Hi all. I recently received a request from a colleague in
Israel to see if I
had any coins of a Phoenician city called Demetrias by the Sea in my
collection of coins found at
Caesarea Maritima. The possible locations of this city in Southern
Phoenicia are controversial. One theory is that it was associated with Strato's Tower, the predecessor to
Caesarea Maritima. The known
types are similar to some of the coins from nearby Dora in the late Hellenistic period. To my amazement, in a box of unattributed coins I have
had for 40 years, I found this:
BCC Gr5
Demetrias by the Sea
1st Century BCE
Obv: Turreted and veiled
bust of
Tyche right.
Rev:LA / (Δ)Η
AphlastonDiameter 17.5 x 16mm. Thickness: 2.5mm.
Weight: 3.45gm. (approximate).
Axis:0
Reference:
Kushnir-Stein, 1995, no. 6
Additional
Caesarea Papers by P.
Lampinen and R. Stieglitz also discuss these coins.
The original article calling attention to a
Seleucid coastal town named Demetrias
was published by H.
Seyrig in 1950, based on an extraordinary lead
weight inscribed with the name of the city, and a date. Research into the origin of
these coins is on-going, and any ideas are welcome.
Best regards, V-drome
Edit 02/20/2021: There is a new paper out on the coins of Demetrias by the Sea.
See, Yoav Farhi and Boris Bessarabov: "The Bronze Coinage of Demetrias (by
the Sea): New
Types and a Comprehensive
Catalogue",
Israel Numismatic
Research (
INR 14), 2019. The above
type is listed there as number 3, plate 7.
