Freeman & Sear - Mail Bid Sale 12



      ancient classic artifacts coins numismatic roman greek 



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                        Lot: 166

                        (click on image to enlarge)
                        CAPPADOCIAN KINGDOM: Ariarathes V. (ca. 163-130 BC). AR 
                        drachm (4.03 gm).

                        Diademed head of Ariarathes V right / Athena standing 
                        left, holding Nike and resting hand on grounded shield, 
                        PAFI monogram in inner left field, MI in exergue. 
                        Simonetta pl. 7, 8 (same obverse die). Struck on a broad 
                        flan. Toned. Nearly extremely fine 

                        Simonetta, Coins of the Cappadocian Kings, p. 12, 
                        wrongly condemns a drachm of this type as a forgery. 
                        Simonetta was troubled by the letters MI in the exergue, 
                        which cannot be interpreted as a regnal date; by the 
                        unusual disposition of the diadem ties; and by the broad 
                        flan. All of these features separate this issue from the 
                        main coinage of Ariarathes V but merely point to its 
                        origin at a different mint (the mint of lot 164).
                        Lots 164-186 were issued by Ariarathes Eusebes, the 
                        first Cappadocian king to strike drachms and the first 
                        to institute the regular production of silver coinage in 
                        his kingdom. He was identified as Ariarathes IV (ca. 
                        220-163 BC) by Reinach, and this traditional attribution 
                        was vigorously defended in the 1960s and 1970s by Bono 
                        Simonetta, against Otto M_rkholm's proposed 
                        reattribution to Ariarathes V. The arguments were 
                        complex and involved the coinage of many reigns; we 
                        consider M_rkholm's regnal attributions overall the more 
                        plausible, in part because the coinage allotted by 
                        Simonetta to Ariarathes V seems unworthy of a king famed 
                        for his cultural pretensions. The inauguration of a 
                        handsome regular coinage is consistent with the 
                        philhellenism of Ariarathes V, who refounded the cities 
                        of Mazaca and Tyana as Greek poleis; presided over the 
                        Panathenaic games at Athens; patronized the performing 
                        artists' guild at Athens and established a cult there to 
                        himself and his queen; and apparently sponsored 
                        Hellenic-style games in Cappadocia. No major historical 
                        events can explain the concentration of Ariarathes' 
                        coinage in the last five years of his reign, or his 
                        production of tetradrachms in his 29th and 30th regnal 
                        years, but it is conceivable that his coinage was 
                        connected with festivals, construction of public 
                        buildings, and other cultural endeavors. 
                        Estimated Value: $ 400 


 ... Sold for $400 [ approx 328 EUR, 224 GBP ] plus 15% buyers fee. 


From the Freeman & Sear Mail Bid Sale 12, Closed October 28, 2005.

Re-used by permission of Freeman & Sear, www.freemanandsear.com