Take a second look: Kos, crabs, and cross eyed Herakles

[Ryro]

This falls under the, isn't that awkward and or embarrassing, headline.

Purchased this beauty from Kos (auction houses photos) for the image of the crab that Hera set on Herakles, her favorite crab, during his fight with the Lernaean Hydra. After Herakles smashed it with his club, Hera sat it to live on in the night's sky as the crabs name, Cancer.

My little lady is a cancer and got a kick out of it and the story of how this crustacean constellation came to be her sign.  

As you can see the portrait is right facing, very rare as most all coins of this type from Kos are left facing,  with a long forehead and the Nemean lionskin cap on top. And notice Herakles club under crabby:

ISLANDS OFF CARIA, Kos (4th century BC) AE.

Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress.

Rev. Crab.

Weight 1,24 gr - Diameter 9 mm.

 

Psyche! Embarrassingly, I was so excited about the crab I didn't look very closely at the portrait. Only to find when it arrived yesterday that, when I flipped it right side up, the auction house photographed Herk upside down and it IS a lefty!

Just a month later this much better example came up and I bought it before getting the other coin in hand. I thought it would be a nice esthetic to have them facing each other before finding that they face the same direction:

Caria, Kos. Ae, 1.68 g 11.95 mm. Circa 4th - 3rd Century BC.

Obv: Head of Herakles to left, wearing lion skin headdress

Rev: Crab; shell above, club below.

Ref:Unpublished standart referance.

Fine/Rare! Purchased from Concordia Dec 2024

And one last coin since I'm on a Kos kick. 

This one is right facing but with a crab countermark. I've found 3/4 facing Herakles with a similar reverse from Kos. But no rightys. The letters ΚΩΙΟΝ makes me think the coin is from Kos, or was it just countermarked on Kos?

Kos AE 17, c. 200-180/170 BC

Islands off Caria, Kos. AE 17 (3.95 g), c. 200-180/170 BC). Uncertain magistrate.

Obv. Head of Herakles facing slightly right, wearing lion skin.

Rev: ΚΩΙΟΝ / [..]ΔIN[...], Bow in quiver and club; counermark: crab within incuse square.

BMC 156-164.

Very fine. Purchased from Auctiones CmbH Sept 2024

Thanks for reading about my humbling experience. Does anyone else have coins that look like something else, or one you got it in hand you realized the auction houses mistake? Or coins from Kos? Got crabs? Better see the doctor if so. Please share if you do!

[CPK]

Nice! I'm partial to crab coins.

I've come uncomfortably close to making similar mistakes...like one time recently, placing an impulse bid on a somewhat decrepit Vespasian Jr. AE only to take a closer look and realize too late it was a Nero that the auction house had misattributed. Thankfully it ended all right (for me anyway) being outbid but I feel sorry for whoever won the coin!

What's actually happened more often for me is that after bidding/buying I discover that the coin is an unusual or rare variant/type. Maybe I'm just lucky in that regard. Recently I bought an above-average Carausius antoninianus, mostly because it was surprisingly inexpensive. Neither the dealer nor RIC considered it rare but after combing through all the standard online archives (OCRE, ACSearch, Coryssa, Wildwinds, CGB.fr, FAC Galleries, CollecOnline, Numista, VCoins, MA-Shops, biddr, Numisbids, CT and NF) I only found 4 other examples: 1 on OCRE and 3 on ACSearch. RIC cited only one specimen, from a private collection, making 5 specimens besides my coin.

[seth77]

Reminds me of this documentary from back in the day:
 

 

[JAZ Numismatics]

[Roman Collector]

Faustina I, 138-140 CE.
Roman Æ as or dupondius, 13.77 g, 28.1 mm, 11 h.
Rome, 140 CE.
Obv: DIVA AVGVSTA-FAVSTINA, veiled bust, right.
Rev: S C, crescent and seven stars.
Refs: RIC 1199b; BMC 1478; Cohen 276; Strack 1249; RCV --.
Notes: Ex Walter Neussel, Peus E-Auction 420, lot 5290, 18 Nov 2017, acquired October 1959, Maison Platt, Paris.

[panzerman]

My "Crab" from Kos

[Phil Anthos]

Herakles and a crab...

Taras, Calabria

290-281 BC AR Diobol (12mm, 1.13g) O: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla. R: Herakles kneeling right, wrestling the Nemean lion; crab above, club behind. D'Andrea XL, 956; D'Andrea Diobols F, 154; HN Italy 976; Vlasto ----; Cote ---; SNG France ----; McGill --- Scarce ex Pavlos S. Pavlou A scarce variety with the crab control mark, unlisted in most major references. "Crabby Appleton, you're rotten to the core!"

[kirispupis]

Those are some nice crabs! Here’s my Kos crab.

Islands off Caria. Kos
circa 400-300 BC.
Æ 13 mm, 1,68 g
Head of Herakles left, wearing lion’s skin. Rev. K Crab. shton, Beginning, n. 34 and pl. 4, 40. HGC 6, 1336 var.