Collecting Ancient Greek Coins Part II Part II of a two part series, by Vincent McCarthy with price guide 1 The sudden death of Alexander the Great in interesting and affordable coins for today’s sketchy and cramped so a decent reference 323 BC left a power vacuum that was collectors. The provinces and cities of Asia book is essential. Prices range from around resolved when his generals effectively Minor were obviously wealthy as can be £10 for the later coins to £50 or more for the divided the Empire between themselves. judged by the plentiful supply of large silver more attractive and interesting early coins. Lysimachos took control of Thrace whilst coins. Many very attractive designs of male Asia Minor and the Black Sea region pro- Seleucos went into Syria and sowed the and female deities with animals and birds duced a huge amount of mostly bronze seeds of the Seleucid Kingdom which was can be found. Look out for Ionia; Cilicia, coinage during the second and third cen- to rule for several centuries. In a similar way Phoenicia, Mysia, et al for interesting issues turies AD. Collectors will find a lot of inter- Ptolemy moved south into Egypt forming in silver and bronze. est here and coins depicting the facing pro- the Ptolemaic dynasty: the last before Egypt Away from the eastern Mediterranean we files of Emperor and wife are popular. There became a Roman province following the find Greek coins along the coast of North are also many with references to religious Actium defeat of Mark Antony. Africa. The Phoenicians founded colonies in cults and depictions of temples which are Tunisia and Spain, their most notable city only seen on these coins, the original struc- being at Carthage. The best of the tures having fallen into ruin. Carthaginian coinage was minted during the The whole area of Provincial coinage offers period when they held sway over Sicily, and collectors coins in silver and bronze, of 2 some of the coins were undoubtedly minted large and small size and at reasonable on that island. A range of coins in gold, sil- prices. Best of all there are now more refer- The Ptolemaic Kings issued coins, the first ver and bronze can be found bearing the ence works available to help make collect- coinage ever minted in that ancient country. profile of Tanit with reverse types of a ing easier. These were mainly a long series of silver standing horse or a palm tree. 6 tetradrachms generally bearing a realistic 5 portrait of the founder Ptolemy I with an eagle as reverse type. All of the dozen or so succeeding kings used the same or very sim- A guide to prices ilar rugged portrait. The exception comes at Greek coinage covers such a broad and the end of the Dynasty when a portrait of Roman Provincial Coinage diverse field that anything more than a very Cleopatra appears briefly on a small bronze As the Roman Empire spread it’s influence simple guide to prices is virtually impossi- coin. The Ptolemies also produced some over the known western World the coins ble. New collectors will need to study auc- very large and heavy bronze coins, howev- began to take on a more businesslike Roman tion catalogues and dealers’ lists for up-to- er, whose values we are not certain of today appearance. Many of the legends on the date availability and prices. It is also wise to so we tend to describe them by their diame- coins were still in Greek but the Emperors visit the many coin fairs around the country, ter in millimetres, eg: AE20, AE27, etc. (AE began to put their own heads on the coins: a looking at coins and chatting to other collec- being the numismatic symbol for bronze). simple way of letting the people know who tors and dealers. Whilst the portraiture on Ptolemaic coinage was the boss. A few general points might help. Greek gold is frankly unimaginative, the large silver From the farthest west in Iberia the coinage and electrum can be expensive; silver less coins of the Seleucids offer some very fine took on a mixed Roman and Celtic look. so but choice examples can be pricey. and realistic portraiture. From the founder, The types gradually became more Roman in Bronze is fairly cheap in the lesser grades Seleukos I to his son Antiochos and appearance, but the native iconology was and nice pieces are not easy to find. onwards through the following family mem- still present in the figures and script. The The silver coinage of the Greek city states bers we are treated to quite striking heads of early emperors are all depicted along with ranges from £150 to £600 or so but the what are obviously real people. Strong and other family members so we find portraits smaller denominations can be very much mature, serious and gentle, young and inno- of Augustus and Tiberius, Drusus and cheaper, often less than £50 or so. cent: they are all here. Caligula, Germanicus and Nero, all in a Coins of Alexander the Great are relatively 4 rather naïve style. plentiful from £75 for the drachm to around An interesting series of base silver £200 for a decent tetradrachm. A wide range tetradrachms was minted at Alexandria in of large and spectacular silver coins from Egypt and carried on for almost three cen- Asia minor are available from £150 and up; 3 turies. All of the Emperors and most of their bronzes can be as low as £20 for a reason- A similar emphasis on realistic portraiture wives appear on them including Nero’s able Fine specimen, more for bigger and was shown by the Macedonian kings where mother, Agrippina, and his infamous wives finer pieces. the profiles of Philip V and Perseus, young Octavia and Poppaea, who does not appear and with fashionably short beards, are wor- on the coinage of Rome. Some words on grading and condition thy of note. Other kingdoms such as Parthia, We also see a wide range of Egyptian deities Most collectors will want to own coins in Pontus and Bactria also have some striking such as Osiris, Helios, Isis and Serapis as the best condition they can find and afford portrait coins especially in the early years, well as the Pharos lighthouse. to buy. For most silver coins a grade of Very but in all cases the artistry deteriorates as we During the second and third centuries the Fine is generally accepted as a reasonable approach the Christian Era. coins become debased and small and the minimum in terms of wear. Bronze coins This Hellenistic period (the Greek world portraits become indistinguishable one from generally saw more wear in ancient times so after Alexander) offers a wide variety of another. The Greek legends also become these days turn up in less than VF condition. ANTIQUES INFO - November/December 05 Anything better than Fine should usually be melted down and re-used but minor faults can become pitted or flaky and this is con- worth considering. were often accepted, as can be seen from the sidered a negative quality. Collectors must We must remember that ancient coins were examples that we can handle today. decide for themselves which coins they individually struck using a pair of bronze Bearing in mind that these coins have spent approve of. Quite well-worn coins can be dies, between which the metal flan was about 2000 years lying in the ground collec- appealing especially when you think of all placed to be struck by the coin maker’s tors will quickly realise that bronze coins in the hands they passed through in olden hammer. The flans of gold, silver or bronze particular can be severely affected by this times, one of the more pleasant aspects of were often pre heated to allow the image to exposure. This often results in the formation the hobby. be impressed more easily, too hot and the of a smooth green or brown patina which I would advise against purchasing damaged flan spread out wide, too cold and the flan can be very attractive and is much admired coins unless they are of particular rarity; could show edge splits. Any coins that did by collectors. poor quality coins tend to stand out in a tray not come up to a reasonable standard were At other times the metal surface of the coins of otherwise pleasing coins. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 1. Alexander the Great gold stater. Athena 12. A fine silver coin of Myrina. 2ndC BC. 22. & 23. Philip II. Bronze coin with head and Nike. £700 with a youthful Apollo of Apollo. £12 2. Thrace, the dynast Koson, 1stC BC. 13. Reverse depicting Apollo standing 24. Tetradrachm of Lysimachos, King of Roman style gold coin. £600 holding a flask. £295 Thrace. 323-281 BC. £225 3. Reverse of 4. £40 14. Maroneia, Thrace. A lively head of a 25. Alexander the Great. 336-323BC. 4. A large bronze coin from Carthage with young Dionysos Silver tetradrachm, reverse Zeus. £195 a head of Tanit. 3rdC BC 15. Reverse showing a naked Dionysos 26. Two small silver diobols from Thrace. 5. Perseus the last king of Macedon. 179- holding grapes. £175 4thC BC. £50 ea 168BC. Large silver tetradrachm. £600 16. Tetradrachm of Thasos depicting 27. Two silver drachms of Alexander & 6. Rare portrait of Philip V of Macedon. Dionysos. 2ndC BC Philip III.