| Author |
 Replies: 8 / Views: 4,150 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
 Phoenicia Sidon Ba'alshillem II 401-366 BC, 1/32 AR Shekel, .46g, 9mm OBV: Galley left above waves "9"=B above REV: Persian king standing right slaying a lion standing left "O" between REF: Unlisted
|
|
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Welcome back. Man that is a small coin still has a lot of detail. Excellent little coin.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
I agree with Ron. A small coin with whole bunch of detail.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
2044 Posts |
I saw this coin and I had to have it. Come on man, the Phoenicians, the supposed first empire of the Mediterranean and the first alphabet. The land of the purple!! I was stoked and the price was right. Yes, that coin sure is very small. It's amazing how much detail those ancient engravers could get on those small flans.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Beautiful coin, especially the details on the reverse.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Thanks, Medieval, the coin loves the compliment.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
A reference is SNG Danish (Copenhagen) Phoenicia 197-200, plate 6 (0.49 grams - 0/73 grams) "Straton I? circa 370-358 BC."
Also Betlyon Sidon 27 "AbdAstart I" 372-362 BC.
Klein 718 is the same type but 0.79 grams which is listed as a 1/16 shekel.
The attribution is distinguished by one "O" between the king and lion. Others, very similar, like Sear 5940, "1/8 shekel" have what looks like two smaller o's in the same position, one above the other. (The top has a tail like 9 rotated 90 degrees clockwise).
The fraction of of shekel these are is disputed. Some call the big 26-gram coin of the period a tetrashekel (4) (Sear) and others call it a "dishekel" (2) (SNG Danish). If you go with Sear, the big one is 4 shekels and 1/32 of that is .8 grams which is 1/8 of a shekel and the small coin above might be a 1/16. However, if the big one is a 2-shekel, then it might be a 1/32.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
John Anthony at CoinTalk was also helping me out with this coin because I have absolutely no reference to this coin and in the online references are not extensive either. You can read it here https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ch...ekel.256918/Basically he told me about HGC Volume 10 which has some information about these coins but mine did not match up exactly based on weight and design. The thread kind of derailed after awhile but that's fine. And based on other information I learned there is a lot of dispute and debate about these coins which is why I decided to list it as 1/32 Shekel but with no reference. I really do appreciate all those references but it actually confuses me some because of what to call the coin currency type and what reference I should use. That SNG Copenhagen seems kind of longer than usual. SNG Danish (Copenhagen) Phoenicia 197-200, plate 6 (0.49 grams - 0/73 grams) "Straton I? circa 370-358 BC This one seems pretty close because of the weight of the coin. I'll look around to see if I can find an image of the coin and see if it matches. I believe you say it does, right? Betlyon Sidon 27 "AbdAstart I" 372-362 BC Klein 718 I saw lots of 1/16 Shekels that match the design but not the weight. I got this one for a decent price so I snagged it, not knowing I'd I'd have a difficult time getting a reference for it. But that's ok too, I really like the coin. Last but not least, I believe I know you as Valentinian? I did not know you had coins for sale. It's possible I may be interested in some in the future. Thank you for the references for this coin. Much appreciated, really. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
Yes, my username on CoinTalk is Valentinian.
SNG Danish has photos of 5 pieces that are very similar your type. Four have a letter beth above the galley and one both an ajin and beth. Yours has just the beth. My library has illustrations of many pieces. The weights do not seem to be cluster around a particular standard and half that weight, as might be expected. Weights are all over the place, with slightly more near 0.73 grams with others near the weight of your coin, which is more than half the heavier weights. There is no precision. I don't know why they didn't make two different designs if they meant to have two different denominations.
|
| |
Replies: 8 / Views: 4,150 |
|
Posted 02/03/2015 9:46 pm
