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 Replies: 18 / Views: 7,400 |
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Moderator
 Australia
16868 Posts |
I purchased this coin today from a local coin dealer I very rarely visit, because his stock is quite small and doesn't change much; his main business is second-hand books and I actually mainly went there to offload some unwanted books. The coin was a pleasant surprise. Even more surprising is how nice it looks when taken out of the card the dealer had it in:  Syracuse (Sicily), Second Democracy, 465-405 BC, bronze trias/tetras (AE15), circa 425 BC. Obverse: Arethusa, two dolphins either side, SYRA. Reverse: octopus, three pellets (indicating denomination) around. Sear #1184. The detail is surprisingly good for such a tiny bronze coin. One quick question: the three pellets indicate denomination, as often on Western Greek coins; they used a system of 12 onkiae to the litra (similar to the early Roman 12 uncia to the as). However, some references (including Sear) call these three-dot (three onkiae) coins a "trias", while others (such as the dealer I bought it from) call them a tetras (presumably because they are 1/4 of a litra). Wildwinds uses the terms interchangeably, which can't be right. I'm afraid I don't know my Greek grammar well enough to figure out if it's talking about fractions or whole numbers. So, which name is technically correct? Finally, Sear and some other references classify the reverse creature as a "cuttlefish". Cuttlefish have ten legs/tentacles, whereas this creature clearly has only eight; it is, therefore, an octopus.  Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
Very nice coin,that octopus is very cool. Whats the weight?
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Beautiful coin with excellent details and patina.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
This is a type of AE which I love so very much. A coin that was made to be used in everyday commerce and yet is a little 'gem' after 2,400 years ! A rare find indeed. Of course the 'cuttlefish' is also a good question. I wonder myself at this attribution. Must be some rational explanation ........  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Excellent piece Sap! Congrats! The patina is just astounding.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
I generally don't have any attraction to ancients, but I love the design on this one...
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Wow, nice example. I didnt know they were so small, I imagined closer to 21-3mm.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
I have seen cuttlefish used as a generic name to describe members of the Cephalopoda class. Especially in older European works. I think it was a generic term for any marine creature with tentacles for a time. For example, I've read accounts of kraken which were clearly giant squid and accounts of giant octopus and there were both referred to as 'giant cuttlefish.'
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
Awesome Sap, I seen a few of these, most are not this nice...very cool..  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
A very nice coin, I love those cephalopods! Congrats on a fine find :)
Don't know the answer to your question about the nomenclature.
Edited by ThisIsFun
02/01/2014 12:18 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
I got a couple of Syracuse octopuses * a few months ago, forgot to post them. Here's one, a bit different than yours. I'd love to collect a consortium! ** Sicily, Syracuse
Dionysos I, struck c. 390 BCÆ tetras, 14 mm, 1.8 gm Obv: head of nymph facing slightly left, wearing necklace Rev: octopus Ref: CNS 29; SNG ANS 385. * At first I typed "octopi" but a quick googling revealed that the correct plural is octopuses or octopodes. ** ...and while googling I learned that a group of octopuses is called a "consortium", so I wanted to use the fancy word here  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
love it! Makes me want to collect ancients just for the animals presented!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
The octopus details on Sap's coin are very nice for that type! I see very little actual wear on this coin.  My coins from Syracuse are some of my favorite ancients. Edited by DVCollector
02/01/2014 3:39 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
DV, here's a book on the coins of ancient Sicily, called... Coins of Ancient Sicily, by G.F. Hill. Viewable in its entirety. Published in 1903, by no means a comprehensive review of all coins but still worth a look. Many plates, good photo quality of the ebook. Interesting history too. I skimmed it this morning and bookmarked it. There were many plate coins I hadn't seen-- given the lack of comps in CNG archives, I suppose I won't be buying some of those anytime soon. https://archive.org/details/coinsof...si00hillrichEdited by ThisIsFun
02/01/2014 5:02 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
GORgeouuuuuuuus!
color and detail are just fantastic on that one.
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Replies: 18 / Views: 7,400 |
Posted 02/01/2014 08:47 am
