Miscellanea ,. .. by ROD Kollgaard Athena
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Vo/3, No. 10 Numismatic Art of Antiquity OCTOBER 1989 $2.00 Symbols important Pegasos was Corinth's logo Miscellanea ,. .. by ROD Kollgaard Athena. The helmet which Athena The peoples of the ancient world wears is of ~ style that was developed • Outfoxed by the FAX were as proud of their heritage as we are at the city for a new type of heavy infantry, the hoplites, 'which evolved at In this world of high tech communications we sometimes marvel at the of OUTS. This is often reflected in their coinage, in particular on that of the Corinth, Argos, and Chalis c. 700 B.C., sophistication and capacity of the machines around us - the FAX machine Greeks. Before the Hellenistic Age. and soon after became popular being the latest wondennent. What we tend to forget is that people still when it became common for the coinage throughout Greece. control the machines. This fact recently became painfuUy clear to Mehrdad to portray living rulers, Greek cities The region of Carinthia lies at the Sadigh of Sadigh Gallery in ManhaUan. Mehrdad had a FAX machine carefully chose the symbols which they northeast comer of the Peloponnese near installed and widely publicized the new FAX telephone number, but the placed on their principle coinage. The the base of the Isthmus of Corinth machine had problems from the start. After a fru strating series of delays it city of Corinth. which was one of lhe which also connects with Attica. The was determined that the number ass igned was actually for an area some 30 wealthiest and most powerful of the main portion of the ancient city was miles away. Greek city states, selected symbols built on the northern slopes of the The firm's previously published FAX number was 212-682-1099, their which glorified both its legendary past, Acrocorinthos, an easily defensible corrected and functional number is 212-545-7612. The other lines, including as well as reflected its real might. The acropolis almost completely surrounded their toll free number are unaffected. abundant and beautiful silver staters of by great cliffs. Compared with other Corinth show the winged horse Pegasos parts of Greece, Corinthia does not on the obverse. with Athena wearing a possess a great deal of arable land, and • Best of The Celator - 1989 Corinthian style helmet on the reverse. the amount of rainfall is less, but the soil of the coastal plain is of good A selection of the best anicles and features to appear on the pages of The The legend of Pegasos was very Celator during the past 12 months will be preserved in saddle stitched card important in Corinth, for it was quality and provided the city with a cover magazine fonnat again this year. The size and fonnat of 1988's "Best believed that one of the principle strong agricultural base upon which fountains of the city, the hippocrene later wealth was built. The region was of The Celator" will be retained for ease of storage. The annual issue from (horse fountain) had begun after the prosperous during the bronze age las t year was singled out by the Numismatic Literary Guild, during this flying horse struck his hoof on the Mycenaean period, although there is no summer's ANA convention at Pittsburgh, for extraordinary merit in the rocks, and that the hero Bellerophon evidence of large scale building. With numismatic magazine publishing category. The 1989 edition of The Best of The CelalOr will be available in December - watch for ordering instructions in captured Pegasos there with the help of Please tum to page XXIIII next months paper. New dynasty Abbassid overthrow resulted in changed coinage by Stephen Album at al-Kufa and the unidentified mint of Shortly after the accession of the "Tanbuk,"3 are identified by the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan H, in addition, in the obverse margin, of the 1271744, th e black banners were traditional Kharijite slogan, "Judgment unfurled in the east. A general uprising belongs to God alone," to the standard against Umayyad rule and what were Umayyad type (fig. 3). The copper perceived as its abuses was underway, coi ns present a few additional types, and the black banners its herald. After some of considerable historical interest, six years of intense fi ghting, Damascus but lie outside the scope of this surrendered, Marwan II fl ed to Egypt, chapter.4 Except for names, mints, and where was soon afterwards murdered, and dates, the revolutionary coppers differ a new dynasty feU heir to the caliphate, not at all from the general run of late 1. Abbasid revolution, partisans of Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'awiya, AR dirham, Jayy 129. known as the Abbasid dynasty, whose Umayyad and early Abbasid copper Note the extra marginal legend around the obversc. The reverse is identical to the name refers to their descent from aI coins, discussed in a previous article. reverse of the normal Umayyad dirham. 'Abbas, uncle of the Prophet. The new The coins of Abd Allah were struck rulers soon introduced sweeping changes at ten mints, all located in the Iranian from their initial coming to power in thereupc:m, and last until the Buwayhid 1321749 until the death of al-Ma'mun in occupaUon of Baghdad in 334/946. A in many aspects of rul e and provinces of Fars and the Jibal (central 2 18/833. The second extends from fourth independent period of Abbasid administration, and these changes came Iran) between the years 127 and 130. 218/833 until the death of al-Mu'tamid COinage, from about 55211157 until the to be reflected in their coinage. Coins of Abu Muslim were produced at Beginning at Jayy in 127, silver four mints, two of them in Khorasan in 279/892. The third follows Please tum to page XXVii and (later) copper coins were struck (Balkh & Marw), one in northern Iran under the authority of several of the (Jurjan), one in the Jibal (al-Rayy), .~d rebel factions, differing from the are dated from 130 to 13 3. KharlJlte INSIDE r." ... o · =r uniform Umayyad types in several coins were mints at al-Kufa in Iraq in .,o~ ways. In a recent study, Carl Wurtzel 128, and at nTanbuk" in 133. A founh THE CELATOR: ;;"Q has assigned each of the various silver type, struck in the name of Judayy b. -X"0_ and copper types to its appropriate Ali ai-Kirmani, was produced in Marw gJ ..... S' faction, while at the same time in 128, and is the earliest post-reform ","'~ compiling an excellent catalog of the silver coin to bear the name of any Point of View II g:'" series. 1 The silver coins fall into three human being other than the Prophet Book News llil principal categories, those issued under Muhammad.5 People VI the aegis of Abd Allah b. Mu'awiya, AU of the revolutionary coins are Market XII those of Abu Muslim, and those of the rare, though the coins of J ayy struck ~'" Kharijites. Except for a few issues between 127 and 129, the Marw issues Calendar XXV i§ struck at Marw (fig. 2), coins of the of 131-133, and the Kharijite issue of Coin File XX -., first two series are distinguished by the ~~ al-Kufa are occasionally offered on the XX -r-0 addition of the Ko ran ic phrase, "Say: I Trivia o • market, typically bringing between Prof. Directory .. XXXII 9:[: ask of you no recompense for this other $200 and $350 dollars. Other silver - ~ than love of kin,"2 as a second, inner Classifieds XXXIliI ;;2 types fetch rather more, and the copper ~~ margin on the obverse (fig. 1). coins are priced from $40 for the ~~ iR' Otherwise, they differ little from their commonest sons in fine condition. ~ Umayyad precursors, except in mint and The Abbasid coinage can be divided date. The Kharijite issues, struck only into three phases, the first extending . , ' .. ,.. .. .. ~ . ' ... .. The Celator October 1989 ...... ' ...... .' , .. -. , . .. ..... .. .. .. ~ .. Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: determining the genuineness of the diobols in the Black Sea Hoard (CeiaJor, 1 have just read the article by Simon • • • Sept .• 1989). It is important that Bendall. I find it very interesting and SUbj ective, expert opinion, as had been Commentary by Wayne G. would like to know more. Would you rendered by prominent numismatists, be be able to tell me where I can get any challenged objectively. books or articles on Byzantine coins? As a scientist, I am impressed with Or could you give me the address of raternalism is defined by participating with exhibits, and meeting Mr. the investigation. It is refreshing to Webster's simply as brother others with similar interests. Bendall? Thank you for your reply. find a scientific approach and reasoned F liness. There are all sorts of We have received a number of letters conclusions in the matter which stand in fraternal organizations in the world, over the pas t three years from collectors Bill Keim such stark contrast to subjective from the college campus types to in rather isolated areas, all asking how Ohio conclusions based upon the visual benevolent associations. While these they might meet other collectors. In an appearance of coins compared to a (Simon Bendall is vice president of fraternal organizations are easily attempt to facilitate this fraternalism we limited number of museum specimens. will print free of charge the name, major Numismatic Fine Arts International and may recognizable and indeed advertise them be reached 01 the firm's offICe· see page V From a scientific standpoint, 1 accept selves as such, there are other types of interest.