Two unidentified coins

[Roland Mueller]

I have two more unidentified coins and I have no idea from where they are!

AE-11 mm, 1.09 gr.
AV: Crab
RV: Moon, below a star, in the upper field a small ball and some letters

AE-11mm, 0.82 gr.
AV: Head with a peculiar hat to left
RV: Head of a wulf or dog with open mouth and long tongue to left, no traces of letters

[Rupert]

Could the lower one be from Cilicia?

Warning: This is only a vague idea!

Rupert

[Roland Mueller]

Hi Rupert,
in fact of beautifull weather I had to work in our garden. This morning I had time to check Kilikia but I did'nt find a same coin. I found dog-protomes only, no coin that seems be related. Anyway a lot of thanks for your help.
Have you ever seen a coin like posted under "Pergamon"?

Roland

[cogito]

Roland,

Fascinating finds!  Though, I'm not certain of it's origin I'm pretty certain that your first coin is referencing the Zodiac phenomenon/sign of "Moon in Cancer," which is often depicted as a crescent moon underneath a star.

There are some bronze Alexandrian coins of Antoninus Pius that depict a crab, crescent moon, and eight-pointed star...so maybe your coin is Egyptian or North African in origin.  Here's a good picture link to a Antoninus Pius example very reminescent of your coin:

[DEAD LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN]


Can you make out the legend on your coin?

Regards,
Jeff

[Roland Mueller]

Hello Jeff,
thank you for your information. I tried hard to identify the legend, on the original coin I could nor find out more than in the scan. K A or - L ? H. What you think about the small ball above the cresent? Is it a letter or is it the sun? Also the crab has something between the claws?
Now I will check in my library after coins from Africa and Aegypt.
Roland

[Peattie]

While trying to match my coin, which has a very similar crab to your,

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=62&pos=7

I found a number of coins from the island of Caria (Cos), from c.300 - 190 BC which have a Crab very similar to your with crescent above, this might be a good place to look.

Bolayi

[cogito]

Roland,

I think the dot between the legend is actually a pellet; denoting the coins relative value.  Pellets were used quite a bit in Zeugitanian coins...though I'm not certain about Alexandrian issues.

Jeff

[Roland Mueller]

A lot of thanks for your help. I checked all of my literatur and I don't think that is even Kos or Karthago, the stile is very different! There are many coins with stars, crescent and crabs but this combination is very peculiar.
Regards
Roland

[cogito]

Roland,

The only other tact I can think of is to try to decipher the legend.  Assuming that the first three letters are "KAY," it could be possible that the coin hails from Kaunos, Caria.  It's also supportive, though circumstantial, that Kaunos was a famous sea port with a naval station, so the crab device wouldn't be unexpected.

I'm still convinced that the combination of crab, crescent moon, and eight-pointed star is referring to "Moon in Cancer," and there aren't many astrological representation coins coming out of Caria.  Most, as indicated before, tend to be Roman Provincial and out of Alexandrian mints.

I just love a mystery.  Actually, I find these very mysteries the best thing about ancient coin collecting.

Regards,
Jeff