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| Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. > Buy or Bid Sale 235 | Auction date: 14 May 2026 |
| Lot number: 609 Price realized: 500 USD (Approx. 428 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Cimmerian Bosporus, Panticapaeum/Panticapaeum Bronze Issue Countermark, Overstrike (Early through Late Spartocid Kings). AE 21; Cimmerian Bosporus, Panticapaeum/Panticapaeum Bronze Issue Countermark, Overstrike (Early through Late Spartocid Kings); ca. 304-250 BC, AE 21, 6.00g. MacDonald-116. Overtype: Panticapaeum bronze issues, ca. 304-250 BC (3rd Century BC during the time of the Late Spartocid Kings). Obv. Wreathed head of beardless satyr left. Rx. Bow and arrow. Host coin: Panticapaeum, bronze issues from the lattermost part of the Reign of Leucon I, and the Reigns of Spartocus II and Paerisades I, Satyrus II, Prytanis, and Eumelus, Fourth Century BC, (ca. 310-304/3 BC). Obv. Head of beardless satyr left, wearing ivy wreath. Rx. ΠAN (not legible, and possibly one of the noted variations of this type). Head of lion left; below, sturgeon, which had been countermarked with a star in a circle. cf. Macdonald-70 (Satyr/Lion type, 310-304/3 BC - type IV bronze issues). Exceptionally Rare. On its face and amongst the other, more common by relation, rarities that follow after this initial type. These specific bronze issues, which began ca. 304 BC, were originally double countermarks -- a Star in Circle (obverse)/Bow in Case (reverse) -- applied by hinged dies to the Satyr/Lion (MacDonald-70). After the application of the countermarks (MacDonald-114, Panticapaeum, ca. 304-250 BC) to the first Satyr/Lion type struck (MacDonald-70), such coins without countermarks were no longer legal; as new coins were needed, coins of the Satyr/Lion type were thus issued with pseduo-countermarks engraved directly into the dies; these later Satyr/Lion bronzes (MacDonald-72), as the host coin for double-countermarks (MacDonald-115, essentially MacDonald-114 struck over a pseudo-countermark type such as MacDonald-72), featured countermarks that were engraved directly into the dies. These can easily be distinguished because the host types are not partially crushed in the area around the countermarks and the countermarks themselves are perfectly centered and aligned. Clearly, our specimen (MacDonald-116) is one of the early examples that were overstruck on the Satyr/Lion bronzes (MacDonald-70) and which had been previously countermarked. It is obvious that this overstrike is an early example of Satyr/Lion coin that had been subsequently countermarked, after being struck and before being overstruck, most visibly due to the off-center placement of the Star in Circle (on the reverse, over the Lion), and the bow and arrow (of our specimen's reverse) crushing both layers (the engraved countermark star on the reverse partially-crushed, and the already Lion (reverse of MacDonald-70), now doubly-crushed). This is rare coin. Not simply on its face, but when considered in the context amongst rarities. In other words, the rarity of our specimen is made all the more exceptionally rare when we consider the sheer number of more common rarities it is made rare thereby. Consider: later examples, struck on freshly prepared planchets, are far more common, accounting for most examples found during this specific part of the 3rd Century (ca. 304-250 BC) in the time of the Spartocid Kings. This decline indicates a substantial instability in the bronze currency, and henceforth, despite many theories, it is difficult to identify bronze denominations with any certainty. From this point until the currency reforms of Mithradates Eupator of Pontus, just the approximate diameter and weight of bronze coins is indicated without speculation about the denomination originally intended. Eventually, this type was modified by changing the satyr's head from unbearded to bearded (MacDonald-124, and by substituting the ethnic of Phanagoria for Panticapaeum (MacDonald-157), and these variations remained in production into the 2nd Century, until the end of the Spartocid dynasty (ca. 250-108 BC). Ex coll. of Prof. David MacDonald, 2025.. VF Estimate: 500 USD |  |
