and I'm looking forward to posting the rest over time.

Feel free to post anything relevant!

[CPK]

Wow, now that is a cool coin and one I've never seen before! I love that little facing portrait. The obverse is in good style, too. Great eye appeal and an interesting bit of history - thanks for sharing!

Edit to add: Happy birthday! 🥳

Edited December 14, 2024 by CPK

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

The reverse is very cool.  Happy birthday!

 

[Ryro]

Happy big 50! Incredible type that I've not seen before. I'm green with envy. And that reverse with the 3/4 facing Herk and club. Just WoWiE!

Here's a 3/4 facing MSC minted under Philip Arrhidaios, Alexander's older brother:

Speaking of pirates, here's my Pir-akles complete with eye patch

Edited December 14, 2024 by Ryro

[DonnaML]

Fantastic reverse. And Happy Birthday, young fellow!

[kirispupis]

9 hours ago, Ryro said:

Here's a 3/4 facing MSC minted under Philip Arrhidaios, Alexander's older brother:

You're right. I can't believe I didn't think of this type. Of course, examples with a clear Herakles are difficult to come by and the best I know went for a ridiculous sum for an MSC. Makes me even happier to have mine. 🙂 

[Anaximander]

Nice find!  I have a couple of silver coins of Erythrae that are somewhat similar and yearn for more references.

I seached anew for the reference you cited (Kinns = Philip Kinns, Studies in the coinage of Ionia: Erythrae, Teos, Lebedus, Colophon, c. 400-30 BC (Cambridge University, 1980) and failed again. There is, however, a Numista entry for the work and their first photo is this coin type (it's a miracle!).  You can cite the N#400948.  

  

PS: Below is my drachm of Erythrae. That's right! It's on Numista. Don't know how that came about, but there it is. 

Edited December 15, 2024 by Anaximander
PS: found my drachm on Numis.

[Spargrodan]

Nice find and a big happy birthday!

[AETHER]

Happy Birthday!