Greek AE coin - Lots to go on, but no luck on ID yet!

[Jamie R]

I've had this coin for a few months, and have searched for an attribution for more hours than I care to admit, so now I'm here for help.

It's bronze, 20 mm in diameter, 2-3 mm in thickness, and it's from a seller in Israel.

OBVERSE: The obverse has a older male bust facing right, clean-shaven and sporting a short haircut with whispy bangs somewhat like Pompey the Great. There's a small tripod symbol under his chin on the right. On the left is a square countermark with perhaps a stylized tripod or bee or something. There is a dotted border.

REVERSE: It looks like Athena standing left with her left hand leaning on a shield and her right hand holding up a small Nike who in turn carries a little circular wreath. A Greek letter  is visible in the right field. Around the edge, there is a Greek legend, but it's very difficult to read. Above the Nike, the letters  are clear. At 8 to 9 o'clock, there are other letters almost legible -- but not.

With the portrait on the obverse so clear, someone must have an idea, no?

[PtolemAE]

I've had this coin for a few months, and have searched for an attribution for more hours than I care to admit, so now I'm here for help.

It's bronze, 20 mm in diameter, 2-3 mm in thickness, and it's from a seller in Israel.

OBVERSE: The obverse has a older male bust facing right, clean-shaven and sporting a short haircut with whispy bangs somewhat like Pompey the Great. There's a small tripod symbol under his chin on the right. On the left is a square countermark with perhaps a stylized tripod or bee or something. There is a dotted border.

REVERSE: It looks like Athena standing left with her left hand leaning on a shield and her right hand holding up a small Nike who in turn carries a little circular wreath. A Greek letter   is visible in the right field. Around the edge, there is a Greek legend, but it's very difficult to read. Above the Nike, the letters   are clear. At 8 to 9 o'clock, there are other letters almost legible -- but not.

With the portrait on the obverse so clear, someone must have an idea, no?

Hazarding a wild guess, portrait and presence of countermark remind me of Lysanias, Tetrarch of Chalkis, 1st C. BC.

PtolemAE

and it looks like that was pretty good for a wild guess:

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/syria/chalkis/BMC_06.jpg

sure looks like this same coin type.

[Jamie R]

Fantastic! I was going batty just browsing the portrait of every ruler in the ancient world just to figure out who the heck that was. Many thanks.

[PtolemAE]

Fantastic! I was going batty just browsing the portrait of every ruler in the ancient world just to figure out who the heck that was. Many thanks.

The distinctive portrait, countermark, and reverse design activated a memory trace 'on sight', having had one a while back. Always good to try and identify coins yourself but when all else fails the eyes and memories of folks on this discussion group combine into a pretty powerful coin-recognition system.  I suspect almost every type of ancient coin has been studied by at least one person on this forum.  I'm often amazed at the speed and accuracy of this group's participants - the closest thing to a 'living reference book'.

Lysanias lost his kingdom to Marc Antony who 'gave it' to Cleopatra.  The coin's appearance and story are both memorable.  It's not super-rare but neither something you see every day.  Glad to help.

PtolemAE

[areich]

A shame that it was so badly cleaned but that's a great portrait.