I am really excited about this coin, although on the surface, it may not be that impressive. Why do I love this one?
-while low grade, it is not so bad in hand. I like the
portrait of Laodike on
obverse, it looks pretty decent, actually, as does the
star.
-It is from
Sinope, my favorite city
-It was minted during the reign of Pontic
King, Mithradates V, who has almost no coins
-It has Laodike
-The
countermark makes it more intriguing
-It is super
rare, R2 in Hoover.
-Provenance goes back to before 1912, my oldest in this regard
Complete Gallery listing that I usually don'y put in posts:
Greek, Phaphlagonia,
Sinope (
Pontos)
125 - 120 BC
AE 17 mm, 3.57 grams, 0 degrees
O: Veiled
bust of Laodike right,
star countermark to left
R: ΣΙΝΩΠΗΣ, facing statue of
Apollo Iatros holding branch over tripod and
phialeRef:
SNG Black Sea 1542;
HGC 7 423 (references do not include
countermark).
Ex- Marc Breitsprecher, Feb 2023; ex-Chicago family
collection; ex-Elie
Boudeau,
Paris dealer, includes
his tag from before 1912.
Notes:
Good Fine+. Very interesting coin and
pedigree. Very
rare (Hoover
rarity is R2); minted under Mithradates V and there is only one official royal coin of Mithradates V.
Sinope was the capital of
Pontos at this point and
had been conquered in 183 BC. The
countermark seems to be even more
rare and the
star countermark is associated with
Pontos and the royal family of
Pontos. On
AcSearch, only four specimens exist from 2016 to 2023, three do not have the
countermark. Fascinating coin in so many ways. Needs more research by me.
On the dealer, Elie
Boudeau: tag dating prior to 1912 - with dealer name, coin description and
price (1.00 franc, about 20 cents) hand-written in
French with an ink pen. Élie
Boudeau (1853-1912) was a politician and
numismatist in late 19th century-early 20th century
Paris. He served in the 5th legislature of the Third
French Republic from 12 November 1889 to 14 October 1893. He owned a
shop in the numismatic district of
Paris at 11 Rue Rameau, only a stones throw from the Bibliotheque Nationale and one block from the Rue Vivienne where several coin shops, including CGB,
still exist today.
Thanks to
Curtis JJ for
help with the image for this coin and tag
Link:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=180798More on the way, but this one is a stand alone.
Virgil