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Tarsos, Cilicia AR Stater (10.66g, 22.5mm, 1h). temp. Mazaios, Satrap of Cilicia, BC 361 – 334.

Obv: BLTRZ (Baaltars) in Aramaic to right. Baal of Tarsos seated left, holding eagle, grain ear, grapes, and scepter; TR (in Aramaic) to lower left, M (in Aramaic) below throne.

Rev: MZDI. Lion attacking bull left; monogram below.

Ref: SNG Levante 106; Casabonne Series 2, Group C. Cf. BMC 53; Babelon 695.

Provenance: (See the “Provenance Chart” for this coin.) Aside from being an aesthetically impressive specimen, this coin has an important provenance, illustrating the modern history of ancient coins through its intersection with key developments of the late 20th century (the rise and fall of “investment fund” ancient coins, led by Bruce McNall’s Athena Fund; the highly publicized first ever major auction of encapsulated ancient coins; and changes in the laws and practices surrounding cultural property and international trade in ancient coins).

Ex-CNG e-Auction 455 (30 Oct 2019), Lot 168 [no provenance given prior to Heritage 2002]; J.B. (Edmonton, d. 2019) Collection; purchased from Calgary Coin Galleries (Robert Kokotailo), Autumn 2004; Heritage Auctions Signature Sale 269 (New York, 27 Jul 2002), Lot 11134; Dr. Joseph M. Seventko Collection; CNG MBS XXIX (30 Mar 1994), Lot 252 (ill. on p. 25); Sotheby’s w/ Numismatic Fine Arts, “Greek and Roman Coins” [Athena Fund Sale II] (Zurich, 27 Oct 1993), Lot 808.1 (part of 2, this rev. ill.).

Almost certainly from the well-known but unpublished “Tarsus Hoard” (late 1970s) that flooded the American market in the early 1980s w/ perfectly preserved examples of this previously rare type (Bing, Daniel J. 1998. “Datames and Mazaeus: The Iconography of Revolt and Restoration in Cilicia.” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 47 (1): 41-76.: p. 63, note 6, and p. 73).

Ex-ICG (AU53) #5571290112 (removed from slab, Feb 2021, originally slabbed c. 2001-2002)

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #Animals #Greek #Pedigreed #Showcase #Silver

PHOTO OF COIN IN ANACS HOLDER AVAILABLE HERE

Thracian Dynasts / Geto-Dacians. Koson, with Marcus Junius Brutus, AR Drachm.
Unknown mint (Skythia, Olbia?), circa 44 – 42 BC.
Obv: Roman consul accompanied by two lictors; BR monogram to left; KOΣΩΝ in exergue.
Rev: Eagle standing left on scepter, holding wreath in talon.
Ref: Fischer-Bossert (2016) Type B. cf. RPC I 1701 (AV Stater). For Drachm, see W. Fischer-Bossert (2016) “ΚΟΣΩΝ ΔΡΟΥΕΙΣ” in Festschrift Salzmann.
Pedigree: Ex-Silver City Auctions (Findlay, OH USA), 17 Dec 2019, Lot 228 (same coin previously unsold or unpaid at prior Silver City auctions). ANACS Certification # 6001074 (click for ANACS lookup)

Album: All Coins

Categories: Greek Coins Provincial Roman Coins

Tags: #Animals #Celts & Imitatives #Greek #Historic #Imperatorial #J & J Family Collection #Rare #Republican #Roman #Showcase #Silver

Superior example of a Numidian Obol, struck in lead (or highly leaded AE), with an unpublished and apparently unique control mark (pellet behind horse). Purchased from Specialty Coin (Champaign, IL), ex-Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. (Curtis Clay).

North Africa. Kings of Numidia, Massinissa or Micipsa AE or PB (Lead) Unit (26mm, 13.6g, 12h). Circa 203 – 138 BC.

Obverse: Laureate, bearded male head facing left. (King Massinissa?) Beaded border.

Reverse: Horse galloping left. Punic letters (“MN”) below AND pellet behind horse.

References: Unpublished variant (placement of control symbol on the reverse die), cf. Sear 6596-7; SNG Copenhagen 518.

Pedigree: Ex-Specialty Coin (Gary Dayton, Champaign), circa 2010-15; Ex-Harlan J Berk, Ltd. (Chicago), group lot purchased from Curtis Clay before 2010.

Numis. Notes: Typical flan irregularities illustrative of Numidia’s crude minting process. Casting flaw or “scoop,” rev. ~5h (scooping was a corrective used by mints to reduce weight when a batch of coins was above standards). On rev., red encrustations & minor pitting (9h); on obv., edge chip & crack (8h).

The pellet behind this horse is a seemingly unpublished and unique variant. The vast majority have a control mark below the horse, either a pellet (Sear 6597) or Punic letters (right to left) “MN” (Sear 6596).

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #AE & Billon #Animals #Greek #J & J Family Collection #Large #Pedigreed #Rare #Showcase

Purchased from Colosseum Coin Exchange Mail Bid Sale No. 59, 22 Nov 1991. This coin was my first-ever auction purchase. (More: “Catalog Collection Favorites” page.)

Attica, Aegina (Saronic Gulf Islands) AR Drachm (5.0g, 19.5mm). Circa 404-375 BCE.

Obverse: Testudo Graeca, tortoise (or “land turtle”) with segmented shell containing 13 plates.

Reverse: Large incuse square with two pellets in one of five-compartment skew pattern.

References: SNG Cop 520; Millbank Pl II, 16 (Period V; 404 – 375 BC)

Provenance: Ex-Colosseum Coin Exchange (Ira Teitelbaum, Hazlet NJ), MBS 59 (22 Nov 1991), Lot 2.

Notes: See also earlier archaic style Sea Turle stater.
Located in the Saronic Gulf between Attica and the Peloponnese, Aegina held a strong commercial position in maritime trade, making it a site of competition with neighbors (most famously Athens).

Aegina is thought to have been the first European mint to introduce coinage to “the West,” c. early 6th cent. BCE. According to Ephorus of Kyme it was established by Pheidon of Argos c. 650, though modern historians have claimed the date was probably no earlier than 550 (Milbank 1924; see also Numiswiki, Turtles).

Aegina’s ~12.2g stater was widely adopted as monetary standard (~6.1g for the drachm, 1g obol). The sea turtle style stater was struck until either the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 (Milbank 1924) or Athens’ military victory over Aegina around 457 (Kraay 1976), after which the design switched to the land tortoise. (The tortoise had also appeared on an earlier electrum stater).

The exact reason is a matter of some speculation. Milbank’s 1924 conclusion still holds: “No plausible explanation has as yet been put forward for this change from the sea-tortoise to a land turtle.” Maybe it was a show of gratitude and honorary tribute to a military ally to whom the land tortoise was sacred (perhaps Sparta or Thyreatis [Milbank 1924]). Perhaps the design was switched after being conquered by Athens, reflecting Aegina’s loss of their proud navy and maritime privileges (Kraay 1976). Neither theory has achieved a decisive level of evidence.

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #Animals #Classic #Greek #J & J Family Collection #Pedigreed #Rare #Showcase #Silver

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm (16.9g, 24mm, 2h). Circa 454 – 404 BCE.

Obverse: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three laurel leaves and vine scroll.

Reverse: AΘE. Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent moon behind, all within incuse square.

References: Sear GCV 2526; HGC 4, 1597; SNG Copenhagen 31-40; Kroll 8.

Provenance: Jackson & Jacobs Family Collection, purchased with my mother & father circa Aug. 1986 (to 1988?) at a Paris coin shop on la Rue Vivienne. (I could try to guess which, based on photos and trying to remember, but there are so many it’s hard to be sure. Back then we didn’t know how important it would become to record provenance. Just for fun, try: https://www.google.com/search?q=La+Rue+Vivienne+numismatique.)

Although both of my parents would take me to the coin shops while traveling (and to museums and bookstores and everywhere else), it was really my father who “collected” along with me. I’m sure my mother enjoyed it, and she still appreciates Greek coins (or seems to), but only my father was interested in building a coin collection and library.

Numis. Notes: Attractive, fine style Athena w/ subtle smile, well-centered on a compact flan (rev. slightly off-center). Nicely toned. Punch mark & scuff on reverse.

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #Animals #Classic #Greek #Historic #J & J Family Collection #Large #Showcase #Silver

Thessaly, Phalanna AE Dichalkon (18mm, 5.30g, 12h). Mid 4th century BC.

Obverse: Youthful male head right Apollo or Ares?). Border of dots.

Reverse: ΦAΛANNAIΩN (unbroken, 9h to 3h). Head of the nymph Phalanna right, wearing triple pendant earring and necklace, her hair bound in a decorated sakkos tied at the back.

References: BCD Thessaly I 1255.1, II 578, 583.3; Papaevangelou-Genakos 5, 22; Rogers 452; HGC (4) 170, 175.

Pedigree: Ex-BCD Collection (with original hand-written label; acquired 1992); CNG e-Auction 455, Lot 85 (30 Oct 2019). With his hand written tag, “V. ex Thess., June 92, DM 90.” (Purchased in Germany, June 1992?) Other coins from his collection have tags labeled “ex Thess.”, dated 1986 to 1998, preceded by a variety of codes (V., T/ne, S., and others). If the codes have been deciphered, I am unaware.

Numis. Notes: Oval shaped flan, strong green & red patina. Die crack around obv. nose. Very rare with this level of detail.

Struck from dies of exceptional quality. Writing about a coin struck from the same obverse die (Triton XV, Lot 578), BCD himself commented: “The style of this coin is superior to most from the large quantities of similarly sized dichalka that constitute the third and final period of the mint’s output according to Papaevangelou-Genakos. These dies were probably cut by a master engraver and were subsequently copied by lesser artists to the extent and amounts required at the time.”

See also: CNG e-Auction 458, Lot 47 (18 Dec 2019), same obv die struck later.

Album: All Coins

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #AE & Billon #Greek #Pedigreed #Showcase

A splendid Alexandrian Tetradrachm of Gordian III (Emperor, 238-244 AD), notable for its rarity, important pedigree, and being illustrated in important reference volumes.

Full writeup & video of this coin available here.

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Roman Provincial. Gordian III (238-244). Billon Tetradrachm (23mm., 12.35g, 12h). Struck in Egypt, Alexandria, 243-4 AD.
Obverse: Α Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟϹ ƐΥ (see Numis. Notes below). Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust of Gordian right, seen from behind.

Reverse: Bust of Helios facing right, radiate & draped, seen from behind. In fields, L-Z (Regnal Year 7).

References: Dattari 4731 (this coin, not illustrated); Dattari-Savio plate 252, 4731 (this coin illustrated); RPC VII.2 (in press) 3669.9 (this coin illustrated); RPC Online Temp. 3037 (this coin illustrated, #11417); Milne 3466; BMC Alexandria 1859; Emmett 3407; K & G 72.137.

Pedigree: Ex-Naville Numismatics (London) Auction 60, #308; from the Dattari collection, formed before 1901.

Album: All Coins

Categories: Provincial Roman Coins

Tags: #AE & Billon #Greek #Large #Pedigreed #Rare #Roman #Showcase

Corinth, Corinthia. AR Stater (8.52g, 21mm, 9h). Struck circa 345 – 305 BCE

Video of this coin available here

Obverse: Pegasos flying right, Ϙ symbol below.

Reverse: Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet. Γ below chin, dove within wreath.

References: Ravel 1029; Calciati Pegasi 419; BCD Corinth 110; SNG Lockett 2094.

Provenance: Ex Prof. Samuel-Jean Pozzi (1846-1918) Collection, sold at Naville et Cie (Lucerne, 14 March 1921), Catalogue de Monnaies Grecques Antiques Provenant de la Collection de feu le Prof. S. Pozzi, Lot 1688 (Hammer, Sfr 17). Published in Boutin’s 1979 catalog of the collection, No. 3756.

Privately purchased from Anthony “Tony” Tumonis at Halden Birt’s Glass Shoppe Coins (Tucson, AZ, circa 1991-2).

Notes: One of the scarcer reverse dies for this type but, in my view, an especially expressive and lifelike Athena. Dark old cabinet tone. Well centered. Among the favorites of collection.

Hist. Notes: Dr. Samuel-Jean Pozzi (1846-1918) was a celebrated French gynecologist whose life was cut short when a disgruntled patient murdered him. He had been assembling one of the world’s finest private collections of Greek coins for 25 years.

The Pozzi Collection was cataloged for the first sale by Naville et Cie in 1921. During the early 20th century “golden age” of ancient coin catalogs, the Pozzi catalog set the standard, illustrating every lot and providing weights to 0.01g — a level of completeness previously unthinkable. For decades, it was a standard reference for Greek coinage by scholars, dealers, and collectors.

Alan S. Walker described it as “very possibly the best known and most famous auction catalogue of Greek coins ever produced” (2008, AJN, p. 604). For this reason, as Harlan J. Berk commented, “The Pozzi pedigree is one of the most revered in numismatics” (Berk 2004, BBS 190).

Bibliographic: Further references for the Pozzi Sale: Clain-Stefanelli 1988*; Daehn 2084; Grierson, p. 296; Kroh, p 11 (four stars); Spring 471, “Most important sales of ancient Greek coins.” References for the Boutin (1979) catalog: Clain-Stefanelli 1932*; Daehn 2031.

Album: All Coins

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #Animals #Classic #Greek #J & J Family Collection #Pedigreed #Showcase #Silver

Pedigree: Ex-VAuctions Sale #292, Lot 283 (part, 6 Dec 2012); sold by Jackson & Jacobs Family Numis. on 21 November 2013.

Album: Sold Coins

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #AE & Billon #Greek #Large #Sold

Sold by private treaty by our JJFN, 30 November 2012.

Celts in Eastern Europe / Dacia. Imitating Philip II of Macedon (posthumous prototype, issued under Kassander) AR Tetradrachm (14.2g, 25mm). Circa 4th-3rd cent BC

Album: Sold Coins

Categories: Greek Coins

Tags: #Celts & Imitatives #Greek #Large #Silver #Sold