The
work of others has got me interested in the repertory of
Herakles types. I found a photo of one that
had not been fully accessioned: the name of
Philippopolis is barely legible and there have been times when my favorite camera was unavailable--something like that. After several hours trying to identify the coin (though it is an
obverse die that
Philippopolis used, there is also evidence of Thracian mints sharing
obverse dies, especially in the time of Barbaros), I went through my
Philippopolis box and found the coin itself.
Varbanov III, no. 1161, provided just the right description:
Herakles has the Nemean Lion's skin over
his r. forearm and holds three apples (
Varbanov says only 'apple') on
his right hand and
his weight is, nominally, on
his right
leg, and he looks to the left. That means that almost every signifier is at our left; at our right,
his left
arm is akimbo and props
his long club (on a rock): Mushmov/Varbanov said on a rock; it is not really clear on the present coin.
It is not merely Mushmov's Big Book (1912, where it is no. 5289) but in the
Philippopolis (Plovdiv Archaeolgical Museum)
catalog of 1924, no. 275, which is not the same kind of general book as the Big Book. There is no published photo or drawing of this coin that I can find, and so I am posting it here, better late than never. (When I am finished with the sorting of
Herakles, I'll post that both here, if Joe thinks it worthy of
Numiswiki, and among my Opera Nobilia blog posts, where I can easily add to it. For now, having the extremely swaying pose but with the club at our right and the apples and
lion skin at our left, this one is exceptional and interesting.
Also, if anyone has another, a double die match, it would be
good to see it as well. I do wish SOMEONE would publish the
Severan Philippopolis!
Philippopolis is important to the formation of the
Moesia Inferior mints.
•• AE 28 13.20gr
axis 6h. AV K L SE VÊROS (the
legend at left needs lots of
help from
Varbanov, who must be using Mushmov 1924).
Rev. ÊG ST [
BAR]
BAR 0V PhILIPPOPOL and in
exergue EITÔN (to the best of my ability). Rotated in
good light, the coin does clearly exhibit that big, broad Phi. The epsilons are round-backed.
My present camera got about all I can see with a 10X loupe. Do CLICK TO ZOOM!
If, as seems to be the case, the
obverse die of this coin is the same as that of
Varbanov III, no. 1883, and V. correctly calls that one's
obv. legend his type E, they both ought to end in P for
Pertinax, which would not be exceptional. I cannot certainly make out the P either on mine or on the illustration for V. no. 1183, but they do seem to be the very same die, while the
obv. die of no. 1161 is given as
type D--the
legend without P, and I cannot check the specimen in the
Philippopolis Archaeological Museum. Does anyone know whether the end of the
legend is clearer on the Plovdiv A M specimen?