Elis-Olympia

[Paul S13]

Dear folks,

if I am not wrong, the following cut belongs to the XIV period 146-43 B.C., where Greece and Elis-Olympia (ΗΛΕΙΑ) in particular, came under Roman rule.

How can we interpret the latin prefix letter F among Greek letters at "FA / ΛEI / ΩN" on the reverse of the coin, and how far indicates this script to a coin of the Eleans ?
This latin F, seems to appear in Elis coins long time (400 B.C.) before the Roman occupation ...


More about Elis coins here:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dannyjones/Greek%20Coin%20Books/The%20Coins%20of%20Elis%20-%20Gardner.pdf

[Altamura]

... This latin F, seems to appear in Elis coins long time (400 B.C.) before the Roman occupation ...

Your Latin F is a Greek digamma and FAΛEIΩN was the official name of the city.

More about the Greek alphabet here :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet

Regards

Altamura

Edit: In the book by Percy Gardner you linked you find this explanation on page 13.

[Paul S13]

... This latin F, seems to appear in Elis coins long time (400 B.C.) before the Roman occupation ...

Your Latin F is a Greek digamma and FAΛEIΩN was the official name of the city.

Thanks  Altamura, very helpful

Based on literature, the pronunciation of that archaic letter/numeral of the Greek alphabet F (according to its Phoenician roots) was wau and it was well known as a sound to Mycenean Greeks.

Really remarkable the theory that Digamma was the 'ancestor' of the latin letter F (through Etruscans) and the fact that it was still in use as "episēmon" during the Byzantine era (as well as stigma combining σ-τ as ϛ). Currently partial in use in the Tsakonic dialect in south Peloponnese (Arcadia) !!

Unfortunately, I still can not imagine the vocabular concatenation of wau and ΑΛΕΙΩΝ as a common term ... How should that sound like? Walion???

[antoninus1]

Yes, according to the German version of Wikipedia Elis was called Walis in the local Elean dialect. Walis might mean "Valley". The two words sound very similar. A coincidence or a hint to a common Indo-Germanic (Indo-European) origin?
Waleion should be genitive plural, meaning "(coin) of the Waleions (the people of Walis)".

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elis