Interesting, but is it Elymaean?

[Stkp]

This coin was recently sold on-line by a dealer from whom I have purchased quite a few Elymaean coins. It was stated to be Elymaean, struck by an unknown prince sometime between 220-240 A.D. The fabric appears to be Elymaean. Yet there is nothing like it in van't Haaff's catalog. The side identified by the dealer as the obverse (which I present as the reverse) is lovely. I did not acquire the coin but would appreciate any comments concerning its identity.

Stkp

[Kamnaskires]

I spent a lot of time pondering this one when it was listed.  It is a fascinating coin and, I suspect, unique.

The reverse seems to mimic Parthian tets that show Tyche presenting the royal diadem to the seated king, although here the deity(?) seems to be wearing trousers.

My assumption is that it was part of the same hoard as all the others in that group.  But there is no obvious Elymaean anchor, and the reverse(?) references imperial issues of Parthia.  Quite a little mystery.

[quadrans]

I agree with Bob,

I also saw this coin at the online auction, but I was not sure it was Elymaean...

May be Unique..

Congratulation..

Q.

[Stkp]

Congratulation..

No congratulations are due. Although I saw the coin, I questioned what it was and did not bid on it.

Thanks for the explanation, Robert.

Stkp

[Schatz]

Yes, I agree with Robert that these must be part of the same hoard. I also think that this is a new hoard because of the sheer number of the coins up for sale (if you go to E..y.de, to 'Sammeln und Antiquitäten, to Münzen, to Elymais you will see that two auction houses have been selling Elymais drachms for months if you click on 'Beendete Angebote' - completed auctions). There were at least 500 coins on offer, most of exactly the same fabric, surface, degree of use, color - even the flans are physically very similar: thick and apparently of the same shape and size.  For that reason it is very unlikely that a collection was liquidated - a collector buys at different times and has a variety of coins, some waxed, some dark, some coppery, etc.

Intriguing, all of this. Some of the unfamiliar drachms look almost Celtic, but their appearance seems to suggest that they come from the same source. The drachm Stkp gave us to ponder is indeed the most peculiar of them all, and I do not know what to make of it. Could it be that a Persis die maker felt such strong alliance to Parthia that he would pick up Parthian theme? Who knows?

Someone who could perhaps help is Heidemarie Koch, author of the small tome 'A Hoard of Coins from Eastern Parthia'. She examined the hoard of Eastern coins, mostly Elymaian, at the Getty Museum in L.A. I will see if I can get her email address and then contact her.

Fascinating, isn't it?

Schatz

[Kamnaskires]

For some context here's a collage of the coin with reverses from late 2nd and early 3rd century Parthian tets, which do seem to provide the prototype for the AE.  Except that instead of Tyche's gown, we have baggy Parthian trousers.  Could the Elymaean version (assuming it is indeed Elymaean) be depicting Belos with the diadem?  (Van't Haaff interprets the male god on a lot of the Later Kamnaskirid and Elymais Arsacid coins to possibly be Belos)  Or could it perhaps be the Parthian king himself who holds the diadem, legitimizing the regional ruler - the subking, as it were?  The regional king, after all, would quite possibly at this time (2nd and 3rd centuries) have been a relative, an Arsacid. Fun to speculate.

[Schatz]

Re Dr Koch:  of course, the  Eastern bronzes she examined did not contain Elymaean pieces (which are clearly Southern) as I so erroneously claimed in a somersault of y mind - but apparently I did so because somewhere in the back of my head there was the notion that she also worked on Elymaean bronzes. I spent half the night trying to find an article to that effect in my loose leaf collection but did not find anything. Will still try to contact her because I think she specialized in bronzes of the general area, at least for a while.

Schatz

[Michael C8]

Schatz: I bought that coin. It's not Elymaean but an autonomous city issue from Seleucia under Parthian control. It's a Sellwood 92.28 - It weighs about 1.3 g (Sellwood calls these hemichalkoi). The reverse is amazing for one of these. The fairly obverse is upside down in the image. It shows a god seated left with the date behind (ΘΚΤ) (Wroth states that the god is a goddess. Mike

[Kamnaskires]

It's a Sellwood 92.28

How cool!  Mystery solved!  (Well, the attribution, that is...not the issue of who the reverse figure with the diadem is) Congrats on picking up the rarity, Mike.  I have never seen one of these before...neat little coin.

Knowing now what to search for, I found this S.92.28 online:

[Michael C8]

Yes, it's similar to that CNG coin. They claim that their example has a different date, ΓΚΦ.

https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=315497

I'm not convinced about their reading of the date on their coin from the photographs but perhaps it is easier to read in hand.


 

[quadrans]

 

Q.

[Schatz]

Michael,

amazing that you could come up with the identity of that bronze and had the good sense to buy it. In retrospect, it had to be Parthian with that reverse, yet still a rarity for a bronze which I had never seen before. What a bargain on E..y if you compare it with the price fetched by the CNG auction!

There still remain several other bronzes in that group of E..y auctions that are unknown to me, especially those with the obv. head facing right. I did write to Dr. Koch -whose book on the Northeastern bronzes actually does contain a handful of Elymaians, and she is considered an Elymais specialist- but I have not had a reply yet. I am also curious to know if a new hoard has surfaced for there is also a seller from Cyprus offering a lot of late Elymaians.

Schatz

[Stkp]

There still remain several other bronzes in that group of E..y auctions that are unknown to me, especially those with the obv. head facing right.

I grabbed just one coin being auctioned by that seller on that day from that group that was unknown to me. It has an obverse head facing right, appears to be Elymaean, but is of a type not referenced by van't Haaff. It may be one of the coins you are referring to, Schatz. I will be posting it to my gallery once I have it in hand (I am superstitious about posting photos of my acquisitions while they are in transit).

Stkp