Phoenicia Arados - Bronze

[Arados]

Also attached for your consideration are two side views of the obverse and reverse.

[Altamura]

... Forvm friends, please feel free to offer your thoughts and observations regarding the coin type below. These coins are super rare with only two known museum samples, one residing in the BNF collection and the other belonging to the British museum. ...

That's an interesting case, I have never seen this type (being not astonishing if there are only two specimens extant ).

... Significant differences in flan size and weight can be ascertained when compared to the BNF and BNC samples. ...

Really 21.45g or is this a typo? If not, then the coin would not have convinced people to believe that it is like the other two. But for what other purpose should it have been produced?

... When studying the available imagery of the afore-mentioned coins, both appear to show signs of plating (silvering); more so on the BNF coin ...

What signs of being a fourrée do you see on the BnF coin? It is a bit corroded and has some little pieces chipped off, but what I see is in my eyes not enough to call it a fourrée .

... Note also that the BMC coin was suspected as being a counterfeit by G. F. Hill, this observation when roughly translated from the Duyrat 2005 publication reads as follows; ...

Not really . In BMC Phoenicia Hill himself wrote on page xxix ( https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/BMC/BMC_Phoenicia.pdf#page=29&zoom=auto,-164,1095 ):
"The British Museum specimen remained unknown because, having many years ago been condemned as false, it was relegated to the cabinet of forgeries. The reasons for its condemnation are not recorded; nor is any now apparent."
For me this sounds as if Hill accepted the coin as being genuine .
So, what exactly did Duyrat write about these two coins?

Regards

Altamura

[Arados]

Hi Altamura,

Thanks for contributing, your observations are most welcome.


The weight is correct so no typo and although my coin shares the same obverse and reverse iconography, your question regarding purpose of production is legitimate and needs further consideration.

Of course I can’t entirely be sure that the BNF or the BMC coins are in fact fourrée, but their characteristics do exhibit similar signs of flan deterioration akin to those of other samples of fourrée dating from the same period of Phoenician coin production; dark patches and what appears to be flaking silvering. This seen more astutely on the obverse of the BNF coin.

Well spotted, now that was a mistake on my behalf and you are correct in stating that Hill only made an observation and did not condemn the BMC coin outright. The question of if both coins are fourrée will only be answered with an in depth, hands on study of both samples.

Excerpt from Duyrat 2005

G. F. Hill note cependant que l’extrême rareté de ces monnaies a fait longtemps classer l’exemplaire de Londres parmi les faux.

G. F. Hill notes, however, that the extreme rarity of these coins has long caused the London example to be classified as a fake.