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When Larissa ceased minting the federal coins it shared with other Thessalian towns and adopted its own coinage in the late fifth century B.C., it chose local types for its coins. The obverse depicted the local fountain nymph Larissa, for whom the town was named, probably inspired by the famous coins of Kimon depicting the Syracusan nymph Arethusa. The reverse depicted a horse in various poses.GS111232. Silver drachm, cf. BCD Thessaly 1432, BCD Thessaly II 316 ff., SNG Cop 121; HGC 4 454, VF, toned, scratches, encrustations, rev. off center, weight 4.820 g, maximum diameter 19.7 mm, die axis 315o, Larissa mint, c. 356 - 320 B.C.; obverse head of nymph Larissa facing slightly left, wearing pendant earring and necklace, hair is combed back behind ampyx; reverse horse crouching right, left foreleg raised, preparing to lie down, ΛAPIΣ/AIΩN in two lines above and in exergue;
Crusaders, Principality of Antioch, Bohemond IV, 1201 - 1233
Bohemond IV the One-Eyed, was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. The dying Raymond III of Tripoli offered his county to Bohemond's elder brother, Raymond, but their father Bohemond III of Antioch sent Bohemond to Tripoli in late 1187. Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, conquered the County in summer 1188, save for the capital and two fortresses. The county was returned in the truce that Bohemond's father made with Saladin in 1192. After his father died Bohemond seized Antioch. He made an alliance with Ayyubid emir of Aleppo and the Seljuq sultan of Rum, who often invaded Cilicia in the following years, preventing Leo I of Cilicia from attacking Antioch. Leo I supported a rebellion in Tripoli, which Bohemond crushed, but he lost an eye fighting. Bohemond confiscated the property of the Hospitallers, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX. He tried to secure Cilicia for his younger son, Philip, but Constantine of Baberon, who had administered Cilicia, imprisoned Philip and Philip was murdered the following year. Bohemond's excommunication was lifted shortly before his death when he made an agreement with the Hospitallers.CR111856. Bronze fractional denier, Malloy Crusaders p. 222, 88a, VF, nice green patina, highlighting red earthen deposits, weight 1.011 g, maximum diameter 16.2 mm, die axis 270o, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, probably first reign, 1201 - 1216; obverse +AIITIOCHE, large B, dotted inner and outer borders; reverse +AIITIOCHIA, cross pattée, dotted inner border; very nice for the type; very rare;
Kings of Thrace, Thracian Kainoi, Mostis, c. 139 - 100 B.C.
Mostis, reigned c. 139 - 100 B.C., was king of the Thracian Kainoi (Caeni) tribe in South East Thrace to Strandzha mountain, territory in Bulgaria and Turkey today. He king is best known from his coinage, which includes bronze coins and rare tetradrachms.GB111738. Bronze AE 25, SNG BM 312, Youroukova 134, HGC 3 1729, SNG Stancomb -, SNG Cop -, BMC Thrace -, gF, large edge split/crack, rev. countermark, weight 5.818 g, maximum diameter 25.1 mm, die axis 0o, c. 125 B.C.; obverse jugate heads of Zeus and Hera right; reverse eagle standing left on fulmen (thunderbolt), monogram above right, BAΣIΛEΩΣ above, MOΣTIΔOΣ below; countermark: monogram; scarce;
Kingdom of Bithynia, Prusias II Kynegos, 185 - 149 B.C.
Prusias II, son of Prusias I, inherited his father's name but not his character. He first joined with Eumenes of Pergamon in war against Pontus, but later turned on Pergamon and invaded. He was defeated and Pergamon demanded heavy reparations. Prusias sent his son Nicomedes II to Rome to ask for aid in reducing the payments. When Nicomedes revolted, Prusias II was murdered in the temple of Zeus at Nikomedia.
Like satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being wild, lusty, overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, violent when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents. Chiron, by contrast, was intelligent, civilized and kind. He was not related directly to the other centaurs. He was the son of the Titan Cronus and the Oceanid Philyr. The other centaurs were spawned by the cloud Nephele on the slopes of Mount Pelion. Apollo taught the young Chiron the art of medicine, herbs, music, archery, hunting, gymnastics and prophecy, and made him rise above his beastly nature. He became a renowned teacher who mentored many of the greatest heroes of myth including the Argonauts Jason and Peleus, the physician Asklepios, and Achilles of Troy.GB99271. Bronze AE 20, SNG Cop 639; BMC Pontus p. 211, 9; Rec Gen I p. 226, 26; HGC 7 629; SGCV II 7266, aVF, dark patina, spots of corrosion, reverse edge beveled, weight 5.240 g, maximum diameter 20.3 mm, die axis 0o, Nikomedia (Izmit, Turkey) mint, c. 180 - 150 B.C.; obverse head of young Dionysos right, wreathed with ivy; reverse centaur Chiron standing right, playing lyre, his animal skin cloak flying behind,
monogram inner right under raised foreleg, BAΣIΛEΩΣ downward on right, ΠPOYΣIOY downward on left; Kingdom of Bosporus, Rheskuporis V, 242 - 276 A.D.
The Bosporan Kingdom (or Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus) was in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, the present-day Strait of Kerch (it was not named after the Bosphorus beside Istanbul). The mixed population adopted Greek language and civilization. The prosperity of the kingdom was based on the export of wheat, fish and slaves. The kingdom's golden age was 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. At the end of the 2nd century A.D., King Sauromates II inflicted a critical defeat on the Scythians and expanded his state to include the entire Crimea. It was the longest surviving Roman client kingdom, lasting until it was overrun by the Huns c. 375 A.D.RP99912. Billon stater, Frolova BAR 166 pp. 137-138, pl. IV, 12–27, pl. LXXXI, 21-22; RPC Online IX 179; MacDonald Bosporus 608/1 (Rhescuporis IV); Anokhin 697 (same), VF/gVF, small edge cracks, weight 7.200 g, maximum diameter 19.8 mm, 249 - 250 A.D.; obverse BACIΛEWC PHCKOYΠOPIΔ, diademed and draped bust of Rheskuporis right; reverse laureate and draped bust of Roman emperor (Philip I or Trajan Decius) right, club handle upward before (control), ΣΜΦ ([year] 546 [of the Pontic Era]);
Mesembria, Thrace, 300 - 250 B.C.
The wheel on the reverse is depicted with a degree of perspective, which is unusual on ancient coins.
(sampi) was an archaic Greek letter used between the 7th and the middle of the 5th centuries B.C., probably to denote some type of a sibilant (hissing) ΣΣ or TΣ sound, and was abandoned when the sound disappeared from Greek. The name sampi is of medieval origin. The letter's original name in antiquity is not known. Its use has been attested at the Ionian cities Miletus, Ephesos, Halikarnassos, Erythrae, and Teos, at the Ionian colony of Massalia in Gaul, on the island of Samos, and at Kyzikos, Mysia. At Mesembria, on the Black Sea coast of Thrace, it was used on coins in an abbreviation of the city's name, spelled META. In a famous painted black figure amphora from c. 615 B.C., known as the "Nessos amphora," the inscribed name of the eponymous centaur Nessus is rendered in the irregular spelling NETOΣ.GB111740. Bronze AE 20, SNG Stancomb 229, SNG Cop 658, SNG BM 276 var. (helmet left), aVF, weight 5.353 g, maximum diameter 20.4 mm, die axis 90o, Mesambria (Nesebar, Bulgaria) mint, 300 - 250 B.C.; obverse Thracian helmet with cheek guard right; reverse wheel with hub and four spokes (or shield?), METAM/BPIANΩN (T = archaic Greek letter sampi = ΣΣ) divided, above and below; rare; $90.00 (€82.80) Lysimacheia, Thracian Chersonese, c. 245 - 240 B.C.
About 250 B.C. the Seleukid king Antiochos II invaded Thrace. About 245 B.C., after Antiochos was defeated, Lysimachia overstruck his bronze coins en mass, undoubtedly re-monetizing the demonetized Seleukid coins for a fee.
The Antiochos II undertype obverse was the diademed head of Apollo right. The reverse, a tripod above anchor, BASILEWS right, ANTIOXOY left, monograms outer left and right. Although traditionally attributed to Sardes, Houghton and Lorber suggest it may have been struck in Thrace.GB111735. Bronze AE 19, MacDonald Overstruck p. 117 - 118, 91; cf. SNG Cop 917; BMC Thrace p. 195, 4; HGC 3.2 1500 (S); undertype: Houghton-Lorber I pp. 185, 525 ff., aVF, green patina, overstruck with strong undertype effects, weight 4.885 g, maximum diameter 19.4 mm, die axis 0o, Lysimacheia (Eksemil, Turkey) mint, c. 245 - 240 B.C.; obverse head of Herakles right, clad in Nemean lion scalp headdress; undertype: traces of inscription, feet of tripod and anchor remain; reverse ΛYΣIMAXIΩN, Nike standing left, holding wreath and palm branch; undertype: strong face of Apollo remains;
Kyzikos, Mysia, 2nd - 1st Century B.C.
In 74 B.C. Cyzicus, allied with Rome, withstood a siege by King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Rome rewarded this loyalty with territory and with municipal independence which lasted until the reign of Tiberius. When it was incorporated into the Empire, it was made the capital of Mysia, afterward of Hellespontus. Cyzicus was one of the great cities of the ancient world.GB111737. Bronze AE 18, SNG BnF 465; SNG Cop IV 69.; SNGvA I 1236.; SNG Tüb IV 2259.; BMC Mysia p. 39, 152; Lindgren I 220, aVF, light deposits, weight 5.497 g, maximum diameter 17.7 mm, die axis 0o, Kyzikos (Kapu Dagh, Turkey) mint, 2nd - 1st Century B.C.; obverse head of Kore Soteira (the savior maiden) right, wreathed with grain; reverse KY/ZI in two lines, divided by monogram at center, all inside oak wreath, within a shallow round incuse;
Maroneia, Thrace, c. 189 - 49 B.C.
Maroneia was on the Aegean coast about midway between the mouths of the Hebrus and the Nestus rivers. The city was named after Maron, sometimes identified as a son of Dionysos, who in the Odyssey gives Odysseus the wine with which he intoxicates Polyphemos. Maroneia was famous for its wine, which was esteemed everywhere and was said to possess the odor of nectar.GB111733. Bronze AE 21, cf. Schönert-Geiss Maroneia 1678; HGC 3.2 1540 BMC Thrace p. 131, 83 ff. (Apollo); SNG Cop 635, VF/F, green patina, obv. off center, part of edge ragged, weight 8.937 g, maximum diameter 24.3 mm, die axis 30o, Maroneia (Maroneia-Sapes, Greece) mint, c. 189 - 49 B.C.; obverse young male head right (Dionysus?); reverse Asklepios standing slightly left, head left, serpent-entwined staff in right hand, left hand on hip, two monograms arranged vertically upper left, MAΡΩNITΩN downward on right;
Antoninus Pius, August 138 - 7 March 161 A.D., Ascalon, Philistia, Judaea
The Philistines conquered Canaanite Ashkelon about 1150 B.C. and it became one of the five Philistine cities that were constantly warring with the Israelites and the Kingdom of Judah. The last of the Philistine cities to hold out against Nebuchadnezzar, it finally fell in 604 B.C.; burned and destroyed, its people exiled, the Philistine era ended. Ashkelon was rebuilt, dominated by Persian culture. After the Alexander's conquest, Ashkelon was an important Hellenistic seaport. The Jews drove the Greeks out of the region during the Maccabean Revolt, which lasted from 167 to 160 B.C. In 63 B.C. the area was incorporated into the Roman Republic. Cleopatra VII used Ashkelon as her refuge when her brother and sister exiled her in 49 B.C. The city remained loyal to Rome during the First Jewish Revolt.RY110574. Bronze AE 22, cf. Yashin 200 - 202; RPC IV.3 T10145/2 (2 spec., one with this bust); Rosenberger I 169; BMC Palestine -, Sofaer -, aF, well centered, red-brown patina, weight 11.076 g, maximum diameter 21.8 mm, die axis 0o, Askalon (Ashqelon, Israel) mint, 141 - 142 A.D.; obverse CEBA(?), laureate draped, and cuirassed bust right, short beard; reverse ACKAΛW, Tyche-Astarte standing slightly left on galley, turreted head left, standard in right hand, apluster in left hand, incense altar over E left, dove standing left over EMC (year 245) on right; Coin Archives records only one specimen of the type at auction in the last two decades; extremely rare;
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