New Himyarite Coin - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 2,701
chrsmat71 Pillar of the Community United States 4981 Posts	Posted 07/08/2014 10:29 pm been a while since I picked up a new ancient....this one is a delightfully strange little scyphate coin. himyarite kingdon 1st century AD AR unit (I've seen this listed as various things...hemidrachm, half denarius, light drachm..any one know what it is?) o: male head right, surrounded by border of dots (serpent?), monogram left. r: small head, monogram right? sabaean text..."MDN BYN RYDN" what does that mean? rydn I assume is raidan mint (that is almost always listed for this coins...some time the entire text is listed as a mint mark. 14 mm 1.4 g if you're like me, the first time I saw a himyarite coin...i had no idea who the himyarites where. if interested.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyarite_Kingdom Report this Post to the Staff

echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 07/08/2014 10:39 pm Super nice coin Chris. Anoob would enjoy seeing this one. I've been so coin poor for the past six months or so it's terrible. Report this Post to the Staff
Ancientnoob Pillar of the Community United States 5155 Posts	Posted 07/08/2014 11:57 pm I like it so much I have one. Not easy to find in good condition. Well played Chris! Edited by Ancientnoob 07/08/2014 11:58 pm Report this Post to the Staff
chrsmat71 Pillar of the Community United States 4981 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 12:03 am thanks guys. that one is very nice AN...great details on the little guy on the reverse..mine is kind of mushed. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16872 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 12:27 am Quote: AR unit (I've seen this listed as various things...hemidrachm, half denarius, light drachm..any one know what it is?) We don't know what the locals called it. What contemporary foreigners called it would have depended on where they came from. "silver unit" is the generic name, also used for some earliy Indian and Celtic coins when the "real name" is unknown or under debate. Quote: ...sabaean text..."MDN BYN RYDN" what does that mean? rydn I assume is raidan mint (that is almost always listed for this coins...some time the entire text is listed as a mint mark. Just an educated guess here, based on the assumption(!) that Sabaean and Arabic are related enough to be meaningful: "medina" is Arabic for "city". So the whole text might simply mean "City of Raydan". 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
Ancientnoob Pillar of the Community United States 5155 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 09:07 am Talking about a coin that is hard to photograph.This is one of them. Its oober scyphate and highly reflective. I believe Sap is right the text is usually attributed as city of Rayden, I am not sure if scholars have agreed on a location of Raiden but if I remember correct it was in modern Yemen or Southern Sudi Arabia. Interesting that Himyar was conquered by the Axumite and later fell under the Arabs. Report this Post to the Staff
Ancientnoob Pillar of the Community United States 5155 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 09:11 am I think its also interesting to note that the portraits on both sides are not indentified. Coin discriptions often have it listed as male head facing right on both sides. I am inclined to believe that the larger bust is a God- Apollo(?) where the smaller bust is the king (?) I also wonder if the coin is actually a spin on the Alexandrine coins. Alexander as Hercules on the obverse and Zeus on the reverse...hum food for thought. I would also like to mention that (again if I am not mistaken) this is also the earlist example of an intentional scyphate coin. With all that being said, it gets a five fruit salute.... Report this Post to the Staff
chrsmat71 Pillar of the Community United States 4981 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 10:39 am interesting indeed, thanks guys for the info and educated guesses (mine were just guesses). this coin is VERY hard to photograph. I took nearly 15 pictures of each side, they were all bad. I just gave up and used the seller's pic. your picture is fantastic AN, I bet it took you several tries to get one that looked that nice. Report this Post to the Staff
pishpash Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 3626 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 11:14 am Nice coin chrsmat, not seen them before, very cool :) Report this Post to the Staff
Ancientnoob Pillar of the Community United States 5155 Posts	Posted 07/09/2014 12:55 pm @ Chris- Several tries is an understatement. More like dozens or tries. I have tried hard to re photograph it but thats what I got. I am still not a hundred percent on it either. Report this Post to the Staff
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