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Here are four Elymaean tets that I recently picked up. Thought I'd share them here. To begin with, two tets of Kamnaskires V. Over the past two years a HUGE number (many hundreds) of coins from this king have hit the market. All of the denominations that he issued are represented in the recent sales: drachms, hemidrachms, obols, hemiobols, and tetradrachms. (All coinage of Kamnaskires V was minted in AR or billon - there were no AE emissions from this ruler.) Many sellers on both sides of the pond have been listing these coins. Prior to the sudden surge of these issues on the market (suggesting recent hoard finds), any coinage from Kamnaskires V was quite rare and very pricey.  Kamnaskires V AR tetradrachm, 54 - 32 BC [possibly retrograde SE date 277, ZOΣ (ΣOZ) = 36/5 BC] Van't Haaff type 9.1  Kamnaskires V AR tetradrachm, 54 - 32 BC Van't Haaff type 9.1 This portrait of Kamnaskires V is somewhat unusual, which made the coin especially appealing.  Orodes III AE tetradrachm, 2nd century AD Van't Haaff 16.3 or 16.4 variant I had already owned a tet from this king - and, in fact, that tet is an obverse die match to this new one. But I managed to snag this one with a relatively low bid, and am happy to have it in the collection. I'm sure you can easily see the stylistic differences between the first two coins above, minted during the Kamnaskirid Dynasty of Elymais, and this coin, from the later Arsacid Dynasty.  Orodes I AE tetradrachm, late 1st to early 2nd century AD Van't Haaff 11.2.1-1a This one is a huge score for me. It may not look like much, but it's a rarity that I've been after as long as I've been collecting Elymaeans. It's been one of my holy grails. I think it's only the third I've spotted on the market in more than ten years, and it's the best of those. Edited by Kamnaskires
07/02/2023 7:46 pm
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Moderator
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34393 Posts |
An impressive bunch to add to your world-class collection. To help those of us who are mere dabblers in Elymais, what is so special about the Orodes I tet? Is that ruler a tough one to find anything or is it something specific about the denomination, portrait, or inscription? Thx!
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Thanks, Dave. Quote:
...what is so special about the Orodes I tet? Fair question. Given the rarity of coinage from this king, it would seem likely that he had a very short reign. (We don't know the exact dates.) He apparently only issued this one denomination - the van't Haaff type 11 tetradrachms. They are very rare indeed. By contrast, the coinage of his successor and son, Kamnaskires-Orodes, was minted in great numbers in two different denominations (AE drachms and tets), across multiple types and varieties, and is readily available on the market. |
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Very nice. Thanks for sharing. I only have a small bronze of Orodes I, I think.
Edited by livingwater
07/02/2023 9:00 pm
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Ok awesome thx for that the further explanation Bob.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
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7066 Posts |
Quote:
Very nice. Thanks for sharing. I only have a small bronze of Orodes I, I think. Thanks for the comment. FYI, Orodes I only issued tetradrachms, so if it's a small denomination (drachm) you have, it would be someone else. Perhaps Orodes II or Orodes III? I know that navigating Elymaean attributions can be challenging, especially when the same name is associated with different kings. |
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I bought it back in the 1980s from Alex G. Malloy. Either his auction listing was wrong or I forgot to add two more II on the paper flip. I just looked on Vcoins and it matches a Orodes III/Artemis. All these years it's been misattributed LOL.
Edited by livingwater
07/02/2023 10:40 pm
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Well, it also depends what reference was used by the seller. Pieter Anne van't Haaff's Catalogue of Elymaean Coinage, published in 2007, has pretty much superseded the earlier references like De Morgan, BMC, Sear, Mitchiner, and Alram. Anne adjusted some of the attributions in his study. So, in some cases, coins listed as issues of a particular ruler in one of the older studies have a different king associated with them in van't Haaff. Welcome to the ever-changing world of Elymaean numismatics. Not for the faint of heart.
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Pillar of the Community
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A super group of coins, and congrats on acquiring the Orodes I tetradrachm, Bob. We don't see much of the coins of Elymais, so these posts with descriptions and history are really interesting. A lot can be learned from an image and some text. I had been looking at an Elymais (Susiana) Orodes I bronze Drachm EX Dr. Hubert Lanz, Munich (his attribution to Orodes I and grading), but obviously there weren't any. (van't Haaff 16.3.2-1A) Another misattributed coin avoided. Quote:
Not for the faint of heart. Without a shadow of a doubt.  |
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Thanks for the comments, Jim. Quote:
...van't Haaff 16.3.2-1A Yes, that would be Orodes III according to the latest research (van't Haaff). |
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 ...also leading to a helpful discussion for other collectors who have these. |
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Quote:
Super coins Bob. Thanks, Ron! Quote:
leading to a helpful discussion Thanks, my fellow UPenn alumnus. |
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Quote:
Yes, that would be Orodes III according to the latest research (van't Haaff). Thanks, Bob. Comparing the portraits, it sure does look like Orodes III.  |
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It's a nice looking drachm, Jim.
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4962 Posts |
Those silver tets are fantastic, the first one is super sharp! I still have an AE tet from these guys on my list, I can actually afford one of these. Yours are sharp and I love the toning on the first one, but sure like the art style on the second one!
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Replies: 20 / Views: 1,672 |
Posted 07/02/2023 8:16 pm
