Greek coinage

Le 2 février 1891, l’égyptologue Gaston Maspero faisait don au Cabinet des médailles de la BnF de deux objets étranges. Rentrés sous les numéros F 6047 et F 6048, il s’agit à première vue de deux monnaies ptolémaïques identiques à celles – assez communes – connues en bronze. Le terme de « porcelaine », employé dans le registre, est inexact car il renvoie à un procédé technique attesté en Chine seulement à partir du IIIe siècle après J.-C. Il apparaît que ces objets sont en réalité en « faïence égyptienne », terme également impropre qualifiant de la pâte siliceuse à glaçure, matériau bien connu en Égypte, très utilisé notamment pour produire des amulettes.

The article concerns 23 ancient coins (8 Greek, 1 Numidian, and 14 Roman) from the museum collection in Inowrocław. One coin comes from archaeological excavations (a Trajanic denarius type RIC 6), the rest from donations and purchases. The coins donated to the museum are chance finds, however the donors indicated the place where they were found. The remaining coins have been purchased from old collections. In one case
their previous owner is known: Kazimierz Miaskowski (1875-1947), a catholic priest, and author of many publications associated with the Inowrocław region. The land around Inowrocław stands out as an area in which many ancient coins have been found. The author analyses coins from the museum against the background of finds from the Inowrocław area. Many of the coins in the collection are likely to have been found in the immediate area of the town. The author also tries to reconstruct the collections from which they came, and the fate of these collections.

A methodical search for the likely prototype of an extremely barbarous ancient coin is described. The coin's obverse shows parallel line segments projecting from an approximately rectangular solid shape. Several different obverse orientations are considered. The reverse appears to show a stick figure facing frontally, standing on a ground line or low platform, and holding a staff upright at the left side. Likely prototypes are sought by considering coins of relevant metal, fabric, diameter, shape, weight, and thickness, and with an emphasis on their designs. These factors combined with overall frequencies of occurrence seem to point primarily to Eastern coins as likely prototypes. However, indirect consideration of provenance based on source and context information alters the result. A Western prototype of the area from Sicily to North Africa, more specifically a so-called Lopadusan coin type, is deemed more likely though still uncertain.

This is a reworking and expansion of an article that appeared in the Celator Magazine, a magazine on ancient numismatics.  It deals with Pythagoras' previous mentioned connection to celature through literature and goes beyond that to more tangential accounts thus adding to the picture.
While we know Pythagoras as a philosopher and mathematician, we should realize that is where he ended up, not where he started.  He started out as the son of Mnesarchus, a seal engraver, and he was trained in the family business, as a celator, or high class worker in precious metals and stones.  This article deals with the literary evidence for such a connection, expanding from the first article, known as Pythagoras of Samos, Celator.  It does not, except indirectly, deal with the incuse coinage of Magna Graecia, just literary evidence.  The Pythagorean origin of that coinage, I discuss elsewhere.

This paper explores the different attitudes and approaches to the display and use of coins in modern museums.  The paper may be of interest to the museum employee and offers advice for achieving the optimal potential from even the most modest coin collection.

The paper discusses a hoard of 94 silver coins found around 1992, reportedly in Thessaly (listed as Coin Hoards IX.86). The coins, largely from Thebes, Sikyon, Philip II, Athens, and Lokris, also include 3 so-called Alexander coins with the eagle type, which were minted early in the king's reign.

In the Coin Room Collection of the National History Museum of Romania the collection of a well-known Greek and Byzantine numismatics aficionado, Ion Donoiu is kept. In this study, there are presented a number of 31 Greek coins from his collection, most of them minted at Histria, which evoke through their characteristics a whole issue of the autonomous history of the city.

Les monnaies grecques ont de tout temps été considérées comme les plus belles monnaies jamais produites. Evoquant Goethe, José Maria de Hérédia ou le Président Theodore Roosevelt, cette conférence s’interroge sur les raisons qui fondent ce sentiment. On évoquera le très haut relief, la diversité des types, la qualité de la gravure et l’adaptation à la petitesse du format. On traitera également de la beauté (fondée sur la symétrie) et du sublime (fondé sur la dissymétrie), avec une attention particulière pour les types représentés de trois quarts face et pour l’évolution du goût du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours. Platon, Longin, Raphael, Rubens, Winckelmann, Kant, Burke et Ruskin sont quelques-uns des grands noms évoqués à cette occasion.

There has long been a theory that Pythagoras was the mind (and hand) behind the incuse coinage of Magna Graecia.  This article goes one further and suggested that through Pythagorean symbolism (particularly geometry), the connection between Pythagoras and the coinage can be demonstrated.  This "geometry" is to be seen in drafting out the features of a particular Krotoniate stater, found in Hirmer and Franke (or Hirmer and Kraay), p. 92.

The scope of this paper is the Roman provincial coinage of Magydos, which may contribute to the sense of the nature of Roman provincial coinage because almost all emissions have numbering on them. We will review the coinage of Magydos in light of published and unpublished material. Thirteen unpublished types have been added to the corpus. The Burdur Museum provides five (45, 65, 85, 86, 90), and auctions provide four new types (53, 54, 61, 78). The Boston (33) and London (70) Museum web sites also have unpublished types from the city. Excavation finds from Perga (87) and Arykanda (41) also present new types. In total, two Hellenistic (9 coins), one quasi-autonomous(?) (1 coin), and eighty-seven Roman provincial (225 coins) types are recorded1.

Özet
Günümüzde Bursa il sınırları içerisinde yer alan ve bir liman kenti olmasıyla ön plana çıkan Gemlik, antik dönemlerde Kios veya Prusias ad Mare adıyla bilinmekteydi. Bu tez çalışmasında, modern kaynaklar, sikkeler ve antik kaynaklardan edinilen bilgiler vasıtasıyla Kios'un; kent tarihinin başlangıcı olan MÖ VII. yüzyılın ortalarından, Roma İmparatorluk Dönemi sonuna kadar geçirdiği tarihsel sürece ışık tutmak amaçlanmıştır. Bununla birlikte, kentte MÖ IV. yüzyıl başlarından, MS III. yüzyıl sonlarına kadar darp edildiği gözlemlenen sikkelerin bir korpusu oluşturulup, sikke tipleri, birimleri, görevli isimleri, ikonografileri ve emisyon hacimleri açısından değerlendirilerek kentin sikke darbına ilişkin politikası ortaya koyulmuştur.

The book attempts to present –for the first time in the international bibliography– a detailed description of the historical life of Abydos (Άβυδος) of Hellespont (Ελλήσποντος, Δαρδανέλλια); the latter was an important ancient and medieval Greek city, situated on the Asiatic shore of Dardanelles, at the once narrowest part of the local Straits (usually named "Stenon of Abydos") and in the surrounding area of the promontory of Nara (an Ottoman and modern Turkish naval base, where free access is prohibited). The monograph also detects the  relations between Abydos and other known settlements in the wider region of northwestern Asia Minor (Troad, Hellespont, Mysia, Hellespontine Phrygia).

Αbydos was founded predominantly as a colony of Miletus (ca. 680-650 BC) and had a continuous historical life that lasted about 2.000 years (mid. 7th c. BC - early 14th c. AD). The prosperous ancient city minted various coins between 6th c. BC - 3rd c. AD. Its lively port was used for centuries as a key point for the passage from Europe to Asia and the cruise from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea (and vice versa) as well as a major customs station ("telonion Abydou" during the Roman imperial years, "demosion teloneion" or "kommerkion" or "dekateuterion Abydou" during the medieval period of the city). Byzantine Abydos was also an important administrative center, a military and naval base and an ecclesiastical seat (bishopric and later metropolis).

However, the long and turbulent history of Abydos and its region is virtually unknown in modern years, despite the fact that the city's reputation was particularly widespread during ancient and medieval times in the Mediterranean world. Moreover, for many reasons noted in the book, the settlement does not exist archaeologically in the last two centuries. In short, Abydos constitutes a very interesting case of a virtually lost city during the modern times.

For various reasons, also described in the book, the importance of Abydos had declined during the 13th c. AD and the city was finally abandoned by its population in the early 14th c. AD., mainly because of the Turkish threat in the area. From mid. 15th c. AD the new city of Çanakkale was established gradually (initially named as Kale-i Sultaniye) 5-6 km to the south of Abydos. The ruins of the abandoned urban area of ​​the latter have been systematically pillaged -mainly for construction and other purposes- between the 14th - early 19th c. AD.

For the reconstruction of  the long historical life of Abydos (mid. 7th c. BC - early 14th c. AD) and an in-depth analysis of its numerous and largely unknown institutions, the study relies though on the information providing by the written (ancient and medieval) texts but also on the scarce and dispersed epigraphic and the much richer numismatic (the city minted coins between 6th c. BC - 3rd c. AD) and sigillographic data and other archaeological findings regarding (or deriving from) the city. It also takes into account all the contemporary related publications.

[VANIAS publications,  Thessaloniki 2017,  752 pages,  ISBN: 978-960-288-342-6,  text in Greek language with an English summary]

Being one of the small dwellings in the south of the Troad region, Scamandria is the leading among the towns that we have the least knowledge about. While the ancient sources almost never mentions about this little Troad town, it is also poor in terms of archeological finds. The name Scamandria was mentioned in ancient sources in three words “Scamandria civitas parva” in Naturalis Historia of Pliny. Translated as “Scamandria is a little town”, this phrase is the only clue in our hands to detect the location of this town up till now. 
Although we learn from Pliny that there was such a town in Troad region, there is no other information that can help detect the location of this place. Five centuries after Pliny, another ancient source Stephanos Byzantios shed more light on the issue. Writer mentioned that the root of the name of the town originated from Scamander River, the same as the case in Cardia and Cardianos.
Although it was estimated that the name was correlated with the longest river of Troad region, it was verified that Scamandria is close by the Scamander River. However, there are tens of ancient towns through the Scamander River, which rises in Ida Mountain and flows into Hellespont after almost a hundred kilometers.
Nevertheless, voyagers and researchers coming to the region since the late 18th century tried to detect the location of the town with the insufficient data from Pliny and Stephanos Byzantios. Moreover, discovery of coins and inscriptions belonging to Scamandria corroborated the existence of the town. Depending on literature, epigraphic, and numismatic proofs, it is understood that the town minted coins in the 4th century B.C., had an agreement with the Ilion in the 1st century B.C., and was the bishopric center in the 6th c. A.D. It is understood that Scamandria lasted approximately more than a thousand years.
Despite increasing knowledge about Scamandria, the mystery of its location has not been solved yet. Thirteen different points have been offered about its location up till now. This is like a record for an ancient town in the history of research. However, a satisfactory result has net been obtained till now. 
Scamandria researches reactivated with the ancient ruins found during examinations in the region in the summer of 2000, in Asarlıktepe hill near Ezine town of Çanakkale province.
On the south entrance of Araplar Valley, where Scamander River passes over with deep meanders, Asaralıktepe is a conical broad hill with 221 m elevation from sea level. Northern slope of the hill is pine forest while the south is maquis shrubland. The region is rich in terms of river sources. The reason for preference of settlement on the hill must be its defendable location and abundant water sources.
In the surveys on the Asarlıktepe Hill, intense archeological remains were encountered beginning from the slopes of the hill. Towards the peak of the hill observed architectural pieces. On the north of the hill, there is a remnant of a fortification wall in east-west direction, which can be tracked for 15-20 m, with a width of 4-4.5 m.
Architectural ruins intensify towards the peak. Numerous walls draw attention discovered in illegal excavations on the peak. Both the building techniques and the ceramics discovered in the excavations belong to 6th-4th centuries B.C. The walls here are similar to the Archaic/Classic era fortification walls observed in Troad. In the east and north of the hill, we encounter with a second fortification wall surrounding the inner castle. Groups of rocks tumbled down from this wall can be seen even today. Moreover, many walls, whose functions are not discovered yet, draw attention in the acropolis of the town.
There appears another wall, in north-south direction with a length of approximately 15-20 m and a width of 3.5 m on the lower hill at the southeast of Asarlıktepe. It is understood from this wall that the walls of the town included not only the acropolis but also this little hill. The intermittent remnants of the fortification walls that we track also give an opinion about the expansion surface of the town. The town was surrounded by the fortification walls including the plain on the two hills on the west and southeast.
The architecture in the acropolis, extensive roofing tiles, and ceramic pieces give an opinion about the character of the settlement in the region and the era. The necropolises of the town were discovered in the researches on the slopes of the acropolis. It is understood from the illegal excavations held before that there were three different necropolis areas. The largest of these necropolises was the lower hill on the southeast of Asarlıktepe. Ancient graves are in the center and north, east, and west slopes of this hill. Having nothing else from the graves, the hill and surroundings is thought to be the east necropolis of the town. 
Another necropolis area is the small slope on the south of the acropolis. It is understood from the illegal excavations that there was a density of burials here although not as much as the east necropolis. Being named as the southern necropolis of the town, this area is also included in the walls that surrounded the town.
A third necropolis area is in the north and east of Kermetaş Hill 300 m south of Asarlıktepe. The finds taken out of the graves in this necropolis area are mainly belonging to Byzantine era.
Apart from the necropolises in Scamandria, single tomb is also observed. One of these is the Hypoge on the southwest slopes of Asarlıktepe that overlooks the valley. The walls and ceiling of the grave that was carved in the bedrock was plastered with mortar. Belonging to the Byzantine era, this grave type is the only Hypoge found in Troad.   
All of the graves in Scamandria necropolises are burials carved into the bedrocks. Besides, the graves are built into the bedrocks after dressing and trimming the angles and sides in an orderly manner. With this shape, they rather look like a tomb. The directions of the graves differ according to the location of the bedrock mass. Some graves form a group side by side in the same bedrock mass. 
The ancient pottery that were collected during the surface explorations both on the acropolis and necropolis areas in Asarlıktepe, contributed much to the dating of the settlement. The earliest one of these ceramics was a Siana Cup piece that we dated back to the 570s B.C. Apart from the archaic era pieces, many pieces found belonging to the Classic and Hellenistic eras. On the other hand there are less pieces belonging to the Roman age. The Byzantium ceramics found on the east slopes of the Asarlıktepe reflect the wealth of the Byzantine era, with their quality and variety. 
The settlement on the Asarlıktepe is located in the southern entrance of the Araplar Valley and close by the Scamander River. Thus it is in such a location that can control the passage on the intersection of the south road coming from Adramytteion-Assos and the inner Troad-Skepsis road coming along with the Scamander River. It is surprising that Asarlıktepe ancient settlement that we detected highly valuable remnants on, has not been discovered until now. Although the region was examined by both the voyagers and by the modern researchers until recently, it has been somehow overlooked. The hill that was not discerned by the voyagers and modern researchers is the best possible spot regarding the location criteria of Scamandria. It is close by the Scamander River, besides, with the archeological material detected on the area, it is the most satisfactory locational suggestion among many up till now. 
It is an undeniable fact that Asarlıktepe is an ancient town, which has the most archeological finds among the other settlements as Scamandria suggestions. We can mention that it is the most accurate location which can be suggested for Scamandria until more detailed researches are conducted.