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Author Topic: Interesting Elymais Coin  (Read 191 times)

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Offline Virgil H

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Interesting Elymais Coin
« on: November 26, 2023, 02:32:40 pm »
This coin recently sold at auction and it sold for far more than I expected or had seen for a coin of Kamnaskires-Orodes. Here is the description:

Kamnaskires-Orodes. Early-mid 2nd century AD. Æ (16mm, 3.81 g). Diademed facing bust, small tuft of hair on top; to right, star or pellet in crescent above anchor symbol / Uncertain cross-like symbol. Cf. van't Haaff Type 12.3; Alram –; Sunrise –. Brown surfaces, minor porosity, tiny edge split, obverse slightly off center. Near VF.

It is a nice coin. The reverse is what caught my attention. I have never seen one like this. Attributed as Cf. van't Haaff Type 12.3, none like this are illustrated, but van't Haaff says that reverses are not used for these coins for identification. I am not arguing the attribution, but put it here as it may be of interest to some. It certainly caught my eye.

Virgil

Offline Kamnaskires

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Re: Interesting Elymais Coin
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2023, 02:52:02 pm »
It's a fascinating coin that gave me pause when I first spotted it at auction. On November 12th I started a thread at Parthia-L about it. Here are excerpts from that post:

"(The seller) has the coin listed as 'Cf. van’t Haaff type 12.3' – a variant of a Kamnaskires-Orodes AE drachm. There are two documented reverse types associated with the drachms of Kamnaskires-Orodes. One, VH type 12.2, features a small facing bust of Belos, with large hair tufts on each side, surrounded by an Aramaic legend. The other, VH type 12.3, displays a pattern of dashes/lines. Sometimes the dashes/lines are randomly placed, but sometimes they are arranged in an orderly (i.e. parallel) fashion.

The reverse iconography of the (seller's) coin is not only different, it is wildly unexpected for an Elymaean drachm. It features a crude cross surrounded by either cropped pellets or legend. My first thought when I spotted the coin in the auction was that the reverse would be more at home on an AE of the Vandals, Visigoths, or such. It is so unexpected.

Another oddity includes the appearance of the obverse anchor, parts of which seem to be missing in action. I suppose this could be due to a clogged die – but I’ve not seen anything quite like this one.

(...)

I know (the seller) has great numismatists on staff who vet all material before listing. The coin passed muster, obviously. And, of course, anyone who handles a lot of Elymaeans is used to all sorts of weirdness popping up from time to time. But this one is weird to the extreme.

I'm curious if anyone has seen an Elymaean drachm with the same or similar reverse die."


In the replies my post received, Parthia-L members felt the coin was authentic and that, while the reverse is admittedly odd, such things are part and parcel of Elymaean coinage. I had also expressed, in my post [in the "(...)" part above], some concerns I had about the appearance of the coin's edge, as seen in the photo Virgil provides here. But, as another member pointed out, a second photo that the seller provided with the listing (a photo I had not noticed when I initially spotted the coin in the auction) made it clear that the edge is okay. Apparently, it is the lighting and reflection that gives it the suspicious look we see in the photo here - as if halves have been mounted together.

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Interesting Elymais Coin
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2023, 05:49:46 pm »
Kamnaskires,

Thanks for the great response and the excerpts from the Listserv. I figured this would get the attention of folks interested in these coins. I first thought they had to have it wrong, but after thinking about it and re-looking, I figured, why not? LOL. I am not a pricing expert, but I assume the price it sold for is indicative of it's uniqueness. I would have liked to have it for sure, but I didn't bid as I am in a bit of a hold on coin purchases for a while. I also noticed the oddities in the anchor and that added to the uncertainty I had about it. Very cool coin.

Virgil

 

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