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 Replies: 7 / Views: 3,431 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
These Histiaia, Euboia tetrobols are plentiful... and abundantly faked. Finding them appealing, I've kept an eye out for the right one for my collection and recently bought this one. Before bidding I checked fake reports (gazillions!) and am reasonably sure it is not a fake. I am not sure of the attribution though. Most have a different hairstyle, with the hair at the back of the head in one 'roll' instead of the two seen in mine. The hair decorations are a bit different. The seller's attribution is Sear 2496 but I think that might not be right-- both the hairstyle and the reverse styling are different. So far I've not had any success finding comprehensive online resources (ebooks) to verify the reference, so any help or leads would be appreciated. The one appealed to me because of the graceful obverse portrait. The reverse engraving is not as sophisticated and detailed as many other reverses but it is still charming.  EUBOIA, Histiaia.340-330 BC (is this correct?)tetrobol, 2.3 gm Obv: head of nymph Histiaia right Rev: AIEΩN; nymph seated on stern of galley right; IX (XI?) belowRef: Sear Greek 2496 (?) |
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Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
What are you, a museum? :p again great coin in best condition I've seen
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Another beautiful coin. Congrats.
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Valued Member
United States
104 Posts |
Nice coin, TIF. As you noted, there is a great variety in style of these coins. There are a ton of minor variations, too, and one could probably spend years building a collection of these and never complete it. Unfortunately, there is no great single reference for these, but the best thing currently available is the catalogue of the BCD collection (and coincidentally, that is where most of the examples we see on the market today hail from) - Numismatik Lanz 111. Münzen von Euboia. Sammlung BCD. 25 November 20002.
There are basically four things I check for when I am cataloguing these (which I hate to do :) ). I always start with the reverse, checking the legend - its orientation, where it breaks, if there are 'typos'. The reason I check for engraving errors is because, as noted by BCD, ancient forgeries are not uncommon in this series (your coin is certainly official). Next I check for the symbol on the side of the stern, if there is one. The commonest symbol by far is the wing, such as on your coin, but other symbols do appear, such as a star, thunderbolt, letters, etc. Then I check for any other controls, which if present appear somewhere in the exergue of the reverse. Very commonly, they are illegible, either not struck on flan (as on your coin) or difficult to discern because of poor strike. Finally I look at the portrait style - the styles are indeed abundant.
When everything is clear and present, including the legend and all controls, it is still difficult to find an exact match in BCD Euboia. The reason is that it is an unfortunate fact that this part of the BCD collection is not as comprehensive as some of the later BCD catalogues. In the case of your coin, since the controls on the reverse are not present, the best we could do is to compare it to BCD specimens 385-7, based on the legend orientation, the wing on the prow, and the hair style of the nymph.
Best,
John
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2480 Posts |
Thanks so much, John! Excellent information.
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Valued Member
United States
104 Posts |
You're welcome, TIF. I forgot to mention that the the IX you noted on the bottom of the reverse of your coin is actually the first part of the legend - IΣ[T]-AIEΩN.
John
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
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New Member
1 Posts |
Well hairstyle is quite amazing...I just get 'em right to noted on that coins..It's an outrageous example of the dynamic tricks and fashion sense in the ancient era..
Edited by elizabethnavel
03/28/2014 03:00 am
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Replies: 7 / Views: 3,431 |
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Posted 11/23/2013 11:05 am
