Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus IV Epiphanes BCE 175-164

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AE 21 mm, 6.56 g, 12h, Byblos mint BCE 168-164

SC 1444.1, Handbook of Syrian Coins  663 (R2)

O: radiate diad hd of king r., one diadem end flying up behind, the other falling forward over shoulder, dotted border.

R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ (curving) on r., ANTIOXOY (curving) on l. in Phoenician across upper field “L’Gebal” (of Gebal) in ex., “Qdsh” (the holy), six winged Kronos-El stg l., holding was-sceptre, dotted border.

Palestinians find ancient coin hoard in Gaza

GAZA CITY — The Hamas-run ministry of tourism and antiquities in Gaza on Monday announced the discovery of ancient artifacts near the Egyptian border town of Rafah.

"The most important of the findings are 1,300 antique silver coins, both large and small," said Mohammed al-Agha, tourism and antiquities minister in the Islamist-run government.

He said archaeologists had also uncovered a black basalt grinder, a coin with a cross etched on it, and the remains of walls and arches believed to have been built in 320 BC.

They also discovered a "mysterious" underground compartment with a blocked entrance that appeared to be a tomb, Agha said.

(for the remainder of the article, please check the link below)

The coins appear to be 4th cent. BCE Gazan copies of Athenian Owls from the photo provided....to be updated with additional postings....

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved (photo AFP also)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRXo1fCXa2CmsXDPI_VJTdvsYaQw

link:

New General Text for Seleucid Coins

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=155643

Click the link to go to the CNG page to see a fuller write up regarding this text and to order it if you are interested. I received it a couple weeks ago and find it a good addition to the study particularly in rating the respective rarity (C, S, R1, R2, R3--cf. the June 2008 Celator article by Arthur Houghton and David Hendin if you are interested, though Houghton's portion of the article is reprinted in this text) of the issues described. Granted, this is a general study linked to SC numbers and therefore the text does not describe the rarity of a particular subtype for a common issue for example. There are a few typos such as the mix up of numbers for the bronzes of Timarchus, but overall these are just a distraction from the overall value of the book. A separate website with the catalog number linked value ranges for the described coins is an improvement over now dated catalogues such as Sear's GCV and promises to provide regular updates that should keep this text updated for the forseeable future. I did note that a couple values appear to be in error (specifically a bronze of Antiochus VI for example) but these can be easily corrected in future updates (#1054 in the catalogue =SC 2025 is listed as being $400-$600 in the lowest condition when it should likely be $40-$60 and $3000-$5000 in the best condition when that should likely be $300-$500).

Greece/Seleucid; Demetrius I Soter BCE 162-150

AE 20 mm, 7.79 g, Tyre mint   SE 154=BCE 159/8

SC 1671, SNG Spaer 1314-1318, Newell Tyre 47

O : diad hd of Demetrius r., one diadem end flying up behind, the other falling forward over shoulder, dotted border.

R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY in two lines above, TYPIΩN and Phoenician inscription “of Tyre” in two lines in ex., stern of galley, date above, dotted border.

Date above stern: LΔNP

Controls: none

Coins of the Seleucid Empire from the collection of Arthur Houghton (Ancient coins in North American collections) 

Seleucid Coins 2: A Comprehensive Guide. Part 2: Seleucus IV through Antiochus XIII

Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus I Soter BCE 280-261

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AR Drachm, 18 mm, 3.98 g., Seleucia on the Tigris mint, BCE c. 278-274 (per Newell)

ESM 158, SC 380.2b

O: diad. Hd of Antiochus I, r, dotted border.

R: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ on the r., ANTIOXOY on the l., Apollo, slight drapery on r.thigh std l., on omphalos, testing arrow and resting l., hand on grounded bow.

Controls on outer r and l. 

Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus VI Dionysus BCE 144-142

AE 20 mm, 4.46 g, Antioch mint

Winterthur III, 5012, SC 2007b (this coin)

O: Radiate and diademed hd of king r., one diadem tie falling forward over shoulder, dotted border.

R: [BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ/A]NTIOXOY in two lines above panther, [E]ΠΙΦANOYΣ/ [ΔI]ONYΣOY in two lines below, panther stg l., foreleg raised, head facing, broken spear in mouth.

Primary control above panther’s tail: ΣTA

Secondary control: palm branch

Planchet appears to have been broken in antiquity.

Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus VI Epiphanes Dionysus BCE 144-142

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AE 15 mm, 2.9 g, Probably Ptolemaϊs Ake mint

SC 2025, CSE 252-253, SNG Spaer 1789-1793v

O: Radiate and diademed hd of king r., one diadem tie falling forward over shoulder, dotted border.

R: [BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ/A]NTIOXOY in two lines above horse, [E]ΠΙΦANOYΣ/ [ΔI]ONYΣOY in two lines below. Horse stg l foreleg raised.

Control on r: A over B

Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus V Eupator BCE 164-162

AR Tetradrachm, 33 mm, 16.5 g, Antioch mint

SC 1575.10, CSE 138, SMA 77

O: diad hd of Antiochus V r., diadem ends falling straight behind, fillet border.

R: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ on r., ANTIOXOY on l, EYΠATOPOΣ in ex., Zeus enthroned l., resting on scepter and holding Nike who crowns royal name, monogram HP control on outer left.

Ex: Noble Numismatics Pty Ltd (Australia) 75 (Mar/Apr 2004) lot 1842

Ex: Noble Numismatics Pty Ltd (Australia) 64 (July 2000) lot 2310

Description from catalogue:

"SYRIA, Kingdom of, Antiochus V, (164-162 B.C.), silver tetradrachm, (16.504 grams), Antioch mint, obv. diademed head of Antiochus V to right, fillet border, rev. Zeus seated left on throne, holding Nike in outstretched hand and sceptre, on right, **BASILEOS and to left **ANTIOCOU and **EUPATORO[S] in exergue, HP monogram in left field, (S.7004, Newell SMA 77, ACNAC Houghton 138, SNG Spaer (Israel I) -). Minor surface marks, otherwise very fine and rare.

Newell notes only the Ward specimen (787) in all the public and private collections."

Greece/Seleucid; Demetrius II Second Reign, BCE 129-125

AR Tetradrachm, 28 mm, 13.86 g., 12h, Tyre mint, SE 186=BCE 127/6

SC 2195.4b, Newell Tyre 173

O: diad., draped bust r, beardless, dotted border.

R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ (curving) on r., ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ on l., eagle stg l on ship’s ram, palm branch under far wing, dotted border.

Mintmarks: A/PE above club surmounted by monogram TYP in l. field and AΣin r. field above with date CΠΡ

Control, between eagle’s legs, monogram ΓΗΡ

Greece/Seleucid; Demetrius III Eucaerus BCE 97/6-88/7

AE 20 mm, 5.63 g, Damascus mint, SE 217=BCE 96/5

SC 2455.1

O: diad. hd of Demetrius r, bearded, dotted border.

R: BACIΛΕΩC ΔHMHTPIOV ΘEOV in three lines on r., ΦΙΛΟΠATOPOC CΩTHPOC in two lines on l., Hermes stg facing holding palm and caduceus, dotted border.

Controls on outer left one above and one below and HΔ monogram in ex. on rt. date on l., in ex. ΖΙΣ

Hermann Weber Collection in 3 Volumes

The three volume set of the Sir Hermann Weber Collection is available via the Internet Archive and can be found on the left side of this page under links. The volumes are all complete except for the plates which are unfortunately not included.

Without the plates these books are an interesting curiosity more so than a resource. If the plates are added in the future I will upload links to those as well.

Vol. I. Introduction: [Notes culled from "Autobiographical reminiscences of Sir Hermann Weber... " London, Priv. print., 1919] Auriol find class. Hispania. Gallia. Britannia. Italy and Sicily. --

Vol. II. Macedon. Thrace. Thessaly. North western, central and southern Greece. --

Vol. III. pt. I. Asia: Bosporus. Colchis. Pontus. Paphlagonia. Bythynia. Mysia. Troas. Aeolis. Lesbos. Ionia. Caria. Lydia.

Vol. III. pt. II. Asia: Phrygia. Lycia. Pamphylia. Pisidia. Cilicia. Cyprus. Galatia. Cappadocia. Syria. Phoenicia. Palestine. Arabia. Mesopotamia. Persia. Persis. Characene. Bactria. Africa: Egypt. Cyrenaica. Libya. Zeugitana. Islands between Africa and Sicily. Numidia. Mauretania. Incerta

Jacob Hirsch Auction Catalogues Available

For those of you interested in old auction catalogues, Google Books has provided four classic catalogues for us to utilize without ever leaving the comfort of our homes. Please note the links on the far left side of this page, which will take you to the respective catalogues.

As more become available we will create links to those as well.

The most important of the four is the Rhousopoulos Auction catalogue from 1905 that sells when available for US$1,200 or more. Now it is available complete with plates for only the time it takes to locate the link.

I wish to thank Ed Snible's site http://digitalhn.blogspot.com/ for first posting this information.

Greece/Seleucid; Demetrius II (First Reign) BCE 146-138

AE 14 mm, 2.10 g, Tyre mint, SE 167=BCE 146-145

SC 1970.1, SNG Spaer 1680-1682 v.

O : diad. Hd of Demetrius r., diadem ends falling straight behind, dotted border.

R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ curving on r., ΔHMHTPIOY curving on l., palm tree dotted border

Date across field; ΙΞ--P

Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus I Soter BCE 280-261, in the name of Seleucus I

AR Tetradrachm, 28 mm, 16.73 g, Laodicea ad mare mint

SC 357.8 (this coin)

O: hd of young Herakles r. in lion skin headdress, dotted border. (weak obs. Strike)

R: ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ on r., BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ in ex. Zeus enthroned l., holding eagle and scepter, dotted border. Mintmark on left above, Dolphin l., controls on left below and beneath throne.

Ex: WKR collection

Greece/Seleucid; Antiochus X Eusebes Philopator c. BCE 94-probably 88

AE 21 mm, 8.29 g., 12h, Unattributed Issue of Northern Syria, First reign, c. BCE 92/1?.

SC 2427A (to be included in an Addenda/Corrigenda of SC tentatively scheduled for pub in 2015)
please also refer to http://scaddenda.org/2014/10/07/scads42-antiochus-x-sc-2427a/ where it is listed by the new number and also as SCADS 43.

O: Diademed hd of Antiochus X r. with fringe of curly beard, diadem ends falling straight behind.
Dotted border.

R: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOV in two lines on r. EVΣEBOVΣ ΦΙΛOΠATOPOΣ in two lines on the l., pilei of Dioscuri, each diademed and surmounted by star. PK monogram C control.

Possible date in exergue AKC (SE 221=92/1 BCE)?  Other mark in ex ANI? possible other letters?

part of this inscription may refer to SE 221=BCE 92/1 which would be both interesting and intriguing

Acquisition: 2009

Greece/Armenia; Tigranes II ‘the Great’. 95-56 BCE

 Æ Half Chalkous (4.8 g, 18 mm, 12h). Tigranakert mint. Struck 69-55 BC.

M&D 44; CAA 101 corr.; AC 66

O:Draped bust right, wearing five-pointed Armenian tiara decorated with star between two eagles

R: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ BAΣΙΛΕΩN [TIΓPANOY], Herakles-Vahagn standing slightly left, holding club set on ground and lion skin; Δ-H across inner field.

The Δ-H controls appear on a tetradrachm of Antioch during his occupation of the Seleucid capital, so perhaps this coin may have also been struck during that time, since it shares the same controls...though the tet also has an M in the lower inner left.

Indo-Greek; Menander BCE 160-145

AR Drachm, 17 mm, 2.38g, -------- mint?

M. ---; Bopearachchi ----

OBS: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΟΤΗΡΟΥ MENANΔΡΟΥ Diad. Bust of Menander rt. Inscription around

REV: Kharoshthi legend “Menadrasa Maharajasa Tratarasa”

Monograms.

Athena left.

Greece/Seleucid; Demetrius II BCE 129-125

AE 17 mm, 5.97 g, 1h, Antioch mint BCE 129-128.

SC 2170.1g, SNG Spaer 2171

O: laureate hd of Zeus r., dotted border

R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY in two lines on the r., ΘEOY NIKATOPOΣ in two lines on l., Nike adv l., holding wreath and palm branch.

Controls: Ξ inner left, palm branch lower left