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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Won three lots in an auction today. Thought I'd share with the board. Dealer's pics below: The first is an extremely rare Parthian fraction (diobol) of Orodes II, possibly one of only five known from the Mithradatkart mint.  Parthian Kingdom. Orodes II. 57-38 B.C. AR diobol (13 mm, 1.18 g, 12 h). Mithradatkart. Diademed bust of Orodes II left, wart on forehead; before, palm branch / Archer seated right on throne, holding bow; below bow, monogram. Cf. Sellwood 48.14 (monogram - Ekbatana); Shore -. Extremely rare; unpublished for Mithradatkart. Next is a type I've been after for about five years, a dated Kamnaskires IV (of Elymais) tet with a depiction of the king as middle aged. I already own a tet of his from his slightly younger days, with a more youthful portrait. It will be nice to finally have a companion piece from a few years later in this fellow's reign.  Elymaean Kingdom. Kamnaskires IV. Ca. 63/2-54/3 B.C. AR tetradrachm (31 mm, 14.26 g, 12 h). Susa, S.E. 255 (58/7 B.C.). Diademed and draped older bust of Kamnaskires IV left; behind, horse's head left; c/m (possibly celebrating the recapture of Susa from the Parthians) atop horse's head: Nike standing left, holding wreath and palm within square incuse / Belos seated left, holding Nike and scepter; in inner left field, monogram; in exergue, date (ENΣ). Van't Haaff 8.3. And finally, my third tet (and tenth coin) of Kamnaskires-Orodes of Elymais, from different dies than the two I already own:  Elymaean Kingdom. Kamnaskires-Orodes. Early-mid 2nd century A.D. Æ tetradrachm (28 mm, 15.20 g). Aramaic legend, facing diademed bust of Kamnaskires-Orodes with bushy hair and top tuft; to right star and crescent above inverted anchor / Elongated pellets in regular pattern. Van't Haaff Type 12.1.1-3E; Alram 481. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1120 Posts |
Bob as always, you have a very keen eye for some very interesting coins. As far as the second coin of Kamnaskires IV, I automatically thought that was a countermark on the obverse. Was all the coinage minted like that? Seems like a bit much to strike a coin twice.
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Moderator
 United States
34424 Posts |
All three are nice, but that diobol is my fave Bob: "wart on forehead".  "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1269 Posts |
Wonderful pickups Bob.
Love the Kamnaskires. I have not ventured into this area, but you make it very tempting.
Andrew
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Travelcoin, the Nike countermark was applied to coins in circulation at some point during Kamnaskires IV's reign, possibly to signify a recapture of Susa from the Parthians. Interestingly one will often see tets of the preceding ruler, Kamnaskires III, with the same countermark. This is because III's coins were still in circulation at the time of the victory, and thus they were included in the countermarking. Quote:
but that diobol is my fave Bob: "wart on forehead". Thanks, Dave. That one is a very special pick-up for me, especially given a painful auction loss a couple days ago...the one that got away was another Parthian fraction. I've been researching the fractions pretty intensely the past two years and have enjoyed adding more to the collection. This one is unpublished and, as best I can tell, only the fifth to make a public debut. Whether or not there are more extant examples remains to be seen. And, yes, always nice to add another Arsacid royal wart. As Fred Shore wrote, "The royal wart was the sign of true membership in the Arsacid family and was used at least as early as the time of Orodes II to establish legitimacy to the king's claim to the throne. In modern terminology it is called a tricoephithelioma, a hereditary lesion on the forehead, known to be passed on for as long as one hundred years...It is probable that later kings' claim to the royal wart was counterfeit..." Andrew: Yep, it's definitely a fun and rewarding series to collect. |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Excellent coins Bob. I particularly like the Kamnaskires IV. Congrats.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
Great job! You know your stuff. Happy for you.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Always a treat to see your Parthians and Elymais coins. Very nicely done! I sometimes wish my interests weren't so diverse so I could pick up nice coins like those Elymais tets!
Quite the wordy Aramaic legend on the last one... any idea what it says?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, all. Quote:
...Aramaic legend on the last one... King Kamnaskires-Orodes, son of King OrodesOrodes I (of Elymais, not the Parthian king of that name) ruled before his frizzy haired son here. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1120 Posts |
Ok, I get it "C/M" stands for counter mark - guess I'm still learning. Thanks everyone for being patient.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7955 Posts |
Great pickups! Congrats. As for the catalog description of the reverse of the third, Quote:
Elongated pellets in regular pattern , I'm not sure I'm buying it. It made me think of this (some of our Belgian friends may recognize it, though I've taken the liberty of a 90 degree rotation):  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
The dashes on the reverses of Elymaean coins, as seen on a number of emissions of drachms and tets of the Elymais Arsacid Dynasty, constitute one of the big mysteries in Elymaean numismatics. If interested, the speculations of various scholars regarding the dashes was summarized by Ed Dobbins on pages 44 and 45 of the August 1992 Celator: https://community.vcoins.com/celator-vol-06-no-08/Edited by Kamnaskires
09/28/2018 5:53 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
1194 Posts |
Bob L : congrats , you have a superb collection of this coins and you are still finding beautiful coins . I am really jealous . tdziemia : ok , i'll be there tomorrow at noon , I like it with cheese,ham , salad and mayonnais and a little rose if it is warm enough.  albert |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
2752 Posts |
Great coins Bob!
Real rarity the first one, is it a plate coin?
Lovely detail on the Kamnaskires IV obverse..How many portrait styles depicting his aging are there?
Super portrait on the third coin..this guy is scary....nice to see it with the legend around.
Congrats on the new pickups Bob..you must be down to rarer rulers now?...Paul
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks for the comments, Paul. No, the first one isn't a plate coin - it's unpublished. Based on my research it is the fifth to hit the market since 1996. I believe that all share the same obverse die, but I've noted at least two reverse dies among that group. Regarding your second question, van't Haaff lists three different age types for Kamnaskires IV: young, middle-aged, and old. He actually lists my coin above as the old type, although it seems middle-aged by today's reckoning. Here is my "young" (van't Haaff type 8.1) coin, which I've posted at CCF before. It's one of my favorites in my collection:  Quote:
..you must be down to rarer rulers now? Well, my Holy Grail as far as Elymaean coins go is to acquire a coin from the so-called "Early Kamnaskirid Dynasty," meaning a coin of Kamnaskires I Soter, Kamnaskires II Nikephorus, or one the usurpers: Okkonapses, Tigraios, or Dareios. It is extremely unlikely that I will get one of these, though. They are exceedingly rare and very expensive. I have only ever seen two for sale: a curious Kamnaskires II Nikephorus that has been listed at Ma-Shops for some time, and a tragically tooled Kamnaskires I that has been on ebay forever, it seems. The one at Ma-Shops gives me pause since the reverse Greek legend, which should have said "Kamnaskires," seems to have been scratched away completely. This leaves me to wonder if it is a recently-reworked Seleucid issue, which the die engravers of the early period in Elymaean history copied. Other than legends, the reverses of the early Elymaean tets were typologically the same as the Apollo-seated-on-omphalos examples of a number of the Seleucid kings. I don't know if something shady is going on with that coin at Ma-Shops, but it makes me nervous. Edited by Kamnaskires
09/30/2018 10:15 am
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,425 |
Posted 09/28/2018 2:17 pm
