Phoenician silver coins

[Robert]

Hi!
I would like to share my modest set of silver coins of Phoenicia under Persian rule. The coins are in poorer condition, but I am happy to have them and I will try to slowly expand the collection. I'm most proud of Shekla from Tyr with owl and hippocampus - when I bought this coin for $60 it looked like a piece of mud , but I had a feeling that something was hiding inside. After patient cleaning (soaking in coca-cola, brush and needle) a fairly decent coin appeared for me 
Please share your silver from Phoenicia,

Greetings,

Robert

[djmacdo]

Nothing to be modest about!  These are all quite decent coins and a pleasure to see!

Mac

[Meepzorp]

Hi Robert,

I agree with djm.

I have 2 small Greek Phoenicia silver coins:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/meepzorp/g_phoenicia_pt03.htm

Meepzorp

[Robert]

Thanks for the kind words Mac i Meepzorp! I called my set modest due to the condition and small amount of coins. But the collector's eye is happy! Meepzorp, nice rare 1/16 shekel with towers, I just auctioned the same, so I'll probably show off in a week or two.

Robert

[Virgil H]

That is an amazing clean up job. Nice!

Virgil

[Robert]

Thank you Virgil!
After cleaning, the coin lost 0.8 g of weight.

Robert

[Robert]

The promised coin that just arrived:
PHOENICIA. Sidon. temp. Ba`alšillem (Sakton) I-Ba’ana, Circa 425-401 BC. 1/16 Shekel. Galley left before city wall with three towers; [below, lion recumbent left]. Rev. The Persian Great King standing right, drawing bow; to left, incuse head of Bes; to right, incuse head of goat.

Robert

[Meepzorp]

Hi Robert,

Nice coin!

It is nicer than my example.

Meepzorp

[Canaan]

Hi all;
This is my unlisted example of Phoenician coins:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=6217&pid=150023#top_display_media

[Arados]

Hi Robert,

If the coins you posted are your first purchases of Phoenician emissions then you have got off to great start. Is it your intention to collect solely from the Persian era or will you be expanding your collection to include Greek and Roman provincial coins of Phoenicia ?

Below are a list of topics you might find interesting in regards to Phoenician mints.

Arados Bronze
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=93142.0

Arados Silver
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=98824.0

Marathos Bronze
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=89023.0

Karne Bronze
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=102919.0


P.S Canaan; I remember this coin well, I searched through your topics and found your original posting regarding this unlisted/unpublished Sidonian issue.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=116655.msg708143#msg708143

Martin

[Canaan]

Thanks Martin for remembering the coin, and  for the links you shared.

[Serendipity]

That’s a really interesting collection of Phoenician silver coins! You’ve done a superb job at removing the millennia-old encrustations from the coins. I don’t have any Phoenician coins in my collection, but I do have an ancient Egyptian gold Bes head amulet, Late Period, c.664-332 BCE, which is why I’m particularly interested in ancient coins on which the image of the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes appears. The Phoenicians adopted Bes from their Egyptian neighbours and exported his cult around the Mediterranean.

[Robert]

Hi All! I finally found time to write back (the last two weeks have been spent on excavations).  Thank You for good words 

Canaan, You have a very interesting coin! I like new and unlisted coins - that's the beauty of antique numismatics, there's always something new.

Arados, That's how I started collecting just from the presented shekel of Tyre, but 10 years ago I bought a bronze coin from Phoenicia as one of my first coins, I will be grateful for the full identification of you as the expert. My area of ​​interest is generally the Levant and the surrounding area, so I am slowly building my collection by buying various coins. In the Phenicia area, I am collecting silver coins for now, if the opportunity arises, unfortunately, larger denominations are usually beyond my financial reach.

Thank You Serendipity! Its very interesting information about Bes, I'd love to see a show on the amulet.

Here is my first coin from Phenicia.

Regards,

Robert

[Arados]

Robert,

Your bronze coin will be difficult to date correctly due to the incomplete era date, the era date reads from right to left and is partially of flan. However, when taking into consideration your coins iconography and control marks I can comfortably place the date to between Aradian year 84-86 or 176-173 B.C.

Please take a look at my coins of the same type, these can be found on my website by scrolling down to série 7; https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/arados-hellenistic-bronze-by-series-era-date/

Reference: Duyrat 2005 nos. 2241-2272. Do you have a copy of Duyrat 2005 ?

The control marks are as follows; left field = Yodh, right field Shin.

[Robert]

Arados thanks for putting the coin in the time frame. You have a great collection and a very helpful site for South Levant coins. Thank you for systematizing this topic. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of Duyrat, numismatic literature is rather hard to find in Poland.

Robert

[Arados]

Hi Robert,

Could I suggest that you possibly revise your attribution in regards to your wonderful Sidon coin; PHOENICIA. Sidon. temp. Ba`alšillem (Sakton) I-Ba’ana, Circa 425-401 BC. 1/16 Shekel.

According to Betlyon; coins depicting three towers, galley and lion below are to be attributed to the Persian King Abd´esmun and date from 410-400 B.C.

This particular type do not have the initials of the Kings name on them; Betlyon believes that Abd´esmun continued to use similar types used by his father Ba´lsallim II but omitted his own initials.

Ref: Betlyon Pg.7 No.10.

I noticed while doing a search for this type that the majority of auction houses have also attributed incorrectly, this oversight is not surprising due to the complexity of the earlier Persian Sidonian issues.

[Altamura]

... PHOENICIA. Sidon. temp. Ba`alšillem (Sakton) I-Ba’ana, Circa 425-401 BC. 1/16 Shekel. ...

I am bit confused, which source are you using for the reigns of the kings of Sidon? Betlyon seems to be a bit outdated , the most recent overview to my knowledge is Josette Elayi, "An updated chronology of the reigns of phoenician kings during the Persian period (539-333 BCE)", Transeuphratène 32, 2006, pp. 11-43:
http://www.digitorient.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/2Updated%20Chronology1.pdf

Better than Betlyon in general is probably J. Elayi and A.G. Elayi, "Le monnayage de la cité phénicienne de Sidon à l’époque perse (Ve-IVe s. av. J.-C.)", Paris 2004, where I unfortunately have no access to  .

Regards

Altamura

[Arados]

I was aware of the updated chronology of the reigns of Sidonian kings, however, I opted for the attribution offered in Betlyon´s publication purely on the basis that he mentions the coin type we are discussing; those coins devoid of the king's initials.

Betlyon wrote the following; A sixteenth seqel, with a similar obverse type, but with only three towers and one lion in the exerque, and the reverse depicting the king shooting the bow, with goat's head and satyr's head, is probably of Ba' lsallim I; such fractions may have also been issued by Abd´esmun without his initials.

Has you can gather from the extract taken from Betlyon's publication, there is much confusion has to whom this type should be attributed too. This, despite the fact that he finally attributes this type to Abd´esmun; ref: Betlyon Pg.7 No.10.

J. Elayi does not offer any updated explanation but states only that; We have shown from the numismatic analysis that the abbreviations of Group III correspond exactly to the names of these kings: B for Baalshillem I, ‹B for Abdamon and B‹ for Baana.

Elayi makes no mention of coins that lack the king's initials in his updated chronology, and the timeline stipulating the reigns of Abd´esmun and Baana are very sketchy to say the least.

I really need to get my hands on a copy of J. Elayi and A.G. Elayi publication, perhaps therein is an in-depth study. 


In the Elayi's chronological update there seems to be specific regnal years for the later kings, so I will go-ahead and update my Sidonian coins on my website.

[Altamura]

... J. Elayi does not offer any updated explanation but states only that; We have shown from the numismatic analysis that the abbreviations of Group III correspond exactly to the names of these kings: B for Baalshillem I, ‹B for Abdamon and B‹ for Baana.

Elayi makes no mention of the coins devoid of king's initials in his updated chronology, and the timeline stipulating the reigns of Abd´esmun and Baana are very sketchy to say the least. ...

You expect things that didn't have been promised  . The article I linked above is about the kings' chronology, not about coins. Therefore the book would be interesting  .

Regards

Altamura

[Arados]

I do like over-explaining myself on occasions 

The updated kings chronology does have a baring in regards to the Sidonian coinages timeline. 

P.S I could not find a copy of "Le monnayage de la cité phénicienne de Sidon à l’époque perse" for sale anywhere, but i did find and ordered the following written by J. Elayi and A.G. Elayi in 2014; Phoenician Coinages, Supplement 18 Volume I and II (Paperback 692 pages).

[Robert]

Arados and Altamura thank you for an interesting discussion and literature recommendation. In that case, I'll take the Betlyon attribution of this 1/16 shekel.

Greetings,

Robert Kh.

[Arados]

Hi Robert,

After reading my recent purchase of Phoenician Coinages, Supplement 18 Volume I and II by J. Elayi and A.G. Elayi, i now completely agree with their updated chronology in regards to the Sidonian kings. I have now rearranged my Sidonian coinages in accordance with Elayi & Elayi references.

There is still uncertainty to which specific kings reign your 1/16 Shekel should be attributed to, but this type can now be narrowed down to between the reigns of Abd' esmun - Ba 'na' and with regnal years 425-402 BC.

Sorry if this has caused you extra work 

https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/sidon/

Regards
Martin

[Altamura]

... I have now rearranged my Sidonian coinages in accordance with Elayi & Elayi references. ...

Great, so I don't have to buy the book (and can continue visiting your valuable website, what I am doing quite often)  .

Regards

Altamura

[Arados]

No need to buy the book Altamura and thanks for your support, it is much appreciated. 

Regards
Martin