My Second Coin

Under the roman empire, the east continued striking their own coinage in parallel with the imperial denarius, sestertius, asses etc...
This was done to show some kind of "independence" in the ancient greek cities now under the rule of Roma.
All these coinages are usually called "Greek Imperial coins"

Interesting stuff.

And can anyone give me a catalogue number for my little coin? It looks like it could be BMC 179 judging from wildwinds page, but I wonder about these shapes underneath the galley.

David, Here's one with the same devices below the galley, found at http://rosenblumcoins.com/38d (number 55 on that page). Description reads, "c.70 AD. AE15 (2.92) . Hd of Tyche right, LX countermark on cheek/War Galley left. Coin of Sidon. Barak Group IV, on BMC-180. VF. I can't recall offering this coin before. $200 [image]"

Very nice coin mate

The lettering on your coin immediately above and below the galley form a single word. The broad looping character in the bottom row is a final sigma. The curve to the right of the internal sigma just above the galley is part of the tail of the ship. The word in question appears to be TH-E-A-S // OS, which is the genitive feminine singular reading "of the Goddess" which was a term commonly used in reference to things "belonging to" the goddess , presumably the goddess depicted on the obverse, Tyche (Fortune), who appears frequently on city coins of the Hellenistic period.

The markings above all this are too incomplete for me to make out. While I am inclined to suppose a word that may be a reference to the city name, it does not appear to have all the forms of the lettering for that as we see it on the coin example DavidUK found. S-I-D-O-N-Omicron. Nonetheless, there it is immediately above the same possessive




Two comments on this. 1. The prohibition of graven images on coins was an aspect of Jewish devotion to the Jewish second commandment which forbade graven images. Most ancient coins had images, but Greek coins in particular featured images of deities. In principle they were all forbidden and needed to be exchanged for temple currency which alone was acceptable for use within the Temple precinct. One notable exception to this was the Tyrian didrachm (Shekel of Tyre) which bore an image of Melqart. These were approved due to the fineness of their silver. This inconsistency was not lost on the more conservative Jews, such as the Pharisees, who conflicted with the Sadducees on such things. Jesus was more akin to the Pharisees with regard to this aspect of Sadduceic business. Hence: 2. the outburst against the moneychangers and sellers of offerings was certainly not a failure to appreciate the need for someone to do what they did, but rather reflected the revulsion to the ways the Sadducees twisted the law to their own advantage. Historians have asserted that the moneychangers were not outside the Temple as Jesus and traditional Law would have them, but rather had set up shop in the outer levels of the Court of the Gentiles - which some did not regard as truly Temple precincts at the time, though it was provided for in the Law and was on Temple property. In terms of final authority, the Sadducees oversaw the entire operation. Jesus would have none of the self-serving business practices adopted by the Priesthood, even if the profits were going to the Temple. His outburst directly contributed to the sentence against him inasmuch as it was an outrageous public criticism of the very group that would ultimately try him. As they would have seen it, he was a loose cannon they didn't need.

Sadly been refunded the amount of this coin and told it is not available anymore.

It's the first time such a thing has happened to me and I wonder exactly what the circumstances were, but the long and short is this one won't be joining my collection.