Antiochos tetradrachm- help needed with mint.

[Philoromaos]

I could do with some help with the mint for this Antiochos VIII Tetradrachm if anyone can assist? The dealer didn't mention the mint but only gave a reference mentioning that it is was the same dies. Now I have no idea what this reference is (SC 2323.5a (Same dies)). In my copy of Greek coins and their values the coin with these monograms is attributed to Sidon, elsewhere I have also seen it attributed to Damaskos. Does anyone know which one it actualy is and can anyone help me figure out what the reference cited by the dealer is? Thanks in advance for any help.

Kind regards Adrian


https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-60952

[Lloyd Taylor]

SC = Seleucid Coins by Houghton and Lorber the now standard reference for the Seleukid series.  In the case of Antiochos VIII this would be Part 2 of Seleucid Coins (Part 1 being Seleukos I to Antiochos III).

SC 2323 is a coin type of the Damaskos Mint.  The 5a refers to a listed variety of 2323 characterized by certain mint controls etc.  Hence 2323.5a. Same dies means the dame die set was used to strike the coin as the example of the type illustrated in Seleucid Coins.

Hope this helps.  I don't have SC Part 2, but I am going off the more recent publication The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 9: Handbook of Syrian Coins by Oliver Hoover.  This is a summary of Seleucid Coins and hence identifies SC 2323 as being of Damaskos.  This attribution is from the latest scholarship on the type.

[Lloyd Taylor]

By the way, the The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 9: Handbook of Syrian Coins by Oliver Hoover reference for this coin would be HGC 9, 1197f.

By now if your not confused you never will be!

[Lloyd Taylor]

Its a lovely example of the type.  This may help if you want to follow up on the Hoover reference which also gives rarity of each type and online value estimates http://www.greekcoinvalues.com/

[Philoromaos]

Thank you very much for the help. It's much apprieciated!

Regards, Adrian

[PtolemAE]

Thank you very much for the help. It's much apprieciated!

Regards, Adrian

It is worth mentioning that the *amazing* modern reference works cited here, by Arthur Houghton, Catharine Lorber, and Oliver Hoover, are invaluable contributions with great scholarly depth.  They're the reasons why this degree of precision and fast answers are even possible.  And they're not remote dusty tomes residing only in libraries and rare book collections or museums - collectors can actually buy them today and use them.  SC is about $400 (but you can buy the two volumes covering different time periods separately) and HGC 9 only costs about $60.  These books are remarkable achievements in scholarship and accessibility.  If you like Seleukid coins, get one of these books.  The authors aren't getting rich from all their work - but we are greatly enriched by it.

PtolemAE