The joys of numismatic research
Anybody have some "knowledge finds" they'd like to share. With me,
acquiring information and knowledge is every bit as rewarding as acquiring coins. Case in point. Last night, in finishing reading through information from articles and books I've collected but hadn't yet gotten to, I uncovered some *really* interesting stuff about a coin I bought about a year ago, which before I knew relatively little about. It's an ancient coin, an Athenian Owl, but it's not one of the common classical Owls typically dated 449-413 BC (interesting coins too) but rather a rarer archaic Owl that preceded these. I bought it unattributed from Harlan Berk, who had just bought it himself a couple of hours earlier, at a major coin show. Because of this, I got a very good deal on the coin. But I had some work to do. g Here's a pic of it, only a middling pic (too much glare, which obscures some of the detail) -- I need to retake the pic at some point: http://rg.cointalk.org/misc/Archaic_Owl.html The coin grades aVF, a decent enough grade (for my purposes) with these coins, which are often badly beat up, even those illustrated in reference sources. Specimens are available in nicer condition, but prices can soar into the stratosphere (five figures). I knew of course that the coin was an archaic Owl, but in looking through Sear and Wildwinds I couldn't further attribute it with any confidence. Last night I finished reading through, and looking very carefully at, the most widely used references for these coins, including Starr's Athenian Coinage, Kraay's Archaic Coins of Athens, and Seltman's Athens: Its History and Coinage Before the Persian Invasion. But the most useful source, and the one that nailed the attribution of my coin (persistence pays!), was Price and Waggoner's Archaic Greek Coinage: The Asyut Hoard, which documents in exquisite detail a hoard of about 900 Greek silver coins dug up by Egyptian workmen in 1969. The very unusual thing about this hoard is that despite the irrational laws in source countries, most of the coins in this hoard were documented. Typically coins dug up in source countries are secretly ferreted out of the country and into the market via shady characters in source countries and European middlemen without any knowledge about the find spots and so on being preserved. These Asyut Hoard coins reached the market the same way, but somehow information about their finds spot and the coins in the hoard was preserved, with photos made, which furthered the state of numismatic knowledge. No mention was made in the book about why or how this happened with this particular hoard. Almost always stuff like this, close to the source, is hush-hush. Lives have been lost, literally, when finders and others have been exposed. By reading this book, I was able to determine that my coin was in all likelihood minted c. 490-482 BC. It's one of the finest styled of the archaic Owl coinage, with Athena having a relatively small head, long neck, and fine overall features compared with other archaic Owls. But here's the really interesting part. This coin, part of a large emission of the same variety, was in all likelihood minted to build up the Hellenic navy in preparation for the anticipated Persian invasion, which would take place in 480 BC and which would determine the subsequent course of Western history. The Greeks defeated the Persian fleet at Salamis in a battle that has been called the "supreme confrontation between East and West," between despotism and individual freedoms (Hanson). Afterward, the Greeks for the first time formed a formal allegiance of the various Greek city-states (the Delian League) and were able to continue their unprecedented experimentation with individualism and democracy. This ushered in the golden age of ancient Greece, the thinking of men such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the genesis of Western science, philosophy, and civilization. Back to coins. g. I was also able to attribute my coin as Sear Greek 1842v. (for variety), Seltman Group Gi, Price and Waggoner Group IVg, Szego 3. Fun stuff. -- Email: (delete "remove this") Coin Collecting: Consumer Protection Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos |
Your story was a fantastic read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for
taking the time to share... My latest purchase: http://www.cngcoins.com/coin.asp?ITE...TEM_ENLARGED=1 -DrZ "Reid Goldsborough" wrote in message ... Anybody have some "knowledge finds" they'd like to share. With me, acquiring information and knowledge is every bit as rewarding as acquiring coins. Case in point. Last night, in finishing reading through information from articles and books I've collected but hadn't yet gotten to, I uncovered some *really* interesting stuff about a coin I bought about a year ago, which before I knew relatively little about. It's an ancient coin, an Athenian Owl, but it's not one of the common classical Owls typically dated 449-413 BC (interesting coins too) but rather a rarer archaic Owl that preceded these. I bought it unattributed from Harlan Berk, who had just bought it himself a couple of hours earlier, at a major coin show. Because of this, I got a very good deal on the coin. But I had some work to do. g Here's a pic of it, only a middling pic (too much glare, which obscures some of the detail) -- I need to retake the pic at some point: http://rg.cointalk.org/misc/Archaic_Owl.html The coin grades aVF, a decent enough grade (for my purposes) with these coins, which are often badly beat up, even those illustrated in reference sources. Specimens are available in nicer condition, but prices can soar into the stratosphere (five figures). I knew of course that the coin was an archaic Owl, but in looking through Sear and Wildwinds I couldn't further attribute it with any confidence. Last night I finished reading through, and looking very carefully at, the most widely used references for these coins, including Starr's Athenian Coinage, Kraay's Archaic Coins of Athens, and Seltman's Athens: Its History and Coinage Before the Persian Invasion. But the most useful source, and the one that nailed the attribution of my coin (persistence pays!), was Price and Waggoner's Archaic Greek Coinage: The Asyut Hoard, which documents in exquisite detail a hoard of about 900 Greek silver coins dug up by Egyptian workmen in 1969. The very unusual thing about this hoard is that despite the irrational laws in source countries, most of the coins in this hoard were documented. Typically coins dug up in source countries are secretly ferreted out of the country and into the market via shady characters in source countries and European middlemen without any knowledge about the find spots and so on being preserved. These Asyut Hoard coins reached the market the same way, but somehow information about their finds spot and the coins in the hoard was preserved, with photos made, which furthered the state of numismatic knowledge. No mention was made in the book about why or how this happened with this particular hoard. Almost always stuff like this, close to the source, is hush-hush. Lives have been lost, literally, when finders and others have been exposed. By reading this book, I was able to determine that my coin was in all likelihood minted c. 490-482 BC. It's one of the finest styled of the archaic Owl coinage, with Athena having a relatively small head, long neck, and fine overall features compared with other archaic Owls. But here's the really interesting part. This coin, part of a large emission of the same variety, was in all likelihood minted to build up the Hellenic navy in preparation for the anticipated Persian invasion, which would take place in 480 BC and which would determine the subsequent course of Western history. The Greeks defeated the Persian fleet at Salamis in a battle that has been called the "supreme confrontation between East and West," between despotism and individual freedoms (Hanson). Afterward, the Greeks for the first time formed a formal allegiance of the various Greek city-states (the Delian League) and were able to continue their unprecedented experimentation with individualism and democracy. This ushered in the golden age of ancient Greece, the thinking of men such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the genesis of Western science, philosophy, and civilization. Back to coins. g. I was also able to attribute my coin as Sear Greek 1842v. (for variety), Seltman Group Gi, Price and Waggoner Group IVg, Szego 3. Fun stuff. -- Email: (delete "remove this") Coin Collecting: Consumer Protection Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos |
On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 17:32:24 -0500, "DoctorZ" wrote:
Your story was a fantastic read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to share... My latest purchase: http://www.cngcoins.com/coin.asp?ITE...TEM_ENLARGED=1 I'm tempted to say something nice about your new purchase because of your nice words to me. But I have to be honest here. Your coin is spectacular, and I'm not saying that just to be nice. g Really. Even though these coins aren't my area, here's what I like about it: 1) It's gold, and it gold has a timeless allure. 2) It's beautifully toned for a gold coin, with the darker recesses nicely accentuating the coin's age. 3) It's big, very big, for a gold coin, at 39 mm, and though undoubtedly thin at 8.65 grams, the thinness doesn't strike me as detracting from the coin's dimensional impressiveness. 4) Its style is very cool, very kingly, very royal, both obverse and reverse. 5) There are no unaesthetic indications of it's being ex-jewelry, and though I don't know the market for these coins, as ex-jewelry, you undoubtedly got a deal on it. 6) As a VF, all of the design elements are present, and the coin's moderate wear also doesn't detract from the impressiveness of the design. 7) The history is very cool -- a quick search indicates that James I was the guy who sponsored the King James Bible -- it's named after him -- and James I had some interesting ideas about the divine rights of kings. Congrats on your purchase. Can I have it? -- Email: (delete "remove this") Coin Collecting: Consumer Protection Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos |
Reid wrote:
"The history is very cool -- a quick search indicates that James I was the guy who sponsored the King James Bible -- it's named after him -- and James I had some interesting ideas about the divine rights of kings." Are you SERIOUS? Anka ---- tell me something I -don't- know |
Reid Goldsborough wrote:
SNIP 7) The history is very cool -- a quick search indicates that James I was the guy who sponsored the King James Bible -- it's named after him -- and James I had some interesting ideas about the divine rights of kings. -- Email: (delete "remove this") There is no way that you believe this.... It is a joke, Right? Roscoe |
In article ,
Roscoe wrote: Reid Goldsborough wrote: SNIP 7) The history is very cool -- a quick search indicates that James I was the guy who sponsored the King James Bible -- it's named after him -- and James I had some interesting ideas about the divine rights of kings. -- Email: (delete "remove this") There is no way that you believe this.... It is a joke, Right? Roscoe I don't see the problem here. From the inside flap of the Nelson Bibles version of the King James; Reissue edition (June 1, 1982 ): "Shortly after inheriting the throne of England in the midst of violent religious strife, King James I called together the country's leading churchmen and theologians at Hampton Court, "for the hearing, and for the determining, of things pretended to be amiss in the Church." Out of that conference came the memorable decision to commission a new translation of the Holy Scriptures. King James I eagerly approved the idea in the hope that this new translation might help avert civil war by uniting the religious factions within his country. The uniform translation, since called the "King James Version," dramatically affected the course of development of the English-speaking world. ............. What am I missing? Scot Kamins --- ***Collecting Euro's (for no apparent reason)*** |
Scot asked:
"What am I missing?" Reid's penchant for stating the obvious. Anka ---- next thing you know he'll be telling us that James was the king of Scotland, too |
|
Michael E. Marotta wrote:
"Now, now... a little Christian caritas required you to allow him to make sure that it was not James II, just in case... I agree that it is easy to assume that he did not have a clue until he googled it, but patience means suffering, which we all do gladly to save the lost." Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Anka ---- have you read God's Secretaries by Nicholson? |
On 18 Mar 2004 03:58:51 -0800, Anka Z wrote:
Scot asked: "What am I missing?" Reid's penchant for stating the obvious. Obvious to who? Everyone, or just you? Must be great to be one of the intelligent elite - but don't assume we care how clever you are, it's not a virtue. Anka ---- next thing you know he'll be telling us that James was the king of Scotland, too Oh right, and everyone knows that as well? I just don't get this constant childish sniping and name calling. |
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