| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 115 | Auction date: 21 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 272 Price realized: 24 GBP (Approx. 30 USD / 28 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ionia, Ephesos (as Arsinoeia) Æ 17mm. Circa 290-281 BC. Uncertain magistrate. Veiled head of Arsinoe II to right / Stag recumbent to left, head to right; ΑΡ-ΣΙ across fields, [magistrate's name to left], astragalos to right. Cf. SNG von Aulock 1840 (ΤΙΜΑΓΟΡΑΣ); cf. BMC 72 (ΑΡΙΣΤΑΙΟΣ). 3.85g, 17mm, 1h. Very Fine. Ex J. Greiff Collection, assembled prior to 1998, Roma Numismatics Ltd., E-Sale 103, 24 November 2022, lot 488. Estimate: 40 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 114 | Auction date: 23 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 303 Price realized: 80 GBP (Approx. 100 USD / 92 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ionia, Ephesos (as Arsinoeia) Æ 16mm. Circa 288-281 BC. Krateros, magistrate. Veiled head of Arsinoe II to right / Stag recumbent to left, head to right; ΑΡ-ΣΙ across fields, [KP]ATEP[OΣ], astragalos to right. Imhoof KM p. 50, 16; SNG Copenhagen 258. 4.12g, 16mm, 12h. Very Fine. Estimate: 40 GBP |  |
Match 2:
| Oslo Myntgalleri AS > Auction 37 | Auction date: 25 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 1615 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: IONIA, Ephesus (as Arsinoeia). Circa 290-281 BC. Æ (12 mm; 1,85 g). Aristgoras, magistrate. Veiled and draped bust of Arsinoë II right / ΑΡ-ΣΙ AΡIΣTAΓOΡAΣ, Forepart of stag kneeling right, head left, astragalos above. Well struck and with a shiny black patina. Rare., Imhoof-Blumer KM 15, Grade: 1+, From the inventory of a Swedish dealer Starting price: 1000 NOK |  |
Match 3:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 114 | Auction date: 23 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 317 Price realized: 50 GBP (Approx. 62 USD / 57 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ionia, Miletos Æ 17mm. Circa 1st century BC. Apollo Didymaios standing to right, holding bow and stag / Lion recumbent to right, head to left, above, star, monogram(?) to right; MIΛHCI[...] below. Cf. BMC 138-141; cf. SNG Copenhagen 1004-5. 3.26g, 17mm, 11h. Very Fine. Estimate: 50 GBP |  |
Match 4:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 60 Price realized: 80,000 GBP (Approx. 101,343 USD / 93,306 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Sicily, Siculo-Punic AR Tetradrachm. 'People of the Camp' mint (Entella?), circa 320-315 BC. Female head (Artemis-Tanit or Elissa-Dido?) to right, wearing Phrygian tiara / Lion walking to right; palm tree with three date clusters behind, s'mmhnt ('People of the Camp') in Punic in exergue. Jenkins, Punic, series 4, 272 (O85-R226, these dies); De Luynes 1472 (these dies); Rizzo pl. 68, 8 (these dies); Boston MFA 36 (these dies). 17.31g. NGC graded AU★ 5/5 - 5/5 (#6674505-002). Extremely Rare. Ex 'Exceptional Collection' assembled between the early 70's-late 90's, Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 132, 30 May 2022, lot 233 (hammer: CHF 130,000). Carthage, at the head of considerable commercial empire in the western Mediterranean, like Etruria and Phoenicia, did not adopt the Greek practice of coining until the last decade of the 5th century BC when she came into direct contact with the Greek city states of Sicily such as Naxos, Syracuse and Messana, which had started to produce coins of the highest technical quality in the artistic style of the late archaic Greek school in the last quarter of the 6th century BC. The origin of the so-called Siculo-Punic coinage, often of rather crude style mostly imitating contemporary Syracusan tetradrachms produced at Rash Melkarth (= 'Promontory of Herakles', possibly Kephaloidion), Panormos (Ziz, 'the splendid'), Motya (the 'spinning factory') and the 'people of the camp' and 'pay master' military mint (generally considered that of Entella) for the payment of the army including many Italian and Greek mercenaries, is dated to about 410 BC and the Carthaginian military operations in Sicily. Hannibal, grandson of Hamilcar, taking the opportunity presented by the quarrels of the Greek cities in Sicily and of the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Syracuse, invaded western Sicily with a strong military force and defeated the Greeks at Himera in 409. The obverse female figure is wearing an oriental tiara in the form of a Phrygian cap, which in Greek iconography generally denotes personages of oriental origin, including Amazons, Trojans, Phrygians, Persians and the great Anatolian mother goddess Kybele and her youthful lover Attis, as seen on the coinage of Amastris (cf. SNG BM Black Sea 1304). 19th and 20th century numismatists poetically described this head as that of Dido (Virgil) or historically, Elissa (Timaeus), the sister of Pygmalion, king of Tyre, who fled Phoenicia to found Carthage in 814 BC (cf. Pierre Straus in Münzen und Medaillon sale 43, 1970, 33-4). However, a realistically more convincing interpretation is that it is the portrait of a goddess also represented in certain terracotta figurines of the latter 4th century found at the archaeological sites of Selinos and Gela, both within the Punic sphere of influence by this time. These terracottas depict a female in a Phrygian cap, sometimes accompanied by a lion and a palm tree. This goddess has been called Artemis-Astarte by some authorities and Kybele by others, but the only certainty is that she was one of the great Asian nature-deities, who were subject to syncretic amalgamation in the Hellenistic period (cf. P. Orlandini, 'Typologia e cronologia del Materiale archeologico di Gela della nuova fondazione di Timoleonte all'atà di Ierone II,' in Archeologia Classica 9, 1957, pl. 14, 2). The reverse type combines two of her symbolic attributes. The palm tree is an ancient Semitic fertility symbol, recalling the Carthaginian homeland in Phoenicia. The lion is associated with the Asian mother goddess in her aspect as mistress of wild beasts. The lion is also a solar symbol as is the horse, which appears regularly on Punic coinage. The die engraving of both sides of this coin is of exceptional and restrained classical Greek workmanship. The obverse is graced with a portrait of serene divinity, realistic curly hair below a pleated headdress, reminiscent of the finest 5th century sculpture. The reverse is no less of a masterpiece, depicting a majestic lion with a muscular body, protruding veins, luxuriant mane and emphasis on the power of the animal reminiscent of 4th century funerary lions found in the Kerameikos cemetery in Athens. Estimate: 65000 GBP |  |
Match 5:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 293 Price realized: 27,500 USD (Approx. 25,187 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ISLANDS off CARIA, Rhodos. Rhodes. Circa 408/7-404 BC. AR Tetradrachm (22.5mm, 15.35 g, 12h). Head of Helios facing slightly right / Rose in profile, with bud to right; POΔION above; to left, sphinx seated left; all within incuse square. Hecatomnus 35a (A23/P30) = Bérend, Tétradrachmes 28 (this coin, illustrated in Bérend); Ashton 4; SNG Keckman –; Karl –; SNG von Aulock –; SNG Copenhagen –; BMC 11; HGC 6, 1417. Iridescent tone, traces of die rust. Good VF. Well centered and in high relief. Very rare issue, one of only 16 examples noted by Ashton (in Hecatomnus). Ex Peus 401 (3 November 2010), lot 388; Triton VIII (11 January 2005), lot 477; Leu 72 (12 May 1998), lot 275; Numismatica Ars Classica 9 (16 April 1996), lot 344; 1971 Marmaris Hoard (IGCH 1209). The polis of Rhodes was created out of a synoecism of the cities of Ialysos, Kamiros, and Lindos in 408/7 BC, and immediately began to issue a series of coinage that endured until the Roman era. The rose was chosen as the perennial reverse type, a punning allusion to the city's name. The obverse type was usually the head of Helios, the patron deity of the new polis, but occasionally the nymph Rhodos appeared. Until the end of the Rhodian series, these types adorned the coins, with a few exceptional issues that featured novel designs. The Chian standard was employed, although after a reduction in the late 340s, the standard is commonly called 'Rhodian.' The first issue of Rhodian coinage was a brief, yet large issue of tetradrachms, that stand among the finest pieces of Classical Greek art. On the obverse, the head of Helios is displayed in a nearly frontal position. Such facing head coins were not novel by this time, but the boldness of the design and the particularly high relief of the dies sets the Rhodian coinage apart from all others. Moreover, this facing head type was the standard obverse type for most of the Rhodian issues. The tetradrachm was the primary denomination until the later 4th century, when the didrachm became preeminent. Both of these denominations were supplemented by a wide variety of fractions, in both silver and bronze, and the tetradrachm was also issued on occasion after the 4th century. Around 190 BC, the coinage system was completely reorganized, with the primary denomination being the drachm, struck on a standard called 'plinthophoric' for the square incuse around the reverse type (plinthos = brick or ingot). Gold coinage was issued on only very rare occasions, and not until the 2nd century BC. As noted by Ashton, the coinage was issued fairly regularly, with occasional spikes in production that correlate to either construction work (e.g. the building of the Colossus) or military necessity. As a primary trading center in the Mediterranean, it is not surprising that the bulk of the coinage of Rhodes appears to have been used for regular state expenditure, such as maintaining its fleet, paying mercenaries, making contributions to the Nesiotic League (revived by Rhodes circa 200 BC), paying state officials, and maintaining a system that cared for its needy citizens (Ashton, pp. 96-7). The massive amount of coinage struck by Rhodes is evidenced by the adoption of the Rhodian weight standard by many other cities in the Hellenistic period, as well as the large amounts of Rhodian coins found in hoards today. Estimate: 5000 USD |  |
