| Most viewed - 02. Greek Coinage by City |
Attica, Athens912 viewsAthens, ca. 449-413 BC. Silver tetradrachm.
Denomination : Silver tetradrachm.
Size : 23.7 x 24.3 mm Weight : 17.20 grams.
Reference : Sear-2526.
Grade : gVF and better centered than usual with a significant part of the crest showing.
Obverse : Head of Athena right.
Reverse : Owl standing right, with an olive sprig and crescent moon over its shoulder, with a AQE to the right.
Ex-Calgary Coin 1150ecoli
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ATTICA, Athens461 viewsATTICA, Athens. Circa 168/5-50 BC. AR New Style Tetradrachm (30mm, 16.74 gm). Struck circa 136/5 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / A-QE, owl standing right on amphora; magistrates MI-KI and QEO-FRA; Nike in quadriga right in right field, M on amphora, SW below amphora; all within wreath. Cf. Thompson 315-323 (unlisted dies). EF, lightly toned. Ex -CNG STORE 895ecoli
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Thrace, Cherronesos.375 viewsThrace, Cherronesos. Ca. 400-350 B.C. AR tetrobol (13 mm, 2.40 g). Forepart of a lion right, looking back / Quadripartite incuse; monogram and letter in two quadrants. McClean 4122. EF. Ex-John C Lavender G50
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Macedonia, Amphipolis255 viewsAmphipolis was an ancient city of Macedonia, on the east bank of the river Strymon, where it emerges from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the sea.
Originally a Thracian town, known as Ennea Odoi ("Nine Roads"), it was colonized by Athenians with other Greeks under Hagnon in 437 BC, previous attempts--in 497, 476 (Schol. Aesch. De fals. leg. 31) and 465--having been unsuccessful.
In 424 BC it surrendered to the Spartan Brasidas without resistance, owing to the gross negligence of the historian Thucydides, who was with the fleet at Thasos. In 422 BC Cleon led an unsuccessful expedition to recover it, in which both he and Brasidas were slain (see Battle of Amphipolis).
The importance of Amphipolis in ancient times was due to the fact that it commanded the bridge over the Strymon, and consequently the route from northern Greece to the Hellespont; it was important also as a depot for the gold and silver mines of the district, and for timber, which was largely used in shipbuilding. This importance is shown by the fact that, in the peace of Nicias (421 BC), its restoration to Athens is made the subject of a special provision, and that about 417, this provision not having been observed, at least one expedition was made by Nicias with a view to its recovery.
Philip of Macedon made a special point of occupying it (357), and under the early empire it became the headquarters of the Roman propraetor, though it was recognized as independent. Many inscriptions, coins, etc., have been found here, and traces of the ancient fortifications and of a Roman aqueduct are visible.
Alexander III, 336-323 BC, Silver Tetradrachm, Price-113, struck 323-320BC at Amphipolis, 17.12 grams, 25.3 mm. Choice VF
Obv: Head of Herakles wearing lion skin headdress
Rev: Zeus enthroned with sceptre and eagle, parallel legs, Macedonian helmet in left field
Well centered and struck with a full EF reverse. Attractive lifetime issue of Alexander III 'The Great'. G5
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LUCANIA, Velia254 viewsLUCANIA, Velia. Circa 365-340 BC. AR Nomos (23mm, 7.57 gm). Head of Athena left, wearing Attic helmet decorated with a griffin; O behind neck / Lion walking right; above. Williams 263 II (O151'/R203); SNG ANS 1296-7 (same dies); HN Italy 1284. VF, struck with deteriorating dies. Ex-Cng B10DV15Eecoli
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CALABRIA, Tarentum204 viewsTaranto was founded in 706 BC by Dorian immigrants as the only Spartan colony, and its origin is peculiar: the founders were Partheniae, sons of unmarried Spartan women and perioeci (free men, but not citizens of Sparta); these unions were decreed by the Spartans to increase the number of soldiers (only the citizens of Sparta could become soldiers) during the bloody Messenian Wars, but later they were nullified, and the sons were forced to leave. According to the legend Phalanthus, the Parthenian leader, went to Delphi to consult the oracle and received the puzzling answer that he should found a city where rain fell from a clear sky. After all attempts to capture a suitable place to found a colony failed, he became despondent, convinced that the oracle had told him something that was impossible, and was consoled by his wife. She laid his head in her lap and herself became disconsolate. When Phalanthus felt her tears splash onto his forehead he at last grasped the meaning of the oracle, for his wife's name meant clear sky. The harbour of Taranto in Apulia was nearby and he decided this must be the new home for the exiles. The Partheniae arrived and founded the city, naming it Taras after the son of the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and the local nymph Satyrion. A variation says Taras was founded in 707 BC by some Spartans, who, the sons of free women and enslaved fathers, were born during the Messenian War. According to other sources, Heracles founded the city. Another tradition indicates Taras himself as the founder of the city; the symbol of the Greek city (as well as of the modern city) is Taras riding a dolphin. Taranto increased its power, becoming a commercial power and a sovereign city of Magna Graecia, ruling over the Greek colonies in southern Italy.
In its beginning, Taranto was a monarchy, probably modelled on the one ruling over Sparta; according to Herodotus (iii 136), around 492 BC king Aristophilides ruled over the city. The expansion of Taranto was limited to the coast because of the resistance of the populations of inner Apulia. In 472 BC, Taranto signed an alliance with Rhegion, to counter the Messapii, Peuceti, and Lucanians (see Iapygian-Tarentine Wars), but the joint armies of the Tarentines and Rhegines were defeated near Kailìa (modern Ceglie), in what Herodotus claims to be the greatest slaughter of Greeks in his knowledge, with 3,000 Reggians and uncountable Tarentines killed. In 466 BC, Taranto was again defeated by the Iapyges; according to Aristotle, who praises its government, there were so many aristocrats killed that the democratic party was able to get the power, to remove the monarchy, inaugurate a democracy, and expel the Pythagoreans. Like Sparta, Tarentum was an aristocratic republic, but became democratic when the ancient nobility dwindled.
However, the rise of the democratic party did not weaken the bonds of Taranto and her mother-city Sparta. In fact, Taranto supported the Peloponnesian side against Athens in the Peloponnesian War, refused anchorage and water to Athens in 415 BC, and even sent ships to help the Peloponnesians, after the Athenian disaster in Sicily. On the other side, Athens supported the Messapians, in order to counter Taranto's power.
In 432 BC, after several years of war, Taranto signed a peace treaty with the Greek colony of Thurii; both cities contributed to the foundation of the colony of Heraclea, which rapidly fell under Taranto's control. In 367 BC Carthage and the Etruscans signed a pact to counter Taranto's power in southern Italy.
Under the rule of its greatest statesman, strategist and army commander-in-chief, the philosopher and mathematician Archytas, Taranto reached its peak power and wealth; it was the most important city of the Magna Graecia, the main commercial port of southern Italy, it produced and exported goods to and from motherland Greece and it had the biggest army and the largest fleet in southern Italy. However, with the death of Archytas in 347 BC, the city started a slow, but ineluctable decline; the first sign of the city's decreased power was its inability to field an army, since the Tarentines preferred to use their large wealth to hire mercenaries, rather than leave their lucrative trades.
In 343 BC Taranto appealed for aid against the barbarians to its mother city Sparta, in the face of aggression by the Brutian League. In 342 BC, Archidamus III, king of Sparta, arrived in Italy with an army and a fleet to fight the Lucanians and their allies. In 338 BC, during the Battle of Manduria, the Spartan and Tarentine armies were defeated in front of the walls of Manduria (nowadays in province of Taranto), and Archidamus was killed.
In 333 BC, still troubled by their Italic neighbours, the Tarentines called the Epirotic king Alexander Molossus to fight the Bruttii, Samnites, and Lucanians, but he was later (331 BC) defeated and killed in the battle of Pandosia (near Cosenza). In 320 BC, a peace treaty was signed between Taranto and the Samnites. In 304 BC, Taranto was attacked by the Lucanians and asked for the help of Agathocles tyrant of Syracuse, king of Sicily. Agathocles arrived in southern Italy and took control of Bruttium (present-day Calabria), but was later called back to Syracuse. In 303 BC-302 BC Cleonymus of Sparta established an alliance with Taranto against the Lucanians, and fought against them.
Arnold J. Toynbee, a classical scholar who taught at Oxford and other prestigious English universities and who did original and definitive work on Sparta (e.g. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xxxiii 1913 p. 246-275) seemed to have some doubts about Tarentum (Taranto) being of Spartan origin.
In his book The Study of History vol. iii p. 52 he wrote: "...Tarentum, which claimed a Spartan origin; but, even if this claim was in accordance with historical fact..." The tentative phrasing seems to imply that the evidence is neither conclusive or even establishes a high degree of probability of the truth that Tarentum (Taranto) was a Spartan colony.
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 302-281 BC. AR Drachm (17mm, 2.91 gm). Helmeted head of Athena right, helmet decorated with Skylla hurling a stone / Owl standing right head facing, on olive branch; Vlasto 1058; SNG ANS 1312; HN Italy 1015. VF.
Ex-Cng eAuction 103 Lot 2 190/150ecoli
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BOEOTIA, Thebes186 viewsIn the late 6th century BC the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians, who helped the small village of Plataea to maintain its independence against them, and in 506 repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). Though a contingent of 700 was sent to Thermopylae and remained there with Leonidas until just before the last stand when they surrendered to the Persians[1], the governing aristocracy soon after joined King Xerxes I of Persia with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the Boeotian League, and an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the Delphic amphictyony was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens.
In 457 Sparta, needing a counterpoise against Athens in central Greece, reversed her policy and reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of the country (457–447). In the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, embittered by the support which Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, which they vainly attempted to reduce in 431, were firm allies of Sparta, which in turn helped them to besiege Plataea and allowed them to destroy the town after its capture in 427 BC. In 424 at the head of the Boeotian levy they inflicted a severe defeat upon an invading force of Athenians at the Battle of Delium, and for the first time displayed the effects of that firm military organization which eventually raised them to predominant power in Greece.
After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, finding that Sparta intended to protect the states which they desired to annex, broke off the alliance. In 404 they had urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in 403 they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the battles of Haliartus (395) and Coronea (394) they again proved their rising military capacity by standing their ground against the Spartans. The result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from its political control. Its power was further curtailed in 382, when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup-de-main. Three years later the Spartan garrison was expelled, and a democratic constitution definitely set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself the best in Greece. Some years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 in a remarkable victory over the pick of the Spartans at Leuctra. The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of the oppressed. They carried their arms into Peloponnesus and at the head of a large coalition permanently crippled the power of Sparta. Similar expeditions were sent to Thessaly and Macedon to regulate the affairs of those regions.
However the predominance of Thebes was short-lived; the states which she protected refused to subject themselves permanently to her control, and the renewed rivalry of Athens, which had joined with Thebes in 395 in a common fear of Sparta, but since 387 had endeavoured to maintain the balance of power against her ally, prevented the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of Epaminondas at Mantinea in 362 the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In a war with the neighbouring state of Phocis (356–346) it could not even maintain its predominance in central Greece, and by inviting Philip II of Macedon to crush the Phocians it extended that monarch's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. A revulsion of feeling was completed in 338 by the orator Demosthenes, who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance upon Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive battle of Chaeronea and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of her dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in 335 against his son Alexander was punished by Macedon and other Greek states by the severe sacking of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar.
BOEOTIA, Thebes. Circa 395-338 BC. AR Stater (21mm, 11.98 gm). Boeotian shield / Amphora; magistrate AM-FI. Hepworth, "The 4th Century BC Magistrate Coinage of the Boiotian Confederacy," in Nomismatika Xronika (1998), 2; BMC Central Greece -. Fine.
Ex-Cng eAuction 105, Lot: 34 225/200
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MYSIA, Parion177 viewsMYSIA, Parion. Circa 4th century B.C. AR Hemidrachm (12mm, 2.31 gm). Facing gorgoneion, tounge protruding / Bull standing left, head turned back; PI and star below. SNG France 1367-72. VF, toned. Ex-CNG B69V9Becoli
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CARIA. Rhodos, Rhodes176 viewsISLANDS off CARIA. Rhodos, Rhodes. Circa 125-88 BC. AR Hemidrachm (14mm, 1.25 gm). Magistrate Melantas. Radiate head of Helios facing slightly right / P-O, rose; MELANTAS above, grape bunch to right; all within incuse square. Jenkins, Rhodian, Group D, Series 98; cf. SNG Helsinki 668; SNG Copenhagen -. Near EF. Ex-CNG(295) B127V127ecoli
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LUCANIA, Thourioi169 viewsGR7
Thurii was one of the latest of all the Greek colonies in this part of Italy, not having been founded until nearly 70 years after the fall of Sybaris. The site of that city had remained desolate for a period of 58 years after its destruction by the Crotoniats; when at length, in 452 BC, a number of the Sybarite exiles and their descendants made an attempt to establish themselves again on the spot, under the guidance of some leaders of Thessalian origin; and the new colony rose so rapidly to prosperity that it excited the jealousy of the Crotoniats, who, in consequence, expelled the new settlers a little more than 5 years after the establishment of the colony. The fugitive Sybarites first appealed for support to Sparta, but without success: their application to the Athenians was more successful, and that people determined to send out a fresh colony, at the same time that they reinstated the settlers who had been lately expelled from thence. A body of Athenian colonists was accordingly sent out by Pericles, under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus; but the number of Athenian citizens was small, the greater part of those who took part in the colony being collected from various parts of Greece. Among them were two celebrated names – Herodotus the historian, and the orator Lysias, both of whom appear to have formed part of the original colony. The laws of the new colony were established by the sophist Protagoras at the request of Pericles
LUCANIA, Thourioi. Circa 400-350 BC. AR Triobol (11mm, 1.18 gm). Helmeted head of Athena right, helmeted decorated with Skylla / Bull butting left; fish in exergue. SNG ANS 1138-47; HN Italy 1806. VF. Ex-CNG BB0VFAecoli
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AKARNANIA, Ambracia161 views360-338 BC. 20mm. Helmeted head of Athena left, name of magistrate above / Pegasus flying left, A below. SG 1962v., VF. Very pleasing late classical style. Ex-Sayles V113ecoli
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AKARNANIA, Anaktorion.160 viewsAKARNANIA, Anaktorion
Founding:
Kypselos & Gorgos, 7th century BC
The Corinthians sent by Cypselus and Gorgus took possession of this shore and also advanced as far as the Ambracian Gulf; and both Ambracia and Anactorium were colonized at this time. (Strabo 10,2,8)
AKARNANIA, Anaktorion. Circa 350-300 BC. AR Stater (20mm, 7.89 gm). Pegasos flying left; AN monogram below / Helmeted head of Athena left; NA[Y] to left, AN monogram and ring with pendants behind. Pegasi II pg. 504, 73. Near VF.
Ex-CNG eAuction 105, Lot: 33 116/150ecoli
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CARTHAGE157 viewsCARTHAGE. Circa 400-350 BC. Æ 16mm (2.59 gm). Wreathed head of Tanit left, wearing pendant necklace / Horse standing right, palm behind; pellet above, trefoil of pellets before. Alexandropoulos 18f; SNG Copenhagen 119; Müller 167. Nice VF, green patina. Ex-CNG(77) B54V64ecoli
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Troas, Gergis155 viewsTroas, Gergis (4th cent. BC).
Obv.: Laureate head of the Sibyl Herophile three-quarter facing to right.
Rev.: Sphinx seated to right.
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Troas, Gergis155 viewsTroas, Gergis (4th cent. BC).
Obv.: Laureate head of the Sibyl Herophile three-quarter facing to right.
Rev.: Sphinx seated to right.
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AKARNANIA, Leukas141 viewsAKARNANIA, Leukas. Circa 345-307 BC. AR Stater (20mm, 7.66 gm). Pegasos flying right; L below / Helmeted head of Athena left; small L and hippocamp behind. Pegasi II pg. 424, 118; SNG Copenhagen -. VF
Ex-CNG eAuction 104, Lot: 47 150/200 ecoli
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Egypt, Alexandria141 viewsPtolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemy VI Philometor and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon), c. 170 - 164 B.C.
Two eagles in the reverse may symbolize joint ruleecoli
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Thrace, Mesembria139 viewsThrace, Mesembria.
Originally a Thracian settlement, known as Menebria, the town became a Greek colony when settled by Dorians from Megara at the beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading centre from then on and a rival of Apollonia (Sozopol). It remained the only Dorian colony along the Black Sea coast, as the rest were typical Ionian colonies. At 425-424 BC the town joined the Delian League, under the leadership of Athens. Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, and an agora. A wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th century BC and gold coins since the 3rd century BC. The town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage.
GR4 Circa Fourth Century BC. AR Diobol (1.18 gm) 11.25 mm. Crested helmet / Radiate wheel of four spokes; M-E-T-A within. SNG BM Black Sea 268. Very fine. ecoli
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TROAS, Birytis133 viewsTROAS, Birytis 300-250 B.C. AE 1.23 g. Bearded head of Kabiros l., wearing pileus. Rev. Î’-Ι/Ρ-Î¥ Club, whole in laurel wreath. SNG Munich 170. SNG Tübingen 2574.ecoli
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SICILY, Akragas127 viewsSICILY, Akragas. Before 406 BC. Æ Tetras (20mm, 9.16 gm). Eagle right, clutching dead hare in its talons / Crab; three pellets and crayfish left below. Calciati I pg. 180, 54; SNG ANS 1034ff.. Near VF/VF, dark green patina, old gouge in obverse patina. From the Tony Hardy Collection. Ex-CNG B8FVAFecoli
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Mesembria, Thrace: AE 21 / Athena103 viewsMesembria, Thrace: AE 21 / Athena
2nd c. BC. Diademed head of female right / Athena Promachos standing left, hurling spear. SG 1676, VF with green patina. Nicely centered on a compact flan. Ex-Sayles g29ecoli
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Ionia, Miletos103 viewsIonia, Miletos, late 6th-early 4th century BC, AR 1/12th Stater (1.16 gm.). Obv.: Head lion left. Rev.: Star. SNG Helsinki II , 267. Attractive very fine. g23ecoli
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SICILY, Syracuse102 viewsSICILY, Syracuse. Circa 425-415 BC. Æ Onkia (11mm, 0.80 gm). Female head right / Octopus. Calciati I pg. 29, 9; SNG ANS 383; SNG Morcom 679. VF, dark brown patina. EX-CNG B58V78ecoli
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PAMPHYLIA, Aspendos102 viewsPAMPHYLIA, Aspendos. Circa 380-325 BC.
Greek ASPENDOS, modern BELKIS, ancient city of Pamphylia, now in southwestern Turkey. It is noted for its Roman ruins. A wide range of coinage from the 5th century BC onward attests to the city's wealth. Aspendus was occupied by Alexander the Great in 333 BC and later passed from Pergamene to Roman rule in 133 BC. According to Cicero, it was plundered of many of its artistic treasures by the provincial governor Verres. The hilltop ruins of the city include a basilica, an agora, and some rock-cut tombs of Phrygian design. A huge theatre, one of the finest in the world, is carved out of the northeast flank of the hill. It was designed by the Roman architect Zeno in honour of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned AD 161-180)
The present-day Belkiz was once situated on the banks of the River Eurymedon, now known as the Kopru Cay. In ancient times it was navigable; in fact, according to Strabo, the Persians anchored their ships there in 468 B.C., before the epic battle against the Delian Confederation.
It is commonly believed that Aspendos was founded by colonists from Argos. One thing is certain: right from the beginning of the 5th century, Aspendos and Side were the only two towns to mint coins. An important river trading port, it was occupied by Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. because it refused to pay tribute to the Macedonian king. It became an ally of Rome after the Battle of Sipylum in 190 B.C. and entered the Roman Empire.
The town is built against two hills: on the "great hill" or Buyuk Tepe stood the acropolis, with the agora, basilica, nymphaeum and bouleuterion or "council chamber". Of all these buildings, which were the very hub of the town, only ruins remain. About one kilometer north of the town, one can still see the remains of the Roman aqueduct that supplied Aspendos with water, transporting it from a distance of over twenty kilometers, and which still maintains its original height.
Aspendos' theatre is the best preserved Roman theatre anywhere in Turkey. It was designed during the 2nd century A.D. by the architect Zeno, son of Theodore and originally from Aspendos. Its two benefactors— the brothers Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus —dedicated it to the Imperial family as can be seen from certain engravings on the stones. Discovered in 1871 by Count Landskonski during one of his trips to the region, the theatre is in excellent condition thanks to the top quality of the calcareous stone and to the fact that the Seljuks turned it into a palace, reinforcing the entire north wing with bricks. Its thirty-nine tiers of steps—96 meters long—could seat about twenty thousand spectators. At the top, the elegant gallery and covered arcade sheltered spectators. One is immediately struck by the integrity and architectural distinction of the stage building, consisting of a Irons scacnae which opens with five doors onto the proscenium and scanned by two orders of windows which also project onto the outside wall. There is an amusing anecdote about the construction of this theatre—in which numerous plays are still held, given its formidable acoustics — and the aqueduct just outside the town: in ancient times, the King of Aspendos had a daughter of rare beauty named Semiramis, contended by two architects; the king decided to marry her off to the one who built an important public work in the shortest space of time. The two suitors thus got down to work and completed two public works at the same time: the theatre and the aquaduct. As the sovereign liked both buildings, he thought it right and just to divide his daughter in half. Whereas the designer of the aquaduct accepted the Solomonic division, the other preferred to grant the princess wholly to her rival. In this way, the sovereign understood that the designer of the theatre had not only built a magnificent theatre— which was the pride of the town—, but would also be an excellent husband to his daughter; consequently he granted him her hand in marriage
AR Stater (21mm, 10.76 g). Two wrestlers grappling; DA between / Slinger to right; triskeles in field. Tekin Series D; SNG France 87 (same reverse die). Ex-CNG B9FV15Eecoli
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THESSALY, Pharsalos100 viewsTHESSALY, Pharsalos. Circa 400-344 BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 5.53 gm). Helmeted head of Athena right / Warrior on horseback right, holding mace over shoulder. SNG Copenhagen 220-1; BMC Thessaly pg. 43, 6. Fine. Ex-Cng B5AV6Eecoli
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CARTHAGE94 viewsCARTHAGE. Circa 370-340 BC. Æ 13mm (1.37 gm). Sicilian mint. Wreathed male head left / Horse prancing right. Calciati III pg. 377, 4; SNG Copenhagen 98. VF, dark brown, green and red patina, some roughness. Scarce. EX-CNG B33V4B
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Philip II, 359-336 BC 84 viewsPhilip II, 359-336 BC, Bronze AE18, SNG ANS-842, struck 359-336BC at Macedonia, 6.23 grams, 17.3 mm. Near EF
Obv: Head of Apollo facing right, hair bound with tainia
Rev: Naked youth on horse prancing right, legend above and monogram below
A lovely example with a light green patina and of an earlier than normal style. Just a touch of strike weakness at the very center of both surfaces prevent this piece from being a full EF. Overall quite attractive and desireable. Ex-Glenn Woods
Check
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SICILY, Leontini79 viewsSICILY, Leontini. Circa 476-466 BC. AR Litra (9mm, 0.55 g, 4h). Facing lion’s scalp / Barley grain. Boehringer, Münzgeschichte 19; SNG ANS 215; HGC 2, 687. VF, toned, minor roughness. From the Daniel Koppersmith Collection.ecoli
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Ptolemaic Kingdom. Ptolemy III Euergetes.78 viewsPtolemaic Kingdom. Ptolemy III Euergetes. 246-222 B.C. Æ drachm (43 mm, 60.36 g, 11 h). Alexandria. Head of Zeus Ammon right wearing taenia and Osiris cap / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; to left, cornucopia; between legs, XP monogram. Svoronos 964; SNG Copenhagen 171-2. VF, multihued rough brown, black and green patina. ecoli
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Pergamene Kingdom70 viewsPergamene Kingdom, 282 - 133 B.C.
The regal bronze coinage of Pergamon is all inscribed in the name of the dynasty's founder, Philetairos. Attribution to specific reigns is not yet possible.
Bronze AE 15, cf. SGCV II 7228 (magistrate on obverse), aVF, Pergamon mint,282 - 133 B.C.;
obverse helmeted head of Athena right, magistrate's name below; reverse ΦIΛETAIΡOΥ, coiled snake right;ecoli
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Aiolis, Temnos66 viewsAiolis, Temnos, 350-300 B.C.
Obv: Head of Dionysos right, head wreathed with ivy.
Rx: T - A to left and right of bunch of grapes on tendrilled vine.
Cf. SG 4230
CNG Bulk Lotecoli
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LUCANIA, Metapontion66 viewsLUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 300-250 BC. Æ 12mm (1.71 g). Radiate head of Helios facing / Three barley grains radiating from center; race-torch between two grains. Johnston Bronze 53; HN Italy 1689. Near VF, brown patina.
Ex-CNG(62)
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Paphlagonia, Sinope64 viewsobv: head of Artemis right wearing stephane; quiver and bow over shoulder
rev: SINW-PHS, tripod with lebes
BMC 51 (plate XXIII, 5)
Checkecoli
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Sarmatia Olbia63 viewsAttribution: Dittrich 96
Date: 69-96 AD
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right, caduceus counterstamp
Reverse: Sea Eagle standing right on back of Dolphin right
Checkecoli
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Mysia, Astyra62 viewsAstyra, Mysia
Tissaphernes, satrap 400 - 395 BC
Head of Athena r.
TISSA
Tissaphernes riding r.
Cahn AA 1985, 589. Not in Aulock, BMC, Copenhagen, Lindgren. ecoli
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Thessalonika, Macedonia61 viewsMacedonia, Thessalonika c. 168 BC and later
Dionysos with wreath of ivy / Goat standing right A / O / N IKH (or similar)
BMC 10 ff. G48
new picecoli
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Pamphylia Side61 viewsPamphylia Side AE13 Athena / Pomegranate
Attribution: BMC 59, S 1931
Date: 3rd century BC
Obverse: Head of Athena right in plumed Corinthian helmet
Reverse: Pomegranateecoli
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Mysia, Cyzicus61 viewsCyzicus, Mysia. 400 - 280 BC
Head of Apollo left.
KU - SI Amphora.
SNG Copenhagen 57
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Ptolemy V59 viewsWeiser 136 (Ptolemy V)ecoli
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Caria, Rhodos58 viewsRhodos, Caria: AE 10mm / Rhodos
3rd-2nd century BC. Radiate head of Rhodos right, wearing stephane / Rose within incuse square. SNG Cop. 861v. Fine.
Ex-Saylesecoli
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Sardes, Lydia57 viewsSeleukid Kingdom, Antiochos III, 223 - 187 B.C., Sardes, Lydia
obverse laureate head of Apollo right, hair in corkscrew curls down neck;
reverse BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOΥ, Apollo standing left, naked, examining arrow in right, resting left on tripod
Antiochus' victory at the Battle of Panium in 198 B.C. transferred control of Judaea from Ptolemaic Egypt to the Seleukid Kingdom. When Antiochos conquered Asia Minor, however, the Romans responded. Antiochos' losses were so great that the whole of his empire was shattered and he was forced to content himself with the region that he had held in the beginning, Syria.ecoli
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Sidon55 viewsPTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos. 285-246 BC. Æ Obol (23mm, 11.34 g). Sidon mint. Struck 256-249 BC. Laureate head of Zeus right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; double cornucopia before. Svoronos 761; Weiser 44; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, attractive black patina.
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Philip II54 viewsPhilip II Macedon, AE 18 Philip II Macedon, Father of Alexander The Great, 359-336B.C. AE (copper or bronze) 18 mm., 6.67 g. Obv.: Head of Apollo right, hair bound with tainia. Rev.: Naked youth on horseback prancing right. Ex-AAH ecoli
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Thessaly, Magnesia54 viewsThessaly, Magnesia. Circa 400-344 BC.
Thessalian horseman right /
Bull butting leftecoli
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Spain, Obulco53 viewsObulco, Spain, AE26.
Laureate head right(Celtic)
Bull standing right, head facing, crescent above.
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Adramyteion, Mysia53 viewsAdramyteion in Mysia, 200-150 BC.,
Obv.: head of Zeus left.
Rev.: AΔP-A-M-VTHN-ΩN , horseman riding right, hand raised.
ANS 1944.100.42406 ; cf. Sear GC 3805
Adramyteion, is located on the western coast of Turkey. Today Burhaniye, it was previously named Kemer, ("aquaduct"), after a nearby aquaduct which has since been demolished. ecoli
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Kyme, Aeolis53 viewsCumae (Cuma, in Italian) is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. The settlement is believed to have been founded in the 8th century BC by Greeks from the city of Cuma and Chalkis in Euboea upon the earlier dwellings of indigenous, Iron-Age peoples whom they supplanted. Eusebius placed Cumae's Greek foundation at 1050 BC. Its name comes from the Greek word kyma (κύμα), meaning wave - perhaps in reference to the big waves that the peninsula of Κyme in Euboea has.
There is also a small, modern Greek Euboean city called Kύμη (Kyme or Cuma or Cyme) as well as the nearby recently excavated ancient Greek city of Cuma [1], the source point for the Cumae alphabet. According to a myth mentioned by Aristotle and Pollux, princess Demodike (or Hermodike) of Kyme, is the inventor of money. (Aristot. fr. 611, 37; Pollux 9, 83,[2])
Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy (Magna Graecia), there having been earlier starts on the islands of Ischia and Sicily by colonists from the Euboean cities of Chalcis (Χαλκίς) and possibly Eretria (Ερέτρια) or Cuma (Kύμη).
Cumae is perhaps most famous as the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl. Her sanctuary is now open to the public. The colony was also the entry point onto the Italian peninsula for the Cumean alphabet, a variant of which was adapted by the Romans.
The colony spread throughout the area over the 6th and centuries BC, gaining sway over Puteoli and Misenum and, thereafter, the founding of Neapolis in 470 BC.
The growing power of the Cumaean Greeks, led many indigenous tribes of the region, notably the Dauni and Aurunci with the leadership of the Capuan Etruscans. This coalition was defeated by the Cumaeans in 524 BC under the direction of Aristodemus. The combined fleets of Cumae and Syracuse defeated the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae in 474 BC.
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last mythical King of Rome, lived his life in exile at Cumae after the establishment of the Roman Republic.
Cumae was also a place where a widely influential early Christian work The Shepherd of Hermas was said to have been inspired by way of visions.
The colony was built on a large rise, the seaward side of which was used as a bunker and gun emplacement by the Germans during World War II.
In Roman mythology, there is an entrance to the underworld located at Avernus, a crater near Cumae, and was the route Aeneas used to descend to the Underworld
Kyme in Aeolis, c.350-250 BC, Ae 9-16 mm, cf. Sear 4186-7
Obv: Eagle
Rev: One handled vase (or cup, it is upside down in photo)
From Ebay
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Egypt, Alexandria51 viewsPTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos. 285-246 BC. Æ Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 260 BC. Deified head of Alexander the Great right, wearing elephant skin headdress / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt.ecoli
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Spain, Gadir51 viewsFounded as Gadir or Agadir by Phoenicians from Tyre, Cádiz is sometimes counted as the most ancient city still standing in Western Europe. The expeditions of Himilco around Spain and France and of Hanno around Western Africa began here. The Phoenician settlement traded with Tartessos, a city-state whose exact location remains unknown but is thought to have been somewhere near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.
One of the city's notable features during antiquity was the temple on the south end of its island dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart, who was conflated with Hercules by the Greeks and Romans under the names "Tyrian Hercules" and "Hercules Gaditanus". It had an oracle and was famed for its wealth. In Greek mythology, Hercules was sometimes credited with founding Gadeira after performing his tenth labor, the slaying of Geryon, a monster with three heads and torsos joined to a single pair of legs. (A tumulus near Gadeira was associated with Geryon's final resting-place.) According to the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, the "Heracleum" (i.e., the temple of Melqart) was still standing during the 1st century. Some historians, based in part on this source, believe that the columns of this temple were the origin of the myth of the "pillars of Hercules".
The city fell under the sway of Carthage during Hamilcar's Iberian campaign after the First Punic War. Cádiz became a depot for Hannibal's conquest of southern Iberia, but the city fell to Romans under Scipio Africanus in 206 BC. The people of Cádiz welcomed the victors. Under the Roman Republic and Empire, the city flourished as a port and naval base known as Gades. Its people formed an alliance with Rome and Julius Caesar bestowed Roman citizenship on all its inhabitants in 49 BC. The Roman historian Livy did not credit its founding to Hercules but instead placed its creation c. 1104 BC, by his reckoning about 80 year after the Trojan War.[citation needed] By the time of Augustus's census, Cádiz was home to more than five hundred equites (members of the wealthy upper class), a concentration rivaled only by Patavium (Padua) and Rome itself. It was the principal city of the Roman colony of Augusta Urbs Julia Gaditana. An aqueduct provided fresh water to the town (the island's supply was notoriously bad), running across open sea for its last leg. However, Roman Gades was never very large; consisted only of the northwest corner of the present island; and most of its wealthy citizens maintained estates outside of it on the nearby island or on the mainland. The lifestyle maintained on the estates led to the Gaditan dancing girls becoming infamous throughout the ancient world.
IBERIA, Gadir. Late 2nd century BC. Æ Unit (26mm, 14.02 g, 6h). Head of Melqart (Herakles) left, wearing lion skin; club behind / Two tunnies to left; pellet within crescent to left; caduceus between tails. ACIP 687; CNH 57; SNG BM Spain 306-8. VF, dark brown and red patina, light roughness.
Ex Archer M. Huntington Collection (HSA 1001.1.21477).ecoli
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IONIA, Phokaia.51 viewsThe ancient Greek geographer Pausanias says that Phocaea was founded by Phocians under Athenian leadership, on land given to them by the Aeolian Cymaeans, and that they were admitted into the Ionian League after accepting as kings the line of Codrus. Pottery remains indicate Aeolian presence as late as the 9th century BC, and Ionian presence as early as the end of the 9th century BC. From this an approximate date of settlement for Phocaea can be inferred.
According to Herodotus the Phocaeans were the first Greeks to make long sea-voyages, having discovered the coasts of the Adriatic, Tyrrhenia and Spain. Herodotus relates that they so impressed Arganthonios, king of Tartessus in Spain, that he invited them to settle there, and, when they declined, gave them a great sum of money to build a wall around their city.
Their sea travel was extensive. To the south they probably conducted trade with the Greek colony of Naucratis in Egypt, which was the colony of their fellow Ionian city Miletus. To the north, they probably helped settle Amisos (Samsun) on the Black Sea, and Lampsacus at the north end of the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles). However Phocaea's major colonies were to the west. These included Alalia in Corsica, Emporiae and Rhoda in Spain, and especially Massalia (Marseille) in France.
Phocaea remained independent until the reign of the Lydian king Croesus (circa 560–545 BC), when they, along with the rest of mainland Ionia, first, fell under Lydian control[8] and then, along with Lydia (who had allied itself with Sparta) were conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 546 BC, in one of the opening skirmishes of the great Greco-Persian conflict.
Rather than submit to Persian rule, the Phocaeans abandoned their city. Some may have fled to Chios, others to their colonies on Corsica and elsewhere in the Mediterranean, with some eventually returning to Phocaea. Many however became the founders of Elea, around 540 BC.
In 500 BC, Phocaea joined the Ionian Revolt against Persia. Indicative of its naval prowess, Dionysius, a Phocaean was chosen to command the Ionian fleet at the decisive Battle of Lade, in 494 BC. However, indicative of its declining fortunes, Phocaea was only able to contribute three ships, out of a total of "three hundred and fifty three". The Ionian fleet was defeated and the revolt ended shortly thereafter.
After the defeat of Xerxes I by the Greeks in 480 BC and the subsequent rise of Athenian power, Phocaea joined the Delian League, paying tribute to Athens of two talents. In 412 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, with the help of Sparta, Phocaea rebelled along with the rest of Ionia. The Peace of Antalcidas, which ended the Corinthian War, returned nominal control to Persia in 387 BC.
In 343 BC, the Phocaeans unsuccessfully laid siege to Kydonia on the island of Crete.
During the Hellenistic period it fell under Seleucid, then Attalid rule. In the Roman period, the town was a manufacturing center for ceramic vessels, including the late Roman Phocaean red slip.
It was later under the control of Benedetto Zaccaria, the Genoan ambassador to Byzantium, who received the town as a hereditary lordship; Zaccaria and his descendants amassed a considerable fortune from his properties there, especially the rich alum mines. It remained a Genoese colony until it was taken by the Turks in 1455. It is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.
IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. AR Hemidrachm (9mm, 1.54 g). Head of griffin left / Quadripartite incuse square. SNG Copenhagen –; SNG von Aulock 2116; SNG Kayhan 512-6. VF, dark toning. ecoli
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Carthage50 viewsCarthage (3rd century BC). AE (18 mm / 4.90 g). Head of Tanit left / Horse head right, punic letter before. cf S 6525. Possibly overstruck on another coin, traces barely visible on obverse and reverse. Ex-Barry and Darling G15
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Thrace, Apollonia Pontica50 viewsApollonia Pontica was founded by Miletos towards the end of the seventh century. Strabo says the greater part of the city occupied an offshore island, which must have been the present Sveti Kyrikos, but it extended over the Sozopol peninusla and Greeks also settled on the Atiya peninsula, a few kilometres to the north. The site was evidently chosen for its two excellent harbours - the city's emblem on coins was an anchor and a prawn - rather than trade. Its immediate hinterland was rugged and had no easy routes to the interior. The growing seaborne traffic plying the western Black Sea coast had shown the need for a port of call for revictualling and repairs between the Bosphoran harbours and such wealthy trading colonies as Histria and Olbia, established some half a century ealier further north." R F Hoddinott, Bulgaria in Antiquity, p 33
Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites Apollonia del Ponto: Two large gates and an island are known where the celebrated Sanctuary of Apollo and the major part of the ancient city were situated. A Greek inscription records the reconstruction of the ruined city and of the famous sanctuary by a Thracian tribe. The Imperial coins continue to use the name Apollonia until the 3d c. A.D., when the name Sozopol appears. During the Byzantine Empire Sozopol was the seat of a bishop, a rich and prosperous city that was frequented by the Genoese until it fell under Turkish domination in 1383. Today it is a modest town. Nothing of the ancient city remains visible above ground. Early excavations furnished little clarification. It is certainly on the island of St. Ciriaco where the stele of Anaxandros was found that the Temple of Apollo must be sought since all the material found in 1904, including a series of terracotta figurines datable to the 6th c. B.C., is connected with that cult; on the island of St. George there are traces of Byzantine construction. Both older and more recent excavations at Kalfata and the port of Giardino brought to light rich Greek necropoleis containing painted funerary vases dating between the 5th and the 2d c. B.C. The promontory is called Cape Kolokuntas (pumpkins) because of the great number of tumuli in the area. They are scattered over the upland and contain dromoi and funerary chambers, as was the Thracian custom. There are also cultural blendings as in the tumulus of Mapes, with dromoi and painted sarcophagi, where the Greek influence dominates.
Xenophon 7, 5 describes the Salmydessian coast between Apollonia and the Bosphorus:
...they [Xenophon and his troops] continued the march with Seuthes, and, keeping the Pontus upon the right through the country of the millet-eating Thracians, as they are called, arrived at Salmydessus. Here many vessels sailing to the Pontus run aground and are wrecked; for there are shoals that extend far and wide. [7.5.13] And the Thracians who dwell on this coast have boundary stones set up and each group of them plunder the ships that are wrecked within their own limits; but in earlier days, before they fixed the boundaries, it was said that in the course of their plundering many of them used to be killed by one another. [7.5.14] Here there were found great numbers of beds and boxes, quantities of written books, and an abundance of all the other articles that shipowners carry in wooden chests.
Apollonia Pontica, 450 - 400 BC. Silver Drachm. Anchor. / Gorgoneian facing with wild hair and a protruding tongure. VF ecoli
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Thrace Mesembria 50 viewsSNG BMC 277
Date: 4th-3rd Century BC
Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right
Reverse: Shield with Greek letters M-E-T-Aecoli
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Thrace, Mesembria49 viewsGR6
Thrace, Mesembria. Circa Fourth Century BC. AR Diobol Crested helmet / Radiate wheel of four spokes; M-E-T-A within. SNG BM Black Sea 268. Very fine. ecoli
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THESSALY, Pharsalos49 viewsTHESSALY, Pharsalos. Mid 5th century BC. AR Obol (9mm, 0.86 g, 12h). Helmeted head of Athena right / Φ AP downward from upper right, head of horse right; all within incuse square with rounded corners. Lavva 4 (V3/R3); BCD Thessaly II 627 (same dies). VF, toned.
From the BCD Collection.
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Aeolis, Kyme48 viewsBronze AE 16, BMC Aeolis p. 109, 57, VF, Kyme mint, head of Amazon Kyme right; reverse forepart of galloping horse right, vase behind, KY above, magistrate name LESBIOS below
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Macedonia, Alexander48 viewsObverse: Bust of Alexander as Herakles in lion skin
Reverse: Quiver and bow, club below, ALEXANDER between, mintmark to leftecoli
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Mithradates II48 viewsParthian Kingdom, Mithradates II 123-88 BC, Drachm, 4.16g: Obv: Diademed bust of Mithradates left Rev: Archer seated right, legend around. Sellwood 27.1. Rhagae mintecoli
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IONIA, Phokaia47 viewsIONIA, Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. AR Hemihekte (9mm, 1.32 g). Head of nymph left, hair in plain sakkos / Quadripartite incuse square. SNG von Aulock 1815; SNG Copenhagen (Cyprus, etc.) 389–93. Good VF, toned. Fine archaic style.
Ex CNG eAuction 311, Lot 737 85/100
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CALABRIA. Tarentum. Circa 280-272 BC46 viewsAR drachm (15mm, 3.17g). .
Helmeted head of Athena left; helmet decorated with Skylla hurling a stone / Owl standing right on thunderbolt, wings spread. Vlasto 1077ff.ecoli
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LESBOS, Mytilene46 viewsLESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 377-326 BC. EL Hekte – Sixth Stater (10mm, 2.44 g, 9h). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet / Owl standing right, head facing, within linear square. Bodenstedt 105; SNG von Aulock 1706; HGC 6, 1031. Near VF. Scarce.
Ex-CNG eAuction 312 lot 109 320/300ecoli
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CAMPANIA, Neapolis46 viewsCAMPANIA, Neapolis. Circa 300-275 BC. AR Nomos (18mm, 7.06 g, 5h). Head of nymph right; X behind / Man-headed bull walking right; above, Nike flying right, placing wreath on bull's head; EYΞ below. Sambon 477; HN Italy 579; SNG ANS 370. Fine, toned,ecoli
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MYSIA, Kyzikos46 viewsMYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 450-400 BC. AR Hemiobol (8mm, 0.23 g, 11h). Forepart of boar left, [retrograde K on shoulder]; to right, tunny upward / Head of lion left; to upper left, head of panther(?) facing; all within incuse square. Von Fritze II 13; SNG Ashmolean 540; SNG France 386; SNG von Aulock 1215. Good VF, find patina, struck with worn obverse die.ecoli
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Judea Alexander Jannaeus 45 viewsAlexander Janneus 103-76 BC
Obv: Hebrew Inscription (Yehonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews) surrounded by wreath.
Rev: Double cornucopia adorned with ribbons, pomegranate between horns.
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Thrace, Mesembria45 viewsMesembria, Thrace: AE 16 / Helmet
4th - 3rd c. BC. Corinthian helmet facing / META within spokes of a wheel. Fine+ with green and black patina. SNG BMC 273.
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Thrace, Maroneia45 viewsThrace, Maroneia. c189-145 BC. AR Tetradrachm.
Wreathed head of young Dionysos right / DIONUSOU SWTHROS MARWNITWN, nude Dionysos standing half-left, holding grapes narthex stalks & cloak. ecoli
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Sicily, Syracuse.44 viewsSicily, Syracuse.
Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet
Hippocamp left; SNG Copenhagen 721.
From the D. Alighieri Collection.
Ex - CNG ecoli
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Mysia, Parion43 views480 BC
hemidrachm, 2.05g
obv Gorgoneion
Rv Cruciform incuse Square, pellet at center
Poor Style or ancient imitation. Dealer notes that these are more common than the better styled ones making imitation aspect unlikely
Ex-HJBecoli
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Tauric Chersonesus, Panticapaeum43 viewsTauric Chersonesus, Panticapaeum, 4th cent. BC, 1.98g. SNG BM-474, SNG Cop-50. Obv: Beardless head of Pan r. Rx: Bow in case, inscription PAN above, TI below. . ecoli
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Illyria, Dyrrhachium43 viewsGR2. Illyria, Dyrrhachium. After 229 BC. Silver drachm
Obverse : Cow with suckling calf,and the moneyers name MENISKOS above the cow's back, with a small eagle above the name.
Reverse : Double star pattern in a square, with an inscription naming the city around.
In 229 BCE, when the Romans seized the city the "-damnos" part of the name was inauspicious to Latin ears, and its name, as it was refounded, became Dyrrhachium. Pausanias (6.x.8) says "the modern Roman city is not the ancient one, being at a short distance from it. The modern city is called Dyrrhachium from its founder." The name Dyrrachion is found on coins of the fifth century BCE; in the Roman period Dyrrachium was more common. However, the city maintained a semi-autonomy and was turned into a Roman colony.
Dyrrachium was the landing place for Roman passengers crossing the Ionian Sea from Brundisium, which made it a fairly busy way-station. Here commenced the Via Egnatia, the Roman military road to Thessalonica that connected Roman Illyria with Macedonia and Thrace. The city itself was part of Macedonia, more specifically Epirus Nova. In 48 BCE Pompey was based at Dyrrachium and beat off an attack by Julius Caesar (see Battle of Dyrrhachium). In 345 BCE the city was levelled by an earthquake and rebuilt on its old foundations. In the 4th century CE, Dyrrachium was made the capital of the Roman province of Epirus nova.
The name "Epidamnos" was still used by the Byzantines, as for example in the 13th-century Synopsis Chronike, referring to contemporary events.
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LUCANIA, Metapontion43 viewsLUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 400-340 BC. AR Nomos (7.76 g, 9h). Head of Demeter left / Barley ear of seven grains with leaf to right; ivy leaf above leaf. Noe 521; HN Italy 1545. Near VF, lightly toned, struck from worn obverse die, a few scratches. Rare, Noe records only 2 examples.
From the Colin E. Pitchfork Collection.
Ex-CNG(120)
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Maroneia, Thrace43 viewsnumbers 944-951 in the Schoenert-Geiss catalog for the city.ecoli
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Pyrrhus, Syracuse, Sicily43 viewsSICILY, Syracuse. Pyrrhus. 278-276 BC. Æ 24mm (10.41 gm). Head of Herakles left, wearing lion's skin headdress / Athena Promachos standing right, holding thunderbolt overhead in right hand, shield on left arm; owl before. SNG ANS 847; SNG Copenhagen 809. ecoli
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Cilicia, Tarsos. Mazaios43 viewsCilicia, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 B.C. AR stater (24.30 mm, 10.76 g, 7 h). Baaltars seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grape bunch and scepter / Lion attacking bull to left. SNG France 340; SNG Levante 102. gVF, a few scratches.ecoli
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Egypt, Alexandria42 viewsPtolemy VIII
145-116BC
AE24, 15.06G
SNG COP-334
Head of Alexander in elephant scalp
Eagle standing left on thunderbolt
ex Don Doswell collection
ex HJBecoli
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Ionia, Colophon42 viewsColophon (/ˈkɒləfɒn/;[1] Ancient Greek: Κολοφών) was an ancient city in Ionia. Founded around the turn of the first millennium BC, it was likely one of the oldest of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. In ancient times it was located between Lebedos (120 stadia to the west) and Ephesus (70 stadia to its south). Today the ruins of the city can be found south of the town Değirmendere Fev in the Menderes district of Izmir Province, Turkey.
The city's name comes from the word κολοφών, "summit", which is also the origin of the bibliographic term "colophon", in the metaphorical sense of a 'crowning touch', as it was sited along a ridgeline. The term "colophony" for rosin comes from the term colophonia resina, that is, resin from the pine trees of Colophon, which was highly valued for the strings of musical instruments.
Ionia, Colophon, c. 389-350 BC, 0.80g. ANSNNM 96, Milne, Kolophon-57. Obv: Head of Apollo l. Rx: Lyre. ecoli
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Histiaia, Euboia42 viewsThe history of the island of Euboea is largely that of its two principal cities, Chalcis and Eretria, both mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships. Both cities were settled by Ionian Greeks from Attica, and would eventually settle numerous colonies in Magna Graecia and Sicily, such as Cumae and Rhegium, and on the coast of Macedonia. This opened new trade routes to the Greeks, and extended the reach of western civilization. The commercial influence of these city-states is evident in the fact that the Euboic scale of weights and measures was used among the Ionic cities generally, and in Athens until the end of the 7th century BC, during the time of Solon.[citation needed] The classicist Barry B. Powell has proposed that Euboea may have been where the Greek alphabet was first employed, c. 775-750 BC, and that Homer may have spent part of his life on the island.
Chalcis and Eretria were rival cities, and appear to have been equally powerful for a while. One of the earliest major military conflicts in Greek history took place between them, known as the Lelantine War, in which many other Greek city-states also took part. In 490 BC, Eretria was utterly ruined and its inhabitants were transported to Persia[clarification needed]. Though it was restored nearby its original site after the Battle of Marathon, the city never regained its former eminence.
Both cities gradually lost influence to Athens, which saw Euboea as a strategic territory. Euboea was an important source of grain and cattle, and controlling the island meant Athens could prevent invasion and better protect its trade routes from piracy.
Athens invaded Chalcis in 506 BC and settled 4,000 Attic Greeks on their lands. After this conflict, the whole of the island was gradually reduced to an Athenian dependency. Another struggle between Euboea and Athens broke out in 446. Led by Pericles, the Athenians subdued the revolt, and captured Histiaea in the north of the island for their own settlement.
By 410 BC, the island succeeded in regaining its independence. Euboea participated in Greek affairs until falling under the control of Philip II of Macedon after the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, and eventually being incorporated into the Roman Republic in the second century BC. Aristotle died on the island in 322 BC soon after fleeing Athens for his mother's family estate in Chalcis.
Tetrobol, 275-225 BC, Sear (GC) 2496
Obv: Anepigraphic. Head of the nymph, Histiaia, right, wearing wreath of vine and hair rolled.
Rev: ΙΣΤΙΑΙΕΩΝ
The nymph Histiaia seated right on stern of galley and holding naval standard.
Ebay ecoli
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Ionia, Kolophon42 viewsObverse: No Legend: Head of Apollo right, hair bound with taenia
Reverse: No Legend: Lyre.
Mint: KolophonMinted: 389-350bc
Ref: SNGvA-2008
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Cilicia, Seleukeia.42 viewsCilicia, Seleukeia. 2nd-1st centuries B.C. Æ 18 mm (3.86 g, 11 h). Laureate head of Apollo right; behind, monogram / [ΣEΛEVKEΩN] TΩN Î POΣ TΩI KAΛVKAΔN[OI], forepart of horse right; below, two monograms. Cf. SNG BN 917-28; cf. SNG Levante 690-8; cf. SNG Levante suppl. 181-3; cf. SNG von Aulock 5810-3 (all with diff. monograms).
Checkecoli
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Gambrion, Mysia42 viewsGambrion, Mysia, c. 350 - 300 B.C.
obverse laureate head of Apollo right;
reverse Γ-A-M between rays of star
Bronze AE 10, SGCV II 3871, BMC 2,ecoli
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Macedon, Antigonas Gonatas42 viewsKings of Macedon - Antigonas Gonatas
277-239 BC
Obv.: Head of Athena right in crested Corinthian Helmet
Rev.: B-A, Pan erecting trophy right, M to left? ,ANT monogram below.
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Sarmatia, Olbia.42 viewsSarmatia, Olbia. Late 5th-4th centuries B.C. Æ Cast 53 (53.1 mm, 33.41 g, 12 h). Wheel with four spokes / Smooth. SNG BM Black Sea 386. VF, pierced.ecoli
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Macedonia 41 viewsPhillip V
Beardless head of Hercules/Athena Alkis right
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