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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Stater, circa 465-430 BC
weight 10,45gr. ; silver Ø 18mm.
obv. Helmeted nude hoplite advancing right,
holding spear in rigth hand and round shield in left
rev. Triskeles of human legs, E Σ above, all within shallow incuse square
cf. CNG, auction 109, Lot 184 (in xf- USD 3.750 + 15%)
cf. GM.Auktion 280, no.327 (in vz. € 3.000 + 20%)
Sear - (cf. 5381) ; cf. BMC 4 ; SNG.Copenhagen 175 ;
cf. SNG.von Aulock 4483 ; McClean- ; cf. Weber collection 7309 ;
cf. Babelon, Traité II, I, 864 ; Bunbury 347 ; SNG.Paris- (cf. 1-8) ;
Svoronos 137 in JIAN 1903 R
Minor weakness of strike, but very attractive fro the type. Rare.
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Drachm, circa 420-360 BC
weight 5,39gr. ; silver Ø 20mm.
obv. Warrior on horseback to right, holding reins in his left hand
and brandishing spear with his right, withing dotted border
rev. Boar walking right, EΣTFE above, withing dotted border
The warrior on the obverse probably represents the hero Mopsos, the mythical founder of Aspendos. The boar on the reverse refers to the legend, that Mopsos sacrified a boar to Aphrodite, in fulfilment of a vow. This coin type is not published in the important reference literareture. Extremely rare.
BMC- ; SNG.Copenhagen- ; SNG.von Aulock- ; SNG.Delepierre- ;
McClean- ; Weber collection- ; SNG.Paris- ; Sear- (cf. 5385) RRR
Very attractive historical coin.
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Drachm, circa 420-360 BC
weight 5,44gr. ; silver Ø 20mm.
obv. Warrior on horseback galloping left, holding reins in his left hand
and brandishing spear with his right, within dotted border
rev. Boar running left, surrounded by the legend; EΣTFEΔ - II - YΣ,
within dotted border
The warrior on the obverse probably represents the hero Mopsos, the mythical founder of Aspendos. The boar on the reverse refers to the legend, that Mopsos sacrified a boar to Aphrodite, in fulfilment of a vow.
BMC- ; SNG.Copenhagen- ; SNG.von Aulock 4489 ;
SNG.Delepierre- (cf. 2813) ; McClean- ; Weber collection- ;
SNG.Paris 25 ; Chandon 605 ; Sear- (cf. 5385) RR
attractive specimen of this very rare coin type
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Stater, circa 400 BC
weight 10,72gr. ; silver Ø 23mm.
obv. Two naked athletes, wrestling, grasping each other by the body and leg
rev. Slinger advancing right, about to discharge his sling, triskeles before,
EΣ behind
On this coin we see the old Hettitian name of the city of Aspendos ″Estwediiye″,
probably derived from the kingsname ″Asitawada″. He was king of Danunum (Adana)
in the 8th century BC, and is regarded as the founder of the city of Aspendos.
The obverse and reverse are depicting Olympic games scenes: two wrestlers grappling and a slinger, wearing short chiton, discharging sling to right. It is very good possible that one of Apendos′ citizens was victorious at the Olympic games and that the wrestlers depicted, represent a commemorative statue group erected at Aspendos. In any case, the prominence of this type, beginning circa 400 BC, and continued to be struck until they were replaced by Alexander′s ′universal′ currency in the 320s., suggests it was of particular significance to the city.
This coin represents one of the very earliest issues of the type of the usual crude, weak and irregular strike. Not published in the important reference literature. Countermark ″Δ″ between the legs of the slinger. Extremely rare.
BMC - ; SNG.von Aulock - ; SNG.Copenhagen- ;
SNG.Tübingen ; SNG.Delepierre- ;
SNG.Paris- ; McClean- ; Sear - (cf.5386) RRR
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Stater, circa 400 BC
weight 10,82gr. ; silver Ø 24mm.
obv. Two naked athletes, wrestling, grasping each other by the body and leg
rev. Slinger advancing right, about to discharge his sling, triskeles before,
EΣTF behind (TF upside down)
On this coin we see the old Hettitian name of the city of Aspendos ″Estwediiye″,
probably derived from the kingsname ″Asitawada″. He was king of Danunum (Adana)
in the 8th century BC, and is regarded as the founder of the city of Aspendos.
The obverse and reverse are depicting Olympic games scenes: two wrestlers grappling and a slinger, wearing short chiton, discharging sling to right. It is very good possible that one of Apendos′ citizens was victorious at the Olympic games and that the wrestlers depicted, represent a commemorative statue group erected at Aspendos. In any case, the prominence of this type, beginning circa 400 BC, and continued to be struck until they were replaced by Alexander′s ′universal′ currency in the 320s., suggests it was of particular significance to the city.
This coin represents one of the very earliest issues of the type. Unusual well-struck and of excellent style. This type is missing in the relevant reference literature and thus very rare.
BMC 14-15var. ; SNG.von Aulock - ; SNG.Copenhagen- ;
SNG.Tübingen ; SNG.Delepierre- ; cf. Chandon 601 ;
SNG.Paris 45var. ; McClean- ; Sear - (cf.5386) RR
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Stater, 400-370 BC
weight 10,99gr. ; silver Ø 23mm.
obv. Two naked athletes, wrestling, grasping each other by the arms,
within beaded circle
rev. Slinger advancing right, about to discharge his sling, triskeles before,
on left EΣTFEΔIIYΣ, within dotted square within incuse square
On this coin we see the old Hettitian name of the city of Aspendos “Estwediiye”, probably derived from the kingsname "Asitawada". He was king of Danunum (Adana) in the 8th century BC, and is regarded as the founder of the city of Aspendos.
The obverse and reverse are depicting Olympic games scenes: two wrestlers grappling and a slinger, wearing short chiton, discharging sling to right. It is very good possible that one of Apendos′ citizens was victorious at the Olympic games and that the wrestlers depicted, represent a commemorative statue group erected at Aspendos. In any case, the prominence of this type, beginning circa 400 BC, and continued to be struck until they were replaced by Alexander′s ′universal′ currency in the 320s., suggests it was of particular significance to the city.
A coin that has been stamped or marked with a design after it was originally struck is termed ′countermarked′. Countermarks were sometimes applied to certify a coinage for circulation in an area, to revalue an issue or to guarantee that the coin had been tested for proper silver content. The mark could also have been applied to show the coin had been accepted as a gift to the god. Silver Aspendos staters of the 4th century BC frequently bear countermarks; sometimes several on one coin. This example shows a countermark ″bull walking right with the letters ′LUY′ (Aramaic for Ba′al) above″. Of the several marks found on these coins, this bull is perhaps the most commonly found. While purely a matter of conjecture it would seem possible that this mark was applied to certify the coin as appropriate for donation to the temple of Ba′al. Very interesting.
BMC 20 ; SNG.von Aulock 4541 ; SNG.Copenhagen 198 ;
SNG.Paris 53 ; McClean 8886 ; Sear 5390
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Stater, 370-333 BC
weight 10,76gr. ; silver Ø 21mm.
obv. Two naked athletes, wrestling,grasping each other by the arms, ΔA between them.
rev. Slinger advancing right, about to discharge his sling, striskeles before,
on left EΣTFEΔIIYΣ, all within beaded square
On this coin we see the old Hettitian name of the city of Aspendos ″Estwediiye″,
probably derived from the kingsname "Asitawada". He was king of Danunum (Adana)
in the 8th century BC, and is regarded as the founder of the city of Aspendos.
The obverse and reverse are depicting Olympic games scenes: two wrestlers grappling and a slinger, wearing short chiton, discharging sling to right. It is very good possible that one of Apendos′ citizens was victorious at the Olympic games and that the wrestlers depicted, represent a commemorative statue group erected at Aspendos. In any case, the prominence of this type, beginning circa 400 BC, and continued to be struck until they were replaced by Alexander′s ′universal′ currency in the 320s., suggests it was of particular significance to the city.
BMC 37 ; SNG.von Aulock- ; SNG.Copenhagen 233 ;
SNG.Paris 87-88 ; cf. Sear 5398
very attractive specimen with wonderful toning
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR Obol, circa 370-350 BC
weight 0,95gr. ; silver Ø 10mm.
obv. Facing head of Gorgoneion, with short hair and tongue protruding
rev. Head of Athena left in crested helmet
The small silver denominations of Aspendos are often confused with the coinage of Selge. Selge, however, imitated the coinage of Aspendos, with the addition of an astragalos, the city symbol of Selge, as a distinguishing mark.
BMC 4-6 (Selge) ; SNG.Copenhagen - (cf. 250-251) ; SNG.von Aulock - (cf. 4500) ;
Slg.Klein - (cf. 617) ; cf. Imhoof-Blumer KM 310, 6 ; McClean - (cf. 9017 = Selge) ;
Sear 5475 (Selge) ; SNG.Paris 27 ; Weber collection 7418var. (Selge) ;
SNG.Kayhan - ; cf. Babelon, Traité II, no.1578 (Pl.CXLIV, 6) R
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PAMPHYLIA, ASPENDOS - AR tetradrachm, Aspendos, jr.8, circa 205/204 BC
weight 16,67gr. ; silver Ø 31mm.
obv. Head of youthful Herakles, with the features of Alexander (?),
in lion′s skin headdress to right
rev. Zeus Aëtophoros seated to left on throne, his legs crossed,
holding eagle on his outstretched right hand and long scepter in his left;
AΣ / H in lower left field, AΛEΞANΔPOY to right
It concerns here not a royal issue, but a civic issue of Aspendos in name of the deitified Alexander the Great. The mints of Pamphylian cities Aspendos, Perga and Sillyum produced between 220-180 BC tetradrachms of the Alexander type, with using dates of their different Era′s. The era of Aspendos is regarded to have started round 213/212 BC, that of Side and Sillyum round 221/220 BC. This coin was minted in year H (= 8) of the Aspendos Era (= circa 205/204 BC). Rare.
Müller 1202 ; Price 2888 ; SNG. Von Aulock 6654 ;
SNG.Copenhagen- (cf.769)
Very attractive lustrous specimen, struck on a broad flan.
Minted with a slight weakness. Nearly as struck.
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PAMPHYLIA, ATTALEIA - AE 18, 2nd / 1st century BC
weight 6,55gr. ; bronze Ø 18mm.
obv. Bearded head of Poseidon right, hair bound in a taenia.
rev. Poseidon standing facing, wearing himation draped holding trident in his
right hand, dolphin swimming downwards in field to right, ATTA in field to left
As a city, Attaleia (Antalya) is not as old as many others that once lined this coast. King Attalus II of Pergamon is looked on as founder of the city in about 150 BC, during the Hellenistic period. It was named Attaleia or Attalia in his honour. The city served as a naval base for Attalus′s powerful fleet. When the Pergamene kingdom was bequeathed to Rome, Attaleia became a Roman city. Emperor Hadrian visited here in AD 130 and a triumphal arch (now known as Hadrian′s Gate) was built in his honour. The city has changed hands several times, including to the Seljuk Sultanate in 1207 and an expanding Ottoman Empire in 1391. Ottoman rule brought relative peace and stability for the next five hundred years. The city was transferred to Italian suzerainty in the aftermath of World War I, but was recaptured by a newly independent Turkey in the War of Independence. Modern Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia′s southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast with over one million people in its metropolitan area.
This coin is not published in the important reference literature.
Extremely rare.
BMC- (cf. 1-2) ; SNG.Copenhagen - (vg. 278) ; SNG.von Aulock- (cf. 4611);
Weber collection- ; Lindgren collection- ; SNG.Tübingen- ( cf. 4297) ;
McClean- ; SNG.Paris- (cf. 225-226) RRR
Attractive dark patina.
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PAMPHYLIA, PERGA (PERGE) - AE 17, circa 260-100 BC
weight 3,73gr. ; bronze Ø 17mm.
obv. Sphinx, wearing kalathos, seated right
rev. Artemis standing left, holding wreath and sceptre,
ИANAѰAΣ in field to right, ΠΡEIIAΣ in field to left
Perga was an ancient and important city of Pamphylia, between the rivers Catarrhactes and Cestrus. Its history goes back to before 1000 BC. A treaty between the Hittite Great King Tudhaliya IV (1239-1209 BC) and his vassal, the king of Tarhuntassa, defined the latter′s western border at the city ″Parha″ and the ″Kastaraya River″. The river is assumed to be the classical Cestrus. West of Parha were the ″Lukka Lands″. Parha likely spoke a late Luwian dialect like Lycian and that of the neo-Hittite kingdoms.
Perga returns to history as a Pamphylian Greek city, and with Pamphylia came under successive rule by Persians, Athenians, and Persians again. Alexander the Great, after quitting Phaselis, occupied Perga with a part of his army. The road between these two towns is described as long and difficult. Alexander′s rule was followed by the Diadochi empire of the Seleucids, then the Romans. Perga gained renown for the worship of Artemis, whose temple stood on a hill outside the town, and in whose honour annual festivals were celebrated. The coins of Perga represent both the goddess and her temple. In 46 AD, according to the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul journeyed to Perga, from there continued on to Antiocheia in Pisidia, then returned to Perga where he preached the word of God (Acts 14:25). Then he left the city and went to Attaleia. As the Cestrus silted up over the late Roman era, Perga declined as a secular city. In the first half of the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine the Great (324-337), Perga became an important centre of Christianity, which soon became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The city retained its status as a Christian centre in the 5th and 6th centuries.
BMC 17 ; SNG.Copenhagen 310 ; SNG. von Aulock 4650 ; McClean- ;
Weber collection- ; Lindgren collection 1104 ; Colin page 50, 2.1 ;
SNG.Paris 355-361 ; SNG.Pfalz 206-208 ; Waddington 3319 ; Sear 5417
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - AR Stater, circa 480-460 BC
weight 10,63gr. ; silver Ø 18mm.
obv. Pomegranate, beneath dolphin left
rev. Head of Athena right, of archaic style,
wearing crested helmet, all within incuse square
According to legend Side is named after the goddess of fertility and nature, Side, which also means pomegranate. The word side is Anatolian and indicates where the first settlers came from. Probably they were Hittites from Anatolia. Excavations have disclosed a base of a basalt column of late Hittite origin dated to the 7th century BC. Maybe people settled here after a small migration following the destruction of Troy around 1200 BC. The Greek geographers Strabo (63 BC-19 AD) and Arrianos report that the first greek speaking inhabitants came from the town of Kyme in western Anatolia, 50 km north of Izmir, and when they came they could not understand the language spoken in the area. This colonisation probably took place in the 7th century, but it seems that the immigrants became so well integrated that they forgot their Greek. Several inscriptions from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC cannot be interpreted nor translated. Coins dating back to the 5th century BC have signs that cannot be understood, and only in the 2nd century BC do Greek coins appear. Also the Greek pantheon seems to have been forgotten, for they worshipped Anatolian gods in the form of the mother goddess Cybele and the moon goddess Mên. In 546 BC Side came under Persian rule. In the 5th century BC the town could make its own coins , which presupposes a certain degree of independence. They probably did not fancy the Persians too much, for in 333 BC they surrendered to the Macedonian Alexander the Great without a fight, and from then on started the Hellenization on all fronts, including language, architecture and mythology. In this way Cybele became the Greek goddess Athena and Mên was replaced for Apollo.
After Alexander′s death Side first came under Egypt′s Ptolomaic Dynasty and later under the Seleucid Dynasty in Syria, both founded by Alexander′s generals. The harbour was expanded and the town quickly became one of the most important and richest towns on the south coast with a population of around 40.000 inhabitants. In the 1st century BC pirates from Cilicia spread to Pamphylia, where Side was the biggest and richest port. There was a naval base, shipyard and the biggest slave market in the Mediterranean, which meant more trade, but also a bad reputation. Stratonius, who was famous for his sharp tongue and keen wit answered the question ″which people is the worst and the most treacherous?″ by saying: ″In Pamphylia it is the people from Phaselis, but in the whole world it is the people from Side″. But the Roman general Pompey expelled the pirates in 67 BC, and Side came under Roman domination, and the Romans erected several monuments and statues in honour of Pompey.
Under Roman domination Side experienced another golden period. From the 1st to the middle of the 3rd century Side became a big city and seat of the provincial governor. Sea trade, especially with Egypt, increased and the imported goods travelled by caravan to central Anatolia. They exported olive oil, wine and timber. Hundreds of shops spread along the main streets and into the small alleys. The town kept its slave market, and the slaves mainly came from Africa. In the 3rd century there was a Christian community and Emperor Diocletian (285-305) started persecutions of Christians. From this period there are also remains of two Jewish synagogues.
Side′s last period of bloom came during the Byzantine Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries, when the town became the seat of the archbishop of west Pamphylia. Some of the temples were transformed into Orthodox churches and the town grew outside the city walls. In the middle of the 7th century the Arab pirate attacks began, and the whole of the Anatolian Mediterranean coast became a war zone. At the same time the harbour sanded up. The inhabitants started moving to Antalya, which was better protected and gradually took over from Side. There was a big fire in the 9th century and in the 10th century Arab pirates established a pirates′ nest in Side. Earthquakes and sanding dealt a deathblow and Side disappeared under the sand. The Seljuks settled north of Side in 1207, the Ottomans, another Turkish tribe, took over in 1391.
It concerns here the earliest coin of Side. Very rare.
BMC 1-3 ; SNG.v.Aulock 3760 ; SNG.Copenhagen 368 ;
Atlan 4var. ; Kraay 1001 ; SNG.Paris 625 ; Sear 5423 ;
Babelon, Traité pl. 24, 6 RR
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - AR Stater, circa 460-430 BC
weight 10,94gr. ; silver Ø 20mm.
obv. Pomegranate within border of dots
rev. Head of Athena right, in plain Corinthian helmet, wearing
round earring and beaded necklace, all within incuse square
cf. Busso Peus Nachf., Auktion 442, Lot 181 (in xf € 5.500 + 25%)
BMC 8 ; SNG.v.Aulock 4762 ; SNG.Copenhagen - (cf. 369) ;
Atlan, Side 16 ; SNG.Paris - (cf. 627) ; Weber collection 7353 ;
Kraay in NC 1969, Pl. 16,5 ; Babelon, Traité 885var. ; Sear 5425 R
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - AR Stater, circa 460-430 BC
weight 10,61gr. ; silver Ø 22mm.
obv. Pomegranate within border of dots
rev. Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet,
olive branch in front, within incuse square
The Greek city state of Side was located in southern Asia Minor. The town no longer exists under that name but is closest to the town of Manavgat in modern day Turkey. In ancient times Side, being on the coast, was a prosperous city. Its name, Side, translates literally into pomegranate and thus that is very often seen on their coinage. The patron deity was Athena, as so many other Greek city states had adopted.Greek settlers from Kyme founded and populated Side starting around 700 BC. Alexander the Great occupied the city from 333 BC and upon his death it came under the leadership of Ptolemaios I Soter. The Ptolemies controlled the area until the Seleucids captured Side and maintained it until it was given to Pergamon with the signing of the Treaty of Apameia in 188 BC.Today Side is notable for the its ruins which remain in remarkably good condition.
cf. Nomos, auction 6, Lot 101 in vf/xf (SFR 6.500 + 15%)
BMC 7var. ; cf. SNG.v.Aulock 4764 ; SNG.Copenhagen - ;
cf. Atlan 43 ; cf. SNG.Paris 628 ; Weber collection - ;
cf. Dewing collection 2468 ; cf. Jameson 1593 ;
Babelon, Traité 883 (Pl. XXIV, 9); Sear - (cf. 5425) RR
Attractive portrait of interesting style. Very rare.
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - AR Stater, circa 460-430 BC
weight 10,86gr. ; silver Ø 20mm.
obv. Pomegranate, lion′s head to left in right upper field, within border of dots
rev. Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet, within incuse square
The Greek city state of Side was located in southern Asia Minor. The town no longer exists under that name but is closest to the town of Manavgat in modern day Turkey. In ancient times Side, being on the coast, was a prosperous city. Its name, Side, translates literally into pomegranate and thus that is very often seen on their coinage. The patron deity was Athena, as so many other Greek city states had adopted.Greek settlers from Kyme founded and populated Side starting around 700 BC. Alexander the Great occupied the city from 333 BC and upon his death it came under the leadership of Ptolemaios I Soter. The Ptolemies controlled the area until the Seleucids captured Side and maintained it until it was given to Pergamon with the signing of the Treaty of Apameia in 188 BC.Today Side is notable for the its ruins which remain in remarkably good condition.
BMC - ; SNG.v.Aulock - (cf. 4766) ; SNG.Copenhagen - ;
Atlan 24 ; SNG.Paris 626 ; Weber collection - ; Jameson - ;
Babelon, Traité 874 ; Sear - (cf. 5425) RR
Soft obverse strike.
Attractive portrait of fine classical style. Very rare.
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - AR Stater, circa 400-350 BC
weight 10,40gr. ; silver Ø 22mm.
obv. Athena standing left, holding Nikè with wreath in right hand
and resting left hand on grounded shield, vertical spear in background,
pomegranate in left field
rev. Apollo standing left, altar with raven right in front, chlamys draped over
his arms, holding laurel branch and bow, Pamphylian legend in field to right.
A double-feature of the gods Athena and Apollo, the Greeks replacements for the Anatolian Gods Kybele and Mên. Side was an ancient city on the eastern part of the Pamphylian coast. Founded by Greek settlers from Kyme, Aeolia, its coins were minted in honour of Athena, the patroness god of their city. The people of Side abandoned the Greek language for one of their own. The inscriptions on this coin are in their unique language, and to date, are yet to be successfully deciphered.
BMC- ; SNG.v.Aulock- ; SNG.Copenhagen- ; Sear- ;
Weber collection- ; McClean- ; SNG.Paris- (cf. 641) RR
Attractive example of this very rare coin type.
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - AR Drachm, circa 203 BC
weight 4,13gr. ; silver Ø 17mm.
obv. Head of Athena right , wearing crested Corinthian helmet
rev. Nikè advancing left, holding wreath, pomegranate and AΦ in field to left
Apparently unpublished as drachm in this issue. Together with the tetradrachms (See A. Meadows, AJN 21 (2009), p. 80, n. 58, and H. Seyrig, RN 1963, 57-63), this is one of the earliest autonomous drachms of Side, which according to A. Meadows may have been produced to pay for the war that the Seleucids were waging in Asia Minor around 203 BC.
BMC- ; SNG.Copenhagen- ; SNG.von Aulock- ; McClean- ;
SNG.Paris- ; SNG.Tübingen- ; Weber collection - ; Sear- RRR
(cf. Gemini, auction 11, 12 januari 2014, lot 191 in vf- ; USD 600 + 15%)
Weakly struck at some parts near the edge. Extremely rare.
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PAMPHYLIA, SIDE - DE(..), magistrate - with countermark for Pergamon (Mysia) - AR Tetradrachme, circa 205-190 BC
weight 16,46gr. ; silver Ø 29mm.
obv. Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet
rev. Nikè advancing left, holding wreath, pomegranate
and ΔI-monogram and E in left field
On the obverse countermark: bow-in-case with ΠEP left from it (see Robert Bauslaugh, Cistophoric Countermarks and the Monetary System of Eumenes II, in: NC 150 (1990), p. 39 ff. and 41 f. ; attribution ″Pergamon″). Very rare.
In the Hellenistic period – beginning during the rule of the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great (who ruled from 223-187 BC) – Side minted an enormous quantity of silver tetradrachms. They became important trade coins in the eastern Mediterranean. These coins show the head of Athena (of Side) on the obverse and the goddess of victory, Nikè, on the reverse. It is not clear from the legend that Side is the minting authority. Only the pomegranate, Side′s coat of arms, informs us as to where the specimens were minted. Below the pomegranate appears the abbreviated name of the magistrate who supervised the minting. The widespread distribution of these coins and their use in the Seleucid Empire as well as in numerous cities outside the empire is evidenced by the many counterstamps found on them (on these coins see publication; Leschhorn 1989 ; Meadows 2018, 204-209).
It is likely that the countermark is connected to the reparation payments that the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III had to make to the Attalid ruler Eumenes II after the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC), which probably did not have to be paid in Seleucid imperial money. These payments were partly made in Attic-weight tetradrachms minted in Side; these were countermarked with a bow-in-case & ethnic for official circulation within the Pergamene domains. These ethnics refer to cities within the Kingdom of Pergamon (Pergamon, Ephesos, Tralles, Sardes, Synnada, Apameia, Laodikeia, Stratonikeia, Adramytion, and Sale). These countermarks were probably created in the years between 188 and 183 BC.
Treaty of Apameia 188 BC
The Treaty of Apamea was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman–Seleucid War. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the Battle of Thermopylae (in 191 BC), the Battle of Magnesia (in 190 BC), and after Roman and Rhodian naval victories over the Seleucid navy. The Seleucids were forced to pay an indemnity of 15,000 talents of silver of debt: 500 Euboic talents immediately, 2,500 more when the Roman Senate ratified the treaty, and installments of 1,000 talents each to be delivered to Rome annually for the next twelve years. The Seleucids also agreed to an indemnity of 540,000 modii of corn. Antiochos III was also forced to surrender all prisoners and deserters to his enemies, and to Eumenes II, the King of Pergamon, whatever remains of the possessions he acquired by his agreement with Attalus I, the father of Eumenes. But at this time Roman power was still indirect, and Rome depended on its capacity to ally itself to second-rank powers such as Pergamon and Rhodes. For this reason Antiochos III also had to pay an enormous indemnity to Pergamon (Eumenes II).
BMC 34-36var. ; SNG.Copenhagen 391 ; SNG.von Aulock 4785 ;
SNG.Paris 670 ; Weber collection - ; Seyrig in RN 1963, 12 ;
McClean - ; SNG.Tübingen 4332 ; cf. Meadows p.155 ;
Sear - (cf. 5432-5434) RR
Highly interesting historical coin with attractive toning.
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