Unpublished/undocumented coin of Arados 1/8 Obol

[Arados]

Opinions please,

Please help me identify the object or animal on the reverse of this unpublished/undocumented coin of Arados.

Betylon lists the following types of smaller denominations;

Reverse description for 1/8 obol.

1. Prow of galley right.

2. Tortoise.

Reverse description for 1/16 obol.

1. Head of Satyr facing.

2. Conical headdress.

3. Scorpion between two branches.

My choices are; Bee or insect, headdress but not conical & somebody riding a swan (my last choice was meant has a giggle).

Thanks in advance.

[djmacdo]

My impression is a wheeled cart containing a sacred vessel from which a palm sprouts.  I think that is probably no more valid than of the other interpretations.  How do you know it is from Arados?

[Akropolis]

Octopus?
PeteB

[bpmurphy]

I see a flower.

Barry Murphy.

[OldMoney]

What's on the other side?

Walter Holt

[Arados]

How do you know it is from Arados?

What's on the other side?

Walter Holt

I have been holding back on the obverse image depicting Ba´al.

The coin was with a lot i bought containing various silver coins of Arados, which included a mixture of Tetrobols and Obols. The beading on Ba´al(s) head have almost worn away completely, but there are still areas remaining (image below).

[Pekka K]

Maybe cart of Astarte containing baetyl.

Pekka K

[Arados]

I have to confess, when browsing through BNF´s collection of Aradian coins i found the following. Both have similar features on the reverse which i have attempted to outline in red. They were published in the following work by J. Babylon "Catalogue de la collection de Luynes" and were listed as unidentifiable. The denomination for these two coins is 1/8 obol, where as mine falls into the bracket of Obol. This could explain why the details are much sharper on my coin than on the two 1/8 obols.

[Arados]

Octopus?
PeteB

Pete, i think your on to something with Octopus. I showed my wife the coin and the first thing she said was Octopus.

I am tempted to go with your option, seven of the eight legs are visible. When looking closely with a magnifying glass, i can see what looks like beading along the legs, could this be there interpretation of suckers i wonder.

[djmacdo]

An octopus would be appropriate for this maritime city.  Do the small AR of Arados show any consistent die orientation?  That may indicate what way is up.  Such an interesting little coin!

[Arados]

An octopus would be appropriate for this maritime city.  Do the small AR of Arados show any consistent die orientation?  That may indicate what way is up.  Such an interesting little coin!

Rotation varies quite a lot on smaller silver coins, but the majority of obols i own have a rotation or 6. If we assume that the reverse is an octopus, then the rotation is bang on 6 (180 degrees).

Yes the coin does tie in nicely with the maritime theme of Arados.

Thanks djmacdo.

[Meepzorp]

Hi MR,

I have 3 theories:

1) A headdress of Isis on wheels.

2) A piece of a meteorite/comet on wheels. The core is depicted with trailing rays to imply that it flew through space and fell from the sky.

3) A thunderbolt. If you look closely, the "rays" jut out in both directions form the center (assuming the center is the portion where the "wheels" are ).

Meepzorp

[Arados]

Hi MR,

I have 3 theories:

1) A headdress of Isis on wheels.

2) A piece of a meteorite/comet on wheels. The core is depicted with trailing rays to imply that it flew through space and fell from the sky.

3) A thunderbolt. If you look closely, the "rays" jut out in both directions form the center (assuming the center is the portion where the "wheels" are ).

Meepzorp

Hi Meep,

I actually thought of headdress of Isis, but then got distracted because Aradian coins usually depict some kind of marine theme on them and Isis was not worshipped in Phoenicia. On reflection, didn´t Astarte wear an horned headdress, she was the main goddess of Phoenicia ?

Not too sure about 2 & 3 though, but very impressive ideas.

Thanks

[n.igma]

Head of a squid viewed from above ... the the two prominent circular elements are the eyes atop the head (the central blob) from which project the tentacles spreading in front of the head.

[Joe Sermarini]

I'm convinced it is a squid!

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

I think n is on to something here. It really does look like a squid!

However, that is only true for this particular example of this issue. On other examples of this type, it doesn't look so much like a squid. But the other examples are also poorly struck, which is a major factor to consider. It could just be that MR's example is well-struck, so it is much more clear.

Meepzorp

[Arados]

Hi folks,

I think n is on to something here. It really does look like a squid!

However, that is only true for this particular example of this issue. On other examples of this type, it doesn't look so much like a squid. But the other examples are also poorly struck, which is a major factor to consider. It could just be that MR's example is well-struck, so it is much more clear.

Meepzorp

I think n.igma it the nail on the head, i am most likely going to go with his suggestion for the reverse.

The BNF samples are 1/8 obols and my coin is of low obol weight. So that would probably explain why the features are clearer.

Thanks Meep.

[Arados]

Head of a squid viewed from above ... the the two prominent circular elements are the eyes atop the head (the central blob) from which project the tentacles spreading in front of the head.

Thanks for your invaluable help n.igma, your suggestion of squid seems to be the most appropriate description for the reverse. I am really excited to have the first documented obol, depicting a squid from the Arados mint.

[Arados]

Final attribution for this unpublished coin of Arados.

Thanks for all your contributions guys.  


Phoenicia, Arados 380-350 B.C

AR 8.93mm (Thickness 1.52mm), weight 0.65g, die axis = 6h (180 degrees), Obol.

Obverse: Laureate and bearded head of Baál Arwad with full eye right, border of dots.

Reverse: Anepigraphic, cephalopod (squid) facing, tentacles below.


https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/new-coin-type-of-arados/

[quadrans]

Great final conlusion..

 Q.

[Brennos]

the greek art was a figurative art. To Consider a spiral as being the representation of an eye is an anachronism of 2000  years  

I would say a winged thunderbolt. Compare it with the reverse of this Katane litra

[Molinari]

I thought n.igma was joking. 

I like the winged thunderbolt too.

[djmacdo]

The Katane parallel is very close.

[n.igma]

More squid than fulmen ....
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=452952
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1996759
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=195430
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3181055

If a fulmen rather than the head of a squid then I suggest that the die for a 1/8 obol would have been cut much smaller to show the wings and other elements of the fulmen, not simply the central whorls and a few tendrils. Also I note the eyes are not represented as spirals as suggested by Brennos, but are concentric circles, so that argument implying chronological mismatch does not hold water or stand up to scrutiny.

Context is important in deciphering uncertain imagery on coins - two aspects relevant here -   representation on die versus size of the denomination will be matched and Phoenician cultural context, an island state with strong maritime heritage and precedents involving marine elements and marine deities depicted on coinage.  In respect of the Phoenician island cultural context I note that the other two examples of smaller denomination shown by Martin appear to be closely analogous to the first acsearch example from Keos depicting a full body of a squid rather than just of head of squid shown on the 1/8 obol under discussion, which bring us back to the first point of interpretation context matched die engraving with denomination size.

To the best of my knowledge none of the Aradian coins depict Zeus (a Greek god) or his Greek associations (eg fulmen) down to the time of Alexander the Great when the standard Alexanders were introduced into (or imposed upon) the Aradian series with the Macedonian Kingdom standard enthroned Zeus reverse - very non-Phoenician and the latter (Phoenician) cultural context has to be taken to account. This makes the fulmen interpretation improbable in my opinion.

Best to remember in this discussion that not all coins loosely (more correctly incorrectly) categorized as "Greek" are Greek in either the cultural, ethnic or political sense and therefore it is fraught with problems to impose Greek cultural iconographic associations in the interpretation of uncertain iconography represented on what are other truly non-Greek coins (despite them being incorrectly attributed as belonging to the "Greek" series).

I thought n.igma was joking.  

Now that is an enigma!

Based on the complaints received in another lifetime, n.igma doesn't joke on this board.

[Arados]

A deeper understanding of Phoenician culture and iconography spanning the Persian & Greek periods, should have offered up clues to which type of reverse one could have expected on Aradian coins. In respect to larger denominations including starters, tetrobols and obols, the Persians were quite predictable. All coins struck during Persian rule depict a male deity (Ba´al) or a marine deity with fish like lower limbs on the obverse, the reverse, a galley with a row of shields along the bulwark. When commercial developments were at an all time high, the demand for smaller denominations became a priority. The Phoenicians minted both silver and bronze coins for the market place and although there was a huge influx of many new types, only the proven or popular coins were accepted.

In my opening post, i initially thought the reverse was possibly an insect. Even i had forgotten the fundamental rules in respect to Aradian coinage, the rule being; if the obverse is that of a male deity (Ba ál) then one would expect to see some kind of marine theme on the reverse.

N.igma mentioned that the eyes of the cephalopod are not spiral, he is indeed correct. In the new image provided below, one can clearly see that the eyes are concentric and appear to have an iris within (My apologises for the slightly misleading image in my first post).

I have enjoyed the feedback and ideas put forward for consideration, your help as been invaluable.