20080128

Greece/Macedon; Tragilos c. BCE 450-400


AE 10 mm, 0.94 g, 2h.
AMNG 4, SNG ANS 905, BMC 9, Weber 1984 (this coin), Moushmov 6897

O: hd of Hermes r, wearing petasos.
R: T-P/I-A within four part incuse square.

Dealer’s note: “VF, dark green patina”.

Regarding Tragilos, Benjamin H. Isaac wrote in his The Greek Settlements in Thrace until the Macedonian Conquest (Leiden; Brill, 1986, p. 54) “Tragilos is mentioned by Stephanos and twice in the tribute lists. It appears twice on inscriptions of the fourth century. On an inscription of 363 BC occurs Lygdamis Tragilios and the list of Epidaurian theorodokoi from 360 BC contains and entry ‘Tragila: Peisies’. The sequence of cities in this section is the following: Olynth, Apollonia, Arethousa, Arkilos, Amphipolis, Berge, Tragila….Tragilos is, finally, known by the coins it issued between c. 450 and c. 400 BC. It is suggested that Tragilos should be identified with Aidonochorion.”

Another source wrote “Tragilos: City in ancient Bisaltia, perhaps founded by Ionians from nearby Argilus. According to the excavation evidence, the settlement was destroyed by Thracian and Galatian invaders in Hellenistic times (3rd century BC) and abandoned.”
http://media.yen.gr/atlas/thesi_uk.asp?idthesis=51

According to Peter Green's chronology in Alexander to Actium the invasion mentioned above occurred in BCE 279 when the "Gauls" invaded Macedonia and desecrated the royal Macedonian tombs. As they invaded Greece they were routed by the Aetolians and in turn crossed to Asia Minor where they eventually settled in Galatia in Phrygia. (p. 693)

This particular coin has a very nice provenance beginning in the 19th century:





Ex: General Wm. Yorke Moore (1806-1890) Collection
, sold by Sotheby Wilkinson & Hodge on 1 March 1889, portion of lot 223. cf. Catalogue of the Collection of Greek, Roman and Byzantine Coins of Major-Gen. W. Yorke Moore (London, Sotheby’s. March 1-March 9, 1889). According to D. Moerschell of Sotheby’s lot 223 was a lot of 18 coins and this coin was one “of a group of three coins simply described as ‘Traelium, bronze coins (3)’….Traelium was the Latin name for Tragilos.”
Photo of Yorke Moore accessed 10-09-2015 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/major-general-william-yorke-moore-18061890-59797


Ex: Sir Hermann Weber (1823-1918) Collection, # 1984 (cf. plate photo below)









Sir Hermann D. Weber




Ex: Roberto Allatini (ca. 1856-1927) Collection, not part of the Ars Classica XIII Sale of June 1928. Allatini was a member of a prominent Jewish family from Salonika [son of Dr. Moshe Allatini (d. 1882)] and was made a Fellow of the RNS in 1907.

Ex: Col. R. K. Morcom (1877-1961) Collection

Ex: Christopher Morcom Collection, CNG 76:272 (12 September 2007) “Christopher Morcom Collection of pedigreed Coins of Greece and the Aegaean Islands.” (with Morcom’s tag denoting the coin’s Weber pedigree). As an aside, this Christopher Morcom is the nephew of the Christopher Morcom who was Alan Turing's friend in school until Morcom's death in 1930.









Christopher Morcom, QC 




Ex: CNG
Acquisition: 2008
Tantalus ID#35539
plate photo from the Weber Collection Catalogue Vol. II, #1984