•

Im!et: The eaHy em ire

ho,nolre~ on Greek cOinage

•
I
 Masterworks of Ancient Art

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1"jl ll ill l'l i d ,I j /vn ',),("I',jlmvillf!, 11/lIIli,I'NI. A/ Ii" fl j Ie/fellisti, j lr% /)'j!r II!
the 'lIlt (:1'11110)' Ii.r:. II)' L)'JiJ!jlnl or IInl:. Sri iii 10 li m'!' /m'lI fOl III,/ il< li lLI/ ria II", 211r1 (;1'11/11 1)' /J.e. Furoul ill Fl'fI l!rp
L I'Vrllll1"fl. /I /·2I1 d l..e.IIIII)' lI . n (:1/. l si e nllll1)' A.D. ((;,,"1) hi h!llfo] / J/ em/ III)' A.V.
III'i";/s1r( 17. 9 011.) q ,. /I"dill ;\/ '~" " 1I11 IIr iJ!ht 5" ( 12. 7 rill .) / /rif!.ht ,Y- ( 20.] rill.)
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Page 6
Magna Mater cult
by James Meye r
Page 16
Homer on Greek coinage
by Marvin T ameanko
Page 30
Microbiologically
influenced corrosion
by David M. Dziewulski
About the cover:
Palatine cult statue 01 Magna
Maler. (Photo courtesy of Dr. M .
Shepherd. Published with per-
mission of the Soprintendenza
Archaeologica di Roma.)
Deadline for the June issue is Friday, May 10
INSIDE THE CELATOR...
Vol. 5, NO.5
FEATURES May 1991
--.~" I .".",~~
6 Religious reforms led to increased
acceptance of the Magna Mater cult
during the early empire
by James Meyer
Publisher/Editor
Wayne G. Sayles
Office Manager
Janet Sayles
16 The importance of Homer's writing
led to his representation on the Associate Edi tor
coinage of Greek city stales Steven Sayles
by Marvin Tameanko Distribution Asst.
Christi ne Olson
30 Bacteria can cause microbiologically Art
influenced corrosion under
Parnell Nelson
inadequate storage conditions
The Celator
by David M. Dziewulski (ISSN #10480986) is an
independent journal
published on the first day
of each month al
226 Palmer Parkway,
DEPARTMENTS Lodi, WI. It is circulated
internationally through
subscriptions and
2 T he Celator's Point of View special distributions.
Subscription rates,
4 Leners to the Editor payable in U.S. funds,
are $24 per year
23 Book News (second class) within
the United States;
$30 to Canada; $48 per
24 People in the News year to an other
addresses (Air Printed
25 Art and the Markel Maner). Advertising and
copy deadline is the
26 Coming Events . second Friday of each
month. Unsolicited
articles and news
28 Antiquities by David Liebert
releases are welcome,
however publication
36 Just for Beginners cannot be guaranteed.
Second class postage
38 Coins of the Bible by David Hendin paid (USPS #006077)
at l odi , WI 53555.
40 Re ference Reviews by Dennis Kroh Copyright © 199 1,
Clio's Cabinet.
Postmaster: send
44 Coin File - Quotes - Trivia - Humor address changes to P.O.
Box 123, lodi, WI 53555
45 Professional Directory
608-592-4684
52 Index of Advertisers - Classifieds (same lor FAX, aller hours
activate with asterisk on
touch tone phone)

Commentary by Wayne G. Sayles
ne of the subjects that I fre-
O quently encounter in conver-
sations with collectors around
the country is that of ethics within our
hobby. Occassionally this comes in the
form of a complaint, but usually it is
broached in the form of a question or
comment. I received a call this week
from a subscriber who expressed his
concern over an observat ion at a recent
show.
I! seems thatlhis collector happened
to witness " wholes<11e tmde between
''The joy of admiring, or owning, an ancient coin is mainly a
product of the beauty or historical romance of the artifact...
two dealers. The collector later over-
heard the buyer discussing (with an-
other membe r of his own firm) steps
that could be taken 10 alter the coin and
make il more saleable and theoreticall y
more v.duable. This seemed, to the
col lector, to be an unethical pract ice. I!
bothered the collector 10 the point thm
he had real concerns about the extent to
wh ich such al terations might be taking
place, and whethe r coins in his own
collec tion might have been altered.
There arc reilily two issues to con-
sider here, ilnd they both relate to intcg-
rity. On the one hand we arc dealing
with the integrity of the coin itself. and
on the other we arc dealing with the
integrity of the selle r. There are surely
many opinions about these issues, but
the purpose of this column is to offer
you mine.
Let's start with the question of a
coin 's integrity. There are some who
believe that any alteration to the condi-
tion of a coin, Olhe r than thaI produced
by nature itself, is undesirable . These
advocates wou ld rather sec a group of
'Jh~ (l~f'ato, i~
coin diE-~n97.a(Je.7.1 of anti'luit!:l wh01.E- a"tt 'i.E-main!
a' pow~,{t,f' and appwUn9 today a' in th~i' tim~,
2 The Gelator
• •
coins fused together and encrusted, from
their centuries of interment, than sepa-
rated and cleaned. Conversely, there
are those who would burnish and polish
everything in sight. From my pe rsonal
point of view, neither are reasonable
approaches. The joy of admiring, or
owning, an ancient coin is mainly a
product of the beauty or hi storical ro-
mance of the artifact. If the piece is so
enc rus ted that the image is not
discernable, it iscenain lynot enjoyable
as a work of Mt, and probably not as a
piece of hi story. Some coins really do
need to be cleaned.
If the cleaning of a coi n can enhance
its desirabi lity. what about correcting
other little detractions? How about
plugging h o l e.~, or smoothing the fields?
Is it a good thing to fill those pits with
epoxy or give the coin a nice new pa-
tina? Well. these are tough questions.
The answer, I think, is SOMETIMES!
Major museums have never seen an
ethical problem with doing this - they
call it restoration. When a Greek am-
phora is found in 65 pieces and one of
the handles is missing, no museum in
the world would hesitate to fabricate a
replacement. Some museums are care-
ful to let you see the restored areas by
using subt ly different colors and fab-
rics, but ot hers simply replace the miss-
ing parts and blend everything together.
The integrity of an ahe red coi n is cer-
tainly affected by its ch.lOges, but the
net effect is not always negative. When
3n aile red coi n is sold, without a full
disclosure of the changes, there is a
breach of integrity ~ on the pan of the
named fa, and d~diaated to th~
seller. It is Ihis situation which causes
the greatest concern, because the buyer
fee ls cheated and victimized bymisrep-
resenlation. The coin might be better
than it was originally, but the buyer saw
it as "v irgin" and fee ls a real sense of
betrayal when the alterations become
apparent. Here, we enler the sphere of
ethics . Is it uneth ical to professionally
restore coins? NO. Is it unethical to sell
restored coins? NO. Is it unethical to
sell restored coins without fu ll disclo-
sure? YES!
If you have any suspicion that a coin
might be "enhanced", and if that bothers
you, ask the seller specifically about
your concern. To dealers, in general, I
would ask for a more forthright ap-
proach toward voluntaril y identifying
and disclosing known alteriltions. The
hobby really deserves it.
This month we inaugurate the inte-
grillion of ROMAN COINS AND CUL-
TURE into The Cclator. Former RCC
subscribers wi ll be provided with three
issues of The Ce/ator as compensation
for the fillli l RCe issue which has been
cancelled. Those CelalOr subscribers
who also subscribed to Rce will re-
ceive an extens ion 10 their current
subscription by three issues. Look for
the new renewal date on your mai ling
label. Our cover story this month is the
third pan of Magna Mater, by James
Meyer. We earlier reprinted parts I and
2 for the benefit of Cc!ator readers, and
will now bring parts 3 and 4 to our
combined readership.
We are also including a spec ial pu ll-
Olll centerfold this issue, with a listing
of all feature anicles publi shed in The
C elator since its inception. It's a prelly
impressive list (no modesty here) and
we are tremendously grateful to all who
have cont ributed. We sti ll have copies
of certain back issues, but quantities are
limited . Anotherplace to look fo r many
of these articles is in The Best of The
Celotor~ publ ished in 1988,89 & 90.
This is Spring convent ion time and
we will be off to San Francisco fo r the
NAB, New York for the AINA, and SI.
Louis for the Central States Conven-
tion. Hope 10 see some of you along the
WilY! In the meantime take a moment
towrite and share with us you r point of
view.
Ancient, Foreign and
United States Coins
Auction co be held Wednesday, June 5, 1991 in our
galleries at 502 Park Avenue, New York, New York .
C atalogues available early M ay fro m C hristie's
Publications, 21-24 44th Avenue, Lo ng Island City, ~
~
NY 11101 Tel: 71 81784-1480. For further inform ation
please call James Lamb, C hristine Dcussen or
Glenna Sainsbury at 212/ 546-1056.
A selection of Ancient GR"ek ~nd Hom an Coins from our upcoming sale. CHRISTIE'S
May 1991 3

,J
(:"C
Dear Editor:
I read with interest the exchange be-
tween Jerry Vardaman and David Hendin
(Gela lor_ March 199 1) concerning the
presence or absence 01'microleUers' on
ancient coinage. I participated in the
original meeting at the Smithsonian Insti-
tution between Mr. Vardaman and the
staff of the National Numismatic Collec-
tion, during which lime the possibility of
microengraving on ancient coinage was
discussed at some length.
1\ must be stressed thaI no unanimity
of opinion was reached during that meet-
ing. Several of us raised serious doubts
about the supposed 'microlettering' phe-
nomenon, basing our objections on the
same evidence as that presented by David
Hendin. I well remember Ihal Mr.
Vardaman did nol appear to be aware of
the fact that, due 10 Ihe very nature of
coining technology, any 'm icroletters' sunk
into the surface of a coi n would have to
have been created on its dies in relief -
unless we are to betieve that classical
die-engravers whiled away their spare
moments by adding tiny letters with d i-
mi nutive engraving tools to perfectly good
fin ished coins, one leller at a time ,
This strains my credulity. I also find it
difficult to believe that an ancient en·
graver would have placed religious pro·
paganda on coinage in the form ol leller·
ing which was too small to be noticed by
those who would use the money upon
whic h it appeared, In the final analysis ,
the motive for placing any sort of meso
sage on coinage is to have other people
notice it, read it, and thereby either alter
or deepen their beliefs upon a particular
subject. The fact that 'microleltering'
remained undiscovered until almost yes·
terday would at least suggest that, so far
as thought manipu lation is concerned,
this medium wa s the least successful
method ever devised,
Mr. Vardaman reproducesatetterfrom
the late Raymond J, Hebert. The leller
refers to photographs of an ancient coin
sent to the National Museum Collection,
Mr, Vardaman wa s of opinion that this
coin contained 'microlettering', and he
had sent it to Mr, Hebert for his and
4 The Celator
others' examination. Mr. Hebert's leUer
to Mr. Vardaman states that 'all (mem-
bers of our staff to whom the photographs
were shown] agree that there are indeed
letters on this coin' . While Mr. Vardaman
is entitled to see anything he desires on
any coin he wishes, it is important to note
that not all members of our staff agreed or
agree with him or with Mr. Hebert, either
in the case of this coin o r in the existence
of 'microlettering' itself.
Richard G, Doty
Washington, D.C.
I read with great interest David
Hendin's article in the March '9 1 issue
concerning the so-called "micro-
inscriptions" that Dr. Vardaman claims to
have found. This is the first I have ever
heard of such things ! Hendin's article
and Vardaman's response made for some
very intere sting reading and gave me
much to think about, although in the end
I'll put my money with Mr. Hendin and
Prof. Meshorer.
I have a question about Or ,
Vardaman'S drawings of the coin under
discussion: 0 0 the drawings show an
exact copy of the inscriptions tha t
Vardaman found? If so, I question the
spelling of the name "Jesus·. II appears in
many places on Ihe line drawing and in
each case it is spelled "lESVS". For one
thing, if I'm nol mistaken, the Iener ~J"djd n't
come into use until the late Medieval
times. Secondly , if I remember my
Catholic church Latin correctly. the Latin
for ~JESUS" is "JESV" or "J ESV ~, in the
nominative singula r anyway. Mr.
Vardaman has, apparently, found an
ancient coin with 20th century spelling on
il . Amazing! Atany rat e, please continue
to closely follow this theory 01 Dr.
Vardaman and keep us up to date on it
PaulE. Neupert
New York
(Micro or mini le tters on ancient coins are
real enough. so is graffiti. Dr. Vardaman 'S
theory is roman tic and thought provoking,
bur as David Hendin and others have
illustrated, it certainly is not proven fact.)
We here in Tucson, AZ are endeav-
oring to fill a need for our hospitalized,
disabled, and home bound veterans pa-
tients. There are times when it becomes
very frustrating to fill the needs of these
deserving veterans because of a tack of
supplies. Our needs consist of stamps
and coins, albums, catalogues and other
supplies. Contributions are lax deduct-
ible under applicable IRS regulations,
Contributions may be mailed to the Vet-
erans Administration, VA Stamp and Coin
Club (135), Tucson, AZ 85723.
Robert E. Taylor
Arizona
Because I operate the only computer
Bulletin Board System in the world de-
voted exclusively to numismatics, I find
that I spend a lot of my time directing new
callers to books and periodicals geared
to their particular area{s) of numismatic
interest Although my own numismatic
interests are fairly wide-ranging (encom-
passing everything from Roman bronzes
to obsolete Marylandbanknotes), iI's very
dillicultlo keep abreast of every book that
might possibly be helpful to a novice
collector. That's why I find Dennis Kroh's
continuing series of "Aeference Aeviews~
in The Celatorto be invaluablel
The only thing that could improve the
utility of these reviews would be if you and
Dennis could compile the entire series
into a bookl ll'd make my job a heck of a
lot easier . , . for periodicals, there's only
one choice (especially since you'll now
be incorporating Roman Coins and Cul-
ture!). Andforbooks, well ... there's this
new book by Dennis Kroh called A
Buyer's Guide to Books about Ancient
Coins ... and How to Collect Them !
Please steal this idea!
L.D. Mitchell
Numisnet, Laurel, MD
I've procrastinaled in writing you about
Constantine's vision by David Miller
(January 1991 ),and about David Hendin's
article (with JerryVardaman's response)
on microlelters (March 1991 ), but I do
want to comment on both articles.
David Miller questions the standard
description of a follis of Thessafonica ca.
319. The piece is usually described as
Sol above a camp plan. Mr. Miller traced
this description back to Cohen. I won-
dered how the type had been described
before Cohen.
Franciseus M. Biragus published
Imperatorum Romanorum Numismata, a
catalogue of Roman coins from Pompey
10 Heraclius, in 1683. The cataloguer
described this foll is reve rse for
Constantine Junior and for Licinius. He
had seen the coin of Constantine Junior;
he relied on an earlier (1670) description
of the follis of Licinius. The reverse of the
Please turn t o page 37
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May 1991 5
Religious reforms led to increased acceptance
of the Magna Mater cult during the early empire
(Part 1, printed in the Janua ry 1991 With in the popu lation at large, a genera-
issue, considered the introduction of tion of cyn ics had replaced the confi -
the cult of Magna Mater at Rome, as- dent and more naive citizens of the past.
pects of the Phrygian cult and the Numerous social taboos had been bro-
Graeco-Roman synthesis of the cult. ken,1 Roman honor was a subject of
Part 2, printed in the February 199/ ridicule. and the rule of fo rce had effec-
issue, considered the socia-political tivelyreplaced the laws. Contemporary
history of the cult during the Republic writers were unanimous in bemoaning
and its transformation during the Em- the corruption of the times. Octavian's
pire.) plan for a new and stable government
necessarily had to include a cultural re-
by James Meye r orientation. Th is was to be achieved by
supposedly returning the country to an
VIII EVOLUTION DURIN G earlier, simpler age. But Augustus ( ii S
THE EARL Y EMPIRE he wasnow clliled ) was not so simple as
to believe he could actually turn back
Octa vian' s Religious Reforms the clock. In reality, he mercly attempted
Octavian 's d ecis ive v ictory at to clothe the new polit ica l and social
Actium had len him master of the Ro- situation with symbols from the past .
man world. In this capacity he was now Neverthe less, many co nt emporary
at liberty to reo rgan ize both the govern- writers welcomed this fa~ade at face
ment and society. T he bloody struggles v:llue: it had a calming infl uence on the
of two succeed ing civil wars, with the population. On a pract ica l level, Au-
inev]wblc proscri ptions and " double- gust us spent large sums restoring old
crossi ngs", had dealt a heavy blow to te mples and reinstituting hal f-forgotten
trad iti on;]1 norms of mora lity in the rituals suc h as the Saecu lar ga mes. If
politica l as we ll as in the religious scene. the detail s of ce rtain rituals were no
ANCIENT COIN SPECIALIST
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AND CLASS ICAL ANT IQ UIT IES
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OR $25 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
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longer known, he invented new ones or
had some noted scholar " rediscover"
them. In the realm of religion, anything
no! traceable to "old" Roman times was
repressed. Th is applied of course to all
alien mystery re lig ions, such as the cult
o f Is is and Osiris. The e molionalism
generated by these cults was contrary to
traditional relig ious thought .2
The Magna Mater cult had been offi-
cially adopted in a suffic iently remote
past to be safe from Augustus' purging.
But, we remember, there were in fact
two separate cults. The aseptic and
harmless celebrations created by the
Roman government for its c itizens (the
Megalenses) and the semi-secret state
controlled Ph rygian cult which was to
be the relll "interface" to the goddess .
Augustus approved of the fo rmer cult
:md made use of it , but ke pt an even
tighte r lid on the latter) As re lated in
Part I, the Phryg ian cu lt was centered
around Magna Mater'scompanion Attis.
Un li ke Magna Mater, he was never
promoted in Augustan literature 4 or in
gove rnment sponsored works of art. As
part of Rome 's pantheon. Magna Mater
does appear on Augustan art (e.g. she is
standing behind Augustuson the Gemma
Augustea) but unl ike such Im perial fa -
vorites as Apollo and Diana, she was
relegated into the backg round. He r
absence from Augustan coi nage is a
sure sign of her relative lack of impor-
lance .
The temple of Magna Mliter on the
Palatine having recently burnt down,
Augustus had it rebu ilt in A.D. 3. We
must assume that in the interim the se-
cret Phrygian services were being held
some whe re else. Since, from the very
beginning, the Roman gove rnment had
iso lated the Phrygian cu lt to II small spur
of the Palllline, it is li kely that Augustus
had been motivated. in addition to his
general campaign of temple restoration,
by a desi re to kee p the cult once more
concentrated in one re mote area, under
careful superv ision. In any event , Au-
gustu s gai ned add itional conlrol by
modifying the recruitmenl of temple
personnel. He insured that such posi-
tions would be filled by either his per-
sonal slaves and freedmen or by those of

.-
o
his wife Livia. They would eventually
''''''~''''' 7910 Wood mont Ave nue, #Il04 oceupy most or all positions of the

"" .
<il'~C'\"nljl.Rlnl'
!.- ' ''<t.,., Bethesda, MD 20814 Phrygian cul t, including that o f high
priest. Th is decision had se rious reper-
(301) 654-0470 FAX: (301) 654-0730 CUSsions which Augustus had not fore-
seen.
6 The Gelator
 The First Century A.D.
When Ti berius, now a tired old man,
finally succeeded Augustus, he contin-
ued the latter's policies, albeit with less
enthusiasm. His successor Caligula, on
the other hand , developed an interest in
many mystery cults, in particular that of
Isis. As a result these religions received
a greater freedom of action in Rome.
With a strong ruler, the slaves and
freedmen of the Imperial bureaucracy
could be, to a certain degree at least,
kept under control. This had certainly
been the case under Augustus. Under
Caligula, however, thanks to his preoc-
cupation with himself, this class of civil
servants was left increasingly io itself.
Under Caligula 's successor (Claudius),
Imperial slaves and freedmen further
promoted their power, partly through
their increasing numbers and partly
through Claudius' pliable character.
Eventually, as Claudius became old and
their power had grown to blatant pro-
portions, Claudius became an object of
whispered rid icule: an Emperor who
was a slave to his slaves! With Imperial
slaves and freedmen now operating the
Phrygian cult, that religion had gained
powerful allies . They must have felt
that if Isis (who was not even part of the
official pantheon) was now permitted to
operate freely in Rome, then Attis and
his Phrygian cult should also be allowed
more freedom, in orderto"compete" on
an equal footing. Thanks to their posi-
tion, they had (directly or indirectly)
access to the Emperor and were in a
position to plead their case.
Claudius finally gave them permis-
sion to proceed and the full barbarity of
the Phrygian cult was to be exposed to
public view. In addition to the purely
Roman celebrations (the Megalenses),
the Phrygian festivals (based on the death
and resurrection of Attis) were added to
the Roman calendar. These soon be-
came quite popular and succeeding
Emperors (Vespasian, Domitian. ) their chests with the palms of their hands.
were no longer able or even interested in
controlling its filbid emot ionalism. On
the contrary, they reasoned they could
increase their own popularity by joining
Ill. Emperor Nero (an exception of
course) had even had the temerity of
producing on stage (and in public) his
own version of the Attis story.
New Magna Mater Festivals
Though the beginning of these new
festivals can be traced to Claudius and
the Flavians, detailed descriptions of
the events are to be found mostly in
second, th ird and even fourth century
writers. That the core of these ceremo-
nies already applied to the second half
of the first century can be deduced from
inscriptions and from the physical re-
mains of the cult (e .g. the tree statuettes
of Attis) which have been excavated
from the basement of the Palat ine temple,
in successive layers dating back to be-
fore the fire of III B.C.
These festivities , fonning a veritable
Attis passion play, occurred in Spring
and lasted from the 15th to the 27th of
March. They started with the "Canna
Intrat" (entry of the reeds). On March
15th, groups of men and women carry-
ing reeds (the Cannophores) fonned a
procession to the temple. The reeds
were a reference 10 one of the opening
acts of the Attis myth: he was suppos-
edly first discovered by the nymph
Sagaritis in a reed grove. As related in
Part I, Attis' infide lity to Magna Mater
was the cause of his subsequent castra-
tion, death, and resurrection. Concur-
rently with that ceremony ,a six year old
bull was sacrificed to Magna Mater to
insure the fertility of the fields.S
For the next nine days, the cult fol-
lowers were to do penitence. In prac-
tice, this meant abstention from specific
foods (bread, wine, pork, fish and cer-
tain fruits) as welt as from sex ual inter-
course.
On the 22nd, members of the broth-
erhood of the tree (the Dendophores)
cut down a pine tree from a sacred grove
dedicated 10 Magna Mater. This tree
represented the body of the dead Allis.
A small figurine of Allis was attached to
the tree and its trunk was covered with
purple bandages. 6 It was then carried to
the temple where it was exposed in the
courtyard. As with a nonnal wake,
there were rhythmic lamentations for
the departed, but unlike Roman rituals
there were clashes of cymbals and tam-
bourines to scare away evil spirits. A
priest would periodically cry: "woe for
Attis", "strike for Allis". The congre-
gation would answer"Allis!" and strike
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The more penitent would bloody them-
selves with repeated blows of a pine
cone .
These activities reached a crescendo
on the 24th, a day known as "The blood
day" (Sanguis). All the previous activi-
ties were but a preparation for this
orgiastic conclusion. Amid an ear-shat-
tering chorus of drums, horns, cymbals
and chants, the head priest would start
the ceremonies by CUlling himself with
a ritual knife. The eunuch priests then
worked themselves up into a frenzy,
beating themselves bloody with a bone-
studded whip or cutting their anns with
bronze swords'? At the climax of the
ritual, those who were preparing to en-
ter the eunuch clergy would emasculate
Ihemsel ves with a sharp piece of pottery.
The resulting blood was poured on the
pine tree which was then taken to the
crypt under the temple. The ceremony
was concluded with a prayer from the
high priest for safety of the Emperor,
the Empire, the Senate and the People of
Rome. Later, at some unknown date,
the tree from the previous year was
burnt, presumably in thc temple court-
yard. The small Attis statuette, how-
ever, was saved and stored in thecrypt. 8
lbe next day at dawn (25th), the
priests and followers would again meet
at the temple. In a low voice the head
priest delivered the litany: " Have faith!
The god is saved! For us also salvation
will come from our tribulations." The
crowd answered: "We are all in happi-
ness". Such was the beginning of the
day known as the Hilaria (the joyful
day). The remainder of the day was
spent in triumphal processions and
feasts. By the second century at the
latest, the processions included the
Praefect of the city, the Praelorians and
even the Emperor. The general popula-
tion, that is to say even those not inter-
ested in the cult itself, took advantage of
the fest ivities to join in the fun. Every-
one was allowed to disgu ise himself,9
May 1991 7

Reconstruction of a second century procession opening the Ludi Megalenses (Dra wing by L. Le Clair)
creating an atmosphere similar to a
modern-day carnival. The high point of
the "parade" was the carrying of a statue
of Magn;l Mater around the ci ty. Not
surprisingly, the next day was an offi -
cial day of rest (requietio), needed to
recover from the exertions and no doubt
the effects of alcohol.
After this set of"feslive" days came
8 The Gelator
Figure 1
two more which had already been per-
mitted during the Republic: the Lavatio
and the Ludi Megalenses.1O O n the first
day of the Megalensian games (April
4 th), a statue of Magna Mater in her li on
drawn chariot was carried from the
temple to the C irclls Maximus. A re-
const ruction of the procession is shown
in Figure I.
Second Century Changes
The barbaric nature of the cult and
the substant ial physical sacrifice it de-
manded insured it would never gain the
act ive partic ipation of a large pan of the
popu lation. When the priests sacrificed
their blood and masculinity, they were
"buying" not only a general redemption
for the Empire and its citizens, but -.
"DEA R BIBI,
"S mall causes sometimes produce great effects. Aft er the fata l transfer of Lorraine, when I found myself
transported to th e banks of the Arno, like the Je ws to the waters of Baby lo n, I dive rted my sad thoughts
one day by looki ng into the state of my finan ces. and found the sum lo l a I 10 consist of three hundred gold
sequins or ducats, the purest in the world. What should I do with them? Look at them? That was soon
done, for they were all alike, and I was neither Midas nor Harpagon. Passionately fond of divers ity,
except as regards Bibis, I resolved within myself to exchange all these coins for as many pieces of gold
of the same value, bearing the impresses of the various sovereigns of Europe. 'By this means,' sa id I 10
myself, ') sha ll be able to study the ir faces, their legend s, their heraldi c dev ices; and , from the purity or
baseness of their metal . the sign ificance of their legend s, the cUlting of their leiters, and the merit of the ir
des igns. I shall learn someth ing of the probi ty, opulence, genius, and taste of those by whom they were
issued .' Full of Ih is idea, I wrote on the subject to Baron Pfutsch ner, and begged him to effec t the
exchange. This he good-naturedl y undertook . He did more; for he read my leHer 10 the Empero r Francis,
who, findin g the p roject somethin g more th an amu sing, formed a s im il ar plan on a much larger scale,
namely, of collecting coins and medals from every corner of our hemi sphere; and thi s is what I have been
engaged in during the last fift een or sixteen years.
"Such, dear Bibi , was the very slig ht o rig in of an hi storica l treasury whi ch is ind isputably one of the most
va luable in Europe. I sti ll preserve my own little coll ection, the arrangement o f which formed the out line
and model or th a! imme nse cabi net. It consis ts of two hundred and fifty -s ix pieces of gold , in very good
preservation, each o f a different co inage, as is indicated in the inclosed li st. The fear that thi s pretty
co llection should be d ispersed at my death , whi ch wou ld really be a pity . inclines me to part wi th it for
what it cost me, namely, some twe nty or thirty ducats more than its in tri ns ic va lue , for I am no lover of
hard barga ins. But I wouldonl y dosoon cond ition o f its remain ing ent ire, fo rthe instruction, for instance,
o f some rich you ng lord sensib le e nough not to stake it at cards.
" If you know anyone likely to take it on thi s condition, pray let me know. r have another collection,
consisting of anc ient Roman coi ns, which is the most precious thin g I possess. Being fonnerly
passionately desirous to exam ine for myself the faces o f the great men o f antiquity , I form ed a very pretty
chrono logical series when at Lunev ille. It re presen ts one hundred and s ixty-eight different individuals,
and consists of three hundred and th irty-three d ifferent pieces, fort y of which are in gold. My advanced
age induces me to get rid of these lik ewise, in order 10 leave the price o f them (0 some poor re lati ves, who
have nothin g else to hope from a ma n who never courted fortu ne. As to its worth, it docs not, in my
opinion, exceed th at of the first-named collecti on, though there is a go ld medal of Domitia, and ano ther
of the venerable Pertinax, wh ich cost respect ively nineteen and thi rteen ducats, and two Gord ians. eight
ducats each. Adieu, my dear. My eyes are so tired that I can scarce ly see what I wri te.
" DUVAL.
"V IENNA, Marc h 10th, 1768."

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May 1991 9

Figure 2
Dupondius of Hadrian with a Hilaritas reverse type
their own salvation in "heaven" as well.
Some Romans were also interested in
personal salvation but not at the high
cost demanded by theeult . Certainly , in
the case of women, this was a physical
impossibility. Therefore, at least by the
beginning of the second centu ry, the
priests of Magna Mater developed a
new method of paying the blood price.
The candidate for "eternal life" would
go into a pit under a grating and above it,
the neck of a bull, sheep, or goat would
be split, bathing the recipient in ashower
of" purifying" blood . If a bull was used
(the preferred animal), the operation
was called a Taurobolium . The barbaric
cult and its ritual castration continued as
before, but now the prospective candi-
date had an easier path to salvation.
From this point onwards the cu lt gained
immensely in popularity, especially with
women. The earliest known inscription
recording a blood baptism indicates a
woman was the recipient (A.D . 108,
elL II, 179). With the increased popu-
larity of the 'modified' Phrygian cult ,
more citizens payed attention 10 the
Palatine temple. From the remains of
statue bases and fragments of other in-
scriptions, it is clear that by the end of
the second century, the courtyard was
full of ex-vOlo presents. Secret pass-
words pennitted the initiated to enter
the inner sanctums of the temple. One
such recorded password was: "I have
eaten from the tambourine, I drank from
the cymbal, I am one with Attis")l

The COinage
Apart from a rare denarius of
Domit ian depicting a shrine dedicated
to Magna Mater, the goddess is con-
spicuously absent from first century
coinage . Augustus must be viewed as
having set the stage in that respect. In
the second century, however, the cult ' s
new founded popularity meant Ihat the
Emperors cou ld no longer afford to to-
tally ignore it on their coinage. Still, all
coinage for Magna Mater in the second
century is either scarce or rare.
Emperor Hadrian, who had an inter-
est in many Greek and Egyptian mystery
cults, issued a dupondius which may
refer 10 the Hilaria. T he reverse sports
a female person ificat ion of the "Happi-
ness of the Roma n People"
(HILAR ITAS P.R.), shown holding a
pillm (See Figure 2). Apart from th is
one possible numismatic reference to
the cult, the remainder is limited to
Figure 3 renditions of various cult statues: the
Medallion of Lucilla showing the Magna Mater statue Palatine statue, (See Figures 20 and 21
on the spina of the Circus Maximus of Part I), the statue of Magna Mater in
the Circus Maximus, and Magna Mater
10 The Celator
in her lion-drawn chariot. Attis is no-
where 10 be seen.
The Palatine cult Slatue first appears
under Hadrian. A rare cistophorus and
an equally rare denarius depict the statue.
In a parallel issue, a rare denarius of the
same type was minted for Hadrian 's
wife , Sabina. Subsequenlly, the type
was repeated fo r Faustina I, Faustina II ,
Lucilla, and Commodus (who seized all
the divine patronage he could get). The
statue of Magna Mater wh ich was per-
manently exposed in the Circus Maxi -
mus, is first represented on a medallion
minted fo r Sabina. It appears again later
for Fau stina I, Faust ina II , LuciUa (See
Figure 3) and for Commodus. Finally,
thc lion-drawn chariot, first seen on two
Republican issues, now rellppcars as a
biga on a sestertius of Faustina I and as
a quad riga on a medallion of Antoninus
Pius. Whereas the biga is the proper
vehicle fora minor goddess, thequadriga
represents a substantial ce lest ial pro-
motion, on a par with Apollo and Jupiter
(See Figures 4 and 5).
Though the first real boost to Magna
Mater coinage appears under the adop-
tive Emperors, additional advancement
occurs during the Severan dynasty. Julia
Domna 's Syrian origin did much 10 vi- Figure 4
talize non-Roman cults in general. A Biga of Magna Materseen on a sesterlius of Faustina the Efder
sure sign of Magna Mater's increasing
respectability is visible on some of her
denarii. The reverse in Figure 6 shows
Magna Mater in her quadriga, but the
legend "MATER A VGG" informs us it
is rea ll y " Dom na- in -the-gu ise-of-
Magna Mater" who is being shown.
The "divi ne" natu re of the Empress has
been assoc iated with the div ine nature
of the goddess.
As far as bulk is concerned, Magna
Mater appeared more frequently with
Empresses than with Emperors. Th is
indicates that Magna Mater had by now
become a suitable Lady's reverse- type
(just like Pudicitia, Venus, Fccunditas
and so forth) . By extension, it implies
that the cult was presently considered
su itable for women ! We arc certainly
far away from the scruples of the 2nd
Centu ry B.C.

Resistance to
the Cult Cont inues
As we have see n in Part 2, the cult
had been criticized during the Republic
both in the name of Roman tradition and
of rational thought. In the second cen-
tury A.D., in spite of Imperial favor .
there were still some who perceived
emotional cults as fraud s. At this time,
a certain Apuleius produced an amusing FigureS
and ribald novel about the adventures of Sketch of a medallion of Antoninus Pius, Magna Mater in her quadriga
a man who had been transfo rmed into a
May 1991 11
 dess to beg heard that, I had no illusions abOIlf
He therefo re what thejuture held in store for me
dragged me to ... Th e next day, they put on garish
his house and as looking tllnics. Everyone hideously
soon us he put on make-up. covering their faces
reach ed th e with a pasty cream and their eyes
door , yelled out: with a coal-black eye-liner. And
'Girls , I' ve out they went, with saffron robes,
brought back a veils oj linen and silk; some had
cute litlle slave white tunics pai nfed in all directions
from the market.' with purple lance-heads . . . They
The "girl:.. " in placed the goddess on me
qlleslion were a Brandishing enormous s'wordsand
whole gang oj axes, they started to dance as if
inverts, wh o possessed, while the flute excited
st raight away themjurther ... With their head.f,
.fwrted 10 jump they started a sort ofgyration which
for joy, squealing made their locks of hair swirl in
discordant cries circles and once in a while they bit
with their odd Iheirarms,finallycutting Ih em with
voices broken by sharp blades ... the heavy breathing
jemale into na - wa.f intended to give the impression
tion.L They they ....erefilled with a divine spiril,
thollght o/collrse as if the gods were not in the habit
Figure 6 that it "W/Hllittle oj entering belfer men than they,
Denarius of Julia Domna, Damna as Magna Maler hllman slavc they who were but cripples and
which was en - "sickies" ... Finally he (the head
donkey. During one of his tribulations. tering their service. but . .. when priest) started to yell in a trance-
he is sold to a troop of eunuch priests. they.mw that it wasadonkey in.stead like voice that he had committed
,I
These priests worship Syrian goddess 0/ a man. they frowned and je:ued sins against his saintly religion and
who is a virtu;11 carbon copy of M;lgna that it was a husband, not a slave demanded punishment by his own
Mater. The slOry offers a hostile de- that had been pllrchased. 'Say. hands. He seized a whip, the par-
sc ri ption of the priesthood as well as a you're not going to keep such a cute ticular attribllfe 0/ these emascu-
deta iled description of a begg ing pro- "chick" all to yO/ll"sef[. you'/1 have lated person.f . . . One could see the
cession. In the follow ing excerpt. the 10 share with us, we your liule tUl"tle soil cove red with thdr impure blood
hero (the donkey) has just been auc- dove.f.' Still jesting in this marlller, ... When they were/inally tired, or
tioned off to the high priest: they tied me to the manger. There. rather tired oj culting themselves
was a young boy. vcry strong and lip , everybody offered Ihem coins,
Lady Luck . .. once m(Jre fumed he/" quite adept at playing thejlute . .. even silver coins, and foods . ..
hlind eycs my way (lnd produced a He was employed in that capacity Thlls we went on, ransoming the
huyer admirably suited 10 my sad during Ih e processions but at home entire countryside . ..
adventures. He wasaqueer , an old he served as the communal concu-
qlleer at that. Bald, to top it off, or bine . .. As soon as he saw me, he From this description, the author
rather bald with a je .... dangling gave me a generous ration ojjood plain ly vie ws the cult as a ploy to get
locks oj grey hair. He had come and happily exclaimed: 'You 're money, albeit a tough one, This would
[rom Ihe dregs oj that rabble thm herejust in time 10 help me with the be the normal gut reaction from some-
hangs around the .\·treet corners, of dirty work. May YOll live long, onemised in a classical Greek culture, a
thl' .wrr that bangs on cymhals and please my masters, and then relieve culture whi ch postulated that the gods
c(I.\·tuncts,forcing the Syria n god· the strain on my loins.' Having were in f<l ct of a perfect human form, in
harmony with nature, and not in the
shape of some mutilated invert. Even
ROMAN EMPIR E, Marcus Aurelius, though he is not afraid to criticize the
16 1· l ao A.O . AE Sesle<tius (34 mm & 22.61 gJ priests, the author refrains from making
Posthumous consec.aljon issue by son
fun of the goddess. This duality is also
Commodus. Otw. OIWS M. ANTON INVS
PIVS, bare head right. Rev. CON· present in purely Roman satires on other
SECRATIO S.C .. eagle flying righl. mystery religions. 12 It is not so much
holding thunderbolt in talons; the goddess but ratherthe eunuch priests
bearing Marcus Aurelius aloft on
his back who holds sceptre in left
that upset Apule ius. Gone are the ratio-
hand. Cohen 94 & RIC 660 (RAR E). nal object ions of Lucretius! Plutarch
Nice EF, dark green-brown and Lucian, two other second century
patina, RARE------$2,OOO Graeco-Roman writers, also voice un-
William B. Ward en, Jr. favorabl e opinions. Plutarch writes that
C"'-'.~;("(I t N"''';.<",ar;.<I. SI'<"";(lIi.• / il/ Ih e C()iIlS ()f ,,,,. Ro",,,,, Empi.·,. "Alli s usurps honors he does nol de-
P.o. Box 356, New Hope, PA 18938 U.S.A. 1-2 15-297-5088 serve". Lu cian sets his criticism in a
novel where the traditional gods meet 10
condemn the invas ion of ...
12 The Celato,
 • If you're buying Ancient, Medieval or World coins
you should be subscribing to our mail bid and public auction catalogs
• If you're selling all or part of your collection
you should seriously consider consigning to our well publicized safes

At Ponterio & Associates your coins

are always in good hands
For information write or telephone:

PONTE RIO & ASSOCIATES, INC.

1818 ROB IN SON AVENUE
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. ... , . . , . .
L, M . #21 63

May 199 1 13
 barbarious interlopers s uch as Anis.
Mithras. and Anubis.
CALVIN J. ROGERS Just how seriously the cult 's hocus
pocus was taken by the population at
Classical Numismatist large is hardtodetermine. Apuleius and
his colleagues show that at least some
skeptics remained, though the priests'
Fu ll y illustrated willingness to submit to such pain on a
list free upon request roul ine basis m ust have impressed man y
minds. We shou ld note. however, thai
Romans with a bent towards mysticism
Ancient & P.O. Box 7233 oflen collected mystery cults initiations
M edieval Redwood City CA 94063 just like a modern-day paranoid would
(415) 369·1508 collect insurance policies. Unde r such
conditions, it is hard to envision any
deep commitment to any o ne of these
cults: that attitude would have been re·
served for the "exalted " few .
AUCTION 56
(The fina/transformation and demise of
on May 13th, 1991 the Magna Mater cult shall be consid-
in Munich ered in the fourth and final part.)

ANCIENT COINS
CELTIC-GREEK Notes:
I For example, in a relatively minor viola-
ROMAN-BYZANTINE tion of Republican mores (minor com-
Almost 900 selected ancient coins in gold, silver and bronze , among them 300 pared to the atrocities (;ommined), living
Cellic and Greek. coins with beautiful and interesting pieces from Italy, Sicily, politicians had had the nerve to place
Greece, Asia Minor, Syria. Egypt and Africa . Among the 520 Roman coins are ca. thei r portraits on coinage.
70 pieces oltha Republic. with the aureus of Marc Antony and Octavian, about 450 2 All temples of Isis within the pomerium
coins of the Roman Empire from Augustus to Aomulus with numerous magnificent were torn down. After ano ther was later
aurei. denarii and seslertii and the tremissis of Romulus Auguslulus. About 50 built in secret. Augustus had it demol-
Byzantine coins and numismatic literature conclude this extensive offer. ished as well .
3 A con temporary Greek hi storian
(Dionysills of Halicarnassus) marvelled
AUCTION 57 that Augustus could keep such a religion
at Rome and at the same time prevent its
on May 14th, 1991 in Munich emotional excesses.
4 In his epic poem (The Aeneid) Vergil
MEDIEVAL & CONTEMPORARY COINS & MEDALS repeatedly shows Magna Mater helping
Almost 1000 coins and medals. mostly in gold and silver, including numerous the he ro. Magna Mater appears in this
pieces of the Holy Ro man Empire, with denars of the Saxonian-Franconian time, poem as a Trojan goddess. In such a
fr om Hapsburg-Austria, with rare ducats and interesting talers: coins of the capacity, she promotes the supposedTro-
churches with important gold pieces jan (and divine) origins of the J uI ian clan.
5 A reminde r that before becoming a reli-
from Salzburg, like the 10 ducats of
gion of redcmptio n. the Magna Mate r
Wolf Dietrich of Raitenau; from the
(;ult was originally nothing more than a
secular houses from Anhalt to magi(;al rite designed to insure the con-
Wurtlemberg, with rare gold coins from tinuing fertility of the fields.
Oel1ingen and Wolfstein; of the cities, 6 This is how dead persons were often
the German Empire and the foreig n treated before burial or cremation. Thus.
countries from Albania to the Vatican, the tree represents a dead person.
with series from France, Italy and 7 The requireme nt for bronze weapons
Transylvania, including the 10 ducats (rather than the "new" and less "holy"
of Georg Rakoczi I and II ; 200 1015 of iron) suggests that this particular ritual
numismatic literature conclude this ex- dates from the bronze age.
g Where archaeologists would fi nd them
Citing oifer.
some two thousand years later.

NUMISMATIK Subscription, air mail $20. each

9 Taking adva ntage of thi s, a (;ertain
Quadratus had disguised himself as a

LANZ
(;atalogue_ incl uding list of prices realized. Praetorian guard and had tried to kill
Emperor Commodus who was participat-
NUMISMATIK LANZ ing in The procession.
Maxim iliansplatz 10 to These two events we re described in
Part I.
DW-8000 MUnchen 2/ Gennany

MONCHEN Tol. (0049) (89) 299070

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I I Firmicus Maternlls, "On the Error of
Pagan Religions".
12 Such as in The Satires of Juvenalis.

14 The Gelator
!iI
 G. HIRSCH OF MUNICH ANNOUNCES
AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC AUCTION
OF ANCIENT AND FOREIGN COINS
AND ANTIQUITIES

AUCTION NR. 170

22 - 2S May, 1991

Catalogued and sold by

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Gerh a rd Hirsch Nachf.
IPromenadcplatz 10, 0 ·8000 M iinchcn 2, Germa ny I
Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolgcr I Enclosed please fin d $25.00 for your May 22-25,199 1 I
I Aucti on Sale Cutalogue and Prices Realized (aft er sale) I
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Teleron (089) 29 21 50 I Street I
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May 199 1 15
The importance of Homer's writing led to his
representation on the coinage of Greek city states
by Marvin Tam ea nko
The "Wisdom of thc West" has its
lap roots in thc work of many ancient
philosophers, sc ien ti sts lind writers.
Socrates. Aristot le. PlalO and o lhers are
slill refefed to by scholars as being
among the falh ers of modem thoughl.
The citizens of the ancient world also
re vered these wi se men in thei r own
ti mes. History is full of stories wh ich
show how they were honored by every-
one including e mperors, politicians, and
the entire population of the countries or
cities where they were born or lived. A
memorable story by Plutarch, in his
work "Lives", te lls of Alexande r the
G real seeking o ut the G reek. cynic phi-
losopher Diogencs, who was liv ing in a
tub in the subducdcityofCorinth. When
A lexander asked what he could do for
the philosophe r. Diogenes sa id. "Noth-
ing. except that you could stand a little
out of my sunsh ine." Alexande r laughed
and then is reported to have excla imed.
" If I were not Alexander. I would be
Diogenes." Even the great Alexandcr
env ied and admired thc scholars of his
lIgc.
Thcrc arc m,IfiYcoins which porlray
these ancient ~ases and pay respect 10
thcirworks. This is a departure from the
norm beC:lUSC the images usua lly de-
picted on ancient coi ns we re e mperors.
Part of a marble panel sculpted in the 2nd century B.G. , showing Homer
being crowned by World and Time. Located in the British Museum, London.
16 The Cefator
rulers. gods or goddesses. heroes.
mythical personifications or allegorical
characters. Placi ng poets and scholars
in the same category as these larger-
than- li fe fi gures perhaps is an indica-
tion of the part they played in life and
the high level of esteem they enjoyed
among the people of their time.
Some of the great scholars portrayed
on ancient coins are: the philosopher
and mathe matician. Pyt hagoras; the
poets and writers. Sappho and Homer;
the phil oso phers/a s tronomers,
Hipparchus, Anaxagoras and Hcrcalitus;
the historian He rodotus; and the physi-
cians, Ze nophon and Hippocrates.
I-I omer, one of the most f;lmous ancient
poet s and writers. had the largest num-
ber of coins struck depicting him, his
work, orhis poetic themes. It is possible
that he is one of the first persons to
appear on coi ns wi th a full y realistic.
human ponra i!. Homer is also often
portrayed in scu lpture and paint ing.
Several Graeco-Roman marble busts of
the poet exist. and a marvellou s sc ulp-
lUred panel in the Briti sh Museum.
London, shows Homer sealed, being
crowned by the allegorical figures of
"World" and "Time" while " History"
offers incense on an altar before him .
Shown in the registers of the panel above
Homerare Zeus, Apollo and the Muses.
-~--~~-----------------
A number of Greek cities struck coins
to honor Homer. l Among these were
los, Amastri s, Nicaea, Cyme, Temnus,
Smyrna, Ch ios and Colophon. These
coins were struc k as early as 300 B.C.
by Greek cities. Many more were coined
as Roman Imperial issues, and in the
second century A.D. they appear among
the "Quasi-Autonomous Coinage" of
Greek Imperial cities which did not show
the name or portrait of reigning Roman
emperors.
These coins may show a portrait bust
of Homer as an obverse or reverse of the
coin, or they may depict Homer seated
in a scholarly pose with his hand at his
ch in and holding a scroll of his works. A
very rare, silver didrachm of los, struck
in around 300 B.C. , is the most famous
coin depicting Homer. The legend is
HOMER and although most authors
att ribute this bust to the poet, the fe atures
and pose closely resemble those of
contemporary portrayals of the god Zeus.
Homer W llS a giant among ancient
writers, and probably the greatest poet
who ever lived. He is famou s fo r his
works the Iliad and the Odyssey, which
chron icled a part of the Trojan War and
its aftennath. Presented as epic poems
or sagas, these works became the clas-
sical foundati ons of the literature of the
weste rn world. They are works of art
and unsurpassed as prototypes of dra- emchartsofthesea
matic poetry. even loday. In fact, they located it by
Home r' s work is more widely known finding the ruins of
now than in his own time, and much of temples in a shal-
it has been absorbed into western culture low area of the
and literature. Anyonereading Homer's oce an only forty
work can never fo rget the fllmous and feet down. 3
often quoted descriplion of the island of Like all the fa-
Crele as "a land set in a wine-dark sea", mous ancient writ-
or the poetic epithel - "The morning's ers , Hom er had
daughter. rosey-fingered Dawn". linle to say about
The Iliad was though I to have been money and coin -
composed by Homer around 850 B.C. age. In his work,
Homer's name is first mentioned in lit- he does menti on
eralu re by the Greek poet and philoso- that ingots of iron,
phe r, Xenophanes of Colophon, 570- bronze, and gold
480 B.C. Lillie is known of Homer's were used as media
life, and seven ancient cities claimed the of exchange, but
distinction of being his binhplace. He thai oxen or cows
was reputed to be blind, and the Greek were taken as a
historian Ephorus. writing around 300 standard of va lue,
B.C., tells us that the name Homer sig- and thai degrees of
nifies this cond ition. Homer may have perso na l wealth
been born in Smyrna, Ionia, and wan- were computed in
dered the Greek world as a bard singing can Ie. He also re- A sHyer didrachm of los, an Aegean island, parr of the
or orally relating the sagas of the Trojan lates that a gold in- Cyclades, arcs 300 B.C. The obvers9 shows HOlTI9r
War. Modem scholarship suggests that got of a standard as a b9arc/9d head, right. bound with a tainia, a lYP6 of
Homer was not a single man and that a size was known as h9adband. Th919(J6nd is OMHPOY, HomerJn Grook.
clan o f bards. callin g th e mselves a Weightor"Talan- The reverse shows a laurel wreath with an inscription,
"Homeridae", lived in Chiosandclaimed ton" in Greek. the IHTON, insid9. (Greek CoIns and Their Values,
desccnI from a poet named Home r. famous "Talent" of Vol. " by David Sear, No. 3103)
These bards wande red through Greece, ancient days.4
reciting the poems stiched together from
early folk songs. These were later col-
lected when the Greek alphabet was .r-------------------------------------------~.
invented and arranged as written sagas.
The Odyssey is so diffe rent from the
Iliad that most modem scholars suspect
a completely separate authorship.
The Iliad had a great influence on
Spink
Greek culture. We know that it was
reciled by children and became the ba- The oldest established
•
sic ed ucational book in the schools. It
was quoted in poli tica l debiltes, and COlD business
refered to as an historical source and as
a bible of theology. It was Homer's
work which first presenled the hei rarchy
in the
of the godson Mount Olympus. In fact,
almost everything we know about early
Greece comes from the work of Homer.
Al exander the Great constantl y Coins from ancient to modcrn bought and sold ,
studied the Iliad, and il is said that on Free vcrbal valuations' Expert impartial advice given '
campa igns he s lept with a copy under Coins bought outright, or sold on commission'
hi s pillow a longs ide his swo rd. 2 Regular auctions held - please send for details'
Publishcrs and stockists of numismatic books'
Alexander also took one of the main Publishers of The Numismatic Circular since 1892· Advice and
characte rs of the Iliad, Achi lles, as his purchase at auction sales on collectors' behalf - all major sales ancnded .
personal hero. Heinrich Schliemann , For further in/ormation on ancient coim contact John Pett or Laura Shen'dan.
the archaeologist, knew the Iliad in Quote The (elator for a free editioll of the Numi smatic Circul ar, our fixed i'ricc list of coills
Greek by heart, and used it to locate the of all $tries and a forum of lIumismatic debate. Subscri~ion. lAS ( 10 l~ues).
site of ancient T roy. In more recent
days, Italian archaeologists used the Iliad
to find the lost islet of Chryse, which
vanished into the sea during an earth-
quake in 240 B.C. From Homer they
had a fair description of where Chryse .~ __________________________________________J.
must have been, and by study ing mod-
May 1991 17
 There are numerous coin types wh ich these arc also given. 4. lOS. A bronze t9 mm. 1st century
portray Home r. Th is is a rich area of A.D. Obv , Head of Homer right,
numi smatics worthy of much more ex- A STUDY LIST OF wearing a Tainia, OMHPOV, Rev.
te nsive research . Al so, the city of Ili um COINS PORTRAYING HOMER Athena standing, rest ing on a spear,
in Troas, ne ar the actual site of ancient holds a patera over an altar, a shie ld at
Troy, struck a large series of quasi- IDS her side. IHTON. BMC 9. 102.9.
au tonomous coins in the second century The city state oflos is on the island ofl os Seaby's Greek Imperial Coins, No.
A.D. which depict the heroes and the mes in Ihe Cyclades , midway between Naxos 4876.
of the Iliad. These include Hector in a and Thera. l os claimed 10 be the burial
chariot. the Oight of Aeneas and the place of Homer and struck many coin COLOPHON
judgement ofP:Jris .5 To help those who types depicting a bllst of Homer on the Colophon (o r Kolophon) in Ionia was a
may wish to pursue the to pic of Horner obverse. cily which stmck a large series ofquasi-
on coins . some of the best known coins autonomous coins depicting flomer. If
portray ing the poet are listed below. I. 105. A sil ver didrachm , circa 300 was one of the many cities depicting
This list is not a comprehens ive cata log B.c. illustrated and described above . flomer. II was one of Ihe many cilies
and is meant only fo r study purposes. Historia NumQrllm, B. Head, page claiming to be his birthplace.
Reverses of simila r or dupl icate types 486. Also Seaby's Greek Coins and
are not listed sepamtely and only one Their Vallles , Vol. I , No. 3103.
example is given. As many references 2. lOS. A bronze 20 mm. 2nd (0 1st 5. COLOPHON. A bronze 18 mm.
as possib le are used as aources includ- century B.c. Obv. Bearded head of 2nd to I st centu ry B. C. Obv. Apollo
ing the British Muscum Caralogu e.~ of J-iomcrright,OMHPOY. Rev.Athena sta nding rig ht wearing a long robe,
Gre('/,; Coills (refercd 10 as BM C). advanci ng right , brand ishi ng a spear holds a patera and a lyre. Legend is
l-li.l"Wriu Numorllm by B;lrciay I lead and and holding it sh ield. A sma ll palm KOLOPHON in Greek, Rev. Homer
Recl/c'il GC'lI('ral DC'.f /l1of//wiesGreqlles tree before. IIH ON. BMC 9. 1-3. seated left , his right hand raised to his
d'Asi(' Millellre by Waddington. Seaby's Greek Coins , Vol. I , No. chin, holding a scroll, Inscription,
Babelon, r~ c ina ch ( rcfcre d to as 3 104. APOLLAS before. BMC 14, 4 1-42.
Waddington). 3. [OS. A bronze 17 mm. 2nd to l sI Seaby 's Greek Coins, Vol. 2, No.
Seaby's Gr(,t'k COill.l· (//1(1Their Val · century B.C. Obv. I3earded head of 4357,
Ill'.". Volu mes I and2andSeaby'sGrccK Homer lefl, OMI-IPOY. Rev. Pa lm 6. COLOPHON. A bronze 28 mm ,
Imperia! C(Jill.~. all wriuen by Dav id R. tree, I - liT in field. BM C 9. 6. struck unde r Otacilia Severa, wife of
Sca r, arc the references most common ly Seaby's Greek Coins. Vol. I , No. Phili p I. A.D. 244-249. Obv. Draped
avai lable to collectors and when possible 3 105. bust ofOtac ii ia right, inscription, Rev.
Homer seated right holding an open
scroll. Inscription is KOLOPHON is
Greek. BM C 14. 44,54. Seaby's
Greek Imperial Coins, No. 4007.
Ha ve your coill s professionally
researched alld catalogu ed through the
SMYRNA
Smyrna in Ionia has the strongest claim
DAVID R. SEAR to being Homer's birthplace, This city
struck many coins depicting NomeI'.
Ancient Coin Certification Service
(A.C.C.S.) 7. SMYRNA , A bronze 19-23 mm.
2nd- 1st centu ry B.C. Obv. l'lead of
Eac h coin subm itted will be graded, care fu ll y exam ined Apollo right, No legend. Rev. Homer
and described , wi th full refere nces, and w ill receive a seated left o n a chair with his right
detai led commentary on it s histori cal backgrou nd. hand rai sed (0 his chin in a scholarly
pose. [n hi s left hand he holds a scroll
The in format ion wi ll be presented on an allractive and there is a traverse staff behind
laminat ed cerlifical e, comp le te with photograph. him . The Greek legend is IKES IOS
IMYPNA JON. BMC 14, 245-298.
Seaby's G/'ec-k Coim, Vol. 2. No.
Fee: $25.00 per coin (any metal) 457 1.

Man y other small bronzes of Ihis city

Please s1Ibmit by regi.\·tered or certified mail, and add .mJficienr were struck with fhe same porfrayal of
10 your remittance fo COl'('/' cosf of refilm pOSfage. Homer sea fed on the reverses , see
Ch('Ch a",1 M.O.'s payable fa "Dm'it! R. Sear ~ Furthl'/' illformation, Seaby's Greek Coins, Vol. 2. No. 4572-
4575. According to the Greek historian
.~pecimel1 cl'rtijicate and .mb",j.uion form.~ sent 011 r('qllest.
and geographer Sirabo, 64 B.C . . A ,D.
2/, this common, small denominatio n
P.O. Box 5004, Chatsworth, CA 91313 coin of Smyrna which appeared in
abundance ,took ifs name, "Homereion"
Phone (818) 993-7363 / Fax (818) 993-6119 from this depiction of flomer on its
reverse.6
18 The Celalor
Auction Leu 52
Greek and Roman coins
from a distinguished American collection
15 May 1991, Hotel Savoy, Zurich, Switzerland

Th is year, our Spring Sale features 292 Greek and Roman coins selected from a major collection
formed over the last decade. The coins have been picked for their beauty, rarity and historic
interest. Many of them are the finest known examples of their type.

A catalogue has been specially produced, in English, with eve!}' coin illustrated, all in natural
size and most in an exceptional series of enlargements. All the coins are fully described and are
accompanied by an extensive commentary. Th is catalogue will be available in mid-April and
costs $25 including airmail postage and the prices realized after the sale.

Bank Leu
Numismatics

Bank Leu Ltd

In Gassen 20 CH-8001 Zurich Switzerland
Telephone (from the US) 011411 2192406 Tele fax 219 33 06

May 1991 19

Bronze 20 mm of Amastris depicting Homer (coin number 8)
AMASTRIS
Amoslris in Paphlogonia struck an ex-
tensive (lnd outstanding .rcries of coins
durinX the second centllryA.D. showing
a bllst of Homer on (he obverse. The...e
coil1.'i are poplllar with collectors and
there/ore scarce.
8. AMASTR IS. A bronze20mm from
Imperia l times of the Antonines, A. D.
96 \ 0 192. Obv. Bearded bust of
Homer rig ht wearing a Tainia. Leg-
end OMH - POC arou nd the bust .
Rev. Veiled and tu rreted bust of the
city godde ss right, legen d
AMA CTP1C. BMC 13. 86,17.
Seaby's Greek Im peria! Coins. No.
48H5. Waddington, 170.41. This
coi n is illustrated above.
9. AMA STRIS. Bronze 26 mm. 2nd
century A.D. Obv. Bearded head of
Homer wearing:1 TlI inia. OM HPOC.
Rev. Romaseated left holding a spear,
AMACfP IANON. Thi s very rare
coin is sim ilarto Waddington [70,32
(obverse o nly). It appeared in the
Edward J. Wadde ll LId. Auction I of
Greek and Greek Imperial Bronze
Coins. December9. 1982, New York,
as 10 \ No. 77. The reve rse mlly be
othe rw i .~e unpubl ished.
Bronze 28 mm of Amaslris depicting Homer (coin number 10)
20 The Celator
10. AMASTR IS. A bronze 28 mm
struck in the lime of the Antonines,
A.D. 96-192. Obv. Bust of Homer
right. Legend is OM HPOC. Rev.
Female city goddess (Amastris) seated
left. wearing a turreted crown, hold-
ing a sceptre and a statue of Nike.
Waddington. 171.42a. Also 170, 33.
171.42-43. Th is coin is illustTllted
below.
I I . AMA STRIS. Bronze 2 1 mm . 2nd
centu ry A.D. Obv. As above. Rev.
Serapis seated left. Waddington,
170,32.
12. AMASTR IS. Bronze 21 mm . 2nd
century A.D. Obv. As above. Rcv.
Victory (Nike) st:lI1ding left, holds a
pal m ilnd wreath. Waddington,
170,34.
13. AMASTRIS . Bronze 2 1 mm. 2nd
century A.D. Obv . As above. Rev. A
ram mov ing right. tree behind.
Wadd ington, 170,35 .
14. AMASTRIS. Bronze 18 mm . 2nd
ce ntury A.D. Rev. An altar.
Waddington, 170,36.
15. AMASTR IS. Bronze 21 mm. 2nd
century A.D. Obv. As above. Rev.
The river deity. Mcles, reclining left.
The legend is AMACfPIANON, in
exergue, MELH C. Waddington,
170,37. Al so 171,38-39a. The Meles
river is near Smyrna in Ionia. Some
ancient authors believed that Homer
was born on its banks and wrote his
books in a cave nearby.
16. AMASTRIS. Bronze 28 mm. 2nd
century A.D. Obv. As above. Rev.
River god Parthenius reclining left.
Lege nd is AMACTPI ANON, in
exe rgue PARTHENIOC.
Waddington, 171 ,40.
17. AMASTRIS. Bronze25 mm. 2nd
century A.D. Obv. As above. Rev.
Agave moving right holding the head
of her son Pentheus in her hand.
Waddington 17 1,44. Th is has to do
with a mythical story surrounding the
god Macchus. Pentheus was suppos-
edly a king of Thebes.
18. AMASTRI S. Bronze 25 mm. 2nd
century A.D. Obv. As above. Rev.
Concord standing left ho lding a cor-
nucopia. Legend is
AMACTPIA NON. Wadd ington,
172,45.
CHIOS
Chio ... was a city on the is/and o/Chios
off rhe Ionian coast. It also claimed to
be the city of flomer' s birth.
19. CH IOS. A bronze 16 mm. 1st to
2nd century A.D. Obv. A sphinx
seated left, right paw raised, a prow or
an amphora before. Legend is XIOC.
Rev. Ho mer seated right unrolling a
scroll, OMHPOC. BM C 14, 346,1 4 1.
Scaby's Creek Impedal Coins, No.
4962. This coin is illustrated on page
22) ..
NICAEA
Nicaea (or Nikaea) was a city located in
Bithynia. It was anotherpos...ible binh-
place/or flamer.
20. NICAEA (N IKAEA ) in Bithynia.
A bronze 17 mm. Struck under
Commodus as Caesar. A.D. 175-177.
Obv . Bu s t o f Com modu s ri g ht ,
AV KMA VPHKOMA NT. Rev.
Draped bust of Homer right wearing a
Tain ia. Legend OM HPOC
NIKAIEON . Th is rarccoin issi milar
to Waddington 430,249. It appeared
in the EdwllrdJ . Waddell Auction I of
Greek and Greek Imperial Bronze
Coins. Deccmber9, 1982.New York ,
as Lot No. 108. The reverse of this
coin is illustrated on page 22).
CYME
Cyme (or Kyme) in Aeolis, on the coast
north 0/ Ionia was a city/ounded by the
Amazon Kymc ond connected in myth to
'he mother 0/ flamer, supposedly the
nymph Krilheis.
 CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC GROUP, INC.
Ql:/\RRYVILLE, P/\· HEVERLY HILLS, C/\· LO:\J)O:\, E~GL/\"J)

.9lnnouncing .9ln Important 'lIf!w Work.

MARTIN JESSOP PRICE

THE COINAGE
IN THE NAME OF
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
AND
PHILIP ARRHIDAEUS:
A BRITISH MUSEUM CATALOGUE
Classka l Num is ma tic Group , Inc. takes pleas ure in a nnoun ci ng thai it has been se lec te d as
th e ex clusive dis tribut o r for th e Wes te rn He mis phere for t h is long-awa ited stu d y.
This ma ssive two-volume sel, meticulously com posed over a pe riod of many yea rs, is the mos t com prehensive study ever
auempted on Alexander the Grear. Dr. Pr ice's work is bound to be the s ingle standard refe rence for the foreseeable future.
This work wi ll cover t he en tire coinage in all metals of Alexander the G reat and hi s half brother and successor, Philip
Arrhidaeus. as well as t he coinage o f L ysim achus issue d with the ty pes of Alexander. The catalogue wi ll inc lude no t only
lifetime issue s, but al so posthumous coin age of the same des ig ns st ruc k dow n to the fir st cenlUry B.C.

An e xte nsive introductory sect ion will be dedicated to gene ral themes, inc luding se lection of desig ns, periods of mint ing,
analysis of hoards, and Significance of coun termarks. The catalogue ilSe lf, l isting well ove r 4000 diffe ren t types , will be
a rranged by min I. For eac h mint , a sur vey will treat the Chro nology, hi storical context, and att ri bution o f the coinage. The
149 plates, with photographs of the extensive Briti sh Museu m collection, will illus trate the catalogue. Indexes of t he ove r
900 issue marks and monograms will e nab le easy identification of individ ual coins. Concordances a re provided to the earlier
catal ogues of L. Muller ( 1855) and A. von Prokesch-Osten (1869 and 1871).
The entire press run fo r th is major work will be limi ted to 1500 copies, o f whic h ju st 500 are being rece ived for the Western
He mis phere. Del ivery is anticipated th is s ummer. The Sw iss Numisma tic Society is the European Distributor, and Classical
Numismatic Group, Inc. is the We stern He mi sph e re Di stributor. '

ORDERING INFORMA nON

The anticipated price of this book is $325.00, subject to final price review in June. Order now, prior to publication.
and requests will be honored in the order received. Send no payment now. You will be invoiced when the fmal price is
determined. No postage will be charged for orders received before June 15, 1991.
(This is a savings of about $10.00)
Dealers interested in stocking this work should contact our office at their earliest convenience.
Priority will be given to dealers who have contacted us prior to June 15, 1991 .

Subscripliof15 ;m: available to all OIIT publin1.ons; S40.00 in 1he U.S. - $50.00 e lsewhert:. SubscriPlion includes publ •..:: auctiOflS, mail bid aU"::1ioos,
and our quarterly joumal and fixed price list. the CIOlSicol N"m;smo/;c Rev;e .... A rree copy or thc CllJssicol NumiSm(J/ic Rev;" ... is Ivai lable upon request.
Orlice hOllrs are 9:30 AM - 4 PM Monday thr()llgh

May 1991 21

Bronz9 16 mm of Chois depicting Homer (coin number 19)
21 . CYME. Abronze23mm. Struck in
A.D. 96- 192. Obv. The ny mph
Kri theis, standing left, hold ing a
transverse sccptre. The legend is
KUMI\ION. Rev. Horncrsc:lled right,
Please . ..
Check your mailing label:
If the address is not correct, send
us a correction notice immediat9ly.
When the postal service send us
your address change they rip the
label off your Celator, send it to us
with a change notice, and throw
the rest of the journat away.
MAIL BID SALE #4
1 Justin II gold solidus, 5-345 XF $375
5 Heraclius gold solidus,
Berk 126 VF $275
35 Athens, 393-300 BC lelradrachm,
5·2537, nice style obverse VF $375
36 Athens, 393-300 BC lelradrachm ,
5-2537, nice owl VF $350
22 The Celalor
holds a sceptre in his right hand and a
scroll in his left. The legend i s
OMHPOC. HislOI'iaNumol'llm,page
554. Also in Monnaies Greque.f, by
F. hnhoof-B lumer, Paris, 1883. P:lge
273, No. 224A.
TEMNUS
11'([.1' (I fown Ileal' Neonfcichos ill
Telll(/I1.\·
AeoJis. It 01.\"0 clailllNJ to be the birth-
place of H omer.
22. TEMNUS. 1\ bronze 18 mm. Struck
in A.D. 96· 192. Obv. Bust of the
emperor righl. Legend. Rev. Homer
se3lcdrighl . H is/oriaNlimonml,page
557.
28 Byzanlion, 357-340 tetrobol VF $95
79 Indo-Greeks, Menander
AR drachm XF $90
,~
W
88 Roman Republic, Anonymous
86 Be denarius, 5 -723,
small scratch on rev XF $95
89 l. Licinius Macer, 84 BC
denarius, Syd 732 Choice VF $125
91 AuguSlus, 27 BC - 14 AD denarius,
RIC 207, reverse off center XF $200
92 Nero, 54 -68 AD AR tetradrachm
(Alexandria), Dat. 219 Choice VF $95
R9v9rse of bronze 17 mm of Nicaea
depicting Homer (coin number 20)
NOles and Bibliography:
1 Coin Types, Their Origin and De~'elop­
menf, by G. MacDonald, Argonaut Inc.,
reprint, Chicago, 1969. Page 175 .
2 Lempriere's ClaoUical Dictionary, reo
print by Bracken Books, London, 1984.
Page 3 15.
3 SecrNs of the PUSI . a Berkley!Reade r's
Di gesl Book,New York, 19RO. Page301.
4 The Life of Greece , by Will Durant,
Simon and Schllster, New York, 1939.
Page 47.
5 HisroriaNumorum, by Barclay V. Head,
Second Edition, Oxford Pre~s, England,
1911. Page 547. Also typically, BM C
17.34.
6 H i.fto riaNumorum asabove. Page594,
•
'~
~' ,
-::. . /
93 VileUius, 69 AD denarius.
C-72 F+ $350
103 Marcus Aurelius, 161 -180
denarius, RIC 73 Choice XF $250
104 Septimius Severus,
193-21 1 denarius,
C-372 Virtually as struck $225
111 Julia Damna, wife of Severus,
antoninianus, RIC 379,
minor corrosion XF $95
Closing Date May 18th
AU coins will 90 10 high bidder by mail 0' tel"Phone.
P,ices listed are estimates only. All coins are guaran·
teed genlli ne. Fourteen day return privilege. Write Of
call tor complele catalog and tor tutllre sales,
MERV QUARLES
Bo x 3235, Champaign, IL 61821
217-352·6905

Book News
Complete set of ARS Classica sales
highlights Kolbe book auction
The firm of George Frederick Kolbe
is closing their Mail Bid Sale No . XLVII
of numismatic literature on Friday, May
3rd. This sale consists of 1,4 16 lois 01
literature on a wide ranging variety 01
numismatic subjects, including a large
selection of items relating to ancient
numismatics.
The Kolbe sale features items from
the Jerry Cohen library, Stack's
numismatic library, and the library of
Lester Merkin, as well as other important
consignments.
A complete set of Cohen (Volumes
1-8), in a 1957 reprint, is estimated al
$250, while a copy of Kraay and Hirmer's
Greek Coins is expected to fetch $500.
An important highlight of this sale is a
five volume set of Mazzini's Monete
Imperiale Romane. Estimated at $2,000,
this is number 287 01 only 500 sels
issued. Olher lilies offered include a
complete set of Robertson's Roman
Imperial Coins in the Hunter Coin
Cabinet, Glasgow, as well as works by
Sydenham, Head, Jenkins and
Robinson.
A complete 18 volume set of ARS
Classica sale catalogs is a feature
attraction of the auction. Considered
the most important series of auction
sales of choice ancient Greek and
Roman coins ever issued , Ihe set is
Malter issues new
Collector's Journal
of Ancient Art
Volume No.7, No. 1·2 of Col/ector's
Journal of Ancient Art is now available
from Joel l. Malter & Co., Inc. This
issue features an interesting article by
Joel Malter on collecting antiquities, and
an article by Ralph Weisne r on Pre·
Columbian gold techniques.
The Collector's Journal of Ancient
Art also offers for sale a variety of ancient
coins and ant iquities. Selections of
books on rela ted subject matter are also
offered.
The Col/ector's Journal of Ancient
Art may be ordered from Joell. Malter
& Co., Inc. at 16661 Ventura Blvd.,
Suite 518, Encino, CA 91436 for $6.
BOOKS!
BOOKS!!
BOOKS!!!
Hisrory 01 Auction. Brian Learmount.
212 pages, illustrated. $14.50
Who Was Who ill the Roman World, Diana
Sowder. 256 pages, well illustrated. 519.50
Pagan Rome and Early Christians, Stephen
Benko. 180 pages. sol1cover. $14.50
off ered as individual volumes, or as a Kingdom of Atm6nlll, M. Chahin.
332 pages. comprehensive history. $17.50
complete set with an estimate of $3,000. The Germanic P.aple, Francis o,."en.
In addition, auction catalogs by various 317 pages. their origin and culture. $14.50
firms, including Numismatik Lanz . Constantinople in the Age of Justinian.
Gerh ard Hirsch, and Bank Leu are Glanville Downey. 181 pages. $12.50
Archaeology of Medieval England,
included.
Helen Clarke. 224 pages, iliustrated.$21 .5O
Num ism at ic periodicals offered Secret ol/he Hittites. C. Ceram.
include various complete year sets of 306 pages. tine drawings. $13.50
The Numismatistand items from the 4th Fortress into City: The Consolidation
and 5th series of the Numismatic of Roman Bri/ain. Graham Webster.
178 pages, well illustrated. $22.50
Chronicle. Estimated at $2,500, the Roman Britain, Peter Clayton.
Numismatic Chronicle 101 includes the 208 pages, wen ~Iustrated. $15.00
last seven volumes 01 the 4th series Cehic Religion in Roman Britain, Graham
complete, and all twenty volumes of the Webster. 205 pages, ~Iustrated. $22.00
5th series except for the last two issues All boob ship~d poslpaid.
01 the fin al volume.
Information about Mail Bid Sale No.
XLVII or other literature sales may be Albert Leibs
obtained by writing to George Frederick
Kolbe at Post Office Drawer 3100,
Drawer 460
Crestline, CA 92325, or by calling (7 14) Oriskany, NY 13424
338·6527.
A CATALOG OF THE CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN
COLLECTION OF GREEK COINS
This famous collection, now in a lisbon museum, contains almost entirely
exceptional quality coins, including some extreme rarities . This is the first time
many of these important pieces have been published.
Gulbenkian bought heavily in the Navilie/AR S Classica sales between World
Wars I and II but his greatest coup was to acquire the cream of the Jameson
Colleclion in 1947, which accounts for nearly a fourth of the coins in Part II.
PART I
ROBINSON and HIPOLITO, Italy, Sicily, and Carthage. Lisbon 1971 . 389
coins described in detail in 136 pages of text plus a portfolio of 42 excellent
plates. Two volumes beautifully bound in buckram. Almost out of print.
#B-52-1 $150_
PART II
JENKINS and HIPOLITO, G reece to East. Lisbon 1990. Describes the
remaining 696 gold , electrum, and silver coins. 200 pages of text plus a
portfolio of 56 excellent plates. Two volumes beautifully bound in
buckram. #B-52-11 $250.
The set, parts I & II, is #8-52-5_ $350_ (A $50 saving.)
THOMAS P. MCKENNA
P.o. Box 1356-F - Fort Collins, CO 80522
303-226-5704
May 1991 23
 People in the News
Classical Numismatic Group opens London office
Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. and
B.A. Seaby Ltd . have announced the
opening of eNG's l ondon office. to be
known as Seaby Coins, A Division of
eNG, Inc. The new office will be located
at 7 Davies Street in Mayfair and the new
Seaby Coins will be operated exclusively
by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc .. a
longtime dealer in ancient. Medieval and
British coins.
BA Seaby lid. , as publisher 01 some
01 the world's besl known numismatic
references, now plans to direct its efforts
toward expanding its already strong lisle!
numismatic, archaeological and historical
titles. Seaby's enlarged antiquity
department is beginning its second
successful year in the new Davies Street
galler ies under the d irectio n 01 the
Chairman of SA Seaby LId ., Dr. Jerome
M. Eisenberg.
Classical Numismatic Group, tnc's
quarterly publication , the Classical
Numismatic Review, will incorp orate the
Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin, and will
expand its coverag e and circula tion
accordingly. According to Victor England,
one ofCNG's Senior Directors, "With our
emphasis on customer service and w ith
the range of material we carry in inventory
we expect that we can offer the Bulletin
subscribers numismatic items they have
not recently been exposed to."
CNG has announced that it will be
expanding its auction business to London,
beginning w ith an auction in October,
1991 at the time of COINEX. A large
consignment of ancient and British coins
has already been received, and in addition
an important group of literature w ill be
ollered, including many original works
from the Seaby library.
According to Kerry Keith Wetterstrom,
CNG's Auction Director, "With the addition
of an outlet in London, we'll be able to
hold auctions in London as well as
viewings for our US auctions. Currenlly
each of our sales is shown across the
United State s, giving many of our
customers an opportunity to view material
coming up for sale : expanding to l ondon
will give all our sales greater exposu re to
the European market." CNG is planning
its first London viewing for its upcoming
June Mail Auct ion - C la ss ic al
Num ismatic Auctions, ltd . Sale XV.
CNG's other Senior Director, Eric J.
McFadden, had the follow ing comment:
"This expansion is an important step for
us as specialists in ancient, Medieval and
British coins. Wewill now have permanent
offices in both principal markets for our
specialty areas, giving us many more
buying and selling opportunities. W e
bel ieve this w ill translate to beller service
for our customers, who through us w ill
now have full access to both mar1<ets.~
Classical Numismatic Group may be
contacted in the US at Box 245 ,

JrofHC13 in Quarryville. PA 17566-0245, telephone

(717) 786·4013and FAX (717) 786-7954.
In London the firm may be contacted at
~umi13mctfit13 Seaby Coins, A Division of CNG, Inc., 7
Davies Street, London, W I Y 1Ll England.
Edward Gans The temporary London phone is (071)
HI87 - 1991 495·2590 and the temporary FAX is (071 )
491·1595.
Born inlo a cultu red Jewish fa m ily, Edward
Gam grew up in Hamburg, Gennany. He
served as an apprentice al age 19 in a stock June 1st is essay
and bonds comp.my in Berl in. It was in the
Gennan capilolthat he wa s intr<xlueed to art
co ll ecting t hroug h his first wife' s work
contest deadline
The deadline for the Professional
in the Glenk Shop, unter Linden $trasse. G:ms worked as a banker in Berli n from
NumismatistsGuildessaycontestisJune
19 18 to 1925, w here his collecting interests broadened to coins and antiquities.
1. The contest is hetd yearly and is open
During the N azi YC<lrs he work ed in the Reichsbank, <lnd escaped from Nazi
to young numismatists aged 18 years
Germany in 1938 by emigrating to Ameri ca. where he set up an ancient co in
and young er. Winners of the contest wilt
deOilershi p in New Y ork Ci ty under the name Numismatic Fine Art s (NUFINA). In
be awarded scholarships to lhe American
1951 he moved 10 Berkeley. Califo nl ia where he continu ed loopemte hisdei.lership
Num is matic Association Summe r
in coins , and developed ,.n interest in collecting ancient seals. A fter selling the coin
Seminars.
business. Gam con tinu ed 10 work close ly with the Department of Near Eastern
Entries may be on any numismatic
Studies at Berkeley. During his exceptionally long and active career, Gans was
subjecI, and itlustralions should be
rel'ponsible for hctping to develop and for handling the sale of many large and
included if possible . There are no
important collecl ions. He was especially noted as a connoisseur of ancient coins as
limitations on size or subject, as entries
majo r works of art. and his ,ldvice was actively sought by colleclors and institutions
are judged on conlent. Typewrinen
worldwide. Edward G,ms died peace full y in his home at the age of \03 .
submissions are requested.
Entries should be directed to the
This feature is provided courtesy of
Education Chairman of the PNG, Harlan
The C. B. Byers Corporatio n, Newport Beac h, CA J. Berk, at 3 1 N. Clark St., Chicago. IL
60602.
24 The Gelator
 Art and the Market
Spring auction season begins as European firms
prepare to auction over 3700 lots of coinage
Central Europe will be teeming with Gerhard Hirsch Auction No. 170 is out the sale are Celtic, Islamic, Byzantine
ancient coins and collectors this month scheduled in Munich for May 22-25 wi th and related coinage. Also offered for
as the Spring auction season blossoms over 700 lots of Greek and nearly 1,000 sale are over 500 lots of antiquities
in Germany and Switzerland. Between lots 01 Roman coinage being offered. ranging from Hellenistic g lass to Roman
May 13th and May 25th over 3,800 lots Highlighted are silver tetradrachms from bronze statuelles . F o r catalog
of ancient coins alone are being offered Gela, Katana, leontini , and Syracuse . information write to Gerhard Hirsch
in four major sales. including an example by the hand 01 Nachf., Prome nadeplatz 10, 8000
leading off the auction marathon is Phrygillos, a master celator of the fifth Munchen 2, Germany.
Numismatik Lanz MOnchen, on May century B.C . An unsigneddecadrachm The European Spring auction circuit
13th, in the fi rm's Munich auction gallery. of Syracuse by Euainetos is estimated is an important event in the annual
882 lots of ancient Greek, Roman, to bring OM 8,000 in VF condition. Other numismatic calendar and draws some
Byzantine and related coinage are being Greek silver includes a Siculo-Punic 01 the finest material available, as we ll
sold along with about 50 lots of telradrachm, one of Ihe Macedonian as the interest of very notable colleclors.
numismatic lilsralUre. Highlights include king Perseus, and one from Knossos in For those who cannot attend personally,
some exceptional and rare Greek silver Crete. the catalogs are beautifully prepared
of the Archaic and Classical periods Go ld of Antonia. Faustina I, and a we tcome addition to one's library
along with an appealing run 011 stcenlury Caracalla, and Eudoxia highlight the - highly re commended. even for those
Roman bronzes with scarce reverse Roman section, with choice silver and whose budgets might otherwise restrict
types. A wide selection of late Roman bronze coins also included . Rounding thei r participation .
and Byzantine gold is also featured.
Catalogs for Auction 56 are available by
airmail for $20 10 Numismalik l anz
MOnchen, Maximiliansplatz 10, Are yo u interested in
MOnchen 2, Germany.
Dieter Gorny will follow up the next
day, May 141h, with 971 lots of Cellic,
CHOICE WORLD COINS?
Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins in You should be receiving our publications
an important sale. Among 402 lots of
Greek co ins are many rarities from
MORE THAN THREE
Macedon, the Seleucid Empire, and MAIL BID CATALOGUES ANNUALLY
Parlhia. Severan denarii in mint stale
are fealured among the Roman lois, as
well as rare sestertii of Pertinax and Featuring RARE and CHOICE gold and silver coins of
Oidia Clara in EF condition. A solidus of
the world as well as ancient co inage and world paper
Michael I is offered along with many
other noteworthy Byzantine coins.
money. A sample catalogue is $15.00 po stpaid .
Catalogs are available for $10 from
Giessener MOnzhandlung, Dieler Gorny Illeludes Prices Realized
GmbH, Maximiliansplatz 20, 0·8000
Munchen 2, Germany.
Bank leu will hold its 52nd auction,
An annu al subscription is also available. Th e cost is $45
consisting of Greek and Roman coins within the U.S. and $60 outside the U.S.
from a d ist i nguished Amer ican
coliecHon, on May 15th in Zurich . The
firm is highly regarded for offering coins
Ponterio & Associates, Inc.
of the highest quality and rarity and this 1818 Robinson Ave.
sale is no exception. The sale will be
. - ".m~.", San Diego, CA 92103
held at the Hotel Savoy in Zurich. The
. -" ~IS~:t9.' 1-800-854-2888 or 619-299-0400
ca talog, an important addition 10 any " ~,~..... ,g.,.,
numismatic library, is available for $25 ~ .~
Licensed AI/criol! COn/fUJlZY #968
by airmail from Bank leu,ln Gassen 20,
Zurich, Switzerland. From the U.S.
".N.G.flJ08 Richard H. Ponterio - President LM .1t2163

telephone0114112192406.
May 1991 25
 Malter auction to
Coming Events ••••
coincide with Long
Beach Conventions
May l. 4 Greater New Yo rkJAI NA Malter Galleries win be conducting
Omni Park Central, NYC an important two day auction which win
May4 - 5 Rare Coin Expo
take place on May 28th and 29th at the
Signal Hills Mall, West 5/. Paul, MN
May l 0- 12 Central Siaies Convention Sheraton La Reina Hotel, directly
Cervantes Convention Cen ler, 51. Louis adjacent to Los Angeles International
May 13 -14 lanz Auction Ai rport. The auction is schedu led to
Maximiliansplatz 10, Munich coincide with the two important Long
May 14 Dieter Gorny Auction Beach coin conventions. The sale will
Hotel Continental, Munich immediately follo w the Long Beach
May 15 Bank Leu Auction Intern ational Coin Expo, where coin lots
Hotel Savoy, Zurich will be on view.
May 22· 25 Hirsch Auction On May 28th the auc tio n wi l l
Promenadeplatz 10, Munich com mence with the ancient coin portion.
May 24 ·26 long Beach International
I.ong Beach Co ny. Center, Long Beach, CA
An afternoon and evening session are
May27 Ponterio Auction planned , with the Greekcoins to be sold
Long Beach ConY. Genler, Long Beach, CA in the first session, followed by the
May28 MaUer Auction Roman and bulk lots in the evening. A
Sheraton La-Reina, Los Angeles nice selection of ancients are highlighted
May 29 Superior Auction by several gold and si lver coins from the
9478 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA Santa Barbara Museum Collection, firsl
May 30· Jun. 2 l ong Beach Expo sold by Malter Galleries in 1975. Also
Long Beach ConY. Center, Long Beach, CA included is an interesting run of Roman
Jun .S Christie's Auction Egyptian coin s, Myti lene fractiona l
502 Park Avenue, NYC
electrum, Seleucid, Judaean, Persian,
Jun. 6 Glendining's Auction
101 New Bond 51., London Byzantine , Roman Republican and
Jun . 7 -9 Bay State Coin Show Roman Imperial coinage. A large
Hsr Park Plaza Hotel, Boston number of ancient coin bulk loi s will be
offered in this session .
Odd and curious money will be sold
on May 29th, with a nice run of Ashanti
gold weights and Southeast Asian
prim itive money, as well as importanl
numismatic literature.
The afternoon session of May 29th
w ill feature impor tant C l ass ical,
Egyptian, Judaean and Mesopotamian
antiquities. The two day auction will
conclude w ith an evening session
featuring quality Pre-Columbian art,
foll o wed by importan t books on

Jean ELSEN, s.a.

Egyptology and archaeology.
Illustrated catalogues are available
for $10 to U.S. addresses, and $ 15 to
other addresses by contacting Malter
Galleries at 16661 Ve ntura Boulevard ,
• Public Auctions Suite 518, Encino, CA 9 14 36 .
Information may also be obtained by
• Numismatic Literature catling (81 8) 784-7772 or by FAX at
(8 18)784-4726 .
• MOllthly IIllistrated Fixed Price Lists
• Ancient, Medieval, Islamic and Modern Coins
%e Cefator
Avenue de Tervueren 65 is your window
J040 BR USSELS-B ELGIUM to the world of
Tel : 011-322-734-6356 ancient art and
Fax: 011-322-735-7778 numismatics

26 The Geiator
 INDEX OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE CELATOR

GREEK COINS
The importance 01 Homer's writing red to
his repreSGnlation on the coinage 01 Greek city states by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 5, No.5, May, 1991, p. 16
T etradrachm 01 Orophemes is regarded
by some as the ultimate Hellenistic portrail coin by Harald Salvesen Vol. 5, No.4, April , 1991, p. 6
Coinage played an important political role
in evenls surrounding the Bania 01 Ipsus by Ron KolIgaard Vol. 5, No.2, February, 1991 , p. 16
Mylhological lhemes Influenced ancient Greek coi n designs by William E. Daehn Vol. 5, No. 1, January, 1991, p. 30
Gorgon heads played an important fole
as one of th e most powerful symbo ls in an cient Greek art by John R. Mix/er Vol 4. No. 11 , November. 1990, p. 28
The coinage of Croesus: New type s support traditional theories by Harlan J. Berk Vol. 4. No. 10, October, 1990, p. 6
Anribution of coin from Maroneia lakes collector on numismatic adventure by Armonde Casagrande Vol. 4. No. 10, October, 1990, p. 28
Syracusan dekadrachm serves as model for copies by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 4, No.7, July, 1990, p. 14
Tyche is identified as goddess on coins 01 Kromna by John R. Mix/er Vol. 4, No. 4, April, 1990, p. 1
Greek coins were struck in all shapes and sizes by Harold Wedig Vol. 4, No.1 , January, 1990, p. 22
Tarsus coinage commemo rated the great Sandon by Larry E. McKinney Vol. 3. No. 12. December, 1989. p. 1
Helmets on coins reffects militari stic societies by Kevin R. Cheek Vol . 3, No. 11, November, 1989, p. 20
Kings of Cappadoda struck independent coinage by Barry J. Yarkon Vol. 3, No.8. Augu st, 1989. p. 1
Seleudd coin symbols reveal hislory o f an epoch by Larry E. McKinney Vol. 3, No.7, July, 1989, p. 1
Coins 01 Aigina indicate historical polil ical change by Ron Kollgaard Vol. 3, No.5, May, 1989, p. 1
Military victory inspired elephanl·skin headdress by Kevin R. Cheek Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p. 10
Rhodos coins retreet trade by Ron Kollgaard Vol. 3, No.2, February, 1989, p. 1
Greek art pervaded coi ns by Jan Blamberg Vol. 2. No. 12, December, 1988, p.
literary sou rces reveal buying power of drachm by Gary Waddingham Vol. 2, No.5. May. 1988, p. 1
Dea th of Locrian Aja){ depicted by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 1. No. 2. Apr/May, 1987, p. 1

ROMAN COINS
Religious reforms led to increased acceptance
of the Magna Mater cult during the early empire by James Meyer Vol. 5, No.5, May, 199 1, p. 6
Commodus used PAX as propaganda to
insliff the confidence of Roman citi ze ns in their emperor by Armonde Casagrande Vol. 5, No. 4, April, 1991 , p. 28
Treasures of the Arras hoard raise questions
about the use of multiple aurel in ancient Rome by Marvin Tameanko Vol . 5. No.3, March, 1991, p. 6
Research leads to reinterpretation 01 "Iurrets·
on Ro man bronze campga te reverses by Viclor Failmezger Vol. 5, No. 3. March, 1991, p. 14
Importance of M agna Mater led
to her representation on Republican coinage by James Meyer Vol. 5, No.2, February, 1991. p. 6
Political necessity brought Magna Mater from Asia Minor 10 Rome by James Meyer Vol. 5, No. 1, January, 1991, p. 6
Constantine's vision supports new hypolhesis on Roman coin reverse type by David Miller Vol. 5, No. I , January, 199 1, p. 38
Unedited variant o f Maxentius suggests
a new name for the Baths of Constantine by James Meyer Vol. 4. No. 12, December, 1990. p. 6
Collecl or re coun ts journey of an cient Roman hoard from Isra el to America by Larry E. McKinney Vol. 4. No. 10, October. 1990, p. 16
Coinage of Brutus reveals strong Republican views by Scott Rottinghaus Vol. 4, No.7, July, 1990, p. 1
Engraver's tools dictated style of lellers on coins by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 4, No.6, June, 1990, p. 1
Caesar used coinage to further political ambitions by Kevin R. Cheek Vol . 4. No.6, June, 1990, p. 1
Roman bronze coinage measured by diameter by Waffen W. Es/y Vol. 4. No.3, March, 1990, p. t4
Acceptability of coins suggesled as reason for serrations by Jordan Wagner Vol. 4. No.3, March, 1990, p. 20
Coins of Pompeii provide clues to d aily Roman life by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 4. No.2, February, 1990, p. 1
Consecralion issues rare by Thomas WalSh Vol. 4. No.1. January, 1990, p. 14
Serraled coinage helped ensure qualify and stabifity by William HOff Vol. 4. No.1. January, 1990, p. 18
Coins carried news of events to far away places by William Hoff Vol. 3, No. 12, December, 1989, p. 22
Romans struck few denominations in Roman Egypt by Keilh Emmett Vol. 3, No. 10, October, 1989, p. 10
Coins of 44 B.C. hold special place in history by Mallhew Rockman Vol. 3, No.9, September, 1989. p. t
Roman Egypt coinage followed Greek traditions by Keifh Emmell Vol. 2, No. 10. October, 1988. p. 12
Mules seen as coinage of necessity· not error by David L. Vagi Vol. 2, No.9, September, 1988, p. 1
Eastern Severan coins attract collectors by Douglas Smith Vol. 2, No.9, September, 1988, p.
Zenobia struck coinage for propaganda by Vincen/Kosik Vol. 2, No.8, August, 1988, p. 1
Necessity played key role in Roman coin changes by John L. Barton Vol. 2, No.7, July, 1988, p. 1
Celestial displays inspired ancient coin designs by Robert M. Cutler Vol. 2, No.6, June. 1988, p. 1
Ale){andrian coins used distinc1ive dating system by Keith Emmett Vol. 2, No.6, June. 1988, p. 1
Coin aids al1ribution of Balbinus portrait bust by Robert Obojski Vol. 2. No. 5, May, 1988. p. 1
Portraiture dominated coinage of the Romans by David R. Sea r Vol. 2. No.3, March, 1988. p. 1
Egyptian and Roman cults mi){ in nome coin age by Keith Emmett Vol . 2, No.1 , January, 1968, p. 13
Coins of Roman Egypt combine many cultures by Dennis Kroh Vol. I , No.5, OcVNov, 1987, p. 1
Consular coins commemorated giving o f gifts and public games by Diane Schauer Vol. 1, No.1, FebIMar, 1987, p. 1

FEBRUARY 1987 - MAY 1991

,
 BYZANTINE COINS
Byzan tine co ins provide opportunities for discovery by Tony Goodwin Vol. 3, No. 12, December, 1989, p. 20
Rarities not expensive by Simon Bendall Vol. 3, No.9, Sep tember, 1989. p. 1
Trebizond issued independent series 01 bl'onzes by Simon Bendall Vol. 3, No.4, April, 1989, p. t
Isaac Comncnus: just a little empire on Cyprus by Simon Bendall Vot. 3, No.2, February, 1989, p. I
Byzanline emperor linkS present to past by John L. Barton Vo l, I, No. 4, Aug/Sep, 1987, p. 1

JUDAEAN COINS
Rare Judaea Capta coin sheds light on times by David Hendin
Judaea lalls under Roman rule with Herod as king by Aaron Hendin
Some bronze coi ns 01 Judea defy standard rules by David Hendin
Coin types lead to theories for purpose 01 hoard by Oavid Hendin
Ancient coinage rela tes tale 01 capt ive Israel (Part 2) by David Hendin
Ancient coinage relates tale 01 captive Israel (Part 1) by David Hendin
Variety in Israeli hoards caused by trade and pilgrims by Howard Kogen
Archaeologists explain find by David Hendin
Coin inscriptions indicate ancient origin 01 Zionism by David Hendin
Palm tree s served as symbol 01 Judean prosperity by David Liebert
Widows miles 1hought to be Alexander Vannai issues by Howard Kogan
Pilate strained relations by David Hendin
Judean rebel denarius retlects 2nd cen tury turm oil by Barry J, Yarkon
Agr ippa II honored Romans by David Hendin
Agrippa killed James by David Hendin
Hoard spurs the imagination as coins relate history by Howard Kogan
Shekel used to pay Judas by David Hendin
Philistine coins reveal history of ancient Gaza by Ho ward Kogen
Coinage 01 Rom an procura tors yieldS Insight by Eric Kondrafieff
Tribute penny due Caesar by David Hendin
Herod's peace loving son by David Hendin
Antipas - John's nemesis by David Hendin
Archelaus . a hated man by David Hendin
Herod's massacre: a myth by David Hendin
Widow gave two mites by David Hendin
Lepton incited patriotism by David Hendin
Sheket was used for offering by David Hendin
Jewish bronze coins help clarify Biblical history by Howard Kogen
Shekel inspires research by Barry J. Yarkon
Judaean history is traced with coins by.Jchn L. Barton
Vol. 5, No.5, May, 1991, p, 38
Vol. 5, No.4, April, 1991, p, 32
Vol. 5, No, 2, February, 1991 , p. 32
Vol. 4, No. 11, Novem ber, 1990, p. 38
Vol. 4, No. 10, October. 1990, p. 30
Vol. 4, No.9, September, 1990, p, 36
Vol. 4, No.8, Augu st, 1990, p. 10
Vol. 4, No. 8, August, 1990, p. 27
Vol. 4, No.6, June, 1990, p. 25
Vol. 4, No.5, May, 1990, p. 8
Vol. 4, No. 4, April. 1990, p. 14
Vol. 4, No.3, March, 1990, p. 29
Vol. 4, No.2, February, 1990, p. 1
Vol. 4, No, 2, February, 1990, p. 25
Vol. 3, No. 1" November, 1989, p. 14
Vol. 3, No. 10, October, 1989, p. 17
Vol. 3, No. 10, October, 1989, p. 2b
Vol. 3, No.8, AugU ST, 1989, p. 8
Vol. 3, No.8, August, 1989, p. 10
Vol. 3, No.8, August, 1989, p. 3 1
Vol. 3, No. 7, July, 1989, p. 27
Vol. 3. No. 6, June, 1989, p. 27
Vol. 3, No. 5, May, 1989, p. 27
Vol. 3, No.4, April, 1989, p. 22
Vol. 3, No. 3, March, 1989, p. 26
Vol. 3, No.2, Febl'uary, 1989, p. 22
Vol. 3, No. I , January, 1989. p. 24
Vol, 2, No. 10, October, 1988, p. 1
Vol, 2, No. 10, October, 1988, p. 1
Vol, 2, No.2, February, 1988, p. 1

ISLAMIC AND EASTERN COINS

Coin of Vahran V indicates earlier
mint activity at Sind than was previously thought by R.C. Senior Vol. 5, No.2. February, 1991 , p, 42
Coinage 01 Bahram Ghar leads to identification of Sassanian mint at Sind by R.C. Senior Vol. 4, No. 10, October, 1990, p. 14
Turkoman die-engraver borrowed Hellenistic moti! by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 4, No.8, August, 1990. p. 1
Parthian letradrachms rival Hellenistic portraiture by Fred Shore Vol. 4, No.7, July, 1990, p, 30
Further research chang es co ntrol mark percentages by David R. Dawdy Vol. 4, No.3, March, 1990, p. 30
De terioration of caliphate power Iraced in coi nage by Stephen Album Vol. 3, No, 12, Oecember, 1989, p. 1
Political and fiscal elements influence coinage by Stephen Album Vol. 3, No. 11, November, 1989, p. 1
Abbassid overthrow l esulted in changed coinage by Stephen Album Vol. 3, No. 10, October, 1989, p, 1
Conlrol marks offer clues \0 Indo-Greek mints by David R. Dawdy Vol. 3, No.8, Augu st, 1989. p. 14
Umayyad and Abbasid relationship is rethought {Part 2) by Slephen Album Vol. 3, No.7, July, 1989, p. 1
Umayyad and Abbasid relationship is rethought (Part I) by Stephen Album Vol. 3, No, 6, June, 1989, p. 1
Historical even t inspired Turkoman coin type by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 3, No. 5, May, 1989, p. 1
Radical ref aI m led 10 a tru ly Islamic style of coinage by Stephen Album Vol. 3, No.1 , January. 1989, p. 1
Hepthalite countermarked coins used in Bactria by David R. Dawdy Vol. 2, No. I I , November, 1988, p. 10
Arab-Sa sanian copper presen ts varied typology by Stephen Album Vol. 2, No.8, Augu s1, 1988, p. 1
Sasani an mo tif s used in Islamic co inage by Stephen Album Vol. 2, No.7, July, 1988, p. 1
Islamic conquerors adapted local Byzantine coinage by Stephen Album Vol. 2, No. 4, April, 1988, p. 1
Calligraphers created dies for Islamic coinag e by Stephen Album Vol. 2, No.2, February, 1988, p. I
Hobbyist finds ancient trea sure by Vincent Kosik Vol. I, No.2, Apr/May. 1987, p. 6

ANTIQUITIES
Ancient underwater treasure awa its redi scovery by David Liebert Vol. S, No, 4, April, 1991, p, 26
Identilication 01 the Gemma Tibeliana figures
indicates its significance as a political document by Eric Kondra/iell Vol. 4, No. 11 , November, 1990, p. 6
Ch aracteristics of beetl es identify scarabs by David Liebert Vol. 4, No. 10, October, 1990, p. 10
Amphorae served dual purpose in antiquity by David Liebert Vol. 4, No.9, September, 1990, p. 19
Study is key to identifying scarabs of ancient Egypt by David Liebert Vot. 4. No.8, August, 1990, p, 8
Buriat grounds provide e~amptes 01 everyday dress by David Liebert Vol. 4, No. 7, July. 1990, p. 8
Egyptian stone and alabaSTer were Cfal ted in fine style by Pal Remler Vol. 4, No.7, July, 1990, p. 16
Collecting of intaglio gems originated in an tiq uity by David Liebert Vol. 4, No.6, June, 1990, p. 8
Arrowhead technology traveled with invading armies by Pal Remler Vol. 4, No.6, June, 1990. p. 18
Lead sarcophagi we re cast with decoraTion by David Liebert Vol. 4, No. 4, April, 1990, p. 8
Greek and Roman influence merged in Egypt by David Liebert Vol. 4, No.3, March, 1990, p. 8
Cosmetics played an important role in ancient Egypt by David Uebert Vol. 4, No. 2, February, 1990, p. 8
Ritual deposits found in building construction by David Liebert Vol. 4, No. I, January, 1990, p. 8
Medieval Bohemian heller die survives anliquity by Michael Dennis O'Hara Vol. 4, No. t, January, 1990, p. 20
Holy Grail legend spurs inlerest and conjecture by David Liebert Vol. 3, No. 10, October, 1989, p. 8
Ancient jewelry combines technical and artistic skills by David Liebert Vol. 3, No.9, September, 1989, p. 8
Humidity causes serious problems if unchecked by David Liebert Vol. 3, No.8, August, 1969, p. 8
Dealer grades antiquities on their artis tic merit by David Liebert Vol. 3, No.5, May, 1989. p. 8
Medusa was lamiliar image on Greek artilacts by David Liebert Vol. 3, No. II, November, 1989, p. 8
An cien t glass production relied on technology by Pal Remler Vol. 3, No. 4, April, 1989, p. 10
Water flasks had many uses over the centuries by David Liebert Vol. 3, No.2, February, 1989, p. 8
Mosaic helps show Roman/Jewish conco rdance by E.dward Schuman Vol. 3, No.2, February, 1989, p. 21
Egyptian wood sculpture survives sands of time by David Liebert Vol. 3, No. 1, January, 1989, p. 8
Egyptians believed in servants for the afterlife by Pal Ramler Vol. 3, No. 1, January, 1989, p. 13
Ancient bells ring out tong fascinating history by David Liebert Vol. 2, No. " , November, 1988, p. 8
Cyprus ponery emulates Greek & Easlern types by David Liebert Vol. 2, No. 10, October, 1988, p. 8
Glass disks provide opportunities lor research by David Liebert Vol. 2, No.9, September, 1988, p. 8
Pins trom western Persia anract collectors by David Liebert Vol. 2, No.8, August, 1988, p. 8
South Italian pottery oilers atfordable alternative by David Liebert Vol. 2, No.7, July, 1988, p. 8
Investment In antiquities requires buyer caution by David Liebert Vol. 2, No.6, June, 1988, p. 8
Ushabtis labored lor deities in Egyptian allerlile by David Liebert Vol. 2, No.5, May, 1988, p. 8
Roman terraCOllas deserve credit as independent art by David Liebert Vol. 2, NO.4, April, 1986, p. 8
Flora and fauna motils strong in late mosaics by David Liebert Vol. 2, No.3. March, 1988, p. 8
Grapes played important role in religion and art by David Liebert Vo l. 2, No.2, February, 1988, p. 8
Animal art trom anHquity both charming and tanciful by David Liebert Vol. 2, No. 1, January, 1988, p. 8
Ponery sculpture olters something ditte/enl by David Liebert Vol. I, No.6, December, 1987, p. 14
Egyptian scarabs otter variety to collectors by David Liebert Vol. 1, No.5, OcVNov, 1987, p. 5
Biblical artitacts fascinate collectors by David Liebert Vol. 1, No.4, Aug/Sep, 1987, p. 8
Glass popular among collectors by David Liebert Vol. 1, No. 3, JunlJut, 1987, p. 6
Fifth century Byzantine lamp reflects conlemporary gold coins by David Liebert Vol. 1, No. 2, Apr/May, 1987, p. 1

ART
Cats were venerated as symbols 01 Egyptian deilies by David Liebert Vol. 5, No. 3, March, 199 1, p. 12
Spiritualism ot later Roman art became the hallmark of Byzantine style by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 5, No. I, January, 1991, p. 40
Fig seen as "king of all fruit trees" in Holy Land by David Lieben Vol. 5, No. 1, January, 199 1, p. 28
Orans figure represented piety to both
pagans and Christians th roughou t the Roman world by David Lieben Vol. 4, No. 12, December, 1990, p. 16
Verism dominated coin motifs under early Romans by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 4, No. 12, December, 1990, p. 30
Anubis was represented by jackat in ancient Egypt by David Liebert Vol. 4, No. 11, November,l990, p. 22
Greek coins illustrate the evolulion 01 emotion in style by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 4, No. 11, November, 1990, p. 36
Aestnetic judgements should be based on celator's skill, not on overall style by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 4, No. 10, October, 1990, p. 24
E~per ience forms the basis lor judgemen ts 01 style by Allan Davisson Vol. 4, No.6, June, 1990, p. 10
Humanism motivated Pisanetlo to create medals by Stephen Scher Vol. 4, NO. 4, April, t990, p. I
Classical coinage qualifies as a major art lorm by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 3, No. 12, December, 1989, p. 14
Influence of Plotinus led to "hard sly Ie" in coinage by Warren G. Moon
and Paul Plass Vol. 3, No. 11, November, 1989, p.
Aedicula held significance for ancient cultures by David Liebert Vol. 3, No.6, June, 1989, p. 8
Archaic slyle lived on by Kevin R. Cheek Vol. 2, No. 12, December, 1988, p.
Ancient coins offer e~quisite sculpture in miniature by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 2, No. I, January, 1988, p. 4
Master Images reflected in coins from antiquity (Part 4) by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 2. No.1, January, 1988, p. 24
Collecting Greek coins as an art form by Allan Davisson Vol. t, No.5, Oct!Nov, 1987, p. 1
Master Images reflected in coins from antiquity (Part 3) by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 1, No.3, JunlJuf, 1987, p. 8
Master images reflected in coins trom antiquity (Part 2) by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. I , No. 2, Apr/May, 1987, p. 8
Master images retlected in coins trom antiquity (Part t) by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. I , No. 1, FebJMar, 1987, p. 8

HISTORY
Changes and transition of nineteenth dynasty Egypt
are refle cted in the tombs ot the Pharaohs by Ron Kollgaard Vol. 5, No.4, April, 1991, p. 10
Common coins portray deeds of uncommon men
and provide links wit h great movements in history by Robert Tye Vol. 5, No.3, March, 1991, p. 24
Search continues for tomb of Herod the Great by David Liebert Vol. 5, No.2, February, 1991, p. 14
Monobaz I founded great Jewish royal fa mily by David Hendln Vol. 5. No.1, January, 1991, p. 34
Literary evidence indicates Ihat Roman troops
may have done banle with the Chinese army by MalVin Tameanko Vol. 4, No. 12, December, 1990, p. 12
Etruscan culture and politics inlluenced the development 01 early Rome by Ron Kollgaarrf Vol. 4, No.9, September, 1990, p. 6
Temple 01 Isis buried at Pompeii provides evidence of Roman cult worship by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 4, No. 9, September, 1990, p. 32
Origin 01 piggy bank traced to lite style ot Roma ns by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 4, No.8, August, 1990, p. 1
Chios served as major trade cenler in ancient Aegean by Ron KolIgaard Vol. 4, No. 7, July, 1990, p. 1
Despite grave robbers, undiscovered tombs may remain by Ron KolIgaard Vol. 4, No.5, May, 1990, p. 1
Life of common man revealed in Roman imperial coinage by Harold Mall/ngly Vol. 4, No.5, May, 1990, p. 1
Second century civil wars were history rerun by Ron KolIgaard Vol. 4, No.3, March, 1990, p.
Ancient coins were part of conquistador's chanel by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 4, No.3, March, 1990, p. 1
Draco wa s used as a standard for Roman legions by Sleven Sho wers Vol. 4, No.1, January, 1990, p. 1
Search tor pharoahs' res1ing places continues by David Liebert Vol. 3, No. 12, December, 1989, p. 8
Phoenicians developed commerce and culture by Pal Remler Vol, 3, No, II, November,1989, p, 10
Pegasos was Corinth's togo by Ron Kollgaard Vol. 3, No, 10, Oclober, 1989, p, 1
Aetia Capitolina co lony important under Hadrian by Colin E Pitchfork Vol. 3, No, 8, Augu st, 1989, p. 1
Luristan became a center 01 skilled metalworkers by Pal Remler Vol. 3, No, 7, July, 1989, p. 8
June 15 marks 600th anniversary 01 Kosovo batlle by Siobodan Sreckovic Vol. 3, No.6, June, 1989, p. 15
Bull cults and deiTies were common in antiquity by David Liebert Vol. 3, No. 4, April, 1989, p. 8
Ptolemaic dynasty lostered scholarly research by Gary Waddingham Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p. 1
Bull cults and deities were common in antiquity by David Liebert Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p. 8
Legion symbols claimed by Sleven Sho wers Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p, 1
Historian sees linle changed in the Holy Land by Howard Kogen Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p. 24
Wild animals were exhibi ted at Roman festivals by John Twente Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p. 14
The Menorah is a tasting symbol of Jewish history by David Liebert Vol. 2, No, 12, December, 1988, p. 8
Novo Brdo has numismatically important history by Siobodan Sreckovic Vol, 2, No, 12, December, 1988, p. 25
$eutonius related character of the 12 Caesars by Michael S woveland Vol. 2, No. 11, November, 1988, p, 1

MISCELLANEOUS
The mystery 01 the missing cities of sin by David Liebert Vol, 5, No, 5, May, 1991, p, 28
Bacteria can cause microbiologically inlluenced
corrosion under inadequale storage conditions by David M. Dziewulski Vol. 5, No.5, May, 1991, p. 30
Theory 01 secret inscriptions on coins is disputed by David Hendin Vol. 5, No.3, March, 1991, p. 28
Microletter proponent respond s to criticis m by Jerry Vardaman Vol. 5, No.3, March, 1991, p. 31
Roman coins select most lamous female 01 the past by Bob Levy Vol. 5, No.2, February, 1991 , p. 28
Clues found in Harker's diary provide insights
into Count Oracula's numismatic pursuits by Robert C. Stroud Vol. 4, No. 12, December, 1990, p, 18
Augustus denarius enters twilighT coin 20ne tor trip back in time by Bob Levy Vol. 4, No.9, September, 1990, p, 26
Knowledge and experience are cited as
the best combatants against fakes and forgeries by Dennis Kroh Vol. 4, No. 12, December, 1990, p, 24
Plaster casts allow both sides 01 a coi n to be displayed by David Hendin Vol. 4, No. 12, December, 1990, p. 32
Cultural experiences highlight New York vacation by Bob Levy Vol. 4, No. II , November, 1990, p, 32
Tourist relates coin buying experiences at ancient sites by Robert Newman Vol. 4, No.7, July, 1990, p. 9
Denarius relates story of its return 10 former home by Bob Levy Vol. 4, No.7, Juty, 1990, p. 10
Cure for coin plague ou tlined by David Hendin Vol. 4, No.7, July, 1990, p. 31
Scientist rebuts stylistic grounds as basis for condemnation by Stanley L. Flagler Vol, 4, No.6, June, 1990, p, 20
Modern man tours the ancient Julio·Claudian Coin Zoo by Bob Levy Vol. 4, No.5, May, 1990, p. 10
Hoard coinage deviates from traditional style by Wayne G. Sayles Vol. 4, No.5, May, 1990, p. 16
Epoxy used to disguise porosity and patina problems by Paul RyneafS{)n Vol. 4, No.4, April, 1990, p. 10
literary sources and historical records indicate optical aid by Robert Seibert Vol. 4, No.4, April, 1990, p. 11
Chemical solu tions add patinas of various colors by Lyn Wilson Vol. 4, No.4, April, 1990, p. 15
Trajan sestertius reflects on Super Bowl events by Bob Levy Vol. 4, No. 3, March, 1990, p. 10
Dealer promotes collecting lor study and enjoymen t by Thomas D. Walker Vol. 4, No.2, February, 1990, p, 10
Symbolism played important role in ancient cultures by Mark Dunning Vol. 4, No.2, Febtuary, 1990, p, 18
Vandals issued crude silver and bronze coinage by Ron Kollgaard Vol. 4, No, I, January, 1990, p, 1
Public auctions can provide learning experience by Bob Levy Vol, 4, No. I , January, 1990, p, 10
Collector relates search for the ultimate forgery by Lyn Wilson Vol. 4, No.1 , January, 1990, p, 27
Appreciation in value not limited Solel y to rarities by Dan Clark Vol. 3, No. 12, December,1989, p. 10
Dreams motivate colle ctors to luI/iII their goals by Bob Levy Vol. 3, No. II, November, 1989, p. 16
Hoard coinage tested under electron microscope by SianleyL. Flagler Vol. 3, No, 9, September,1989, p 17
Condition versus rari ty spurs ancient coin debate by Bob Levy Vol. 3, No.9, September, 1989, p, 26
Fourees appeal to techn ically oriented collectors by Douglas Smith Vol. 3, No.8, August, 1989, p. 26
Modern household chemical removes deposits by John Kopf Vol. 3, No, 7, July, 1989, p. 10
Refl ections from a cracked mirror (Part 3) by Paul Rynearson Vol. 3, No.7, July, 1989, p. 18
literature points out knowledge of magniliers by Marvin Tameanko Vol. 3, No.6, June, 1989, p, 1
Origin of money relates to psychological needs (Part 3) by Henry Clay Lindgren Vol. 3, No.6, June, 1989, p. 10
Rellections Irom a cracked mirror (Part 2) by Paul Rynea/son Vol. 3, No.6, June, 1989, p. 18
Origin of money relates to psychological needs (Part 2) by Henry Clay Lindgren Vol. 3, No.5, May, 1989, p. t o
Reflections from a cracked mirror (Part 1) by Paul Rynearson Vol. 3, No.5, May, 1989, p. 14
Boscoreale to Memphis: a coin's au tobiography by Bob Levy Vol. 3, No, 5, May, 1989, p. t5
Calendar's origin complex by Robert R. Kutcher Vol. 3, No.4, April, 1989, p. 1
Origin 01 money rela tes to psychological needs (Pan 1) by Henry Clay Lindgren Vol. 3, No.4, Aprit, 1989, p. It
Recent Black Sea hoard discovered to be take by Kerry K. Welterstrom Vol. 3, No.3, March, 1989, p. 12
Deate, oilers helpful tips by Jerry Lasl Vol. 3, No. I, January, 1989, p, 1
Scientist nukes ancien ts by Michael Goodrich-Stuart Vol. 2, No. 11 , November, 1988, p.
Addison defended ancien ts in 'classical' style by Robert C. Stroud Vo l. 2, No.1 t, November, 1988, p. 18
Selling of copies and cou nterfeits has to stop by Wayne G. Sayles Vol, 2, No. 10, October, 1988, p, 10
Some areas of ancient coinage better for pure co llectors by Arnold R. Saslow Vol. 2, No.9, September, 1988, p, 14
Pure collecting guarantees long term satisfaction by Kerry K. Wellers/(om Vol. 2, No, 7, July, 1988, p. 10
Fourees illuminate mint and counterfeiting practices by Roben R. Kutcher Vol. 2, No.6, June, 1988, p. 10
Collector education aids counterfeit detection by DavkJ Hendin Vol. 2, No.3, March, 1988, p. 12
Data base may be key to functional computer file by Ted Micceri Vol. 2, No.1, January, 1988, p, 9
Quality coin pho toS by John L. Barton Vol. t, No.6, December, 1987, p. 1
Computer age dawns on ancient numismatics by Colin E. Pitchfork Vol. 1, No.4, Aug/Sep, 1987, p, 1
 A Small Selection of Greek Coins
Macedon Kings: Alexand er III (th e Great),
336-323 BC AR Tctradrachm. Head of young Hcraklcs
in lion-skin headdress I Zeus enthroned wilh cagle and
staff. Muller.97 Lifetime issue of Amphipolis. C lass I.
XF. Exceptionally powerful portrayal o/Zeus! $750.

Thrace, T hasos . Second Century BC .

AR Tctradrachm. Head of young Dionysos, wrcaih<X1
with ivy / Herakles standing, naked, holding a club with
lionskin over I. arm. SNG.Ash.3684 XF. A fine
artistic style rarely matched! $1000.

Ionia, Magnesia . Second Century BC .

AR Tctradrachm. Diad. bus! of Ancmis, bow at
shoulder I Naked Apollo standing on a Macndcr pattern,
holding a branch and resting his elbow on a tripxl
sunnounted by a quiver; all wilhin a laurel-wreath.
5.4485 XF. A very high relief portrait with a weallh
of inlricate hair delail; truely aflawless gem! $2000.

C ilicia , Tar sos. Satrap Phamabazos, 379-374 BC.

AR Stater. Female head with streaming hair, Ihrcc-quartcr
facing I Male head, bearded, wearing crested helmet.
S.5640 XF. Well struck and well centered example with
attractive light toning and traces of luster! S1250

"Quality Coins for Discriminating Collectors"

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Greater NY, May 14 (No Sunday!). Ancienls Arcade.
Michigan State Show in Grand Rapids, May 3-5 The most important Michigan Show.
Central States. St Louis. May to-12. This important show visits St. Louis this year.
Long Beach, CA, May 30 to June 2 This is the major show in California
NY Antiquarian Show, June 21 -22. A special Ancient/Medieval only Show in NY.
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Visa & MasterCard Postpaid. 15-day return period. Phone: (313) 434-3856

May 1991 27
A ntiquities
The mystery of the missing cities of sin
by David Liebert Amd, Gezer,Jericho, Ashkelon, Caeseria,
O.K., the above headline is m OfC Berslava. the list goes on and on, were
suited to the tabloid press than Th e found and excavated by archaeologists
Ce/mor, but with all ofthcscanda ls in the morc or less where the Bible said they
head lines lately I couldn't res ist it. Ac - were located.
tuall y, it' s no t that inaccurate because The Holy Land has yielded many
there really isan archacologic<l1mystery secrets to the archaeologist's spade, from
involved w ith the missing Bibl ical c ities the Prehistoric cave dwe llings of Me
of Sodom and Gomorrdh, not to mention Cannel to the pa laces of Med ieval Arab
the s m .. lIcr vi llages w hich Genesis potentates and Crusader Knights .
records the Lord des troyed in a ra in o f Much, however, remains to be d is-
fire and brimstone in thetime of Abmham. covered, and among the most interesting
"And he overthrew those cities and the of the still to bediscovered Biblical sites
whole valley and all the inhabitants of are the Bronze Age "cities of the plain"
the cit ies and that which grew upon the described in Genesis. So evil were the
ground . But his (Lot's) wife looked back inhabitants o f these cities that according
behi nd him, and she became a pillar of to the Biblical narrative the Lord wiped
sa lt:' Gen. 19:25,26. them o ff the face o f the eanh.
The historical accu racy of the Bible But what of their remains? Surely,
can and has been debilled at lenglh, but even if Ihey were destroyed by d ivine
mOSI scholars would agree Ihal when il re tribution, something should have re-
comes to the geogra phy of the ancient mained for modem archaeologists to
Near East it's a pretty good gu ide. Most discover. Manyyearsago J spent several
of the major, and manyofthe minor sites weeks in an Israeli settlement near the
menti oned in the Bible have been iden- southcmendoftheDead Sea . It was then
The Dead Sea Area
tified - if not excavated - by modern that I became acquainted with the most
arc haeologists. Jerusalem, Megedo . popu lar theory regarding the location of
the infamous sin cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah, as well as the fa scinating
geography o f the Dead Sea area.
The The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on the
face of the Earth. It is part of the great rift
Time Machine Company stretching into A frica to the south. Geo-
is always eager to aid beginning collectors with moderately priced coins and logically , it sits atop one of the Eanh's
antiquities. Call David Liebert direct to discuss your interes ts and needs. major fault zones, so it is not inconce iv-
able thllt massive seismic activity may
have happened in the area in historic
AE coins of times. Indeed, there is much archaeo-
Pontius Pilate in logical and hi storical evidence of fre-
good to fine condition, quent seismic activ ity along this faul t in
the Jordan vaHey and surrounding areas.
all identifiable . The surface of the Dead Sea lies some
A small group will be 1,292 feet be low the surface of the Medi-
sold on a first come terranean Sea to the west. In its northern
first served basi s end. the waters of the river Jordan fall
while they last for into what amounts to a great hole in the
Eanh 's surface over a thousand feet deep.
$30 each But the sea is not a single entity, M it is
almost split in half at the middle by a
or 2 for $55 cu rious peninsula called El Lisan (fhe
IOnglle in Arabic).
We have many more in teres ting antiquities and ancient coins in stock. South of this peninSUla. which rises
/I you are not on our mailing lis t, you are missing some of the best buys in only a few score fect above the surface,
ancient art. Send for your free catalog today. For more information contact: the de pth o f the Dead Sea is only somc
six to eighteen feel. In fact, there are
The Time Machine Co. repo nsof places where ancient tree trunks
can be glimpsed on the bottom, although
P.O. Box 282, Flushing Station,
nothing lives in the sea due to its extreme
Queens, NY 11367 salinity. In fact. the shallownatureofthc
(718) 544-2708 southern end has allowed for the con-
struction of massive plants for the ex-
28 The Celator
tract ion of potash and othe r minerals
from the sea. These foml a major export
of the modern Stilte of Israel.
Many authorities be lieve that the
southern end of the Dead Sea is of recent
origin. perhaps having been fonned when
an earthq uake breached "The Tongue",
wh ich originally fonned a sort of natural
dam across the bottom o f the sea. holding
ils w<1!ers back from the plain to the
south. Could the Bible nnrrative be an
actunl account of th is ca taclysmic even t,
which may well have happened in his-
toric times?
Archaeological excavations both in
Israel and in Jordan have revea led thriv-
ing early Bronze Age commu nities in the
area of the Dead Sea valley, so it would
not be surprisi ng to find such communi-
ti e.~ as these in the Biblical va!cofSodom ,
if it was indeed in the area now covered
by the waters of the sha llow southern end
o f the sea. Tou rist guides in Israel will
even take you losce "Lot's wifc". oncof
the many rock salt pi[[ars wh ich abound
on the southern shore of the sea in an area
known as Jebel Usdurn.
If indeed the sites of these important
Biblical towns could be located. much
might remain encased in the mineral
deposi ts of the sea noor. Fonn idable
obstacles will have to be ove rcome.
however. if the riddle is ever to be an- mains. Still , with a great deal of money
swered . First and foremost, they include and effort. and the coopcriltion o f the
the great difficu lty of conducting any governments involved. perhaps as part
sort ofundcrwater excavation in the ex- of some future peace plan. the remai ns of
tremely mineralized and murky wnters Sodom and Gomorrah may yet be fo und.
of the Dead Sea. The exact location of
the ancient remains - although they are !!it
unknown - must of necessity be located
on the border between Israel and Jordan. The Celator;s named for and
which passes through thesea, thus greatly
dedicated to the coin die-
com pl icating the political problems of
any possible excavation. Also, we have engravers of antiquity whose
no way of detennining what damage the art remains as powerlu/and
seismic activity of the last few thousand appealing today as in their time.
years may have done to the original re-
.~ IMPERIAL Coins & Antiquities presellts:
OCfAVIAN a nd J ULIUS CAESAR Gold aurcus, struck 43 B.C.
;00:
JOB: C. CAESAR PONT. AUG" bare head o f Oct avian right. REV: C. CAESAR
DICf. PERP, PONT. MAX. , lau reate head of Jul ius Cacs.1r right.
EXlremely rare (one of 24 known spccimens)- TIle only portrai t of Julius Caesar
in gold , struck the year after his assassination.
i Crawford 49012. Cohen 2, Sydenham [32 1, about Very Fine. Price: $17.000.
Imperial C oins & Antiquities
3296 S_ Mooney Blvd., Suite 105
Visalia , C A 93277
(209) 732· 2026
Please call or write for our latest
Bid-O r-B uy Sale catalog.
.' Ji"

AN EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF MEDIEVAL NUMISMATIC REFERENCES

H;gg;n..F .. n..Ccpp<NC-oIE_ . .00 s..aby. Coin< ScofW>d. nIMJd »0.00
GOING TO PRESS!! HuUM. L.• IoIunzIuor.dosl Ungam " '.00 WlKlarlield. ~ '" s;"g. eon. $2.00
AlbeI1 Fley'a Oal~ Coins 01 Europe Prlor ,o l SO I. _ . M .. AC../a/cg<ll"'F~_ Iialin. eo.;...g.. <ll1Iw E _ ~ "'5.00
Updaled by David CeNin. OUI ,i'$1 reprinl ran ou1. new .. /he &lisIt Mu_. Vol. I $90.00 Me1u!. eo;,.aga in IIw 8a/I;_ $35.00
t<au. V .• On.! T1rouur>d Yurs Re"9)eO, ~,.,C_,;,..
aOdilional photop!ales bei/lll added as well as nt'Ow
<II 0tIiciM &l>tttni.iJn c~ sa.OO S Jo .onia. OaJiNll.... Bosnia $30.00
supplemenls. This major referenee expecled Juno Lambfos. P .• rile C""'s 01 lhe G~".,..s~ Rulers olChios $5.00 Oiellla,. Bohem...." C<H"age (Getman) $50.00
1991. Hardcover $30.00 Lambros. P .• U/"lfWbli.1I8d Co,"", 01 Dolley. MBd"'v..,Anglo·lrislt Coin. $ 20.00
S25,OO M ~yko w . Ed.,..,di.." Mont/lat)' Aff".-,. $25,1)0
John Lhol~ a's Medieval Feudal F,,,nch Coins. ",. 1,.100",",,1 Kingdom <11 C)'II'UI
Lamb<oo. P .• Ur"ubliol>tJd C...... SIrv<:II 81 G"'_IZI' S5.00 ilo) ,e .IOfd·JoM. , A'lglo Gd;': Gold Coin. $20,00
Updalec1 by the autho, in 1991. New ptales. nt'O .. Buls, Numism.6c Tenns 5pltinISouth A~. 515,00
La .. ranc.. R.H .• n.. M<Jd,rtt. 01
infolmalion. very u!;8full0 the co/Iee1orof "arty Frerw;h
coins. EXj"MK:led June t99t . Sol1cover $10.00
u;"v""" c_.
lholka. J .• _
/JIll P~n " .00 f ...,.. t .. DerWtJr ~;"n
SIovensI<a AI<ad;o ...... ~
$25,00
Bract.-~, $1 :'00
Robert Gobi's Sa5;tnlltn Numismatics. Reprinl 01 lhoIIta. J .• Uedit1YIJI FtNtJ./ F-.ch CoirI.1ge (F) $12,00 Numizm.OIc. (2 Vola.' So&O.OO
Berk. RomanIMr!dirtva/ Gold Ccoito$ $20.00
ctassie $tudy on the $asanian coins, in Engbh. 100 lholka. J . and~. P.K.. ~'"
$1 $,00 Pe\er1.Otl. Ang/D-SuOl1 C......,1IC7 $21.00
pp. ptus 16 lull page plates. an important referenee!! IIwW> Conoges
Gy~.~w
Mayhew. N.J .• Coinagaill F___
Expecled Ju ly 1991. Sol1cover $25.00 PortiItC""" Numjsmal" (BP) 5)5,00
T.~. 21:)" oll;>s prepub/;c",;"rr o/l"r (No l ro b.t comb.O>ed
From IIMI Oari< Ages ro NIfPOieon
McCammon ..... L.T., Cu",,,,citJ. 01
"'.00 (BP • BooM PlIolOOOpy. F. FOfll>coming)
wilh ""yother diltCOUrrl) lhe A'lgIo·Norman Islt.. $55.00 (O ....r $ /00 Illke I O'JI. 011. 0,,",' S25C lake 15!'; oil. Add 52
Meleelf. O.M., Co;rr;>gt> 01 1.400......1ScoHand 530.00 per booIr. 10'1>0$11'9'" N Y rfloitkn/s add ukl. 18~. )

FOR YOUR LIBRARY WE OFFER!! .16""'.

1.fH::hene<. M .• i.IBd.ole..
..-.d ToI<_. Vol. I. M«/iev.,.nd ~ $165,00 CATALOGUES!!
Berry. G.• MedIeval English"tons 110.00 Mossol>. H.R.. The IJncoIn ""'" "' 5.00 $ol .... by". & Chrisl'-'o: We """a SOO plus aucIion uti·
Boucle .... E.• MontI.Ns F"""";_ "".00 NorIIl. J .. ~ <II EdwMd I • II $5.00 Iogws on """"'"",'oes. u~1 at1.. ancienI lItr1iI_. ","nu·
8tooI<e. G.C .• Engbh C...... /1111 Cttfl/.PmSltnl}
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issued "'om 1960'.· 1980'• . Most witt> prices ,..lind. A
~v.I & Modem Coms $015.00 Ralhy. L., & Ptobs1, G .. Corpu. 1001'''11 ;s ju,t $1 .00 to, poIlag",
C'hn. E.• Die M.;nz•." Salzburgo
Calico, FX , 1'kH;""& DtJ Arllgon
$3~ .00
520 .00
N<Jm()(1)(fl Hungria. (OP)
Reiehm.n & Co. , Auc60n C" I"icog<Je
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inve"tory of '''''oa i,om . ito on hal'o(! .... p<iee ••1i•• v~i l .bIe lor
Ci.ni . L.• Les Monntl"'s Ror~les Francaj.,,~ 1,.1""""
SC .... mbri . C .H .C .• Coj" •• 01
DtJ Hugutr~ C..pel A Lou;' XV! IBP) $40 .00 rile K,,;gM. 01 MalIa (BP) $35.00 11.00 ~''''9'''
Ooaooy. ~ .• Anglo 5<1, on P."";"s $1 0.00 S<mon. J .. Essay Of! Irish Co,"n. $:10.00 Boo~.·I"· Pr l nl . "'nd(lnt & Medie."t ,",u,,"smatic$; OWJ , .OO
OoleY. M., n... Norm/In
end lhe Engb'<II C~
c_" Spau "Y. I.G .. The fW ......" MoIIf/I4ry Syshlm $45.00 1'1..... we stor:k. I 1.00 lor" PO'\a9<'.
5S.00 51_II. I.. n.. Scorrish C~ $20.00
OeSaulcy. L.F .. Numtsm.rique 0.. Cf<ltS.lltdes IBP) $35.00
"!doond. O.P .. 1M Cour>/Ms 01 ~ S5.00
5zego. "-. 1M~oIMtHJ,ev"'Ausm.
Walker . A.. RMding ~,., EIIfCP"ltI' Coins
SI5.00
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/JIll Coins <II DalmaN enti A"""'" " .00 Sctr.,.e;z~"'. und PoIiltChef a.p,. (liP) $35.00
29·28 41 st Avenue
G.'dia ...... S .• n.. Colfl. ofCypnn $5.00 Keo rnylGtube,. Anglo s.....,,, L.I.C .• New York 111 01
GIIIICCt.i. E.• CaM.Io9 MoMS .. , n.'it/n"",'. II. 1/1 C<H". (BM) (Two Vol"" et) $11 0.00
0. Mon.""" Le Che . .. ,.... 0. Mil.." $35.00 Pu .... oy, Cojno/Tobn< Scorl.nd $1.00 1·718·706·0303
Heiss, .... . o...~ripl""" Ge""nl De. 1,.10""""" ROOMOQn, Coinage 01 Scoffand $20.00
o.s Rail Wisgolhs O'E'P'I9"" 130.00 Seabjr, Coi... E"I1'and(lgg,) 122.00 FAX 1·718·706·0891

May 1991 29
Bacteria can cause microbiologically influenced
corrosion under inadequate storage conditions
by David M . Dziewu lski
Microbial Corrosion :
Does it Exist?
Somet hi ng that the various process
indu ,~ trics
have become painfully aware
of in the last 10 years is microbiologi-
cally innucnccd corrosion, or M IC.1
BrieOy. MIC incl udes those fonns of
corrosion which are affec ted by the
presence and activit ies of a v<lricty of
microorganisms. Originally it wa.~ be-
lieved that this type of corrosion, e~pe·
dally in slee l alloys, was exclusively due
to the act ivities of a spec ial group of
bacteria known as su lfate-reduci ng bac-
teria (S RB ). SRB use su lfate in their
energy processes and yield hydrogen
sulfide a.~ an end-product. Depending
upon the environment, sulfide itself can
bequilccorrosive. There areolhcr aspects
of this scenario th;1I come into play duri ng
the corrosion of a variety of alloys, but
thi .~ son of dctail is toocomplex topresent
in a short article.2
In the last five years, research in the
laboratory and in the field has deter-
ROMAN IMPERIAL
ANCIENT NEAR EAST
ISLAMIC & INDIAN COINAGE
Our Specialty
In/crested;1I buying rare or high grade Roman, Greek, Greek
Imperial. BYlOntinc. Anciell/ Near Eastem alld Illdian coins .
For Seriolls Collectors - Occasiol/al Lists
WILLIAM B. WARDEN, JR.
P.O. BOX 356
NEW HOPE, PA 18938
(2 15) 297-5088
30 The Gelator
mined that most fomls of MIC are due to
microbial communities. Thesecommu-
nities are composed of many bacteria,
including SR B, which support one an-
other for survival. Under these condi-
t ions, the wastes of one group of bacteria
can actually become the food for other
groups within the community. The com-
munity utilizes various nutrients and
carbon to produce many end-products
including complex sligar chains (p0-
lysaccharides o r ".~limc"),organic acids,
carbon dioxide, sulfide, and other mate-
rials. One possible result of these activi-
ties is corrosion. However, these ac-
tivities arc not possible in the absence of
the proper nutrients and moisture)
When would MIC
affect my c o ins?
So what does this have to do with
ancient coins and metlll antiquities? First,
most of the damage that M IC can do has
probably been done while your coins
and antiquities were still buried and un-
discovered. Second ly, the likel ihood
that MIC will re-tlttack you r coins under
proper storage conditions is almost non-
existenT. However. it is erroneous to
suggest that microbes have nothing to do
with corros ion of coins. metallic anliqui-
ties,4 or process equipment in the envi-
ron ment. Copper alloys of various
compositio n have been known to be at-
tacked by microbes, although the long-
term impact of the microbes may be
limited. Nonnal e lectrochemical corro-
sion (for example, chloride attack, which
was covered by D. Hendin, The Ceiaror,
Vol. 4. #7, July, 1990) may dominate in
later phases when the most damage oc-
curs. In fact, microbes may only a.<isist in
the initiation of various types of corro-
sion that has been observed of 90: 10
copper-nickel,70:30eopper-nickel,brass
(copper + zinc) and 99% copper compo-
nents.
Although the MICof iron-based (fer-
ritic) alloys has been well studied. MIC
of copper alloys has received somewhat
IcsslInenlion. Since low doses of soluble
copper can be inhibitory to microbial
activity and toxic to most microbes at
hi gher concentrations, it was logical to
assume thaI microbial attack of copper
lilloys was not a very likely event.
Examples of MIC
of copper and its alloys
Much of the early work on the MIC of
copper was actually perfonned on 99%
pure copper submersed in aqueous-based
fluid s. This work found that many mi-
crobes were able to attach to the copper
surfaces. establish themselves, deposit
protective slime layers and make aprelty
good go of survival. The slime layers,
wh jeh are made o f complex sugar chai ns,
chelated (bound) copper ions. In this
manner the " toxic" copper(cupric fonn)
was no longer available to poison the
microbial population . Under nowing
cond itions, this layer of cells, slime and
bound copper ions sometimes separated
from the su rface. Consequently a portion
of the copper was removed from the site.
The next step in [he cycle was the
reinit iation of the microbial community
at the fre shly exposed and compromised
si te. followed by more polymer deposi-
tion and removal o f copper ions. Each
time Ihe polymer sloughed off from the
surface more copper was removed and a
general loss of metal occurred (general-
ized corrosion).
Experiences with copper-n ickel al-
loys and brass showed a quite different
mode of corrosion than the generalized
surface loss seen with copper. The
mechanisms involved are less well un·
derstood than those of 99% copper, but
they are more likely one of the causes of
some of lhe "nalural blemishes", most
common ly pits, that you will see when
examining a poten tial new acquisition.
The first thing thaI must happen for
MI C to occur is that bacteria or some
other m.lterial (contaminant) must atlllch
itself to the surface of the metaL The
bacteria may recognize some surface
featureofthe metal or a surface cont,lmi-
nant. Rough spots and nicks and other
su rface imperfections are often sites of
attachment for bacteria. These condi-
tions result in discrete, focu sed sites of
microbial activ ity. Another condition
which usually leads to corrosion, and
also auracts bacteria, is a crevice. AI ·
though a crevice can be represented by a
nan crack, it would be best represented
by two buried coins overlilpping one
another; the crev ice being fomled by the
small space between the two (or more)
ove rlapping coins. Once the bacteria are
attached to the surface or smuggled into
a c revice, their level of activity is going
to be dictated by the nutrients available
to them.
In a nuid mcdium the attached bacte·
ria have the advantage of being exposed
10 many volumes of nuid conta ining
their nutrients, This attached condi tion
is therefore an advantage under low nu ·
trient cond itions, since the nuid may
contain liltle ··food", but the bacteria are
constantly exposed to it. In soi l, mobil ity
of nutrient is dependent upon the nature
of the soil and the amount of moisture
(for example, rainfall), Alternating wet
and dry conditions tend to be the most
damaging, probably due to bursts of ei· Figure 1
ther electrochemica l or microbiological Fluffy white corros ion product which accumulated over pits on a copper·nickel
activity. alloy. This type of corrosion was not seen on control metal samples which
Once the mic robial community ises· were not exposed to a bacterial community demons/rated to cause corrosion
tablished, the area underneath Ihe com· of many other alloys (300X). @Copyright 1989, Electric Power Research Institute.
munity itself Ciln become a microscopic EPRI ER·6345. "Microbiological Aspect of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion",
crevice wh ich attracts anions, such as Reprinted with permiSSion.
chloride or sulfide, which can then ini-
tiate o r exacerbate corrosion, This is a
good example of the influence of bacte·
ria on corrosion. Although they did not metals used in the production of the alloy chem iCIl Is (proteins) on the su rfacc of the
pan icipate directly in the corrosion. they (de-alloying) . The brasses usually sur- bacteria . The sample was mounted on a
did innuence local conditions by form · rendered zinc (dezi ncificmion) and th is microscope thaI generated a specific
ing a biological crevice which led to an resulted in a darke ning of the metal. wavelength of light which caused the
electrochemical corrosion event. Copper·nickel alloys surrendered most ly dye to nuorescc. At the bollom ofthe pit
nickel and some copper. Closeex:Jlll in:J- was found .maccumulation of bacteria
lion of a copper-nickel :Illoy revealed (Fi gure 2), The area around the pit was
Some evidence to consider many tiny pit~, These pits were covered also very reactive with the dye and this
In stud ies with brasses and the cop· with a nuffy whi te material (Figure I). indicated the accumulation of proteins
per·nickel alloys a very localized discol- To verify microbial involvement, the within the residual corrosion product,
oration of the metal occurred when a nuffy corrosion product was carefu lly The pitting and localized discoloration
moderate surface population of microbes removed and the pits were exposed, The was not found in the absence of microbes
wa~ pre~ent.l The discoloration of the pit and the surrounding area was treated known to innuence corrosion of other
alloy was due to the loss of one of the with a nuorescent dye that attaches to alloys. l
May 1991 31
 Although bacteria may not be the
culprits of pitting and "plague" in your
collection today, they may have influ-
enced the electrochemical events that
may persist under inadequate storage
conditions.
As far as obtaining direct evidence
for the participation of microbes in the
corrosion of ancient coins ... it would be
necessary 10 examine recently unearthed
material and to perfonn the type of sur-
face examination described above.

Bibliography
I Pope, D.H., D.M. Dziewulski and J.F.
Kramer. Microbiological Aspects of Mi-
crobiologically Influenced Corrosion, in
Licina, OJ. (ed) Microbial Corrosion:
1988 Workshop Proceedings. Electric
Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA
(1989).
2 Hamilton, W.A . (1985). Sulphate.Re-
duc ing Bacteria and Anaerobic ColTosion.
Annual Re view of Microbiology, 39: 195-
217.
3 Dziewulski , n .M. and D.H. Popc (I 99 I).
Gradient Film Reactor Srudiesof the Effects
of Nutrient Conditions on the Eco logy and
Physiology of MIC Communities and the
Severity of MIC. Presented at Corro-
s ion91, Paper #282, March 11-15, 199 1.
4 Welter. Gerhard. Cleaning and Preser·
I'alion of Cains alld Medals. pps 25-26.
SanfordJ. DUrst,Jr. ,Ne w York, New York
( 1980).

Arizona coin show

features auction of
certified ancients
The Prescott Coin Club's 17th Annual
Figure 2
The white corrosion product seen in Figure 1 was carefully removed to reveal
Coin, Stamp, and Sports Card Show will
the underlying pit. After staining (see text) with a fluorescent dye, the photograph be held on June 21-23 at Ponderosa
Plaza, 13161ron Springs Road, Prescott,
was taken at a magnification of 1500. Note the accumulation of bacteria
Arizona.
(shOff rods) inside the pit. © Copyright' 989, Electric Power Research Institute.
EPRI ER-6345, ~Microbiological Aspect 01 Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion". A speCia l feature of the 4th annual
Reprinted with permission. maillbid board auction held in conjunction
with the show by Michael and Sandra
Wolf will be 150 lots 01 ancient Roman,
Greek, and Egyptian coins that have been
authenticated and graded by David A.
Sear through his new Ancient Coin
Certifi cati on Service.
In addition there
will be approximately 100 addilionallots
01 less expensive ancients without
certificates. The closing date of the
aucl ion is 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 22.
Additional information and calalogs
can be requested from Michael and
Sandra Wolf, P.O. Box 233, Dewey, AZ
86326.

Say you saw it in 'lfie Cefator

32 The Gelator
 Giessener Miinzhandlung-----,
Dieter Gorny GmbH, Miinchen

AUCTION

139 MENDE, Tetradrachm (16.83 g) c. B.C. 430.

Ncn 86. vi-x[ DM /0,000
147 SKIONE, Terradrachm (16.58 g) c. B.C. 430.
RRR! 11-4 DM 40,000

May 14, 1991

ANCIENT COINS
971 Ceilic, Greek, Roman and Byzantine 242 PONTOS, PHAR NAK£S I, B.C. 185- /69.
coins in an important sale. catalogued TetroJrochm (16.74 g). BMC J (SOlllt dits),
und illustrated with several enlargements. xl OM 25,()()()
402 Greek coins with many raririesfrom 339 SYRIA .ANTlOC H OS IV, EPfPHANES,B.C.
Macedonia, (J series of fcrradmchms 175- 164. Telradrachm (16.78 g). HOl/glllol! 106.
0/ M ende (B.C. 480-430) and two If-4 OM JO,()()()
lelrodroehms from Shone. There arc
0150 rarities to be found from 1he Seleucid
Kingdom and Parthia. Coins 0/ the
Roman Republic o.s welJ as coins of Ihe
Roman Empire are well represented. A
notable group a/mint state denariifrom
the Severan period and olher choice 571 ROMAN EMPIRE, Maridia, 115-/17, AI/reus
pieces like an aurells 0/ Malidia in ex- (7.04 g). RIC 759. RRR ! :tf OM 30,000
,,.emely /ine condilion, a -Sesrel'fius of 775 ROMAN EMPI1?E. Mox;m;OIlUS Herculius.
Perlina.l· (lnd of Didia Clara, both ex· 286 -305. AI/reus (5 .23 K), NIC -, see 49/1.
NN ! /I/'Urly FOC OM 17.500
tr('fll('ly fine. Collectors will certainly
find Bywmine coins ojimeresl slIch as a
.solidusJrom the revoll of Heme/ius and
a solidus 0/ Michael I (811-8 13).

Allclion catalog lies are a~'ailable (1/

US $10 each/rom 0111' company.

Giessener Mi..in zhandlung 620 ROMAN EMPIRE, Pl'rt;l1ax, 193 A.D. ScsICrt;us
Dieter Gorny GmbH (25.23 K). RIC /B. RRR! good 4 OM 25.000
622 ROM,\ N EMPIRE , Didio Clara, Sestertius
0 -8000 Mlin c hen 2 (18.20 g). RIC 20. RRR! good xi DM B,OOO
Max imi lia nsp latz 20
Tel: 49/89/22 68 76
Fax: 49/89/22 85 513

May 1991 33
 If you aren't seeing this symbol on
Stephen Huston's
catalogues you are currently receiving
List 106 includes
unrecorded ancients
Stephen M. Huston 01 San Francisco
has just released list 106 which offers a
previously unrecorded Celtic gold coin of
Britain and 21 other unrecorded varieties
of Roman coins. All are fully illustrated in
the plates accompanying the descriptive
text.
Another special feature of lisl1 06 is
a complete mini set of all19 minis which
struck coins lor Constantine the Great
(A.D. 306-337). Several 01the mints are
extremely rare, having struck coins for
only a few months of the 30+ years of
Constantine's reignl A history of his
coinage by mini is also summarized.
Huston provides instructions lor the
use of want lists and consignments for
selling coins on behalf of collectors,
information about coin photography and
Write for our membership list appraisal services and numismatic book
lists in separate publications on request.
Jean-Paul Diva Copies 01 lisl 106 may be requested
Secretary, I.A.P.N. by writing to Huston al P.O. Box 193621,
San Francisco, CA 94119, or by phoning
L6wenstrasse, 65 his 24-hour message phone at (415) 781-
CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland 7580 and leaving your name and mailing
address.

MALTER GALLERIES, INC. PROUDLY ANNOUNCES

Auction XLV - May 28th 1991 in Los Angeles
Featuring ancient coins and classical antiquitieS,
Pre-Columbian Art, Odd & Curio us money, re lated books.
Illustrated Catal ogs, $ 10 U.S., $ 15 all others
Coin auction lots may be viewed at tile
Long Beach lnlernational Coin Convention, May 25th -May 27th

Our "New" Collectors' Journal of Ancient Art

Fea turin g quality ancient coi ns, antiquities, Greek pottery, Prc-
Columbian gold, Egyptian bronzes, beads, amule ts, Ban Chiang
potte ry, Judaean glass, cylinde r and sta mps seals, coi n scales,
related books, art icles and mo re, 56 U.S., $10 all others.

16661 Ventura Blvd., Suite 518

Encino, CA U.S.A. 91436
Phone (818) 784-7772
FAX (818) 784-4726

34 The Celalor
Empire's List #56
features rare Greek
issues from Olympia Meet Your Match
Empire Coins list #56 opens with a
•
telradrachm ofTigranes II with the Tyche
of Antioch reverse as the cover coin.
JA\JT1HENET Database of Deaters
Among other Greek items offered are in Ancient Coins and Antiquiti es
several coins of Sicily and five rare
staters from Olympia. These staters
range in grade from fine to very fine, and
in price from $350 to $1800. These
coins usually occur in worn condition as
.c.,r. .,
MEMBER
\Xl rile for Ollr fret· brochure.
P.O. Box 1135, Chariotksvil\c, VA 22902

they were kept as keepsakes from the

Olympic games. A sprinkling of Parthian,
Sasanian and Indo-Greek coinage
rounds out the Greek section.
A rare denarius of Antonia (the
mother of Claudius) is notable among
the Roman offerings. Sester!i; of Ne ro
and Galba are featured, as well as a
varie ty of bronze and silver issues from
the late empire. Also to be found in List
#56 are a sampl ing of Byzantine issues
and "Bargain Basement" section of
inexpensive coins for the beginner.
Single copies of List #56 are available
for $2, with the annual subscription rate
at$20 . Write to Empire Coins, P.O. Box
2634, Ormond Beach, FL 32175-2634 ,
i IMPERIAL Coins & Antiquities presents: HADRIAN (A_D. 11 7-138),
Oricha!cum sestertius OB: HADRIANUS AUGUSTUS. Laureme head right,
' drapery on far shoulder. REV: COS Ill. Virtus standing left, foot on helmet.
holding parazonium and A pleasing port rait and crisp reverse, artistically
rendered . RIC 638 . aEF. high'. b,ow,
and green patina with brassy
... highlights . Price: $1.450.
' Imperial Coins & Mot,,',ui";"
3296S. Mooney Blvd.,
lOS, Visalia, CA 93277
(209)732-2026
Please call or write for our latest
: Bid-Or-Buy Sale catalog.

..... ANCI ENT.... M E 01 EVA L. ... COl NS .... BOOKS .... ANTIQUITI ES .....
L.R , LANTZ - CMV NUMISMATICS
PO BOX 1699, ALAMEDA, CA 94501 USA
4] 5769-]037

May 1991 35

Ancient Coins • Mail Bid Sales
• Fixed Price Lists
• Buy or Bid Sales
• Numismatic Literature
Specializing in moderate priced ludaean coins
(serious want-lists solicited)
William M. Rosenblum/rare coins
p.O. box 355, evergree n, colo. 80439
303-838-4831
JUST FOR BEGINNERS
by Wayne G. Sayles
Questions Answers
In the Roman The dupondius, originally a weight of two
Imperial coinage, pounds, was also the name of a Roman
how do you coin denomination equal to two ases, or
distinguish the 24 uncia (ounces) . Its origin dates back
dupondius from to the beginning of bronze coinage under
the Romans and was sometimes
the As, if the
designated by the mark II. During the
bust is female?
early days of the Empire the As, and.
dupondius actually overfapped In weight,
and only the fact that the As was struck in
copper and the dupondius in brass
distinguished them. The yellow tint of the
brass was, and is, clearly distinguishable
from that of the reddish tinted copper.
The dupondi us at this time consisted of
about 1/2 ounce of brass as opposed to
2/5 ounce of copper for the As. The
relationship of silver to brass was 1:28
and of silver to copper 1 :45, hence the
denominational difference. Under
Caligula and Claudius the weight of the
dupondius rose to almost 5/8 ounce.
Under Nero it weighed 1/20 of a pound,
while the As weighed 1/30 of a pound.
Determination of the denomination is a
factor of metal and weight, although
fixing a precise weight is impossible si nce
the standard changed frequently. The
reliance on radiate crowns as a
determinant is unreliable since same
dupondii were struck with busts which
were not radiate and, conversely, radiate
busts or heads may be found on
denominations other than the dupondius.
To confuse matters further, in the time of
Nero, the As was struck in brass also!
The short answer to your question is to
rely on major reference works like RIC
and BMC for proper attribution.
36 The Celafor
Summer volunteer
archaeological
program available
Volunteers are still being accepted
for this season's excavations at
Caesarea Maritima, Israel. One of the
few joint American-Israeli archaeological
teams working this summer in Israel,
the Caesarea Combined Expeditions
cont inue a two decade program of
controlled scientific excavation at the
site of King Herod's port and the Roman
capital of Palestine.
Excavations in recent years have
concentrated in several areas: the inner
Herodian harbor, combining undelWater
examination of the harborworks proper,
and the associated wharf and warehouse
complex on land; the Temple Platform,
possible site of the temple of Roma and
Augustus and a later Christian church
and marlyrium; and a civic center
comprised of offices, markets and further
warehouses and other public buildings.
The overall goal has been to delineate
the city plan, thus to understand the
struc ture and function of an ancient city
as it developed over the centuries, from
Hellenistic times through the Roman ,
Byzantine, Islamic and Crusader
periods. Important research in
anthropology, architectu re, art.
ceramics, num ismatics and other
specialized fields is being carried out at
the site .
The volunleer, besides being trained
in archaeologica l field techniques,
involving digging. drawing of site plans,
and cleaning of pottery and other
artifacts, will also have the opportunity
to attend lectures and meet informally
with experts in all these fields, and may
further join guided tours of Israel on
weekends, or else explore on their own.
Anyone with an interest in t he
archaeology and/or history of Israel is
welcome to allend. You need only be
over 18 years of age, in reasonably
good health , able to put in some physical
labor in relatively comfortable conditions,
and willing to gel dirty.
The season runs from June 2 to July
11 . 1991. and the cosllo volunteers is
$300 per week, lodging and food
included . Airfare and weekends are
exira. Fourweeks is Ihe recommended
stay. in order to fully experience the dig ,
but vo lunteers may chose to slay
anywhere from two to six weeks. For
further information, ple ase contact
Professor Kenneth G. Holum ,
Department of History, University of
Maryland. College Park, MD 20742 .
Letters
follis of Constantine Junior was described
as, "Roman vallum{rampartlfortification)
above which a nude figure, right hand
raised, holding a globe in the left hand.·
The lollis 01 licinius is described as,
"Roman valium or many logs set up in th e
form of a cross, on top of which a seminude
ligure with open arms, holding a globe
with each hand (singufis manibus
singulam globum ): In 1683. it seems
thai the reverse was thought to be a
statue or figure standing on some vertical
support. A later cataloguer may have
read valium as "fortification", recording a
reverse of Sol above a Aoman fort.
As Mr. Miller argues, the type could
not depict the circumference of a Roman
camp. Still, the reverse could be a "camp
plan", II may be a stylized mapolthe two
main streets in a Roman camp, depicting
the Via Praetoria and the Via Decumana.
Only the two center lines of the ·X· actually
cross. The outer lines may represent
buildings.
I question whether the type depicts
Constantine's vision. The symbol of
Constantine's divine favor was the
"Christogram". ThemonogramX Ptopped
his standard and adorned his helmet.
Eusebiusin his Vita Consta ntini(ca.340)
makes this claim, but it is reflected in the
coinage. Around315 the symbol appears
as an ornament on Constantine's helmet
on a silver multiple struck at Ticinum (R IC
36). The symbol tater appears as a mint
symbol on bronze folies struck about
320. Astandard similartothe one ordered
by Constantine appears on SPES
PUBLICA ,IE s truck about 327 in
Constantinople. Mr. Miller notes that the
symbol appears on the shields o f
Constantine's troops.
If Constantine had a recognized
symbol of divine favor, it would make no
sense to adopt a different type to convey
the same message. lIthe Thessatonican
type had general meaning, one might
expect it to be struck by several mints.
Yet th e type is struck only by
Thessalonica, and only in one issue. It is
quickly replaced by the type of two soldiers
with standard.
Dr. Molnar'S suggestion that the re-
verse represents a Mithraic symbol makes
more sense. The symbolic type is the last
gasp of SoI;Solasa type is being replaced
by neutral and by Christian types. The
allusion to the blessing of Sol would
parallel the allusion to the blessing of
Mars on solidi of 317 with the legend
VIRTUS EXERCITUS GAll (Mars ad-
vancing). Other astronomical types of
the time include star in wreath (foUis of
Continued from page 4
Helena, Thessalonica, 318), star in cres- Agrippa I that Hendin wins by a knockout.
cent above legend (follis of Helena, Dr. Vardaman appears to claim that an
Antioch, 324), twin stars (Castor and ancient celator inscribed the name of
Pollux?) above wolf and twins on URBS Jesus in microlelters on the dieofthe coin
ROMA ,q: reverses, and, arguably, the of Agrippa illustrated in Mr. Hendin's ar·
Four Seasons (solidi of Tici num). The ticle. To produce an incuse inscription on
type is easity recognizable as a solar a coin, the celator must make the letters
type. It would not be recognized as on the die stand out in relief. To do so, he
Constantine's trademark. must cui away and recess the metal
In the spirit of rank speculation, I offer surrounding Ihedesired inscription. Small
yet another alternative reading of the to tiny incuse inscriptions could be formed
reverse type. The type may represent a this way, but (judging from the illustra-
shield device. The classic Roman scutum tion) the coin in question is covered with
had long been replaced by oval and round these inscriptions. This is a very labori-
shields. The Notilia Dignitatum (ca. 395) ous job. Assuming that microletters are
illustrates shield devices for infantry un- present on the coi n, it is more reasonable
der the command of the Magister Peditum . to conclude that the letters were cu t into
Four of these devices are cross or "X" the coin's surface after it was struck.
shaped, including the devices of the Such leltering is graffiti ; graffiti may be
Armigeri Seniores, the Ascari Seniores, incised al any time after a coin is struck.
and the Pannoniciani. Coins represent- If the illustrations of the coin in Mr.
ing standard devices of the legions were Hendin's article are accurate. the graffiti
struck in the third cen tury by Gallienus, referring to Jesus was inscribed long
Victorinus, and Carausius. The ·Virtus· after the coin was struck. I counted at
of a specific army had been commemo- least 11 occurrences olthe name "Jesus"
rated by the VIATUS EXEACITUS GAll on the drawing of the coin in Figure 1. In
solidus already mentioned. The double all cases "J" was wrinen as the modern
lines of each arm of the "X" could accu- capi tal "]", capped by a crossbar and
ra tely depict the shield device, or could strongly hooked. There was no "J" in
represent the color of the device. If the Graeco-Aoman times. The letter "I"was
coin commemorated the Virtus 01 troops used in Greek and Latin inscriptions to
stationed in Thessalonica, Thrace, or represent aconsonantal "' "(Y) sound. the
Moesia, it would be understandable (il soundnowrepresentedby "J". Nocelator
unusual) that no other mints struck the or early Christian would have written
type. We'll never know with certainty "Jesvs" the way His name is inscribed on
whether the reverse type represents a this coin. If the microletters on the coin
cam p plan, Constantine's vision, a are actually there, they were scratched
Mithraic symbol, or a shield device. For into the surface long after ancient times.
the Aoman in the street, it was better that Dr. Vardaman may have other evidence
Constantine's mints adopted the soldiers to support his chronology of Christ's min-
and standard type. Now that. an average istry and death, but this coin is useless as
miles can understand. evidence.
I must conclude from your article(s) Joe Daragan
on David Hendin's and Dr. Vardaman's Virginia
debate on ~microletters" on a coin of
Mail Bid/ Bid Board Auction
Hdd in conjunction with the
17th Annua l Presco tt Coin Sh ow o n June 21-23
Closi ng date: 5 p.m ., Saturday,June 22 , 1991
Featuring 150 lots of ancient coins authenticated and g rsded by David R. Sear
Some eJlamp/es of the auction loIS are as follows:
Rom. Rep .• t"eI". Rub".,. 0 0 _ (c. 87 B.C.) AR """"riu&. RSC RubIi. 3. Ef.unal ""n. ACCS.aoo208
Rom. Rep. {CI.H W.,. Pw/od)JoIIJua c..ur(48"'7 B.C.) AR ~ ..... SR 3s.t. RSC lB .
.... rty EF.llan. 'Ille irregulat ,,"" ob¥etse oI1-cen1.r. ACCS 1000210
"J.
Mac..,.",. Pr'.. (179·168 S .C,) AR tetradtacnm. 50 17511 ..... rty EF.
iI_.
with a spIo)ndid petlta;, .• inle _al<ly . tn..O: as uoual w~ h 1M. la,. ACCS .000216
TII .. ,,~, AR lel,achchm (2"" 10 III"'"""", S,C .. aflcf 148 B.C.I 50 ~ .......1y EF . '" I.,e style . ACCS 1000213
Michae l & Sandra Wolf - (602) 772-7144
P_O_Box 233, Dewey, AZ 86327
May 1991 37
Coins of th e Bible
Rare Judaea Capta coin sheds light on times
by Da vid H end in
Two thous:tnd years ago, when
the M iddle & ISI erupted in vio lent
warfare, the re was no CNN to in-
form the world of events. The
Roman emperors could not even
depend on radios, magazines or
newspapers. On the other hand,
they used one method with ex- lj
traord inary skill - coins.
One does not usually equate
coinsw ith communic3tions. Nev-
enheless, in anc ient ti mes. as H.
S1. 1. Hart has wr iue n, co ins
"passed through the hands of the
highest and lo west, into the coffers of the
rich and under the country (;mner's
he'l rl hslone. might be stored in Imperial
Rome itself or in some hut among the
mounta ins of Lus itania, and upon these
coins were placed words and symbols
that cou ld be understood by the s im-
ples!."
Just money to us, in the twentieth
century. BUI in earlier days coins served
a purpose we find difficult to compre-
hend.
Roman coins, says historian Michael
Grant, "served 1I propaganda purpose far
greater th,ln has any other nat io nal coin-
age before or since . . . Their subtle and
highly differen tiated symbolism is oflen
hard foru s to unde rstand, bUI millions of
contemporaries must have been immune
from this diffic ulty. "
The diverse group of coi ns issued by
the Flavian emperors to commemorate
their victory over the Jews in A. D. 70 had
a very cle:1r mess., ge: The long and
taxing war against the rebe ll ious Jews
has ended with their destnlclio n.
Vespasi,m and Titus issued an unpar-
,l lle led series o f coins of every size and
RO MAN EMPIRE, Antoninus Pius,
138-161 A.D. ARdenarius
(18 mm & 3.7 g ). Obv.
ANTONINVS.AVG.PIVS.
P.P. , la ureated head of
Antoninus to right. Rev.
COS. III I, two clasped
hands holding caduceus .
RIC 136.
SU PE R8 ----------------$550
Willia m B. Wa rden, Jr.
C/a.,.,·iru / N",,,ismlllist . S,,,·d a /i5/ ill the Coills oj the ROIIlIIII Empire
P.O. Box 356, New I·lope, PA 18938 U.S.A . 1-21 5-297-5088
38 The Celator
Judaea Capra sestef1ius at Vespasian
(Photo courtesy of Ira Goldb6rg)
denom ination to carry forth [he message
10 a ll the world.
Each o f the individual Jud:lea Capla
coin Iypes are scarce, olhers arc exceed-
ingly rare.
In the lauer category is a coin that
Frederick Madden, writing in 1881, calls
"a cu rious and prob:lbly unique coin of
TilUs in the British Museum. " St. Hart,
writ ing in 1952, shows examples Of lhi s
sestcrtius for Vespasian as well as Tilus.
Both coins sold in 1952 in the Ryan Sale .
The British Museum Cata log de-
scribes the Iype: ''Titus, radiate, in mili-
tary dress, standing I., r. foot on pro w,
holding Victory (?) in extended r. hand
and vertical spear in I.: before him, Jew
kneeling r., holding out hands in suppli-
cat ion, and, behind him, Jewess ru nning
r.. also ho lding OUI hands: o n I. , palm
tree. S. C. in ex." The coin was struck in
A.D. 73.
Recently Los Angeles ancient coin
expert Ira Goldberg, of Superior Siamp
and Coin, showed me an example of th is
unu sual coin struck by Vespasian. Cer-
tain ly il is the first one I have seen outside
of the Briti sh Museum in 23 ycars. Un-
like the example draw n in Madden and
pholographed in Ihe British Mu-
seum Catalog (Vespasian #652),
Ihis coin is well struck on the
reve rse. There is no doubt that the
Em peror is in fact ho lding Vic-
tory in his outstretched right hand.
Victory faces the Emperor and,
indeed, offers a victory wreath.
II is o f special inlereSI that this
coin is apparently the only true
J udaea Capta coin that depicts the
prowofa ship. Mostofthedevices
on the Judaea Capta coins seem to
have been carefully chosen. The
shields, spears, helmets, palm
trees, captive Jews, quadrigas, Victory,
and trophies, all seem to relate specifi -
cally 10 the bau les and to the Je ws and
their land.
Why, the n, the galley prow? First,
it 's worth remembering that both
Vespasian and T itus issued coins with
the VICTOR IA NAVALIS legend, al-
Ihough the specifi c type does not indi-
cate Jewish refe rence. The type, how-
evc r, is the very same winged Victory
presenting a wreath as shown on the
Emperor's palm on the coin in question.
Furthennore. Ihis Victory is stepping on
the prow of a ship.
In 1980 I published an article in The
Numismatist, calling the possible Jewish
connection o fthe VICTORIA NAVALIS
co ins into question.
However, after siudying the sestertius
shown to me by Ira Goldberg , I believe I
may have been mistaken. Perhaps the
few mino r naval ballies of the First Jew-
ish War Against Rome were deliberately
aggrandized and repeated on coins by
Vespasian and Titus in order to further
g lorify their hard-won viclory over the
tiny Jewish nation.
One nice thing about ancient numis-
malics is that we'll never know for sure.
~ 199 1 by David Hendin
(Send your questions to David Hendin,
P.D. Box 805, Nyack, NY 10960. When
possible he will discuss topics of interest
in future issues of The Cela tor.)
Writing for
The Celator is easy
and fun. Don't be
afraid to give it a try!
Bonhams auction features a diverse ~
CO I NHUNnl

assortment of classical antiquities

Bonhams of London is
featu ring an impressive
MARK~DATE!
selection of antiquities in a June 25, 1991
public auction, to be held Mail Bid Sale
at their !]atieries in London
on April 29th. Included in over 800 lots
this sale are Egyptian, Greek, Ancient Coins
Roman and other antiquities in a Foreign, U.S. Coins
variety of media. and Paper Money
Egyptian items range from (Various grades for beginner
ushabtis to mummy masks, scarabs, to advanced collector)
amulets and jewelry. A rare Egypt ian
An Numismatic Books
polychrome limestone stele, with an Apulian
offering scene of the male deceased
Tokens-Mostly Hard Times
red figure We Ellcouragc Your InsfJcctiOI! of LoIS
and his wife standing before a table of
bell krater from JUl/e 10-25 by Appoinrme/ll
offerings, is estimated al £4,500"5,000. A the late 4th century
dark green steatite statuette althe goddess Isis, Catalogs by Request for SOt
B.C., by the 'Flat-
an Egyptian limestone head of a "complacent
man"; and a mummy mask from a wooden
Head Painter', C.E. Bullowa
estimated
coffin are just a sampling of other Egyptian at £3,500- Coinhunter
art presented in this sale. 4,500. 39 years of cxpcriencl'

+
Greek pottery is represented by two
lovely bell kraters, one from Lucania by
1616 Waln ut Street
the 'Sidney Painter' and one from Apulia auction. Inquiries and information Philade lphia, PA 19103
by the 'Flat-Head Painter' (see photo). A about upcoming sales may be directed
to Bonhams, Montpelie r Street,
~ 215 -735-55 17
late 4th century B.C. Apulian red-figure
volute krater is expected to bring £3,000- Kn ightsbridge, London SW7 1 HH.
4, 000, while a column krater, also Eng land.
Apulian , has an estimate of £2,500-
3,500. Other Greek pottery includes a
Cypri ote amphora and several bowls of
geometric design as well as an
assortment of smaller bowls and vessels.
Numerous Roman glass bowls, jars
and flasks are offered, most of which are STEPHEN M . HUSTON
expected to fetch £200-600. An Cwssit:a{ ~misllfati5t
impressive assortment of Roman marble P.o. Box 193621
pieces includes a Janus head, a San Francisco, CA 94119 USA
pedimented marble tombstone, a
standing male figure, two torsos and (415 j 781-7580
several marble heads. Notable among
the Roman art is a bronze figure of 'Every coin i{{ustratdactuafsize.
Venus standing at ease, estimated at 'Write for a copy ofour n~ rutaWgut.
£5,000-6,000.
A wide selection of smaller figurines,
jewe lry and other items round out the _..... (f • • .' ., ~ . ,

. IMPERIAL Coins & Antiquities presents:

. LUCIUS VERUS (A.D. 161·169), Bronze as
The advertisers , OB: VERVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX , laureate head right. REV: TR P Villi
on these pages IMP V COS 1II , Annona standing left, holding a measure of l'Om and O1lr; to
left , modius filled with corn on prow of ship. A superb portrait of Marcus Aure-
support your journal lius 's profligate partner in power, with an exceptionally deeply struck reversc.
don't forget to support i RIC 1489 , Extremely Fine with choice
deep green patina. Price: $1.250.
them and mention Imperial Coins & Antiquities
that you saw it in 3296 S. Mooney Blvd., Suite lOS
Visalia, CA 93277, (209) 732-2026

%e Cefator Please call or write for our latest

Sale

May 1991 39
Reference Reviews
Books on The Roman Republican Coinage
by Dennis Kroh
There are 20 times more reference works and
other books on Ancient Coins available tOMy
Ihan JUJf lWtnly yea rs ago. Very few numis-
mOlis/s know how /0 utiliu these ujerencu, or
even where 10 Slarl looking Jar cerwin items.
Many of Ih ese books are essential for lhe
collec/ar /0 own , alhers wOr/hy of one reading
(and are nevu again consulled), and some are
obsolete ond ponderous aercius in fUlility.
This momhfy column explores .nbSI references
on Ancient Coins (by city-Slale or nOme period),
and will rau them according lO their useful-
ness , clarify, iIIustrarions, and availability,
utilizing II five-Slar system similar to Ihat used
for l1Wvit!, reS{(lUrafllS, and haUls. Prict! are
also given wheuvu available. II is highly
recommended Ihal allea.~f 10% of your collect-
ing budgel be inveSled in reference books.
This coinage is tt .. a fascinating series.
which for historical interest and variety is
unsurpassed in the whole range of numis-
matics". Opinions on dating and chrono logy
has in the past been filled with controversy,
but the arrangement seems to be settled for
the time being. It is also a series for which
(with the sole exception of the IE coinage)
wonderful quality specimens can still be
.!lLncient (jreel0.
!l\pman & 'Byzantine
COINS
( Send Today For Fret llll!strated L(st )
TOM CEDERLIND
P.o. Box 1963-C, Portland, OR, 97207
(503) 228-2746
40 The Gelator
obtained for not a lot of money and many
excellent references are readily available.
GENERAL REFERENCES
Crawford
*****
The 1974 two-volume set Roman Republican
Coinage by Michael H. Crawford is THE
recognized standard reference on this
coinage. That is not to say that it is easy to
utilize (as his style of writing and the fonnat
of this catalogue can be very difficult to
comprehend), nor is it very affordable (at
$290 retail from Oxford University Press) .
It contains 919 pages of text and 70 plates,
and is thorough if nothing else. Esse/llial
for the specialist, but the most basic surface
infonnation (such as da ting) can be gleaned
from the 1st volumc of Roman Silver Coins
(now based on Crawford). This scholar is
one of the most prolific and outspoken
aut hors on the subject of Rcpublican coinage
(see RRCH, CRWLR, and CMURR below).
Sydenham
***
Many collectors of Republican coins still
utilize The Roman Republican Coinage by
Rev. E.A. Sydenham (1952) as their basic
reference. The main difference between this
and Crawford (noted above) is in the dating
of many of the issues (especially the early
ones). This work is very much easier to
employ on a practical level as its arrange-
ment is very straightforward. A total of 411
pages of text, and 30 excellent plates are in
the original volume, which costs around
$150. There have been two Reprints made
(about $40), but they are not r('('ommended
due to their having been reduced in size
about 30% (which makes their photos
absolutely useless). Buy the original if you
can find it (probably only at auction).
Babe-Ion
Description hislOrique et chronologique des *
monnaies de la ripubliqlle romaine is a two-
volume set written by Ernest Babelon in
1885-6. The coins are arranged by the
family name ofthe moneyer(e.g. ANN IA 3,
CLAUDIA ll, JUNIA 31), which is not at
all scientific but makes them very simple to
classify . Valuations and much infonnation
(mainly historical) arc in the French text.
Although the research is now very outdated
and it is seldom used on its own , its style of
numeration is very easy to utilize fo r quick
reference, and so has been retained by many
other references (cspce.ially RSC & Banti) .
1249 pages. simple line...::lrawn illustrations
throughout the tellt. Originals are very
expensive, reprints $200. Don't buy it.
*****
H.A. Seaby's Roman Silver Coins, Volume
I (the Repl4blic to Aug/lSt/lS) is arranged by
family name using Babelon numbers (plus
letters where further varieties exist). It is a
very well-ill ustrated check-list of types with
valuations and concordances to major refer-
ences, and features many brief historical
notes (mostly lifted intaet from BMC). The
/atesl edition (3rd revised, 1978) is now in
some need of updating, but it is a staple of
collectors and is kept in print (now $37, up
from $16 four years ago). Essential.
Thomsen
****
Rudi Thomsen's epic three-volume Early
Roman Coinage: a Study oflhe Chronology
(Stockholm, 1957-61) is a most important
work that surveys and updates all research
that had gonc before, and covers only the
issues prior to the beginning of the denarius
coinage (e.21 1 SC). 944 pages, with 297
illustrations throughout the text, it is very
readable for an advanced study. but is quite
elusive . It can only be found wilh much
looking (usually at auction) for around $200 .
Rahrfe-Id l. gold ***I/z
Dr. Max von Bahrfc1dt published two majo r
wo rks on Republican coins: Nachtrage und
Btrichligungtn t ur Munzfcunde der r6mu-
chen Rtp ubJik, im Anschluss an Babelon's
Verteichniss der Consular-MulIl en , a th ree-
vol ume set pub lished in 1897-1919, which
was a valiant but disjointed scientific study
updating the Babelon work and is no w
(because of Crawfo rd) obsolete, and the
elassic Dit r" mischen GoUJmununprl1gung
w{1hrend dtr Republik und unltr AugUSIUS ,
a virtual corpus of the Repub lican and
Augustan gold coinage (1923). The latte r is
still widely utilized, and has 224 pages with
19 loose plates. Originals elusive (around
$200), a 1972 Aalen repri nt arou nd S80.
essays which seek to trace the monetary and
economic aspects of Rome's expansion from
being j ust anothc r Italian city-state to the
point whe re unde r Augustus she was the
mistress of the Mediterra nean world . T he
focus is on the co inage and economies of the
contemporary Mediterra nean kingdoms and
c ity-states (Macedon, Rh odes, etc. ) rather
than on the Roman issues themselves . With
ge ncro us provision of maps, tables, and
illustrations in the text, the layout is both
convenient and attractive. It is therefore
"ery IInforlunale that the photogra phs of the
co ins (made from badly-lit casts) are of such
poor q uality, with captions that almost
neve r give dates . In print, £65 (about SI20).
certainly be totally superceded by the
upcoming first vo lume by Andrew Burncll
of the new wo rk ROIIIDII Pro llul ciDi CoulOgt
which is due this summe r (o r fall), and will
probably ra te *****.
Vart'S] I Caste-llolti
***
Le Moneit d'Oro e d 'Argento della Repllb-
blica Romano (Pavia, 1977) is basicall y an
Italian language version of RSC with
degrees of rarity and valuations, but it also
includes the Social War and Cill;1 War
coinage. The arra ngement is more faithful to
tha t of Babelon (with the same numeration.
Mare Antony listed unde r the ANTON IA
family, etc.). 330 pages, with ovcr 1000
excellent line-d rawings. About S25-30.

Mt'Sae.ne- Iloard
****
Very few hoards deposited in the late 70's,
60's and 50 's Be ha ve been found, and so
the prevailing chronology of the coinage
stru ck in this period has always depended
more o n tradition than actual evidence.
The MtSagne Hoard by Charles Hersh and
Alan Walke r, published in ANS Museum
Nolts 29 (1984), pagcs 103-1 34 , studies a
find of 5,940 co ins fro m this period, and
accordingly has revised the dating of ma ny
issues. The most drastic exam ple of this is
the po pular dena ri i of Q. Pomponius Musa
(featuring the Musts), traditionally attributed
(without valid reason) by most scholars \0
around 66 BC, which has now been moved
forward ten years to 56 BC. This artiele
features ma ny easily utilized pull--<lut charts
and four plates of photos, and is an eSltntial
companion to the Cra wjord wo rk. Its basic
research is well do ne and should be hceded .
Roman Repllblican Coin Hoards by Michae]
***
Crawfo rd (l969) is a full inve ntory and
analysis of no less than 567 coin hoards of
the Republican period th rough August us.
170 pages, 18 tables , 3 platcs . This gives
much easily digested insight to the coinage
of th is period . Out of Print. about 540.
Michael Grant's 1946 tome "From Imperium
***
to AIfClOritas , a Historical SlIIdy of lilt AES
COinage in lhe ROlli on Empire 49 B. C. -
A.D. 14 covers a lot of ground that is all
W
but ignored by other referenecs. Its analysis
of the Late-Republican and Earl y-Empire
colonial coinage is particularly useful, and it
is a very detailcd study wit h over 500 pages
and 12 excellent plates, altho ugh it is quite
difficult to use because of its essay-type
fo nnal. Originals are vi rtua!ly impossible to
find (and around $200 when yo u do), the
latest (1969) revision is S50-75, but thc text
(& pliJ/es) were red uced 30 %. T his will
Miinzen und Medaillen AG
For 45 years we have been serving
collectors of Allcient Coins,,,
and we would like to serve yo u too!
Campll na
****
La monetazione degli insorli durant e 10
guerra socialt (91-87 a. C.) by Al berto
Campana (1987) is not only the o nly serious
analysis done on the coinage of the Social
War (whic h is omitted in many referenccs) ,
it is a ve ry well researehed full corpus and
d ie-st udy. 153 pages, 12 excellent plates,
cardcovers. SFr. 120 (about 5 100) reta il.
Thurlow { Vt'Cc hi
*****
This 1979 work is really two books in one:
Italian Aes Grove by Bradbury Thu rlow (t) ,
and Italian Aes Rude, Signatum, and tile Aes

C RWLR ***'h • Monthly Illustrated Fixed Price Lists ·

TIlt Coinagt of the Roman WorUJ in the Laft • Public Sa les· Appra isals ·
Repllblic, proceeds oj a coiloquiulli held at
the British Museulli in September 1985, is
• LHrge Stock in All Pri ce RHn ges ·
edited by And rew M. Burnett and Michael • Buyin g and Sellin g ·
H. Crawford . It consists of eleven import-
ant and revealing articles, with 185 pagcs Please send /I S YOllr lVant Jist. We will fi ll it.'
and 12 passable plates , eardcover. In print
but c urrently difficult to get, £15 ($30). Please contact:
Miinzen und Medaillen AG
CMURR **I/z
Coinage and Money under the Roman P.O. Box 3647 • Malzgasse 25
Republic: Italy and the Mediterranean
Economy is Michael Crawford' s 1985
C H - 4002, Basel, Switzerland
contrib ution to The Library oj Numismatics Tel. (061) 272 75 44 Fax. (061 ) 272 75 14
series. T his is a connected series of 17
May /991 41
Gra~e oj Sicily by !lalo Veeehi. Using the
latest research (and dating), it contains 50
pages of brief but usefu l and infonnative
text and 82 very decent plates which ill us-
trate every known variety . Good concor-
dances make it a vital reference. 540.
Ilat'lwr lin
This monumental 1910 study , Aes Grave,
***
Das Schwergeld Roms und Miltelilaiiens by
Ernst Justus Haeberlin consists of two
volumes, one with 308 pages of text, and
one a very large (13 'h" x 18") portfolio of
103 plates. This was the first modem work
on this series , and is still ut ilized as a
primary refere nce (due to the excellent
illustrations). Originals are extremely ra re
and impossibly expensive ($2-3,000), and
the current FO RNI reprint is over $350.
Sydenham , Aes Grave **'h
Aes Grave. a Stlldy ojrhe Cast Coinages of
Rome and Central Italy (1926) by Edward
A. Sydenham was the first "handbook " in
English on this subject, and has an extensive
and exeeUent introduction. 145 pages, 28
plates. a FORNI reprint costs about 595.
I'UULl SIlEn COLLECTIONS & SALES
Museum by Herbert A. Greuber is a three-
volume set published in 1910. It contains a
total of 1552 pages & 123 plates. The 6,349
eoins are arranged geographically and then
chronologically in a somewhat scientific
order, but the dati ng and chronology has
long ago been superceded. T he main value
of this work is in the great historical notes
for each type and the many illustrations.
Original editions arc rare, but the 1970
reprint can still be found for about $200 .
K e.~tner
Museum
*****
This 1989 catalogue by Frank Berger. Die
Manunder RomischenRepublik im Kestner-
Museum Hanover, publishes 3,952 coins.
virtually ALL illustrated on 250 excellent
plates facing the text. The main wea.lth of
this collection is in the usually neglected IE
struck issues, represented in abundance and
mainl y from the collection of Dr. Max von
Bahrfeldt. 539 pages, about 5100.
Die Miinun der Romischen
**'h
Repubiik im
Romisch-Germanischen Zen/ralmuseum by
F . 1. Hassel (Mainz, 1985) publishes over
500 coins of 338 differenllypes. II contains
a very well illustrated introduction, and
exceptional photographs on its 34 plates . An
interesting fea.ture of this collection is the
Le monete romane dell' ela repubblicana:
***
Caralogo delle raccolte numismaticshe,
Commune di Milano by Gia n Guido BeUoni
was published in 1960. It contains 402
pages and 61 good plates describing in detail
the collection in Milan, wit h a rea lly good
introduction (in Italian). Out of Print, but
not expensive when found (abo ut $50 or so).
Wulfinl!
Roman Republican Coins from The John
Max Wulfing Colleclion in Washington
*
University (ANS ACN AC No.7 , 1987)
describes 769 coins , all illustrated on 25
plates. This collection is well resea rched
but hardly complete enough to be usefu l as
a reference, The coins were originally
obtained with very little outlay of fu nds, and
arc nearly all low-grade and ind istinct. $35.
Hanti ****'h
Corpus Nummorum Romanorum, moneta-
zione Repubblicana is a nine-volume set
with a bilingual Italia n I English text and
many small infonnative essays throughout.
It was designed to be a corpus of types and
symbols fo r family coins (no anonymous
issues arc included), and most of the 12,404
illustrations were taken from auctions,

Coins oj the Roman Republic in the British

***'h relatively large amount of jOl/rrees it
contains. In print (Gennany), about $40.
price-lists, private and public collections
(and so are of uneven qua lity) . Arranged by

IMPOIlTANTNEWIlEFEIlENCE BOOK!!
"Identifying Coins, Medals and Tokens: Late Antiquity to
Modern Times"
By Dr. Gregory Bruok
"Identirying (oins. Medals and Tokens: Late Antiquity to Modem Times" is a comprehcnsivc bibliography or sources published in journals and
anthologics over the p~st two centuries. I\n'anged geographically. hy dynasties, ~nd by spccial topics, approximately half of the 5,000+ soorce articles
cited in this work have never before appeared in a nUlllismatie biblingr,lphy. and arc NOT listed even in the ANS Numismalie I ilemture bibliographies.
Thi~ important new work thus makcs ream. of previously "los1" numismatic literature and infonnation available 10 the modern researeher. cataloger and
",ollector.
Un~erw i nty ahout whal has heen puhlished is a ,criolls prohlelll when cataloging material and allempting to establish its rarity and significance. While
it is re l.Hively cas)' III detennine if a hook lias been published on any given numismatic topic, flflding infonnation contained in journal articles and
"ntlHllngies 1"" largely been a mailer of lu(k ~nd la"'". Even thc best known pcriodi(~ls are under-utilized due 10 the tremendous problem of discovering
"wh"t is out there" Dr. Brunk has l"r!:,cly ~n.<wercJ this prohkm with his work. which includes cxtensive listings of articles about the issuers of coins,
medal.s and tokens from bte anti4uity on. The l'bssical IHI!lIislllatist will p"rticldarly apprecime the weallh of information regarding the Byzantine Empire
and the sllccessor kingdoms 10 thc Roman Empire. as well as comprehen-
sive coverage of the many mcdieval issuers. Similarly, Dr. Brunk has
provided 111.II1Y \."itations to previously forgol\en wo rks eovcring Islamic
P/c;;se add $3JXJ snipping 10 eacn order. and Indi"n numismati\." topics.
~Tbe Coins oftbe Twelye Caesars" (nrllprehensive, well·organi/.ed in an over-sized format. fully-indexed
200 pages, with 20 plates ................................ ,........ .11.9.95 and easy to usc. Serious numismatists, scholars and professionals will
find "Idemifying Coins, Medals and Tokens: Late An tiquity to Modern
~CollcctiDg Roman Coins"" Times" 10 he an indispensable addition to their refere nce libra ries. Copies
80 pages, with 4 plates ...... ........................... ., ......... .114_95 are available for $35 pos t-paid in lhe U.S.A. (add $5 for overseas air-
mail).
gCo/lcctin,c Grcci Coins"
166 pages, with 18 plates ..... ......... ................ .117.95 LAUlll()N NUMISMA Tlt:S
gClassical Numismatics A Common Scnsc" 427-3 Amberst St reet, Su ite 259
84 pages .. ........ " .. .. """""" .., .."" ....", .115.95
Nasbua, NH 03063

42 The Celator
Babelon (family-name), it eontains 3,088
pages in total, and is certainly the most
comprehensive reference yet produced on
the Republican issues. Elusive, it will run
about S400 but is well worth it.
Ilou r gl'y
***
Colltclions Nwnismaliques, La Republiqu~
v.Ch r, was a joint auction by AdolfE. Cahn
and Adol f Hess in Frankfurt on July 17th,
1933 and the followin g days. Dr. Haeberlin
was a master at this coinage, and the author
of the classic Aes Grave (sec above). The
salc contained 3304 lots, the finest. ever
offered. The catalogue was prepared with
the utmost care (and the ablc assistance of
auction by Rodolfo Rallo held 7 February
1928 (shortly after S)'denham's ti es Gral'e
was published) , contains 646 choice lots of
mostly Republican iE's, illustrated on 28
great plates. A 1974 Attic reprint of this
sale can be had quite cheaply (around $15)
and is recommended for its i11ustra tion~.

Romo in~, Fonds Bourgey by Sabine Bourgey
and Georges Depcyrot is a compilation of
every Roman Republican and Impcratorial
coin to pass through the Paris auction house
ofB OURGEY from 1897to 1987. Several
thousand coins of 574 different types are
illustrated in i~ 230 pages, all individually
referenced to the latest standard works. with
24 pagcs of indices. There are also several
French articles on the coinage scallered
throughout, and a list of values. $50.
Hank Leu 17 ****
The May 1977 auction Silbermanzen dtr
R6mischen Republic, ous einer Ahen
Pril'olSammillng contained 913 su perb lots,
many the finest items from four decades of
important European sales. 88 pages and 41
plates (including two of enlargements). It
can still bc fou nd for around $30 or so.
Ilat'ht'riin Collection
*****
Sammlung Ernst Justus Haebertin, Gold unil
SifbermUnz en der RlJmischen Republik bis J.5
Dr. Max von Bahrfeldt), with the intro-
duction written by a very young Herbert A. NEXT MONTH:
Cahn. 190 pages of text. 29 fine plates. Books on Jewish & Biblical Coins.
This catalogue is so e"cell~nt it has been
frC(juently utilized as a basic reference (a'la Dennis Kroh is a jllll-lime dealer oj ancielll
POUI). Originals are very rare, and several coins and books about Ihem, as well as a
reprints are no longer available. jree-Iance cataloglu wriler ....ho maintains a
I'e,)' large working library and ulilizes many
Sydenham Collertion coin references e very Single day. Qlleries
Col/eclion Edward A. Sydenham Esq. M.A . and commenls concerning Ihe subject ojlhis
de Oxford tl d'lIn alllre amaleur, Aes Grave coillmn are welcome. Please enclose SASE
lIafiqlle, monnaies Romoines Consll iaires, an Q/ul wrile c/o TIlt Celalor.
Reader Response
is essenl;allO the S/lCCeS.f of any publication. We arc .fincerely
interested in your comments, critici.fms, suggesliof1.f and desires.
Share yOllr news, views and observations with others who enjoy
the jascination oj allliquify as much as yOIl do.
Write 10:
The Cel.tor, P.O. 80x 123, Lodi, WI 53555

SUBSCRIBE TO THIS IMPORTANT NEW PUBLICATION NOW!

The International Hi-Monthly Rev iew of Ancient Art & Archaeulogy
MINERVA is an illustrated news and review magazine, appearing bi-monthly
(6 issues per year), devoted to ancient art, antiquities, alchaeological and
numismatic discoveries worldwide from prehistory to the 18th century. W ith
regular con tributors from around the world, MINERVA, published in England,
is truly international in style and coverage. Feature articles will emphasize
newly discovered works of art and objects of archaeological and numismatic
importance leading to a better understanding of the past.
A bi·monthly numismatic cotumn. by Dr. Arnold Saslow, will furnish readers
with a lively leview of the ancient coin malketplace. Regular excavation
reports will include prehistoriC, classical, early Christian, medieval, Egyptian,
Biblical, Near Eastern, Asian, Oceanic, African and American findings, as well
as reports on underwater archaeology.
Liberally illustrated with full-color and black and white photog raph s, it will
impress you with the breadth of its coverage, the forcefulness of its reporting,
the knowledge and wit of the feature writers, and the sheer usefulness of the
many reports and listings for museum and gallery exhibitions, auctions, fairs,
conferences, meetings, as well as the abstracts and book reviews.
Jerome M. Eisenbelg . Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief
Professor Barri Jones and Peter A. Clayton, Editors
SUBSCRIPTION RATES Surface Mail Airmail
1 year (6 issues) U.S . $27.00 U. S. $39.00
2 years (12 issues) U.S. $54.00 U.S. $77.00
3 years (18 issues) U.S. $76.00 U.S. $1 10.00
Payment may be made by check or by Mastercard, Visa or Access cards
(please give account no. and expiration date).

7 DA VIES STREET LONDON WI Y IL L, ENGLAND Telephone: (44) 71-495-2590 Fax : (44) 71-491-1595

May 1991 43
 Early British coins
t~~"
(~ , <t~ ';_ ~',"
, _. , ' celebrated~, ~~~
A Pergamum, topic of 1991 Stack
~ \r
- ': 6
"-:. who served as personal physician to Marcus
Au relius is acknowledged as one of the most
influent ial names in the histo ry of Med icine.
lecture held at ANS
The annual Joseph B. Stack and
~ ~.
~ , By what name is he remembered ? Morton M. Stack Memorial lecture of
V ~ (Answer on page 52) the America n Numismatic Society took
place on Apri l 13th at the Society's
museum in New York City.
This year the speaker was Robert D,
Van Arsdell, who presented a slide-
Q UOTES FR OM TH E PAST illustrated talk entitled ~Co i n age of the
"Humiles laborant ubf potenles dissident British Iron Age. " Van Arsdell is an
(Th e lowly s uffer when the powerful disagree)" important researcher of early British
coinage, having won the 1990 book
Phaedr us (15 B .C. - A.D. 45) award from the International Association
of Professional Numismatists for Celtic

r------------------------, Coinage of Britain, Spink, london , 1989.

In reviewi ng Van Arsdell's major
update of a period covered by A. p ,
I
I~~j.~ Clip & Save
I
I
Mack's 1953 standard catalogue, The
Coinage of Ancient Britain, Jeffrey May
I
Il. Coin File I
I
of the University of Nottingham wrote:
~This is a major contribution to Iron Age
numismatics ." He also stated that "The
~-----------------------~
Vetranio
present publication is .. . a completely
fresh and lively work, and one that has
'.

•
been pursued with perserverance and
AE - Ce ntenion ali s IitI_-" , - '. determination by its author during a
A .D. 350, Roman Empire I busy tife in a quite different field. "
Bust/Emperor In addition to his Celtic Coinage of
Sea r 4041 Britain, Van Arsdell has contributed
numerous articles toSpink's Numismatic
VeJranio was one of the few Roman emperors whose common sense outweighed
Circular on the subject of early British
their lust l or power. Following the death of Conslans, a struggle for power ensued coinage.
between Magnentius and Constantius II. Vetranio was proclaimed emperor by his The Joseph B. Stack and Morton M.
own troops with the support of Constantia, the sister of Constantius. He served in Sla ck Memoria l l ecture, which is
that position until Constantius could sellie affairs in the East and then voluntaril y sponsored by the Stack family, is ope n
abdicated his position in favor of Conslantius . Vetranio was awarded an estate in to the public free of charge each year. It
Bithynia and lived there in tranquility forthe rest of his life. The reverse of this bronze is usually followed by a reception, The
issue fr om Siscia depicts the emperor holding two standards, or labara, inscribed American Nu mismatic Society is located
with the Chi- Rho symbols of Christianity. The legend CONCORDIA MI UTUM at Broadway and 155th Street, New
L ________________________ ~
recalls a trad itional appeal employed by Roman emperors for several centuries. York, NY 10032, Further information is
available by phone at (2 12) 234-3 130.

44 The Celalor
Professional Directory
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May 1991 45
Professional Directory
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46 The Gelato,
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(714) 629·0757 Beverl y Hills, CA 902 12,4236
Serl'illg Ille col/ector sincc 1959 (2 13) 203-9855

May 1991 47
Professional Directory
( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books )
Aiga; NumisltlQlics j:J curr~ItIIJ n/fu;ng Ihe
fi'":sl arrci~m Gr~,k. Roman amJ By,,,,,' ... , Lucien Birkler
mm,;smll/;C 0<" in fh, ,,'m'ktlp/oc<: lo00Y.
n<1"/", YOIl/",Y, think '1",,/ily atld u mt m!>e,. & Co.
Q,mliry i.I "tI,. bllJillc." .< Professional Numismatists
A lGA l NUM ISMt~ nK
~ '" "'" I ......... T , ( I Write for ou r
,~ I ~
~ i~ LANZ
MONCHEN
free list of
Greek,
" E: " I ... .. . (H C E: K
Roman,
2800 .... Uni"trsiry 1122 Dttlvu, CO 801/0 Dr. Hu bert Lanz
(303) 722 ·5540 Lu ilpoldblock, Maximiliansplulz 10
Byzantine,
• Illustrated Price lists D·8000 Mu nc hcn 2, Germany and Medieval coins
• Want list Search Service d~ Tel. (49) (89) 299070 " ' '', We attend most major auctions
• Auction Rept' esenlalion (~J> F3~ . (49) (89) 22 07 62 {Q."} and will represent you
• Market Price Compa/ables
'7 ,~ 1707 L. SI. NW Suite 250
A.N. i. SAN '0...... ,
" ,
Send a copy of th is ad for a FREE sample
of one of our latcst auction catalogs
and Icll us whal you arc collectin g.
Washington D.C. 20036
202-833-3nO

Free List o! ine~pensive Bargain Ancients

ANCIENT CO INS FRANK L. Free Photographic Calalog
Most prices between wholesale and reta il
MICHAEL & SANDRA WOLF
P.O. Box 233, Dewey, AZ 86327 KOVACS Robert Blake. Box 1153
(602) 772-7144 Flagstaff. AZ 86002
An cient Coins
& Antiquities
BUYING & SE LLING For Seriolls Collectors ORACLE
ANCIENT COINS
~I.\WORLD AUnK:t iv~Ancicnt GrH k
COINS And Roman Coins
For The Coliec1or
1100 B.C.
P.O. Box 25300 Affo rdable Prices · Free Lim
to Modern Conservative Grading
San Mateo, CA 94402
(4 15) 574-2028 539 - 62 St.

~
FAX (4 15) 574- 1995 Brooklyn, NY 11220
WriteJor Free List:
Anything Anywhere For th e finest of isla mic, Indian, Rakt a rian
601 Elm Street numismatic art, ,"d
Central Asian Coinages
Raleigh, NC 27604-1935 write/or a
complimentary copy
of Ollr fixed price
catalogue.

Pil . P,\\7l HYIle,lIlS01l

"".p],,;ll."".. ,d lis l
P.O. 8 0,4009 Omar Hamidi
Malibu Per slc: Gallery, P.O. Box 103 17
(! ,
••
c..lifomi,90265 Torrance, CA 90505
(213)540·1855

48 The Celalo(
Professional Directory
( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books )
Ancienl Greek. & Roman Coins
NUM ISMA T ICA Specialist in Ancient Coins
and books about lhem
ARS CLASSIC A AG a/so stock World MjllO' Cojns, Mtdals.
Fru SQmpl~ catalogs
Crowns. Artifacts. 8 0011.$ and Coin caUS
ANTIQUE COINS Out in~en(OO)' i, among the fine" in Arnerici Thomas P_ McKenna P.O. Box 1 3~6·E
Ft. Collins, CO 80~22 (303) 226-~704
AND MEDALS

GREEK
ROMAN lonathan K. Kern
BYZANTINE Bachelor or Arts
MEDIEVAL Num ismatics
Ancient, M edieval, Early
AUCTIONS· PRI CE LISTS American Nu mismatics
SENT ON REQUEST
VALUAT IONS
GEORGE M. BEACH
NUMISMAT ICA ARS CLASS rCA AG Numiscella neous
NW:.1< ....orb.. ...., ~ 3 lIOO l ZORICIt. SWlrF.ElUJlND p.o. Box 113. Owosso. Ml4S867
T.I<,.t>o_OI 261 11 OJ P• • 01 261 ~l2 ' (~17) 634-~41~

Visiting:
San Francisco? RARE 444 S_ Ash la nd
The Silicon Valley? Lexington, KY 40502
Stanford University?
COINS (606) 269-1614
Specializing in the
TREASURE Coinage of Judaea
Visit...
ISLAND * Ancient
We carry a large inventory AMPHORA
of Ancients as well as * Medieval Jewish · Biblical
the largest Philatelic slock
in the Bay Area. * Modern Greek · Roman
Coins · Weights
TREASUR E ISLAND WilJiam M. Rosenblum
P.O. 80x 355 Small Antiquities
91 Town & Country Village
Palo Alto, CA 94301 Evergreen CO 80439 Free illustrated list
(415)326-7678 (303) 838-4831 available IIpon request
"We wrote the book
on Biblical coins!"
Pegasi Coins ISLAMIC & INDIAN
COINS
P.o. Box 4207 From the earli est times
Ann Arbor, MI48106 to the p resent day
Phone : (313) 434·3856
Classical numismaliSIS se rv ing
beginners thru advanced co llector~

Classical Greek, Roman,

Byzantine, and Medieval Price lists issued regularly.
Coins, Books & Antiquities atJailable upon request
Free illustrated catalogs STEPHEN ALBUM
Specify: Ancient or Medieval P.o. BOX 7386
Wonl IislS sorviced. COIIsullalions avail<~blo. SANTA ROSA, CA. 95407 U.S.A.
Appraisals ond IIslalo IIvalualioM porformed. phone: 707-526-3421
ACtiv9 buy9r of (11/ malerial.
fax, 707-526-3266

May 1991 49
Professional Directory
( .
Equip & Supplies ) ( ShowS & Conventions) ( Antiquities )

~
PHOTOGRAPH GREATER
COINS & BILLS NEW YORK
BOSTON ...
• Instant Polaroid Prints ,: NUMISMATIC Ancient and Foreign Coin
• Color or Black & White ~e Mecca a/ The Northeast!
CONVENTION
• Same Size or Enlarged ~ . BA Y STATE COIN SHOW
MAY 1, 2, 3, & 4, 1991
@~ OMNI PARK CENTRAL HOTEL June 7, 8, 9 , 1991
7th Ave. & 56th St. . New YorI<. Citv November 22,23 ,24, 1991
Call or Send for
Free Brochure
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Held " "",k~_1y with the
AMERICAN ISRAEL NUMISMAT IC
ASSOCIATION CONVENTION
"57" PARK PLAZA HOTEL
" Room r eRrvalions: 617-482 - 1800
P.O. Bo~ 2937 CONVENTION FEATURES:
Redwood City. CA 94064 "" A~ . by StacI< '. , .,..,;,,"'" auclOonI , -Ancients
Arcad&", M ~ItIe • .,...,mi.!-\d. _ingo, Iorum• •
Over 25 years ..
" setrOnats. e xhibill . ......,.;am.llie ,",a"". Ind suwiiel . "New Eng/and's /..argest Coin Show.lfr
,-/0 II 100+ NumismaIC de ..." in .n ","u.gon...

Moe Weinschel
Bours/! space $195 and up .
C hairman: Ed A1eo
['PI ARIES PHOTOGRAPHIC
(415) 854·7662
P.o. Box 277
Rockaway Park, NY 11694-0277
(7 18) 634·9266
Box 400, Winches ter, MA 01890
6 17-729-9677

( Services ) C___~W~h~o~le~s=al~e~C~o~i~ns~__) The Best o/The eeta/or

1988 - $5.95 po"paid
1Gon~an i!lain &;.Ileriu
ATHJE NET Suite 132 Mission Viejo Mall
1989 - $6.95 po"paid
Database of Dealers in Mission Viejo, CA 92691 1990 - $6.95 "",'paid
Ancient Coins and Antiquities (71 4) 364-0990 or 582-3481 All three for $15.00
We can help you find Ihe dealers whose
location, specialization. price range, and '!Tie Cer.ator
expertise match your collecting needs.
Say you saw it in P.O. Box 123
Write for 'ree brochure.
Lodi, WI 53555
P.O. Box 1135
C harlottesville, VA 22902
'Ilie Cefator (608) 592-4684

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by o.viod Lio.ao .... . ........ i.... ,... journaIi,.. and p<ciaIi>I. II< loIlowio>J tiob _ 1«:1....,.,;_ .. ANA c..rw.:.-. ...... by U pcN ... pani<>o.. r..1d. "". ., ~ inc_
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150:32
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Ancient Punchmarked Coins 01 India
Robert W. Hoge
John Page
40:00
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Treasures 01 the ANS
Treasure Coins : Identification & Values
Computers in Numismatics
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s.m_
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Jim StOUIjesdyk

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47:51
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27:30
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Please include $1_50 per tape shipping. Colorado alld Wisconsin residellls add appropriate sales lax. NTSC version only.
Please allow 3-5 .....eeksfor delil'l'I)'. Prices subjec/ IO change withoUl nOlice. Write for a cOl/w'ete list of available titles.

50 The Celafor
 THE BACK PAGE
Dear Ceiator Reader:
Well here I am back in New Jersey after a really nice
Winter Season in Palm Desert. Having Erik Gold
aboard really makes my life a lot easier as he actually
runs the N.J . office while I tend to business on the West
Coast. What is also nice, is that many of you have
started a relationship with him, which is fine, as he is
often times a lot easier (& less frenetic) to get along
with, than t am when I have the ftwind up my sailsft and
am busy.
We are now in what would be called "market
season" in the garment trade. This is the time of year
when a lot of major sales will be taking place, a lot of
dealers will be scurrying around the globe trying to be
the firstest with the newest , and many 01 the reall y
important coin shows will be going on around the
country . One thing that has been decided by us is to
not do shows which are marginal in results. Our time
is so limited that it really makes no sense from a
business or security point-of-view to go to areas 01 the
country where there is very little concentrated collector
base with which to do business.
What I have noted, is that many collectors are now
calling or writing to us about specific coins which they
need. With the size of our inventory, it really is not hard
to fill requests like this, and we encourage you to give
this a try. I know a lotol col lectors are frustrated since
they live in sections of the country where ancient coin
dealers simply do not exist and the local shows have
almost nothing in their area for sale. If you fit into this
category, give us a call, and with a bit of luck, we will
be happy to help you. Just don't ask for a list of Greek
silver in stock.
In case you wonder where the price-lists are that
we mentioned we would be producing , things have
just gotten delayed a bit. Besides doing ancient coins,
we also do antiquities (in a quiet sort of fashion), and
we have also begun to deal (actually to buy) inthe area
of stamps and autograph material. We in no way
plan to limit our participation in the ancient coin mar-
ketplace, but may in fact, add some staff to hand le
these areas. If you have a sta mp collection sitting
around that Uncle Ned gave you as a lad or happen to
have the occasional Washington or Lincoln letter
about (actually Kookie Burns, Frank Sinatra, or
Churchill will do), we would be happy to make you an
I offer (which will be generous as we still are new
enough at this to pay stupid..pcice..s in some cases) or
we will give you a credit against ancient coins. Erik
is mumbling something about not forgetting to mention
Revolutionary War items, especially weapons or parts
thereof, also. We particularly are in the market for
entire collections (or accumulations) and if the items
seem of interest, we are willing to come to you for
inspection. (Yeah, I know everyone says throw it in the
mail, but we won't if it seems interesting ).
Now that we are all together again in one place, I
might also mention that we do have a 1000 sq. ft.
gallery in New Jersey, where we would be happy to
show you coins or antiquities or look over material that
you have for sale. In case you are not sure of where
South Orange, NJ is, we are about 45 minutes from
NYC (il it warrants, we would arrange your transporta-
tion), and about 20 minutes away from Newark Airport,
(we can also arrange transportation). We are in NYC
all the time and have done some amazing deals at the
airport while clients were between planes. Please
bear this in mind if you are in the market for a
"smashing" original mummy case, or similar item
which we doubt we will have with us at a show .
GallerySpecialfor May : Romandinnerware, 2nd-
3rd C. AD, both redware, and tanware, from Carthage,
intact, wonderful for display, and available in several
sizes. Multiple place-settings are available.
FOR THE MONTH OF MAY
WE WILL BE BASED IN NJ
Upcpming Shpws ;
tiYC-AINA Spring Show - May t ·4th. at the Omni Hotel.
56th & 7th in NYC. This is an important Spring show with
~ancients alley~ and a 101 of business lobe done. Open tothe
public Wed. afternoon, and usual hours Thurs.-Sat.
Long Beach Inl. - May 24th·26th . at the Long Beach Con·
vention Center. This is a brand new show being put on for
the first time a week prior to the usual Long Beach Show. I
have no idea if this will be good or nol or in fact who will be
there, but whal the hey, it is easy to get to from Palm Desert.
Long Beach Expo. - May 30th·June 2nd, at the Long Beach
Convention Center. This will be the usual huge affair, and
we will have our normal table location #356 under the
American Flag. Show hours are 10·7 and this is a Thurs.·
Sun. show.
We will also be at the Superior Auction & the Malter
Auction in May if you need any auction representation.
Rare Coins & Classical Arts Ltd.
HSpecialists in Museum Quality Coins"
Member: ANA, ANS, SAN, AINA, IN S, Ex-Fellow RNS
P.O. Box 374
South Orange, NJ 07079
Phone: (201) 761·0634
FAX: (201 )761-8406
P.O. Box 699
Palm Desert, CA 92261
Phone; (619) 345·7161
May 1991 51
 IN DEX OF DISPLAY
ADVERTISERS
Celator Classifieds
Rates :
Aigai Numismatics
Album. Stephen "" $5.00 for the first 20 words, 20e each additional word.
"
Amphora
Amsetlem. Claude 32.49
Ancient WoOd Arts. ltd.
Anything Anywhere
Aries Photographic
'S
50
" The other a ncients: Africa, Mideast,
Ind ia, Southeast Asia, the Orient. Primi-
COLLECTOR WANTS ancienl coins
with any oflhe fo llowing words in Greek
AtheNet 35,50 tive Monies. Books too. Free list. or Latin : O lympia, Pythia. Isthmia,
"
Bank leu Ltd
Bay State Coin Show 50
Semans, Box 22849P, Seattle, WA Nemea. Actia, Cap itolia. Anthony
98 122. Milav ic. 686 1 Elm St. #IA, Mclean,
BeaCh. George M .
Berk. Ha rlan J. Lid . Cove,. 46 "
.
VA 22101. (703) 620- 111 7.
Birkler, lucien /I Co.
Blake. Robert
BIom. Christian
"" G r eek , Roman , Medieval coi ns.
Monthly catalogs with very reasonable Laic R oman bronzes, Fine o r better. 5
Butlowa. C.E . - Coinhunter
Byers. C.B. Corp.
Cedet1ind. Tom
"" prices and discounts issued for 24 years. diff. $29; 10 diff. $55; 25 mi xed S 125,
Celator
Christie's
'.50
3
" Francis 1. Ralh, Box 266, Youngstown,
NY 14174.
postpaid; authenticity and sati sfaction
guaranteed. MC/Visa OK. Write for
Classical Numismatic Group
C MV Numi smatics
Goen, Joel O.
Colosseum Coin Exchange
Cover, 21
35
." Ancient Greek a nd Rom an coin s.
Quali ty Greek s ilve r up to $500, bronze
current list. Elysian F ields, Box 35.
Horicon, WI 53032.

Cummings. John Ltd.

Davissons lid. "" up 10$90. All Roman coins under $100.
Com:ervat ivc grading. Q uality and salis-
Atla nta now has a gallery with a fine
selection of G reek, Roman, Egyptian,
Durst. San!o<d J. Lid.
""
Economopoulos Enterprises
Elsen. Je an SA
Elys ian Fields
Empi re Coins tnc.
26
. faction guaranteed. Free lists upon re-
quest. D. Bllkker, Box 968, Orleans,
Cypriot. Phoenician and Mesopotamian
antiqu ities and coins. Featuring thru

.""
MA 02653. ) une, a collect ion of22 outstanding pieces
Gorny. Dieter GmbH 33
Greater New York Numismatic Conv. 50 of ancient glass along with a selection of
Hamidi. Omar Conn oisse urs a nd romantics wi ll love approx imately 60 pieces of good quality
Havandjian. Viken M .
Valentine Dm'al: an o/llobiography.
Hetios Old World AntiquiTieS
Herman. Da..nd P. .," Non-fict ion ut its very best! Send$19.95
ancient g lass. Also pottery, bro nze,
scarabs, jewelry, cylinder seals. figures,

"
Hirsch. Gerhard Nachlolgef
Huston. Stephen M. 39,47
for your hardback copy to The Celator, masks. etc. Welcome to browse. The
P.O. Box 123,Lodi, WI53555. M/Cand Curiou s Conno isseur, Lobby -
"
IAPN
Imperial Coins & Al'ltiqu ities
Kern, Jonathan K.
Kovacs, Frank L.
Lanz. Hubert
l aurion Numismahcs
29, 35, 39, 46

14 .48
.." V ISA ok.

ST ILL LOOK I 'G for a special book

Swissotc l ( Lenox Square). 33 91
Peachtree Rd., Atlanta, GA 30326. (404)
264-14\0. I 1-7 p.m. M-S.
leibs, Albert
LInk, Arthur J.
"
23 on anc ient or foreign coins'? We stock
over 1000 different ti tles . Please write: Books Wanted -Original Briti sh Mu-
London Coin Gallories
Malloy, Ale~ G. Inc.
"
7,50
A. G. van der Dussen, Hondstmat 5, seum catalogues of Greek coins from:
Mail(l', Joel & Co. "
34 ,45 621 1 HW. Maustricht. Netherlands. Sicily, Thrace. Seleu c id kings.
McDanie ls, Bill
McKenna, Thomas p,
Mine,va
23.49" I ndia, C hin a, Persia, E urope, Ancient
Macedon ia. Ptolemaic kings, Central
Greece, Crete, and Parthia. Top prices
M(inzen und Medaillen AG
M& A Coins ""
"
and Medievu l periods. $ payment fuci l- paid. Also want any Greek Imperial
Numismarie Fine Arts
Numismatica ARS Classica AG
Oracle Ancient Coins
Peg8si Coins
.
"
5

27,49
ity. List: Raben Tye, Loch Eynon.
South UiSl, Western Isles. PAS I 5S).
United Kingdom.
period coins from Cyzicus. Roger L.
Liles, 10 165 Boulder Knolls, Escondido,
CA 92026.
Ph ill ips, Wayne C.
Phoenic ia HoIyI;lI1d AntiquIties
Ponterio & Associates
""
13,25,46
F r ee book lisl. Archaeology. antiqui-
Quarles, Merv 22 ties. 'H1c ienl history. Free to CefalOr
Rogers, Calvin J. May 91 - Trivia Answer :
" re.tders. SASE apprec iated. You'lI be
Rosenblum. W illiam M .
Royal Athella Galleries
Rynemson, Paul
Sadigh Galleries
.."
36,49
Cover pleased. Prompl personal service. Alben
Lcibs. Drawer460.0riskany.NY 13424.
"Galen"

"""
Saslow, ,lI,rnold R
Sc hin ke , Glenn
$ear, David R.
The Gelator is your window to the world
$eniOt, R.e, Ltd .
Shore, Fred B.
Spink & Son. ltd.
"" of ancient numismatics and antiquities.
Slemb6rg. Frank
Superior Galleries
Time Machine Co.
"""
28.45
Don't Miss An Issue - Subscribe Today!
",
Treas ure Island $24 per year in the U.S., $30 to Canada, and $48 to all other addresses.
Wadde ll. Edward J. Ltd . Write or call:
Warden, William S. , 2 . 30, 38, 46
Wolt, Mi chael & S~H'ldm 37.48 The Celator, P.O. Box 123, Lad;, WI53555 (608) 592·4684

52 The Celalo!
 CLASSICAL NUMISMATIC GROUP, INC.
QUARRYVILLE, PA· BEVERLY HILLS, CA • LONDON, ENGLAND

CNG ANNOUNCES THE OPENING OF THEIR

LONDON OFFICE
We lake great plc:lsurc in annou nc ing the open ing of our London office. In arfiliation with
B.A. Scaby Ltd., we arc opcning in London as Scaby Coi ns, A Division of eNG, Inc. We arc especially
pleased to take this slep in affiliat ion with the vene rable num ismatic publishing house of B.A. Scaby
Ltd., with which we will share premises. The Class ical Numismatic
Review will now incorporate th e Scaby Coin and Medal
Bull eti n, and we extend a wann wel come 10 all those Bulletin
subscribers for whom this is their first issue of the Review.

We have exciting plans for ou r operation in London!

In London, as elsewhere, we will of course be an active

buyer and selle r o f Gree k. Roman. Judacan, Byzantine,
medieva l, and Bri tish co in s. We are particu larly eager
to buy, as we constant ly need to replenish our stock. We
will pay top prices for co ll ections o r good single coins.
If you would like to see us in London, please phone to
make an appo int ment.

As a service to the Briti sh •• and gene ral European --

market, we wi ll be d isp laying in London the coins
for all our future mai l and public auctions. We customarily
have several viewings at d ifferent locations in the U.S., now,
with the addit ion o f view in g in London, an even larger number
of bidders will have an opportuni ty to examine ou r auc tion coins
firsthand. Our next sa le will be a ma il bid sale closing on June 5, 1991, and the London viewing dates
will be announced in the catalog ue.

We will be hol d ing periodic public auctions in Lo ndo n. Our first London publi c sa le will take place in
October 199 1 during CO INEX week. We already have a nice cons ignment of Anc ient and British co ins.
In addition, th is sale will in c lude an exceptional offering of numi smat ic re fe rence books. We arc
accepting additi onal consignme nts . If you have been considering sale of all or part of your
co llecti on, we would be pleased to discuss a possibl e consignme nt. We oHer our usual high quality
catalogues, competitiv e terms, and prompt payment, now with the additional advantage of full
exposure 10 both the Euro pean and American markets.

With permanent location s on twO co ntinents, we will be in a beller pos it io n than eve r to provide
aHent ive pe rsona l serv ice to all ou r custome rs. We stand ready to adv ise o n prospect ive purchases,
to find that parti cular ra re piece to complete a co llect ion , o r to represent bidders in any of the major
Europea n or Ame ri can auctions. We arc pleased to offer ou r custo me rs fu ll access to the
int erna ti o nal market.

SU 8 SC RIPTION INFO RMATION

Sul>s.criplinn< a~ available 10 all our publicalions: S40.00 ill lhe U.s .• $50.00 ~Isew m-,rc. SubscriptIon includes pul>lic auclions. m~il bid auclions.
and our quarterly joum~1 and fi~cd price lisl. 1m-, Classical Numismatic Review. A fr~c copy of llle Classical Numismatic Review is av ailable upon request.
'======_ _______ ~O~fftce hour. arc 9:30 AM · 4 r~l, """""'"
 CONSTANTINE XI
(31 Octobe r 1448 - 29 May 1453)
The LAST coi ns available of th e LAST Byzantine Emperor's LAST days
These coins were most likely struck during the siege of Constantinople

"83 - $13,500 #87 - $10,000 #88 - $15,000 #91 - $15,000 #96-$15.000 "100-$16,000

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"113 - $2,000
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31 N. Clark Street, Chicago , Illinois 60602
(3 12) 609-0017 FAX: (3 12) 609-1309

#178