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Founded 21-Oct-2006
Last update 6-Aug-2010
Silver coins Bronze coin References
Identification Number AIC-AR-01
| Mint: | uncertain (probably an eastern mint) |
| Period: | probably 150 - 145 BC1 |
| Denomination: | AR Drachm |
| Weight: | 3.95 g |
| Diameter: | 17 - 18 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed head of Alexander I right, of barbarous style; dotted border |
| Reverse: | ‘[Β]ΛΣΙΛΕ[ΩΣ] [Α]ΛΕΞΛΝ(retrograde)ΔΡ[ΟΥ]’ right, ‘ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟ[Σ] (Ε?)ΛΕΡΙΕΟ(Υ?)’ left; nude Apollo seated left on omphalos2, holding arrow in outstretched right hand and resting left hand on bow; control marks, if any, off flan |
| Die axis: | c. 25º |
| References: | – |
| Note: | Alexander I’s official drachms of Apollo on the omphalos type bear either the legend ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’ (“of King Alexander, Son of a Deified Father, Benefactor”) or its variation ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’ (“of King Alexander, Son of a Deified Father and Benefactor”; see Houghton, Lorber and Hoover, SC II, 1813). |
Identification Number AIC-AR-02
| Mint: | uncertain (probably an eastern mint) |
| Period: | probably 150 - 145 BC1 |
| Denomination: | AR Drachm |
| Weight: | 4.22 g |
| Diameter: | 18 - 19 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed head of Alexander I right, of barbarous style; dotted border |
| Reverse: | ‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ [Α]ΙΕΞΑΝΔΙΟΥ’ right, ‘[Θ]ΕΟΓ(?)[ΑΤ]ΟΡΟΣ [Ε]ΥΕΡ[ΓΕ]ΤΟ(Υ?)’ left; nude Apollo seated left on omphalos2, holding arrow in outstretched right hand and resting left hand on bow; control mark in exergue |
| Die axis: | 0º |
| References: | – |
| Note: | This coin is similar to the previous specimen AIC-AR-01, but the reverse inscription is less garbled. |
Identification Number AIC-AE-01
| Mint: | uncertain southern mint |
| Period: | probably 175 - 164 BC3 |
| Denomination: | AE Unit |
| Weight: | 3.29 g | ||||
| Diameter: | 15.0 - 15.5 mm | ||||
| Obverse: | Diademed, radiate head of Antiochos IV right; crude control mark in left field (“X” ?); fillet border | ||||
| Reverse: | Figure seated left on high-backed throne (?), holding Nike (?) in outstretched right hand, left hand at side; dotted border | ||||
| Die axis: | 0º | ||||
| References: | compare SNG Spaer, 1168 - 1179 | ||||
| Note: |
This crude coin is either a barbarous imitation or a contemporary counterfeit.4 It seems that it was modelled on a series of Antiochos IV’s coins issued in an uncertain southern mint and described in SNG Spaer, 1168 - 1179:
Sizes and weights of the 12 coins of this series recorded in SNG Spaer range from 12 to 17 mm and from 2.06 to 5.03 g, respectively. Their mean weight is 3.58 g. Nine of them (75%) have vertical die axes. |
1 Regnal dates of Alexander I.
2 The omphalos (“navel” in Greek) was a sacred stone at Delphi. It was supposed to mark the center of the earth. Similar stones were erected in several areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.16.3: What is called the Omphalus by the Delphians is made of white marble, and is said by the Delphians to be the center of all the earth.
3 Regnal dates of Antiochos IV.
4 Sayles, Classical Deception, p. 30: There is a fine distinction between contemporary counterfeits of ancient coins and contemporary or later imitations. The former are generally thought of as coins that were produced by individuals for profit motives. The latter served as the official currency of a political entity, and were produced in emulation of another state’s coinage for purposes of politics or trade.
References:
- Houghton, Arthur; Lorber, Catharine; Hoover, Oliver:Seleucid Coins, A Comprehensive Catalogue. Part II, Volumes 1 and 2. The American Numismatic Society, New York, in association with Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Lancaster/London, 2008. (abbr. SC II)
- Houghton, Arthur; Spaer, Arnold (with the assistance of Catharine Lorber):Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Israel I. The Arnold Spaer Collection of Seleucid Coins. Italo Vecchi Ltd., London, 1998. (abbr. SNG Spaer)
- Pausanias:Description of Greece. Translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1918. (The Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.org/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+toc)
- Sayles, Wayne G.:Classical Deception: Counterfeits, Forgeries and Reproductions of Ancient Coins. Krause Publications, Iola (Wisconsin), 2001.