Greek Confusion - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,682
dougsmit Pillar of the Community United States 1549 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 4:04 pm A friendly dealer sent me some coins on approval. One of these below was marked at twice the price as the other but when I got them I believed the coins were mixed up with the expensive coin in the cheaper marked envelope. At first I was going to buy the cheap one but I decided to keep them both which negates the question of whether the dealer made a mistake or whether we just disagree on which one was the better coin. I'll leave the ID's up to you because one of the ID's might influence some opinions. The lighter colored coin is clean silver and weighs 5.00g. The darker coin is 2.27g and also silver but very toned. Which is worth twice the other? Why? Does anyone see any reason that I might suspect this was an error but not be sure. Both coins are something you do not see every day but both are in Sear GC&V (at least a close match). Would you buy either or both? Why? Are they interesting enough to 'want' or just something you would buy if they were super bargains? And the big question: Do you like this type post or would you rather not have the challenge to ID the coins and just have had the photos with a label giving the name and date? I know there are some out there who appreciate the challenge of the ID and these are not the easiest. They are not the hardest either. Fun? Boring? Offensive? Report this Post to the Staff

Bing Pillar of the Community United States 4253 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 5:15 pm I like these kinds of posts. It makes us think about why we collect what we do rather than just blindly telling each other how much we like their latest coin purchase. Sadly, I can't comment very much on these two coins, Doug. As you and most everyone else knows on this forum, I do not collect Greek coins. Not because I don't like them. I just don't know them well enough to be sure of what I am collecting. However, you ask which I would buy if I were in that market. I like the looks of the top coin better than the other. The detail is sharper and the images are of items I can understand. But I suspect the other coin is the rarer and more expensive coin, only because I have never seen one like it while I have seen many like coin #1. Just for fun, I am going to take the time to see if I can ID one or both of these coins. Wish me luck. One other note. I know we all worry about telling the truth to one another and how it might make the poster feel, but honesty is, after all, what we are asking for, not approval (I think). Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16859 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 6:22 pm I agree with jw; If I had to choose between these two coins, I would buy the top coin, mainly because my Greek collection (such as it is) has a geographic focus, and the top coin has a nice clear city-name (KALLATIA). The second coin is a coin of one of the Achaean League cities; all League cities issued coins with much the same design with the distinctive "AX" monogram as the central motif. This similarity makes League coinage both a rather "boring" series to collect and more difficult to identify, since the city-identifier is usually just a monogram or a couple of letters (in this case, I believe there's some kind of "AI" monogram above, and "EY" below, with some weird pictoglyphs on either side which I can't identify). But I suspect the answer is that the second one costs more. And the reason for this may simply be availability on the market; irrespective of the absolute rarity of the two coins, the first coin is from a city in what is now Romania; whereas the League cities were all in what is now mainland Greece. 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 Report this Post to the Staff
Doucet Pillar of the Community United States 1315 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 6:25 pm I like these kinds of post a lot. 1st coin I believe is.... Kallatis AR Drachm. 281 BC - ca 200 BC. Head of Hercules right in lion skin / KALLATI, corn ear, bow case & bow. SNG Cop 176, BMC SNG Black Sea 202. (wildwinds) 2nd coin I think is... Bearded, laureate head of Zeus, one of the THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE, but which one and which city I'm not sure yet. There are a lot of reverses for these. It may be an unusual type of reverse. Seems they should both cost about the same. But the Hercules coin is more popular so it theoretically would cost more but not twice as much. You got a good deal on one of the coins. That's all my best guess. Report this Post to the Staff
dougsmit Pillar of the Community United States 1549 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 8:58 pm The Kallatis has been covered well here. This one is worn but clear and better centered than the Sear plate coin. It is a decent coin. The other is Achaean League and worth a bit more than some cities due to it being the only thing you can collect to salve the wounds of this city not having coinage during the time we wish they had. This coin came centuries after its city (identified here by the monogram and Dioscuri caps beside the AX monogram) ceased to be special. The Kallatis was easy to find by searching for the name on acsearch. The Achaean is a lot harder to find because you need the city name to do the search unless you happen to know that the little caps are the sign of the city. These coins are a lot more common than the Kallatis but many dealers charge extra for the coin because people want a coin from here and if you want a coin of Lacedaemon (Lakedaimon = Sparta) this is what there is. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16859 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 9:29 pm Ahhh, Sparta. Yes, that would explain it. Quote: ...with some weird pictoglyphs on either side which I can't identify... Now I know what the coin is, I can look it up and see that they are "caps of the Dioscuri" (the Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux). Here's the Wildwinds example. 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 Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 07/12/2012 9:43 pm I thought the second coin rang a bell...and I get it now, there are few coins that represent Sparta, that explains it! Report this Post to the Staff
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