Author Topic: crusty old elephant? Added pics - Part 2? (Read 1539 times)

vacationchick · « **on:** June 02, 2011, 02:34:54 am »

Hello!

I scraped away at this poor coin forever and in each layer I saw something different.... First, I thought it was an emporer, then a standing figure, then a bird... in the end I think I uncovered an elephant! On the ?reverse there appears to be a SC. May have some lettering around the SC side.... thought I saw an "O", but I really can't be sure.

It is 14mm...

Thanks in advance if anyone can tell me anything about this coin!

laney · « **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2011, 07:55:59 am »

Some of the Seleucid kings of Syria have serrated coins with elephants. From your photo, it looks like an elephant standing left. The other image is too indistinct for me to recognize anything, but if it is Seleucid, it wouldn't be an SC.

Laney

vacationchick · « **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2011, 01:01:43 pm »

Thanks for your response!

I think the elephant is standing L with his behind against the R side of the coin. There definately appears to be an S... the C is more questionable, but I think it is attached to the bottom curve of the S.

I know it is pretty crusty, but given the initial condition of the coin, I decided to practice on it, and was thrilled to find anything... elephants are especially cool!

Howard Cole · « **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2011, 10:38:50 pm »

From the style of the flan, I am fairly certain that the coin is Seleukid. You might want to look at this wiki page to help identify the coin.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Serrated

vacationchick · « **Reply #4 on:** June 03, 2011, 02:20:18 am »

Thank you for your response. It certainly looks... and feels like the "coke bottle" flan described on that page. Now I am not sure what to think as it certainly looks like a "S" on the reverse. Wonder if I should dig at it a bit more to see if there is something buried under it. As I mentioned, I saw all kinds of shapes until I finally arrived at the elephant...

vacationchick · « **Reply #5 on:** June 08, 2011, 04:29:59 am »

My computer is not cooperating, so I am going to try to post this again...

The general consensus is that this is a Seleucid coin, and therefore, should not have a SC reverse.

I decided to attack this poor old thing again to see if there was anything hiding under the way thick green crusties. There does seem to be something, but I can't recognize the pattern. I am going to try to post some pics from different angles to see if anyone recognizes it.

Thanks!

vacationchick · « **Reply #6 on:** June 08, 2011, 04:32:11 am »

a few more...

rover1.3 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 08, 2011, 05:07:08 am »

I think i can make out an Apollo seated on Omphalos holding arrow and grounded bow.
Here is a reverse of a coin of mine for comparison.
However, the Apollo seated on Omphalos reverse type has been used on various Seleukid serrate bronzes,
so we cannot go further unless we have more specific evidence on the reverse legends and the design of the obverse.

As far as i know, there exist no type with an Apollo seated on Omphalos reverse and an Elephant on the obverse in the serrate Seleukid bronze types.

regards,

rover

vacationchick · « **Reply #8 on:** June 10, 2011, 02:36:57 am »

Hello!

The image you attached certainly seems to be the closest thing I have seen yet! I will take another look at it and see if there is any hope around the edge, but I think it may be as far as it can go...

Really appreciate the help!

vacationchick · « **Reply #9 on:** June 14, 2011, 02:02:09 am »

This coin is back for one more turn...

You were so right! Once I had some idea of what I was looking at, it was much easier to continue... I THINK I have finally found the bottom of all the crusties. Unfortunately, in one small spot on the L side of the reverse, I also found shiny coin. GRRRR

That is what told me that I had reached the end.

As far as legends go, I don't see much. I am not sure if it is just part of the design, but there is something behind the omphalos (which btw looks extraordinarliy uncomfortable). The arrow also seems to have a lot of extraneous parts, so I am not sure if there are any clues in there.

This coin has really been fun and I learned a ton from it... 1) you can totally dull 3 scalpels on one coin (this was my first experiment using a scalpel) 2) you can cause a semi-permanent cramp in your hand in the process of dulling 3 scalpels. 3) you can see a lot of things that don't exist on a coin. 4) there was a Kingdom of Seleucid.

I am still not sure how to catagorize this coin... guess I will start a Seleucid page in my notebook.

Any other thoughts?

Thank you!