T H E ELATOR®

Vol. 26, No.1, January 2012

• THE CONTEST BETWEEN APOLLO AND MARSYAS

• A SUPERNOVA ON ANCIENT COINS - PART 4

,

a-= III ~ III '-' E o I-

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The CelatoY" Incorporating

Romall Coins mid Gil/111ft!

PublisherlEditor Ker ry K. Wetter-strom

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Associate Editors Robert L. Black

Michael R. Mehalick

For Back Issues From 198710 May 1999 contact:

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Art: Parnell Nelson

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WWW.celator.com TIle Celator (lSSN '1048-0986) is an indepelldent journal pub­lished on the first day 01 each month at 87 Apricot Ave, Leola, PA 17540-1788.11 is clraula!oo In­temationally through subscrip­tions and specia l distributions. Subscription rates. payable In U.S. lunds, are $36 per year (Pe­riodica l fate) within the United Stales; $45 to Canada: $75 pel year to all other addresses (ISAL). Advertising and copy deadline is the lirst workday 01 each month lOf the IoIklWing montt1's issue. Unso­licited articleS and news releases are welcome, however publication cannot be guaranteed. Unless ex­pressly stated. 100 Celalorneiiher endor.>es nor is respooslble IOf the contents 01 advertisements,letters­I()-~,leature articles, regu­lar columns and press releases In its pages, including any opinions stated thefein, end the accuracy 01 any data provided by its cootribu­tors. Periodical postage paid (USPS '006(177) Lancaster, PA 17604 and additional offices.

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FOUNDED 1987 BY WAYNE G. SAYLES

Inside The Celato~ ...

6

FEATURES

The Contest Between Apollo and Marsyas by Peter E. Lewis

16 A Supernova on Ancient Coins - Part 4 by Robert S. McIvor

DEPARTMENTS

2 Editor's Note

Gaming Next Month

4 Letters to the Editor

34 Memoria in Aeterna - Greg Franck-Weiby

.f,lrofitts ill tllllllismfltics

35 Art and the Market

36 Coming Events

38 C ELTIC NEWS by Chris Rudd

41 ANTlQl) ITI ES by David Liebert

42 <!l:o ins of tI)e jlJ ible by David Hendin

44 The Internet Connection by Kevin Barry & Zachary "Beast" Beasley

45 'through the Cooking glass by Wayne G. Sayles

46 Cartoon

47 Professional Directory

53 Classifieds

53 On the Rood - The Celotor"s Show & Club Schedule

54 Club & Society Directory

55 Index of Display Advertisers

Vol. 26, No. 1 January 20 12

Consecutive Issue No. 295

Page 6

Page 16

About the cover: An image of a marble sar­cophagus in the Carls­berg Museum in Copen­hagen (photo courtesy of the curator), the re­verse of a bronze drachm of Antoninus Pius , minted at Alexan­dria (from The Myth of Marsyas in the Roman Visual Arts by Piers B. Rawson), and an an­tique marble copy of a statue known as ~The Kn ife Grinder~ (photo courtesy of the author).

The Gelator office will be closed onJan. 4 1h_81h and March 22"'1·24th• Check the ~On the Roadft sec~

tion (p. 53) for further details. Office hours are normally Noon to 6PM EST. Please keep in mind that this is a one-person busi­ness when you're trying to reach me. Thank you!

January 2012 1

EDITOR'S NOTE John Eshbach.

a good fri end and one of my loca l numi smati c mell­

tors , died on December 4th. As he was 90-years-old, and suffering from con ­gestive heart failure, his death was not a surprise, but nevertheless, he wil l be greatl y missed. Joh n was a ti reless leader and volunteer on the local. state. and nationa l levels for our hobby. He was one a flhose people that you could a lways count on for help, and solid , well-thought OUI advice.

I first met John not long after mov ­ing to Lancaster in the fall of 1987. I attended the Pennsylvani a Associati on of Numismatists (PA N) co nvention, which was held in Lanc aster Ihat

John 's own vol utlleer work for the ANA was recognized when he was awarded the ANA's highest honor, the Farran Zerbe Award, at the 2009 ANA World's Fair of Money in Los Angeles. John was a quiet, dignified man. and a man of few words, and [ remember leas­ing him if he had written an acceptance speech for the Zerbe Award. He had not. and was nOllhrilled about the idea of mak­ing any sort of speech, but he still man­aged to give some very heartfelt remarks

at the banquet. In 2008. the Red

yea r, and John prompt ly i nt ro­duc ed him sclf to me , and also told me that I needed to join PAN and the local coi n club, the Red Ros e Coin Club. I remember te llin g him that I wa s too busy to j o in a local cl ub, but he insisted, and s igned me up. Eventually, proba­bly about a year lale r, [ finally at­

"!leamed the value of a local COil1 club, and being a local volunteer, from the example set by lohll Esh­bach. Johll was ah'o an ac­tive member of the Ameri­can Numismatic Associa­tion (ANA ), and even though I wos already active ill the ANA, John was 01-

Rose Coi n Club cel­ebrated its 50,h ann i­ve rsary. The club has a tradition of is­s uing an updated printed history every 10 years, and we had been saving money the pre vious te n ye:.rs to pay for the 50-year history. The on ly problem was that we couldn't find anyone to write it. As [ was president of the club in 2008,

ways encouraging me to 'ramp liP' my volunteer workJor the ANA."

tended a Red Rose Coin Club meet­ing, and was duly impre ssed.

The Red Rose Coin Club (R RCC) is one of the most successful loca l coins clubs in the country. due to the hard work of such longtime members as John Eshbach. RRCC meets twice It month, and has over 250 members . The cl ub also sponsors two coin shows a year. I learned the va lue of a local co in club, and being a local voluntee r, from the example set by John Eshbach. John was also an active member of the American Numismati c Assoc iat ion (ANA), and even though I was a lready active in the ANA , John was always encouraging me to " ramp up" my vo l­unteer work fo r the ANA.

I repeatedly asked for a volunteer to no avail. Finally, John came to me, and said he would write the hi story. Not only did he write it, but he also designed and typeset it using his computer.

John spent the last few years work­ing on this project. At our club's most recent annual banquet. held on Novem­ber 17<1>. John was in attendance wilh his granddaughter, Jessica Miller. She qui­etly mentioned to a couple of our mem­bers (Sam Nolt an d John Long) thai John's prognosis WllS not good, and if there was any way they could finish up the booklet in the next two weeks, it would be greatly appreciated. John Long wenilO the printer. explained the situa­tion , and the printer produced three copies. one of which was presented to

~. COMING NEXT ~ MONTH . IN THE CELATOR·

Half-Figure of Ihe King­Ullraveling Ihe Mysleries of the Earliest Siglai of Darius J

by William E. Daehn

Demeter's Torch & Tile Mysteries of Elet/sis

by George L Beke

AND COMING SOON

Fromlile Shekel Halrodesh 10 Ihe Shekel of Israel by Gary M. Fine

A "New" Bronze of Antigonos Gonatas

by Walter C. Holt M,A.

Numismatic Evidence of Bishops' Symbols

by Gary Waddingham

How to Read the Legends on Coins of the

Western Kslwtrnpas: A Beginner's Guide

by Pankaj Tandon

A Unique Ci~;f Seal afColonia Ptolemais by Adolfo Eidelstein

Astrngaloi 011 Al1cieilt Coins: Game Pieces or Age1lts of Prophecy? by Bekirom Tahberer

Tile Ancienl Cily of Pili lippi, and the 'Eid Mar' Coinage

by Marvin Tameanko

Pythagoras and the Inwse Coins of Magna Graecia

by John Francisco

John Eshbach the fo llowing week.

continued 011 page 40 ....

'lhe {!.elatM is "a»ted fM a"d dedicated to the coih die-eh,.aoe.s of ahtiquit¥ Nhose a.t .e»tai"s as pONC7ful ahd appeali", todall as i1l thei. OMI ti»te.

2 The Gelator

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Stac k's Bowers and Ponteria's 2011 auctions held in conjunction with major coin conventions have realized incredible prices fo r anc ient co ins. Below are just a few highlights from our

January 2011 NYINC auction and our August 20 11 official auction of the ANA World's Fair of Money.

Exceptiona l Kroton Labors of Herakles Stater. Nearly Extremely Fine, Realized $18,880 in our

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First Punic War Silver Oekadrachm. Very Fine. Realized $30,680 in our

January 2011 NYINC auction.

Exce plional Akanlhos Tetradrac hm. Choice Extremely Fine. Realized $14,160 in our

January 2011 NYINC auction.

High Grade Lampsacos Gold State r. Extremely Fine.

Reali zed $35,400 in our January 2011 NYINC auction.

Caunus Stater. Choice Extremely Fine. Realized $16,520 in our

January 2011 NYINC auction.

High Grade Bold Re liel Catana Tet radrachm. NGC XF. Realized $10,030 in our 2011 ANA World's Fair 01 Money auction.

Magnificent High Relief Facing Silenos. NGC Choice XF.

Realized $23,600 in our 2011 ANA World's Fair 01 Money auction.

Very Rare Cretan Drachm Depicting the labyrinth of the Minotaur. Nearly Extremely Fine.

Realized $26,550 in our 2011 ANA World's Fair of Money auction.

Bold Portraits of Julius Caesar & Mark Antony. NGC Choice XF. Realized $9,440 in our 2011 ANA World 's Fair of Money auction.

High Grade Nero Aureus. NGC AU. Realized $22,420 in our 2011 ANA World's Fair 01 Money auction.

High Grade Armenian Victory Gold Aureus of lucius Verus. NGC Choice AU.

Realized $15,930 in our 2011 ANA World's Fair of Money auction.

l ineage of The Severan Dynasty Gold Aureus. NGC AU.

Realized $29,500 in our 2011 ANA World's Fair 01 Money auction.

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January 2012 3

Reader Requests Information on the

Earliest Electrum Coins I am a collector of ancient Greek

coins and a Celator subscriber, and I have a request.

Could you please provide referenc­es for the latest , most authoritative scholarship on the dates of the earli­est electrum coins? I would also ap­prec iate information on how I could obtain copies or translations (English strongly preferred) ,

I have already read Linzalone (2011 ), Cahill and Kroll (200S), and Cowell and Hyne in Ramage and Crad­dock (2000) as well as the earlier Wal­lace (1987) and Kagan (1982) (I can provide full references if these are un ­clear) . I understand that Ulrike Muss: Die Archaologie der ephesischen Arte­mis (Wi en : Phoibos, 2008) has possi­bly the latest published archeological evidence bearing on the question, but I have not read this .

What is currently accepted as the best estimate of the date of the earli­est electrum coinage: ca. 660 BC, ca. 620 BC, or some other date? Has the question of whether the earliest coin­age is from Lydia or Ionia been settled?

Jacob U/vila Vienna, VA

Can any of our reade rs provide Mr. Ulvila with any additional information? Please send it to the ed itor.

Reader Shares His DOS Comments on the Renewal

of the Cyprus MOU

I am providing my letter that I sub­mitted to the Department of State in response to Docket No. DOS-2011 -0135 placing limits on importation of coins from Cyprus. The short comment period was held during the holiday sea­son and closed January 3, 2012. J ap­preciate Harlan Berk's email notice alerting numismatists:

First of all , I do not support restri c­l ions on the importation of coins to the United States . I am responding specif­ically to your questions (3) and (4). I will address (4) first:

4) . Whether the appl ication of im­port restrictions is consistent with the general interest of the international community in the interchange of cultur­al property among nations for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes.

The Ptolemaic tetradrachms stuck in Alexandria, Egypt and in Paphos used the identical mintmark, the Greek letters nJ-A. These coins are notorious­ly difficult to tell apart. If this MOU is approved, then all tetrad rachms of Al­exandria, Egypt could be mistakenly denied entrance to the United States. This is not the intent of the Cyprus MOU.

Furthermore, I am the author of Dated Coins af Antiquity, published last year, 2011. The scope includes all dat­ed coins struck in the BC era, includ­ing the coins li sted for Paphas, Salam­is, and Kit ion. The Ptolemaic kings on the co ins of Paphos, Salamis, and Ki­tion are notoriously difficult to assign a precise date because of their simi lari­ty. In 1976, Ino Nicolaou and Otto Morkholm published Paphos, Volume 1, A Ptolemaic Coin Hoard, an excel­lent study of a hoard of Ptolemaic tet­radrachms. The study is based on coins found in an amphora on Cyprus.

Based on Nicolaou and Morkholm's book and my first-hand experience ex­am ining these coins in the United States, my book provides a clear cata­logue for researchers and collectors to assign these coins to the proper BC date. I could not have produced my book with the proposed restrictions on their importation to the US.

3). Whether application of U.S. im­port restrictions, if app lied in concert with sim ilar restrict ions by other art importing countries, would be of sub­stantial benefit in deterring pillage and that less drastic remedies are not avail­able ..

The Treasure Act and Portable An­tiquities Scheme must be tried first in Cyprus. !t has worked immensely well in Great Britain by preserving the in­tegrity of freshly d iscovered coin hoards for both study by researchers and subsequent sale to the co in mar­ket. Refe r to the United Kingdom re­port on thei r webs ite: http:// www . cul t ure.gov.uk/news! news_stories/8709.aspx.

Edward Cohen New Jersey

Reader Shares Theories on the Origins of Coinage

It is not often than anyone gets to correct or even amend the work of Dav­id Hendin. His November 201 1 column, "Questions on the History of Money" cited only the most common academic myths and numismatic folktales . Clear­ly, research ove r the last generation has not paid the fullest intellectual div­idends. The idea that metal money evo lved from barter in commod ities was subscribed to by both Karl Marx and Ludwig von Mises, among too many other economists, none of whom

Please tum to page 20.

Spain was more Celtic than you think

S{kJin and Porlugai had many anci8nt Celtic tribes and place·names. including one called Celli (see bronze on right). And the e8rliest known Celtic inscriptions (c.6()() BC) coma from rar/essm; in southwest Iberia.

4 The Celator

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January 2012 5

THE CONTEST BETWEEN APOLLO AND MARSYAS

by Peter E. Lewis

Readers of the October 20 II issue of The Celator who read my article entitled "An Ancient Coin Relevant to Renaissance Art " might have won­dered what was the result of the con­test between Apollo and Marsyas . M arsyas was a silenus, a mythi cal

the winner could do whatever he want­ed with the loser. Unfortunately, Mars­yas lost the coo test and Apollo had him skinned alive. The story is shown on the coins th at were minted at various cities in ancient times.

The Marsyas myth was popular in the anc ient Greek world, and the whole story or segments of it were illustrat­ed in frescos , statues and stone rel iefs, as well as on coins. There is a won-

down and sharpening his kn ife (Fig­ure I). At Athen a' s feet, a river god rec lines on an overturned vessel from which water pours. To the right of Ath­ena, Dionysus holds a torch in his left hand and Cybele sits on a rock. Mars­yas was a follower of Dionysus, and Cybele was the main goddess in Ph ry­gia where the myth was located . A tiny lion , the attribute ofCybe[e, looks out from behind the rock. [n the center of

Figure J- MMble sarcophagus ill the Carlsberg Museum in Copenhagen . Jmage kindly slIpplied by the cllratVl:

woodland creature that had horse's ears and a horse's tail. He challenged Apollo, the god of music and cosmic harmony, to a musical contest because, although he was not himse lf divine, he had found the double flute (aulas) that the goddess Athena had thrown away. It was a serious matter because it was a challenge to the divine realm of the gods. The Muses were the judges. and

derful relief on the side of a marble sarcophagus that is now in the Carls­berg Museum in Copenhagen. The sar­cophagus was found near Sidon in 1886 and is dated to 200 - 210 AD. It shows the who le story from when Marsyas spies Athena p laying the au ­las (at the left end of the panel ) to when he is tied 10 a tree about to be sk inned alive hy a man who is leaning

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6 The Gelator

the p'lIlel. Marsyas stands playing his fiutes whi le on his left, Apollo sits holding his lyre. To the right of Apol ­lo , a goddess sits with her hand to her face . Her identity is not apparent. In the background stand seven muses, the one farthest to the ri ght wears a theat­rical mask on top of her head, On the side of the sarcophagus lid there is a bust in the center. It is presumably that of the deceased. On his left, Artemis recl ines with a hound, and on his right, Apollo reclines with a griffin keeping guard. The gri ffi n was a mon ster that symbo lized the destroyi ng power of the gods. Also on the lid are two more Muses , making a total of nine. On the corners of the I id there are large masks, which suggest that there were theatri­cal performances of the Marsyas myth although no such work is extant. The sarcophagus is a masterpiece of the art of sculpture.

On a large coin (JE 35) that was minted at Tarsus in 236 AD during the

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January 2012 7

reign of Maximinus I (235-238 AD), Apollo is seated on the left, holding his lyre, and in the center a woman sits with her hand to her face as on the sar­cophagus. On the right, the knife­grinder is getting ready to nay Mars­yas who is tied to a tree (Figure 2). The figure of Marsyas is similar to that

on the sarcophagus, and the tiny fig­urc of the knife-grinder is also simi lar 10 that on the sarcophagus, although he is facing in the opposite direction.

A clearer image of the knife-grind­er occurs on a bronze coin of Antoni­nus Pius ( 138- 161 AD) minted at Al­exandria (Figure 3).11 is copied almost

exactly from a marble statue, known as 'The Knife Grinder,' which was originally at Pergamum (see Figure 4 on page 10). Similarly, the hanging Marsyas on these coins, as well as on the sarcophagus, was copied from a Pergamene original, many copies of which still exist, although usually the

Figure 2- The revcn'c of an /£35 afTarsusfrom the rcign of Maximinus I (235-238 AD). Photo courtesy of eNG 69, lot 1163.

Figure 3- The reverse of a bronze drachll1 of Antoninlls Pills mint­ed at Alexandria. Photocopy of Figure 39 in The Myth of Marsyas in the Roman Visual Arts by Piers B. Rawson (BAR 347, 1987).

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8 The Gelator

limbs are missing (see Figure 5 on page 10) . Some scholars consider that the image of the crucified Christ de­rives from this image of Marsyas. On the left of the coin, Apollo sits hold­ing his lyre, and his pose is remark­ably similar 10 that of a seated Apollo in a marble reliefby Praxiteles. ca. 366 BC (sec Figure 6 on page 12). So al least for the myth of Marsyas the die engravers copied Iheir Iypes from fa­mous Greek origina ls . This makes sense as otherwise no one would rec­ognize the figures on the coins . The die engravers probably worked from a standard set of images .

On a bronze coin of Germen in Mysia minted in the 2n<1 or 3,d centurYi AD (see Figure 7 on page 12), there is a similar image of the hanging Mars­yas. bUI th is time Apollo is standing and holding his lyre on his left arm . This, too, is a standard image of Apol ­lo in Greek art, and it sometimes ap­pears on Roman coins , e.g. on a ses­tertius of Antoninus Pius where his outstretched righL arm seems to have been stuck on by the engraver (see Fig­ure 8 on page 12), On the Germe coin the trce from which Marsyas is sus-

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January 2012 9

pended is very prominent, perhaps re­ferring to the idea that Marsyas was a type of tree spirit. Another possibility is that the tree links Marsyas to the myth of CybeJe (who features on the

sarcophagus) and her lover, Attis. He cast rated himself under a pine tree , where he bled to death. At Cybele's annual festiva l a pine tree was cut down and taken to her temp le where

it was honored as a god.

Figure 4- Alltique marble copy ofa statue kllown as 'The Kmfe Grinder.' The original was proba­bly at Pergamum.

The flaying of Marsyas was a tragic event and all the woodland sp irits were over­come with grief. Their tears mingled with the blood of Marsyas to become the Mars­yas River. It flowed into the Meander River, which mean­dered toward the sea. So Marsyas was transformed into a river spirit, and in this form he is shown on a bronze coin of Hadrian (1 17-138 AD) minted at Apameia in Phrygia, where the myth was located (see Figure 9 on page 14) . Marsyas reclines in a rocky cave with his flutes in his left hand . They rest on a vessel from which water flows. The squares above him are the box­es in which goods were trans­ported at Apameia, which was an important trading cente r where goods from the East were transferred to the Greek world.

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10 The Gelator

Various interpretations of the Mars­yas myth have been proposed over the years. Briefly they are as follows:

l. PR IDE. A severe punishment awa its those who challenge the gods.

2. ORDER vs. CHAOS. Apollo was the god of cosmic harmony, and Ihe divine sound of his lyre was in accord with cosmic order, whereas the sono­rous sound of the flute aroused unru ly passions related to revelry (Dionysus) and fertility (Cybcle). Players of wind instruments beware!

3. It reflects the GREEK DOMI­NATION of the native peop le of Phry-

Figure 5-'The Hangillg Marsyas' - a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original. This copy was mude ill the J" or 2"d century AD, alld is nolV in the Louvre. !tlVasfoulld ill Rome. The original was probably at Pergamum.

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January 2012 11

gia. or the RI VA LRY between Athens and Boeotia, where the au los was pop­ular. The sophisticated Athenians con­sidered the Boeotians to be country bumpki ns.

4. Marsyas was a double of ATTIS,

Figure 6- Part of a marble relief by Praxiteles or {he school oj Praxiteles made in about 366 BC

the consort of Cybele. He was hung on a pine tree but was resurrected each spring (S ir James Frazer, The Golden Bough).

5. The myth refers to the SAC­RI FICE of an ass or goat to Apollo. The word 'tragedy' comes from a Greek word mean ing 'goat-song.'

6. The my th derives from the FLAYING of sacrificed animals at fes tivals of Apollo.

7. The flaying represents the peel ­ing of a REED to make a flute.

S. Marsyas was a TR EE SPI RIT and the myth refers to peeling the bark off a tree for various purposes (c.f. the Australi an aborigines who used bark in this way) .

Marsyas of th e Contest should not be confused with Marsyas of the Forum, although there are similari­ties and assimilations. T he myth of Marsyas of the Contest originated in Phrygia, whereas the my thology asso­ciated with Marsyas of the Forum seems to have originated in Italy, es­pecially in the Etruscan areas. Mars­yas oflhe Forum was so-called because there was a stat ue of hi m in the Ro­man Forum. and this statue appears on the reverse of a denari us minted at Rome in 82 Be (see Fig ure lOon page

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12 The Gelator

Figure 7- The reverse of a bronze coin of Germe ill Mysiafrom the 2',,1 or 3,4 ccntllryAD.

14). O n the obverse, there is the lau­reate head of Apollo, and on the re­verse, Marsyas has a horse's tail and in the background a statue of Athena (because she wears a helmet) stands on a column, but Marsyas is wearing a pileus, the cap worn by freed slaves . Ma rsyas of the Forum became a sym­bo l of freedom, and he is always

Figure 8- The reverse of a seslertius of AII/oninus Pius showing Apollo slullding, holding his lyre. Sear 4149.

shown on coins with a full skin of wine over his shou lder and he usually looks obese . Whenever a city in the Roman Empire became a Roman colony, a similar statue was set up there, and the statue appears on the coins issued by many of these cities . For example, it appears on the reverse of a bronze coin that was minted at the Roman colony of Deultum in ca. 200 AD (see Figure li on page 14). The pedestal of the statue is shown on the coin.

The significance of Marsyas of the Forum was rather different from that

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of Marsyas of the Contest. Marsyas of the Forum celebrated the idea of free­dom. He was a comcdic character who embodied the abi lity to make fun of everyone and anyone. It could even be said that he was a distant forerunner of secularism. Essentially, he was a type of Homer Simpson, and ordinary Ro­mans could identify with him. He was fal, ugly, rude, and he drank too much.

All photos are courlesy of Ihe au­Ihor unless olherwise floled.

Figure 9- The reverse of an 1£20 of Hadrian from Apameia in Phrygia. BMC 158.

Aboul the aUlhor-Peter Lewis is a retired phys ician. His mainnumis­matic interest is coins relating to the hi story of Christianity, but like all numismati sts, he gets sidetracked from time to timc . This time he was led astray by that cheeky character. Marsyas. Peter l ives in Queensland in the City of the Gold Coast, which will host the Brit ish Commonwealth Games in 2017.

Figure 11-The reverse of an 1£25 of Julia Domna minted at Deu/tum.

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Nercessian Releases Coin Catalogue

PICO RIVERA, CA-Numerous dy­nasties have issued coins in ancient Armenia. The oldest is the Orontid dynasty of Armenia (Yervantian in Ar­menian). known as the Armenian kingdom of Sophene (Tsopk in Arme­nian).

The coins issued by the kings of Sophene are extremely rare. Today, the extant of total Sophene co ins is 130 pieces. Most l y, they are pre­served in museums and in some pri­vate collections.

Y.T. Nercessian's latest catalogue, Fixed Price List 35. is graced with three coins attributed to King Ar­sames II, ca. 230 Be (Arsham 11 in Armenian) of Sophene.

Additionally, the catalogue lists a few types of coins of Artaxias 1(190-160 BC), the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty of Armenia.

The most attractive and expensive coin is a silver tetradrachm of Tigranes li the Great (95·56 BC). The grade of preservation of th is coin is Extremely Fine.

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A Supernova on Ancient Coins Part 4 of 4

by Robert S. McIvor

A Fresh Look a t C hi Rho

The Chi Rho symbol may provide information about the star that herald­ed the dawning of the Christian era. We must begin our story wilh Con­stantine.

Constantine first rose to prom i­nence in 306 when he was proclaimed emperor, upon his father's death, by the Roman army at York in Britain. He had several rivals for the throne. On October 28,3 12, he won a decisive battle over one rival at the Mi lvian Bridge outside Rome. He claimed he had a dream the night before, and was commanded to put the Chi-Rho sign on the shields of his militia. He later attributed his victory to "the God of the Christians. " In 313, at Milan, he proclaimed religious freedom, there­by legalizing Christianity. In 324, he became sole emperor when he defeat­ed his last rival, and he ruled until his death in 337.

Two Versions

Chi-Rho has been called the sign that changed history. There are two stories that attempt to explain how Constantine came to usc this sign: one exp lanation was written sometime be­fore 318, the other in 337. They are difficult to reconci le .

Lactantius was a Ch ristian from North Africa who tutored Constan­tine's son . He wrote On the deaths of

Figure 1- Two gravestone inscriptions are illustrated. The first is a cata­comb inscription to a lady named Romana and it displays the Chi-Rho symbol. It is dated to the third century, according to Chadwick, and it reads "Romana in Peace." The second was for a boy named Asel/us. It shows the Chi-Rho symbol between Peter and Paul. It is now in the Vat­ican Museum.

the persecutors before 318, and he de­scribed the morning of October 28, 3 12, when Constantine explained the dream he had the night before: "Con­sta ntine was directed in a dream to cause the heavenly sign to be delin­eated on the sh ields of his soldiers and so to proceed to battl e. They did as he had commanded and they marked on their shields the letter X with a per­pendicular line drawn through it and turned up in a loop at the top ... " (Kou­soulas, 1997).

Eusebius, the ch urch historian, wrote his Life of Constantine in 337. He admitted that Constantine told him about his dream "long afterwards." "A bout noon, Constantine saw a cross of light in the heavens , above the sun, and an inscripti on, CONQUER BY THIS attached to it. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which fo l­lowed after him on an expedi tion , and witnessed the miracle. Then in his sleep Christ appeared to him with the sign he had seen in the heaven s, and commanded him to make a likeness of th at sign and 10 use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemi es."

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Two events are confused in Eusebius, a cross of light above the sun at noon, and the sign of Christ in a dream at night, and both are vague for date and place. He claimed the entire Roman army wit­nessed it and hi s modern biographer, Ramsey MacMullen, has remarked that "if the sky-writing was witnessed by forty thousand men , the true miracle lies in their unbroken silence." The version of Lactantius is earlier, shorter, and more credible. Tel: (909) 625-5426 kirk @ancientgreek.net

16 The Celator

January 2012 17

Chi·Rho in Early Inscriptions

Chi-Rho consists of two Greek let­ters, Chi (X) and Rho (P) the first two letters of XPILTOI, the Greek word for Christ. It is found in the Roman catacombs on gravestone inscriptions of the third centu ry (sec Figure I on page 16), and was a Chris­tian symbol long before Constantine. Bishop Os­sius likely explained the symbol to Constantine, and he dreamed that God told him to use it for vic­tory in battle. He often acted on dreams and would later choose a new

because of a

A bronze of 350 of Constantius (337-361), Constantine's son, shows him on the reverse holding two Chi­Rho standards with a star above his head (see Coin Type 3 on page 20). The usurper Magnentius produced a

Coin Type 5 on page 22). A gold soli­dus of Theodosius II (402-450) pro­duced at Constantinople depicts his sister, Pulcheria, on the obverse with a Chi-Rho on her shoulder while Vic­tory holds a Chi-Rho shield with a star

nearby on the reverse (see Coin Type 6 on page 24) .

A gold solidus of Ravenna has the bust of Honorius (393-423) on the obverse with a shield dis­play ing Chi-Rho (see Coin Type 7 on page 24). A gold solidus of Anastasius I (49 1-5 18) shows Victory hold in g a reversed Chi ­Rho symbol, with a star nearby (see Coin Type 8 on page 26). capital

dream.

Chi-Rho on Coins

Coin Type I-Silver miliarense of Constantine I. Ticinum or Rome mint? 315 AD. Chi-Rho symbol on Constantine's helmet. Photo from Roman Coins, Kent & Hirmer, Plate 163, No. 648.

Chi-Rho also appears on coins of the emperor Justinian I (see Coin Type

Chi-Rho is prominent on Constan­tine's helmet on the medallion he struck in 315 at Ticinum (or perhaps Rome?) (Coin Type I). It is also on the coin he struck at Constantinople in 327 where it appears above three medallions on the labarum military standard impal­ing a snake (Coin Type 2) .

coin in 353 at Amiens that has a re­verse show ing Chi-Rho with alpha and omega added (see Coin Type 4 on page 22) .

A bronze of Antioch has Flacci!1a, the wife ofTheodosius 1 (379-395), on the obverse, with Victory inscribing Chi-Rho on a shield on the reverse (see

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9 on page 26) , wh.Q ruled between 527 and 565. He also had it emblazoned on the shields carried by hi s soldiers, 200 years after Constan­tine. Chi -Rho on these coins is the same as the Chi-Rho symbol on cata­comb paintings and early Christian gravestones.

Chi-Rho as a Star Group

Chi-Rho is described as a "heaven­ly sign" o r a "s ign in the sky," and an asterism fits the description perfectly, that is, a group of stars that resembles the letters X and P. In his encyclope­dia of 75 AD, Pliny {he Elder referred to "signs, that is, shapes of things or of animals, into which the learned have

Coin Type 2-Bronze of Constantine (306-337) . Constantinople mint. 327 AD. Reverse: Chi-Rho on Labarum military standard. RIC 19. Photo cour­tesy of Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 46, 2 April 2008, lot 711.

mapped out the sky." He listed four examples: "in one place the figure of a bear, in another of a bull, in another a wagon, in another a letter of the al-

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January 2012 19

phabet." That letter was the Greek let­ter del ta, ll, shaped like the constella­tion of Triangulum, a triangle of three stars. In similar fashion, Chi -Rho was a group of stars shaped like X and P.

The best-known example of an as­terism is the Big Dipper where seven stars in Ursa Major outline the shape of a dipper or ladle or the shape of a wagon. The Be lt of Orion is also an asterism that consists of three Slars in a row in the middle of Orion the Hunt­er. The Summer Triangle asterism joins ex Cygnus and ex Lyra and ex Aq­uila. Some star groups resemble a let-

ter of the alphabet. Cassiope­ia, fo r ex ample, looks like a "W" or a "M," and Professor Menzel explains that "the heav-enly G" is a letter of the English alphabet that is outlined by a group of nine bright stars in the winter sky (see Figure 2) .

It is significant that a 101 of coins with Chi-Rho have either a star on the obverse or a star near Chi -Rho on the reverse. Chi -Rho was not merely two Greek letters. It was a group of stars in the sky shaped like Chi

and Rho . Star groups were used as

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"CANIS MArOR a ta lisman for protection in various cultures in the past and especially in times of war. I n ancient C hina, Needham describes how

Figure 2- The uheavenly G" asterism joins 9 bright stars to form a "G-shaped" star group.

Coin Type 3- 8ronze of Constantius (337-361). Struck in 350 at Siscia by Vetranio. Obverse: Constantius, star in front. Re­verse: Constantius hold two Chi-Rho stan­dards, star above his head. RIC 284 or 289. Photo courtesy of Gemini LLC, Auction III, 9 January 2007, lot 472.

"gates at mi litary eamp had banners with stars and constellations." In Korea, Rufus mentions that "swords and armor we re emblazoned with constellations and astronomical in­scri ptions." In North America, Wi l­liamson reminds us that the Kiowa Ind ian trihe used war shields that were pa inted with the sun and the moon and the Pleiades star cluster.

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20 The Gelator

The Romans long believed that the stars had helped them in times of cri­sis . They thought Castor and Pollux had assisted them in the long grueling war against Hann ibal. Caesar imagined that Venus fought on his side during his mil itary campaigns, and Augustus was convinced that Apollo assisted him at the battle of Philippi. The Romans had erect­ed temples in the heart of their city that were dedicated to the worship of Castor and Po!lux, and Venus, and Apollo.

In 1948, astronomer Fritz Heilland studied the sky for the night before the battle of Milvian Bridge. He calculat­ed that Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and Ve­nus were in Capricorn and Sagittarius. He suspected Ihal Constant ine might have been concerned tha t this loose conjunction of planets could under­mine the morale of his men on the eve of battle. Heilland suggested that Con­stantine composed a Chi -Rho pattern with X in Capricorn and P in Aquila, and claimed that God promised victo­ry in a dream if he used the sign on his shields (see Figure 3 on page 22) .

Chi -R ho did not begin with Con­stantine but Heilland did focus on the correct sky area . He came close to match ing Chi -Rho as a star pattern but his line join ing the planets is not straight and his upright li ne is not per­pendicu lar. Chi- Rho consisted of three straight lines as depicted on Roman coins and described by Eusebius: "two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by X in its center."

A successful Chi-Rho star pattern must match Chi-Rho on the coins and must be immediately recognizable. Chi-

January 2012 2 1

Rho is a triple X pattern of three straight lines that intersect at a common cenler. The lines are straight, not bent or crook­ed or curved. and the perpendicular line of P is straight up, north-soulh, and cuts through the center of the X.

We recall that Chinese and Korean sky observers recorded that the nova in 4 BC was at po:y Aquila. These three stars give us our firs t straight line. Stars in Sagitta the Arrow provide a second straight line. Together they form X. A third line joining 8 Aquila and 13 Cyg· nus will provide a perpendicular line that passes through the center of the X (see Figure 4 on page 24).

Chi-Rho as a Star Map

Chi -Rho wai; a Chris­tian symbol long before Constantine used it in 312 at the battle at Mil vian Bridge . Constantine did not compose Chi- Rho. He adopted it as a milit ary ensign.

Chi -Rho is int imate­ly connectcd with the star at Chri st' s birth. In the catacomb of Lorenzo, one of the Magi points to the

Capricom

ssw

Aquila

• Jupiter ~ ,

Venus. •

• AltaIr

Sagittarius

• sw

slar, and il is depicted as a C hi -Rho (sec the pho­tograph on the cover of the Decem­ber 2011 is­s ue o f The Celator). In the catacomb

Figure 3-Heilland's proposed Chi-Rho star pattern. One line joins Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus; the second line joins fJ and VI Capricom; and the P extends upwards into Aquila. Per Fainlich (2007), Figure 301.

Coin Type 4-Bronze of the usurper Magnentius (350-353). Struck in 353 at Amiens. Reverse: Chi-Rho flanked by Greek letters, alpha and omega. RIC VIIf 34. Photo courtesy of CNG, Inc. , Triton IX, 10 Janu­ary 2006, lot 1596.

Edward J. Waddell, Ltd.

Fo'

• Ariclerl) Coll'\S I • Num'lsmatic books 'I

o f Peter & Marcellinus, " the Magi greet the star which is in the shape of a primitive Chi-Rho mono­gntm" (Stevenson, 1978). In the catacomb of Callis­IUS. one pain ti ng depicls

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22 The Celator

"numerous eight-rayed stars, and at the top the largest star is set apart and en­closed in a circle ... the chi·rho chris­togram placed immediately beneath it'· (Young, et al. 2006). I submit 11101 Chi­Rho was ill veil ,ed by early Christians to preserve where Ihe sfllr appeared. The slar (I{Jpeared where the three lilies of Chi·Rho intersect.

Coin Type 5-Bronze of Antioch mint duro ing reign of Theodosius I (379-395). Ob­verse: FlacciJIa, emperor's wife. Reverse: Victory inscribing Chi· Rho on a shield. RIC IX 61 .2 Photo courtesy of CNG, Inc., Auc­tion 60, 22 May 2002, lot 1941.

Christian use of Chi-Rho can be traced to the first century. In Pompeii, "an amphora marked with a Chi-Rho was found in 195 2" (Lampe & Johnson. 2003) . This Chi-Rho must predate the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD: it cmmot be later. In Jerusalem, an ancient Christian cemetery has been identified on the Mount of Olives near the Franciscan chapel known as Dom;­nU.f Flel'i[, which marks the tradi ti on­al place where Jesus wept over the c ity.

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Thirt y-six ossuaries were found here, and they belong to the first century "since the use of such bu rial chests is believed to have ceased in the second century" (Finegan, 1959). Chi- Rho is in scribed on the ossuary beari ng the name, "Judah the proselyte of Tyre."

Their names are unknown 10 us but the early Christians who composed the Chi-Rho monogram managed to de­vise 3 h3rmless symbol th3t 3t1r3cted little 3ttention and no suspicion yet was capable of pinpointing a specific sky 10-cmion. Chi-Rho preserves the sky posi­lion of Ihe star in Matthew's slory.

A Note on Chronology

The Slar appeared belween 4 BC and 2 Be and the quest ion is wheth­er Ihe Magi visi ted Bethlehem in this ti me period. I cannot do justice \0 chrono logy in a few paragraphs and can give only 3 short answer to the narrow qu estion I just posed .

Matthew (2: I) tells us that Jesus was born "in the days of Herod the king," which mu st mean Ihat Jesus was born before Herod died . Jose­phus, Ihe first ce ntury Jewish his­torian, recorded that Herod became

gravely ilion the night of a lu­nar eclipse and died befo re Pass­over. Many scho lars identify the partial lunar ec li pse on March 12113 in 4 BC as the best candidate and often place th e death of Herod between March 13 3ndAprill l (the date of Passover) in 4 Be. A date for the visit by Ihe Magi in Febru­ary or March in 4 BC would fi t th is chronology.

Coin Type 6-Gold solidus of Theodosius /I (402-450). Constantinople mint. Struck 414. Obverse: Pulcheria with Chi-Rho on her shoul­der. Reverse: Victory holding Chi-Rho shield, star nearby. RIC X 205. Photo courtesy of CNG, lne., Triton VI, 13 January 2003, lot 1150 .

Some sc holars prefer the fOwl lunar eclipse on Janu ary 9/10 in I BC, and put Herod's death later th at month , and place Chr ist's birth a year earlier in January 2 Be. Fine­gall ( 1998) makes thi s case and em-

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24 The Celator

'1 y 6 (I SAGITTA

6 AQun.A

Figure 4- Chi-Rho as a star group. Line one: pay X Aquila. Line two: T"f yo a Sagitta. Line three: 0 Aquila to p Cygnus.

phasizes th at the early Church Fathers and the earliest Chri stian sc ho lars place Christ's birth in laIC 3 BC or early 2 BC. Epi phanius (315-403) places the binh in January 2 BC, just one month be fore Augustu s received the PATER ti tle. A visit by the Magi in January or February in 2 BC would fit thi s chronology. [n fact, any date between earl y 4 BC and early 2 BC wou ld fall during the nova' s period of vi sib ili ty.

Coin Type 7- Go/d solidus of Honorius (393-423). Ravenna mint. Struck 421. Hon­orius on obverse with a shield decorated with Chi· Rho. Roma and Constantinopo­lis sealed on eagle thrones on the reverse. Photo courtesy of eNG, Inc. , Triton Xllt, 5 January 2010, lot 415.

The Object in 4 BC

Astronomers arc divided on the ex­act nature of the object recorded in China and Korea in 4 BC. I ha ve as­sembl ed the opinions of 44 astrono­mers-includi ng 15 professo rs of as­tronomy- or Asia, Europe. and North America, publ ished between 1965 and 20 10. Thi s survey is incomplete and should be treated with caution . Evidence mu st never be "counted" (by totaling how rn 3ny astronomers take each posi­lion). Evidence should be weighed.

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1965- Xi & 80 analyze hundreds of astronomical records of Ch ina, Korea, and Japan , between 1400 BC and AD 1700. They compi le a catalog of 90 novas that incl udes 12 possible super­novas. They list the object of 4 BC as a nova.

1968- Chu analyzes only the Kore­an records from 49 BC to AD 1700, and compiles a list of 28 novas that

Coin Type 8- Gold solidus of Anastasius I (49 1-518). Constantinople mint. Reverse: Vic­tory holding staff with reversed Ch-Rho, star nearby. DOG (1) 6. PholocourtesyofCNG, Inc., Auction 64, 24 September 2003, lot 1251.

incl udes 4 supernovas. He li sts Ihe object of 4 BC as a nova.

1969- Kian g views the object of 4 Be as a possible supernova, and sug­gests tentatively that pul sar 1929+10 could be its remnant.

26 The Celalor

1971 - Kukark in leads a group of 10 astronomers o f the (former) Soviet Union in Hna lyzing record s from the Far East, Near East, Hnd Europe , to separate novas from comets. They list the object of 4 BC as a nova, and show that it was observed in Ch ina. Korea, and Palest ine.

I 972- Pskovskii analyses more than 700 astronomical records fro m 2296

BC to AD 1700 and compiles a list of 125 novas that includes 9 su per­novas. He lists the object of 4 BC as a nova, and notes that it was seen in China, Korea, and Palestine.

1976- Hu ghes refers to the ob­ject of 4 BC as "possibly a nova."

1977-Cla rk, Parkinson, and Stephenson call it a nova and think it was somehow related to the ob­ject in 5 BC (in Capricorn) , whi ch they also describe as a nova.

1978-Farquharson call s it "a comet-nova."

I 978- Morehousc describes it as "a rather bright nova" and a super­nova, and he proposes that pulsar

1913+16 is its remnant. 1980- Arthur C. Clarke classifies it

as one of the bright supernovas that "outshin es all other sta rs for a few weeks," and sugges ts that pu lsar 1913+16 is its remnant.

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19SO-Hasegawa is uncertain if the object was a cornel or a nova.

198 1- Mosley claims "there is no way to know whether it was a CQmet or a nova."

I 984-Hofnei t refers 10 it as "Nova 4 BC."

1987-OlCn considers the objecl of 4 BC a nova and quile possibly a ~upcmova.

1991 - Yeo mans ca lls it "a bushy star comet."

Coin Type 9-Silver half-siliqua of Justini­an I (52 7-565). Ravenna mini. Justinian on obverse. Chi-Rho on reverse. DOC I, p. 182, no. 338. Enlarged photo courtesy of Gemini LLC, Auction VII, 9 January 20" , lot 901.

199 I- Humphreys describes il as a "tail-less comet."

1999- Kidger suggests it was "al­most certainly a nova. "

1999- Kronk calls it "a sparkling star." and includes il in his catalog of comets.

20Q0-Xu, Pankenier and Ji ang an­al yze Chinese, Korean, and Japanese record s between 1400 BC and AD 1700, and compile a catalog of 11 0 novas that incl udes 8 supernova s. They lisllhe object of 4 BC as a nova.

2002- Wang and Li refer to il as a supernova.

2002- Kelley and Milone describe it as "a possible nova. "

2003- Bethe calls il a supernova. ''The Chinese observed aboul ten su­pernovae , incl uding one around AD 1000 (and) another in 4 BC .

2005- Jakiel & Arm strong include the Di vlIs Augllstlls coins and describe the obj ect as "a particu larl y bright nova" seen "by both the Romans and the Chinese."

2007- From mert an d Kronberg view it as a nova and possibly a su­pernova .

2009- Mauhe ws re fers 10 it as "the Aquila nova or supernova in 4 BC."

20 10- Nickiforov [i~ t s it as a nova .

A Supernova

Burnham defines "a nova as a Slar that literally explodes, blasting its out-

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Supernova Cont. from pg. 26

er layers into space with titanic vio­lence and rising to unheard-of bri l­liance for a period of a few days or weeks. A supernova is a similar phe­nomenon on a vastly greater scale-it results in the more-or-less complete destruction of a giant star, with an ex­plosion that makes an ordinary nova look pale by comparison ." A nova or new star is really an old star that sud­dcnly incrcases in brightness and then fades back again to its pre-outburst condit ion. The star remains intact and may repeat the cycle later. A superno­va, by contrast, explodes in brilliance because the star is literally tearing it­self apart and on ly shattered fragmen ts will remain.

Stephenson & Grcen (2003) ex ­plain: "When a star becomes a super­nova, its luminosity typically increas­es by a factor of at least 100 million, after which it fades slowly. For sever­al weeks a supernova's light may ri­val that of allthc other stars in its home galaxy combined . Within months or so at the very most a few years, howev­er, the star is destined to fade to invis­ibility at visua l wave lengths." "In the

course of such an outburst. a star is either disrupted completely or split apart, its outer layers hurled outward at supersonic speeds while its core is crushed to extraordinary density." Th ey list five supernovas in 1006, 1054, IISI, 1572 and 1604, and iden­tify their remnants.

The best-known supernova may be the one in 1054. Chinese and Japanese observers recorded its appearance near Zeta (~) Taurus. It was visible during the day for 23 days. [\ faded slowly and disappeared from sight after 2 1 months. Its remains have been identi­lied about one degree from Zeta Tau ­rus. The star's core collapsed to form an incredibly dense object called a pulsar about twenty miles in diameter and spinning 30 times pcr second. The star's outer layers exploded into an cx­panding cloud of gas and dust called the Crab nebula. Both pulsar and nebula are remnants of this supernova in 1054.

Astronomers have identified hun­dreds of supernova remnants over the past four decades, and it is challeng­ing to search the list for a 2,000 year­old supernova remnant near Altair (a Aquila) . Far Eastern observers divid­ed the sky area we cal! Aqu ila into at

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30 The Gelator

least fou r star groups (see Figure 2 in Part I of this article- February 2011 issue of The Cefalor, page 20) and they recorded the nova in 4BC ncar Hoku , the three stars in a row, ~ a y Aquila .

Pul sar 1929+ I 0 seems promising because it is located near y Aquila. But it spins very slowly and for this reason astronomers estimate its age at close to Lhree million years. This immediately disqualifies it as a candidate. The reali­ty is that most pulsars were formed more than 10.000 years ago.

An Unusual Prospect

Pulsar 19 I 3+ 16 was discovered ncar Zeta (~) Agu ila in 1974. It spins 17 times per second and this rapid spin suggests it was formed a few thousand years ago. Some astronomers, includ­ing Morehouse and Clarke, think it cou ld be 2,000 years old while others suggest an age of some 40,000 years and one astronomer has it much older. The true age of this pu lsar remains unresolved.

There is something really intrigu ­ing about thi s object. It is actually a binary pulsar that consists of two fast­spinning pulsars bound closely togeth­er by gravity. They were formed in two separate supernova events in the past. When they were formed remains un­clear at presen t, but it is conceivable they were formed two years apart, the first in 4 BC, and the second in 2 Be. Will future ev idence from this binary pu lsar clarify when these two super­novas occurred?

Pulsar 1913+ 16 can easily bc plot­ted on a modern star chart (see Figure 5). It is 4 degrees from the intersec­tion of the three lines in my rendition of Chi -Rho.

Another Prospect

Pulsar 1930+ 18 was discovered as recently as 2002 just a few degrees north of Altair in Aquila. It is in the modern constellation of Sagitta the Arrow above Aquila. Astronomers have named it the Bul/'s Eye Pulsar because it is located at the center of a nebula of dust and gas with the rather romantic name G54. I +0.3 . The pulsar and the nebula are remnants of the same supernova event. The pulsar spins 7 times per second . When its dis­covery was announced in a press re­lease in 2002, it was reported to have "an age of approximately 3,000 years ." A subsequent article by eight

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Ancient Coins Through the Bible By Joseph A. Dow (ANA LM-4688)

Published by Tate Publishing

This new book is one of the unique books published in the fie ld of numismatics. [n f<lct, it is the on ly book ever written (that I am aware of) that retel ls the stories of the bible using photographs of REAL ANCIENT COINS (nOI hand drawn) for the entire bible land from Egypt to Spain. The book covers the time from Abraham's journey to the Promised Land in Genesis to the seven churches in Revelalion and beyond. This book includes the history, stories, and ancient coins of the cities, villages. provinces. and leaders of the ancient world. The coins refl ect the patri­archs who roamed the land of biblical times. the prophets' predictions. the Israelites' exi le to Babylon, theAssyrians/Babyionians, the Persians, Greeks, Parthians. the Maccabeans. Ihe Herodians, Ihc Romans, and Ihe spread of Christianity throughout Ihe Byzantine Empire. In addition to the coins of these nations, this book presents coins and stories for Ihe cities where Jesus Christ performed most of his teaching and ministries, Philip and Peter's early travels. and the Apostle Paul's four missionary journeys. We cannot see these nations' leaders in person orthe way they lived, but we can. in fact, see them. relate to them, and learn about them and their way of life through their coins. There are over one thousand color images in this book, including 15 ancient maps depicting where Ihe stories look place. The coins and maps playas visual aids and bring the biblical lands to life and imbue the bible stories with meaning.

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January 2012 31

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•

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astronomers suggested its age "li kel Y l ies in the range of 1.500 to 6,000 years."

T h is pu lsar is ve ry close to the intersection of the three lines in my reco nstruction of C hi­Rho as a star group (sec Figure 5). It is also ncar the dot on the Celtic coins that have an enci rcled dOl o/ftside the eagle fi gure a nd a lill ie above o ne wing. The Bull 's Eye pul­sar and nebula could be the remnants of a super­nova that appeared be­tween 4 Be and 2 Be. An age of 2,000 years fa ll s within its currently esti­mated age of between 1.500 and 6,000 years. It is 1.5 degrees north of the intersection of the th ree lines in Chi-Rho. This is abou t the width o f one finger at arm ' s length.

Figure 5-Pulsar 1913+16 and Pulsar 1930+1852 (Bufl's Eye Pulsar) plotted on a modern star chart.

New inforrn3tion on this pu lsar may lead to a revision of its age in the future and the current age of 1,500 to 6,000 yea rs cou ld be narrowed , But

32 The Gelator

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wil l it narrow to about 2,000 years? Is this pu lsar/nebula pair the "smoking gun" of a supernova event about the time of Christ's birth?

In Conclusion

George Gamow wrote about supe r­novas in 194 1: "The most dramatic example of suc h stellar catastrophes is furn ished, of course, by the famous 'Star of Be thlehem,' which Oared up in the year 4 BC." Some years later, he explai ned with his usual humor why it is diffic ult to identify it: " Unfortu­nate ly, the story lacks an important piece of information: the three wise men did not bother to measure the right as­cension and declination of the star or to record at least its position with respect to the known constellations."

Matthew's story of the star is s imi ­la r to othe r records that have come down to us from the distant past that a rc also fragmented and incomplete. These include the comet near the birth of Mithridates of Pon tu s in 135 Be and anot her one when he was crowned king as a teenage lad in 119 Be. They include the comet just after Caesar 's assassination in 44 BC, and the co met near the death of Marcus Agrippa in

12 Be. They include the star associat­ed with Anti'nou s- 'around 130 AD. Sparse Greek and Roman records pro­vide little or no information as to where any of these objects appeared in the sky. Far Eastern records are helpful but they often lack detail.

We must bear in mind that printing was invented in China around 800 AD, and Far Eastern records before 800 AD are rare and when they do exist they are extremely brief, almost terse. Greek and Roman records of astro­nomical events are even worse. The reason for this is understandable. Be­fore printing was invented, it was time consum ing and expensive to copy and re-copy ancient written material, and it was usually the case that only the most important books and sacred texts were copied and preserved. This stark reality presents the greatest challenge for any search for supernova records prior to 800 AD.

Matthew does not disclose where the star appeared when Christ was born but his omission has not deterred a number of modern investigators interested in a good detective story. One astronomer has even called it "the greatest of all de­tective stories." The identity of the star has attracted the attention of people from all walks of life, religious and non-reli­gious, theists and non-theists, from ev­ery continent and culture, because il stirs our sense of wonder. The search is a gen­uine astronomical quest.

We might think of Matthew's story as a jigsaw puzzle where some pieces do· not come ' with the box' and an in­vestigator is forced to look elsewhere for the pieces that are missing. This article has been an attempt to identify some missing pieces that fit smoothly with the rest of the story. I have taken the part of an advocate by my preference for the supernova explanation but there is no dogmatism in what I have wrillen.

I hope you enjoyed reading this quest for missing pieces.

Bibliography Bethe, Hans A. , "My Life in Astro­

physics," Anllllal Reviews of Astrono­my & Astrophysics, 2003, Vol. 41: 1-14. (Winner of Nobel prize in 1968 for ast rophysics.)

Burnham, R., Bumhal/l's Cele.\·tial Handhook: An Ohservers Guide to the Universe beyond Ihe Solar Syslem, Vol­lime I, Dover Publications, NY, 1978.

Camila, F. , Lorimer, S.R., Bhat , N.D.R. , Gouhelf, E.V., Halpern, J.P. , Wang, Q.D., Lu , F.1. and N. Mirabel, "Discovery of a 136 Millisecond Ra­dio and X-ray Pulsar in Supernova

Remnant 054.1 +0.3," ASll"O(lhysical Joumal, 574: L 71-L 74, Ju ly 2002.

Chadwick, 0., A History of Chris­tiallity, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Lon­don, 1995.

Chen, Z. G. , The History of Chi­nese Astronomy, Volume 3, Ming \Ven, Taiwan (in Chinese), 1987.

Chu, Sun II , "Supernovae from an ­cient Korean observational records," JOllmal (~( Korean Astrol!omical 50-cielY, Vol. I, No.1, 1968.

Clark. D.H .. Park inson. J.H. & F. R. Ste phenson, "An Astronomical Re­appraisal of the Star of Bethlehem- A

Nova in 5BC," Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astl"Onomical Society 18, 1977, pp. 443 -449.

Clark, D. H. & ER. Stephenson, The Historical Supernovae, Pergamon Press. Oxford & London . 1977.

Clarke. Arthur C., Slrange Skies, Mysterious World TV Series, York­sh ire Television , UK, 1980.

Discovery of the "Bulls-Eye" Pul­sar, Joint press release by Universities of Manchester and Massachusetts and Columbia dated June 27,2002.

contillued on page 36 .

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----------------by David Peters

How does one write a tribute to some­one's life and art in a few paragraphs?

Greg Franck-Weiby died on Novem­ber 11 ,2011. He was known to his So­ciety for Creative Anachronism (SCA) friends as Ian Cnulle, the Moneyer of Silberbyrg; to those collecting Tolkien coins from the Shire Post Mint as Os­wald Oakleaf; to those collecting fan­tasy world coins from the Blue Waters Mint as Greg the engraver; and to the ANA coin show world as the curiously dressed guy who put on fantastic dem­onstrations of ancient Greek, medieval, and early modern coining techniques.

Greg lived his life with a passion and a joy inconceivable to most of us. He was passionate about his art. When he

A Tribute to Greg Franck-Weiby

engraved a coin die, he would accept nothing short of perfection in his work. If the ancient masters could do it, well darn, so could he. When he chose his food, it was vegan. When he marched for peace, it was with a passion for making the world a better place where people worked for the common good of all, greed was banished, and every­one lived in harmony. When he struck an SeA War Commemorative "groat" with an B-pound hammer, it was with a love of the "Current Middle Ages" game and knowing that all profits would go to buying supp lies for his students.

Greg lived a simple life in the Ore­gon mountains where he carried drink­ing water to the house and chopped trees for f ire wood with a double bit axe .. . but not so Spartan as to shun in­door to ilet plumbing and the mixed electr ic joys of the Internet.

~rofiles in jl umismatics

Agnes Baldwin Brett 1876-1955

Agnes Baldwin Breu. the first female curmor at the American Numis­ma!ie Society, was bom in 1);76 and grew up in Newark, New Jers.ey She received her B.A. from Barnard College in 1897 and then smdied archaeology at Columhia, receiving I1er Masters degree there in 1900.

She then spent two fellowship year:; at the Ameri\:~n School in Athens. where she discovered her inter­est in numismatics. From 1910 through 1913. Breu worked as Curator at the ANS. (At the time. the ANS maintained only oneeumtorial position.) Between 1912 and 1914. the Society granted herpennis­sion to study abroad at the Cahinet des Medailles in Paris. In 1914. ~he returned to New York to marry George Monroe Breu. a professor of accountancy and curator at the City College of New York. She would return to Greece again in 1924 iiS an associate cunl10r for the ANS in order 10 conduct numis­matic research. In 1919, the ANS honored Brett w; the second recipient of the Archer M. Huntington Medal Award for her wo"' in ancient numismatics. During the 19305, Brett n::tumed toCnlumbia to teach courses in numismatics. Herbmad dedication to scholarship is also demonstrated by her work as the chair of the ANS publications committee from 1923-46. where she W,IS known for her high standmls. (Although she stepped down as committee chair in 1946, Brett remained on the conuninee until herdeath in December 1955.) Bn::tt was a particularly noted authority on the coinages ofthe city-,tates ChiD<; and Lrunpsakos in Asia Minor. Her monogmphs on their coinage., are standard works. She also had an interest in Roman Medallions and published two monographson this wbject. Brett's mo S! highly acclaimed WOIt. Catalog of Greek Cvills. was prIXli.l(;ed during henime <c; an lKmor.uy wrJtorof classical wins ~t the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 1936, the UniveThity of Olli;ago"> Orientallnstilute published a catalog of her collection of ancient oriental seals . Bn::n \>"as a fellow of the Royal Nwnism3tic Society, 3 member of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies London. and an hooor.uy member of the Societe Royale de Numismatique de Belgique. (PhOio and te~t courtesy of the American Numismatic Society at www.numismatics.org).

This feature is provided courtesy of Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers, Gahanna, OH 43230

34 The Gelator

Greg Franck-Weiby, as Ian Cnulle, pre­pares to strike a coin. Photo courtesy of David Peters.

Greg freely shared his love and vast knowledge of ancient coins, the art of die engraving, and coin manufacturing with any who wou ld listen. Mind you, if you asked a s imple question about a coin, you were in for a long and loving

The obverse of a Corinthian-type stater of the 3 d century BC style, struck on a red hot planchet at the 2009 ANA National Money Show in Portland, Oregon. Photo courtesy of Truemark Photography.

description of it, the culture it came from, how the die was made, and how the coin blanks were prepared.

COlltilllled all page 56

Numismatic Rarities Sold at Numismatik Lanz Munich - The Results

by Ursula Kampmann

Maximum prices for Byzantine em­presses, Maria Theresa doubles her estimate, and Italy is completely en vogue. The results of the latest Lanz auction show how strong the market is at the moment in every department

Auction 153 of Numismatik Lanz Munich , conducted on December 12, 2011, was devoted to "Numismatic Rarit ies." In li ne with expectat ions , many collectors were present and look the opportunity to choose their special Christmas present from an equally rich, high-quali ty offeri ng. Pre-Chr istmas was likewise the number of modest estimates that enabled everyone to enrich the ir collection by a very spe­cial piece .

Let's restrict ourse lves to the auc­tion highlights! 50,000 euros was the bidding when the auction hammer went down for the most expensive coin of the sale: a histamenon of the Byzan ­tine empresses Zoe and Theodora from their short joint reign in 1042, of great historica l interest, very rare and in an extremely fine state of preserva­tion (no. 706) .

At 36,000 euros, "second place" received a gold diobol from the Sici l­ian city of Syracuse (no. 134, ex­tremely fine) . This coin as we ll was minted on ly for a short period of t ime, between 214 and 212 Be, during the so-called 5'h Republic , before the city was conquered by the Romans and

Lot 134-Sici/y, Syracuse, 5'" Republic (214-212 Be). AV Diobol (20 silver lit­rai), struck ca. 215-214. Giesecke pl. 26.7. Extremely fine. Realized 36,000 euros. {Photo enlarged}

consequently lost its political autonomy. The list of items that yielded five-figure prices is impressive in itself. One of these items is (of course) a magnificent electrum 1/6 stater from the beginn ings of Greek co inage in Ionia , showing a bridled horse on its obverse (no. 256, realized 10,000 euros). A likewise very rare aureus of young Caracal la from a Syrian mint wi th a tropaion (trophy) on the reve rse, which is rem iniscent of the victory of his father Septimius Severus in the war aga inst Parthia, brough t 15,000 euros (no. 4 92, ext remely fine) . A splendidly preserved solidus of Irene, first empress regnant on the Byzantine th rone, found an equally happy and proud new owner for 13,500 euros (no. 701, brilliant uncirculated).

Not only the ancient empresses en­joyed great popularity- at least wi th col­lectors-a gnadenmedail/e of 14 Ducats

Lot 492- Rome. Caracalla (197- 217 AD). AV Aureus, 201 AD, Laodicaea ad Mare in Syria (?). RIC 55 (Rome!) . Very rare. Extremely fine. Realized 15,000 euros.

of Maria Theresa by M. Donner on the Bohemian Coronat ion (no. 738, ve ry fine) achieved a remarkable result with its price of 11 ,000 euros-the more so because the estimate of 6,000 was al­most doubled. Likewise , a "bestseller"

continucd 0/1 page 40 .

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Supernova Cont. from page 33

Faintich , M., Astronomical Sym­bols on Ancient and Medieval Coins, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina & London, Eng[and, 2007.

Farquharson, 1. E, "The Star of Bethlehem," Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 89, 1978, pp. 8-20.

Finegan J ., Light from the Ancielll Past, Volume 2. Princeton University Press , Princeton , NJ, 1959.

Finegan , J., Handbook of Biblical Chronology, Revised Edition, Hen­drickson, Peabody, MA, 1998.

Frommert, H. & c. Kronberg, Su­pernovae observed ill the Milky Way, www.seds.org, 2007.

Green , D.A., "Ga[actic Supernovae Remnants: An updated catalogue and some statistics," Bulletin of the Astro­nomical Society of india 32, 2004, pp. 335·370.

Hasegawa, I. , "Cata[ ogue of An­cient and Naked-Eye Comets," Vistas in Astronomy 24, [980, pp. 59-102.

Gamow, G., "Our sun is bound to explode," Popular Astronomy, 1941, Vol. 49, pp, 360-369.

Gamow, G., "Supernovae," Sci­entific American, [949, Vol. 18 1, pp. [9 -2 1.

Heilland, E, "Die Astronomische Deutung der Visio n Kai se r Kon ­stantins" in SOlldervortrag im Zeiss­Planatarium-Jella, Jena, 1948.

Ho, P. Y, "Ancient and Mediaeval Observations of Comets and Novae in Chinese Sources." Vistas in Astrono­my 5, 1962, pp. 127-225.

Ho, p, Y, The Astronomical Chap­Ters in THE CHiN SHU, Mouton, Par­is, 1966 .

Homeit, D., "The Christmas Star, Novae and Pu lsars," American Asso­ciation of Variable Star Observers , Vol. 13 , 1984.

Hu ghes, D.W., "The Star of Beth­lehem," Nature , Vol. 264 , 1976.

Humphreys, C.J ., The Star of lJe­Ihlehem - a comet in 5 BC- and the Date of the Birth of Christ, G. J[ R. Astronomical Society, Vol. 32, 199 1, pp. 389-407.

Jakiel, R. & J. Armstrong, Striking Ancient Skies', ancient coins reveal the cosmos, Astronomy Magazine , March 2005.

Josephus, circa 95 AD, Antiquities oIthe Jews, 17: 167.

Kelley, D. H. & E.E Milone , Ex­ploring Ancient Skies: An En cyclope­dic Survey of Archaeoastronomy , Springer, 2002.

.\

Kiang , T., "Possib le Dates of Birth of Pu lsars from Ancient_Chinese Records," Nature , Vol. 223, 1969, pp. 599-60 I.

Kidger. M., The Star of Bethlehem. An Astronomer's View. Princeton Un i­versity Press, Princeton, NJ, 1999,

Kou so ula s, D.G .. Th e Life and Times of Constamine the Great, Rut­ledge, Danbury, CT, 1997.

Kronk , G .W., Cometography, A Catalog of Comets. Voillme J: AII ­cien t- J799. Cambridge Uni versity Press, 1999.

Kukark in, B. V., Kholopov, P.N ., Pskovsky, YP., Efremov, Y.N. , Kuka­rina, N. P, Kurochkin, N.E., Medvede­va, G. L. . Perova. N.B. , Fedorovich, v.P., and Frolov. M.S., Gelleral Cata­loglle of Varia hIe Stars, Third Editioll, Astronomical Academy of Sciences of U.S.S .R., Moscow, 1971.

Lampe, P. & M.D. Johnson, From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome ill the first t wo centuries. Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 2003 .

Matthews, G., "Finding the Christ­mas Star," Notre Dam e Maga zine, December 2 [ 2009, University of Notre Dame.

Mcivor, R.S. , "The Star of Beth[e­hem on Roman and Celtic Coins," American Association of Variable StUI' Observers: Newsleller, January 2002 .

Mci vor, R.S., "The Star on Roman Coins," Journal of the Royal Astro­nomical Society of Canada, Vol. 99, No.3, 2005, pp . 87 -91.

MacMul len, R., Constantine, Harp­er& Row, NY, 1971 .

Menzel , D.H., A Field Guide to the Stars alld Planets , Houghton Mifflin & Co., Boston , 1964.

Morehouse, A.J ., "The Christmas Star as a Supernova in Aquila," Journal of the Royal ASIIVnomical Society of Can­ada, Vol. 72, No.2, 1978. pp. 65-68.

Mosley, J ., "Common Errors in 'Star of Bethlehem' Planetarium Shows," Planetarium, Third Quarter, 1981.

Needham. 1., Sciellce ami Civiliza­lioll ill China, Volume 5, Pari j , Cam­bridge Un iversity Press, 1974.

Nickiforov, M. G., "History of Chi­nese Astronomy .Through Obse rva­tion s of Nova Outbursts," Bulgariall AslrOllomical lournal j 3, 2010.

Pliny the Elder, circa 75 AD, NaI ­ural History.

Poh lsander, H.A ., Th e Emperor Constantille , Rout ledge, London & NY, 1996.

Pskovskii , Yu. P., "Survey of Stel­lar Outburst s of the Prete lescopic Era," Soviet AstIVnomy, Vol. [6, No. I, 1972, Moscow.

Rossi, G . B. de', Bulletillo di ar­cheologia cristiana I . Rome, October 1863 .

Rufus, C. R., The Celestial Plalli ­sphere ofKillg Yi Tai -l o . Royal Asiat­ic Society, Seoul, Korea, 1913.

Seward, ED. , "Neutron Stars in Supernova Remnants," Sky & Tele­scope, January 1986 .

Stephenson , F. R. , "A Suspected Supernova in AD 118 I ," Quar/er/y JOllrnal of the Royal Astrol/omica! SocielY, 12, 1971, pp. 10-38.

Stephenson , F.R. , "Oriental Star Maps" in Mapping the Sky, edited by S. Debarbat, et ai, International Astro­nomical Union, 1988.

Stephenson, FR ., " Chinese and Korean Star Maps and Catalogs" in The History of Cartography, edited by Harley & Woodward , Univers ity of Chicago Press, Chicago & Lon ­don, 1994.

Stephenson, ER., D.H. Clark and D. F. Crawford , "The Supernova of AD 1006," MOllthly Notices oj" the Royal ASlronomical Society, Vol. [80, 1977, pp. 567-584.

Stephenson , ER. & D.A. Green, Historical Supel"llovae and their Rem­lIalllS, Clarendon Press, Oxford , 2002.

Stephenson, F.R . & D.A. Green, "A Millenn ium of Shattered Stars," Sky & Telescope , May 2003.

Stevenson, 1., The Cata com bs: Redisco vered Monllments of Early Christ ianity, Thames & Huds o n, London , 1978.

Sun, X. & J. Ki sternaker, The Chi­/lese Sky During the Han, Bri ll , Leiden & NY, [997 .

Tian, W. & D. Leahy , "Candi­dates for Pulsar/Supernova Remnant Associat ions," Progress ill Astroll ­amy, Vol. 22· ~·--No. 4, Hong Kong , 2004, pp. J08-3J.J.

Tirion, Wi l, Cambridge Sky Atlas, Third Editioll, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Wang , Z. & Z. Li . " Is SGR 1900+ 14 Associated with the 4 BC 'Po Star"!" Astrophysical 10l/mal 569 , 2002: L43- L45.

Wei ler, K.W .. "A New Look at Su­pernova Remnants," Sky & Telescope, November 1979 .

Williamson, R. A., Living the Sky : The COSIIIOS of the American Indian, Houghton Miffl in, Boston, 1984.

Wil pert . G., Ein cYc!lIs christo/­ogischer Gemalde ails der kalako­mbe der heilegen Petrus und Mar­ce!linus, Freiburg, German y, 189 1.

cOlllinued Oil page 44 ..

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January 2012 37

Owl Eyes and Camtacus

Two exceedingly rare ancient Brit­ish coins, sold in July aflas! year, have interesting stories behind them. The first great rarity is an "Owl Eyes" type gold stater of the Corieltavi tribe, whose name means "army of [the god­dess] L itav is" or "warband of the broad land ." This "Owl Eyes" stater was found by a metal detectorist at Ulceby Cross , Lincolnshire, in 1994-the same year that the earliest known rendering of an owl, created around 30,000 years ago, was found in a cave in southern France.

1_UOwl Eyes" gold stater, ca. 45-10 BG, with horse composed of crescent moons, found in 1994. Only four others recorded. Sold by Ghris Rudd, 11 July 2011 , £2500.

ets that cannot move. Their heads compensate by being able [ 0 turn more than 240 degrees in either direct ion, reversing so swift ly that some observers have had the ill usion of be ing fo l­lowed in a complete circle . Owls are stealthy hunters too, well camouflaged. si­len t and deadly. No wonder the owl was adopted by Ath­ena, Greek goddess of war and craftsmanship and pro­tectorof Athens , which was awa rded to her by the twelve gods and named af­ter her. One of the many

Only four o ther examp les of the "Owl Eyes" stater are recorded, two of which came from the Beverley hoard and are now in Bridlington Mu ­seum. Dr. John Sills, co-au thor of An -

cient British Coills and convener of the recent Celtic coins conference at Ox­ford University (Decembe r 10, 2011), says the "Owl Eyes" coin is an impor­tant type because it can be die linked to the earliest inscribed gold stater of the Corieltavi, struck by Vepo "the voice," son of Cor. whose full name might be Corionos "army chief' or Corrios "t he dwarf."

In the ancient world the owl sym­bo lized knowledge, especially esoter­ic knowledge- not surprising really when you think how well owls see in the dark. Owls have extremely keen vision . The ir eyes are set in bony sock-

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38 The Gelator

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2- First known picture of an owl, ca. 28,000·30,000 Be, found by Jean­Marie Ghauvet in a cave in southern France, 1994.

names and epithets of Athena i s glaukopis, which is usually translated as "grey-eyed" or "owl-eyed ." I guess that's why we see the wise, wide-eyed, killer-owl o n the coins of Athens, watch ing ove r the city by night. And maybe that's why we see a stylized owl

3-Silver tetra drachm of Athens, ca. 450-404 Be, with Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Note crescent moon to left of owl. Sold by Dix Noonan Webb, 22 June 2011, £7,200.

4-Was Corio eltavian god· dess Litavis linked to Indi· an gearth · mother " Prthivi? Relief of goddess "she who makes a loud noise ~ riding an owl. Uttar Pradesh, In · dia , 1()'h_ ' l 'h

century AD.

on a gold coin of the Corieltavi , whose main tribal deity cou ld well have been the eart h-goddess Litavis, whose name is cognate with the ancient Indian Prthi vi, who in Vedic hymns is repeat­edly referred to as "mother earth ." says Professor Joh n Koch.

The second rare coin I want to tell you about is a silver unit of Caratacus "beloved chief," the famous Briti sh freedom -fi ghter who waged guerri ll a warfare again st the Rom an army for eight years, unti l he was bet rayed in AD 51 by Cartimandua "strong pony," queen of the Brigantes . For 120 years

5- Cara tacus silver unit in BibliotMque Nationale, Paris, incorrectly attributed to Cunobelinus by Ernest Muret in 1889 and Sir John Evans in 1890.

this coin type has been wrongly attrib­uted to King Cunobe linus , the fa ther o f Caratacus, because the French nu ­mi smat ist, Ernest Muret, had origi ­na ll y read the in sc ript ion on the Par­is spec imen as CAM-short for Ca ­/Ill/Iodl/IIOII (modern Colc hester) , the capita l of Cunobe linus. Sir John Evans ( 182 3- 1908), the father of ancient British num ismatics. also gave the coi n to Cunobelinus in hi s

1890 Supplement to Th e Coins of the Allcient Britolls.

Ten years ago, Dr. Philip de Jersey. an arch aeo logi s t in Guern sey and former keeper of the Celtic Coin In­dex, challenged Muret's reading and said that the legend appeared to be CA R. He also said: "Th ere are no find­spots, and one cou ld argue th at the at­tribut ion to Cunobclin is debatabl e, desp ite the broad styli sti c similarities and the di fficulty of suggesting a via­ble alternati ve" (Cu llobel in's Silver, Britallllia 32, 2001, 18). Earl ier th is year a findspot and a " viable :ll terna­tive" both emerged.

• ~ 6-Caratacus silver unit, ca. AD 40·43, found in Hertfordshire and restored to Caratacus by Elizabeth Cottam in July, 2011 . Only three others recorded.

cOII/jlllled Oil page 46 ...

Kenneth W. Dorney Classical Numism atist

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January 2012 39

Lanz Cont. from pg. 35

was one of the rarest gold coins of the German Empire, the Wurltemberg 20-Mark piece, 1913 F, in very fine to ex­tremely fine condition (no. 790, 16,500 euros).

Traditionally, Numismatik Lanz has a strong clientele in Italy. That is testified by the results achieved in this section . Not a Single piece was returned. And an extremely rare testone of Carlo Giovanni Amadeo, who, as duke, ruled over Sa­voy from 1490 to 1496 (no. a1a, very fine), became the third most expensive coin of the auction with its price of 18 ,000 eures. However, it shared this place with Lot 738-Austria. Maria Theresa (1740-1780). AV Gnadenmedaille

of 14 ducats, not dated. (M. Donner, Vienna) on the Bohemian Cor­onation. Holzmair 29 (in gold not verifiable). Realized 11,000 euros.

Lot 706-Byzantine Empire. Zoe and Theodora (April-June 1042). AV Hista­menon Nomisma, 1042 AD, Constanti­nopolis. DOC 1. Of the greatest rarity. Extremely fine. Realized 50,000 euras.

a Russian silver coin: a very rare quintuple schautaler of Peter the Great by Christian Wermuth, minted in 1697 on his ' irst visit to Europe (no. 890, very fine), increased six­fold its estimate 01 3,000 euros.

These were just a few highlights of the auction of Numismatik Lanz. We already wonder what auction house Lanz will offer for sale next year. For anyone unable to wait until then , Numismatik Lanz cont inu-

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE

THE SWISS NUMISMATIC SOCIETY The Swiss Numismatic Society was founded in 1879: since 189 1 it has pub l ished i ts annual journa l, the Revue Suisse de Nllmimwliqlle (RSN)/ Schweizerische NUlllislI!ali scile R//Ildschou (SNR), and since 1949 its quar­terly, the Schweizer Miill zbliirtel' (SM ). The Society promotes all branches of numismatic science, not only those concerned specifical ly with Switzerland: articles on cl assical, med ieval, and modern coins. medals and paper money all appear in the Society's journals. and are written in either Engl ish. French, German or Italian . Membership is open to anyone interestcd in numismalics, whether they are collectors, dealers. or scholars: the Society sponsors lectures and meetings where its members and friends can discuss the ir interests in a fruitfu l and co ll eg ial way-including a yea rl y Numismatische Tage Schwc iz, with lec­tures, visits, and a festive dinner. For marc information. please refer [ 0 our website www.numisuisse.ch. which wi ll be expanded in the very near future. Becomi ng a member is easy, just contact us-we wil l help you to join our numismatic community and further your numismatic know ledge and enjoy­menl. M embership costs CHF 130 a year for ove rseas members (120 for Europe and 110 for Switzerland), but only CHF 70 a year for those under 30 (60 for Europe and 50 for Swi tzerland). Pl ease contact us at contac t@numisuisse.ch, or write our Secretary, M r. Pierre-A. Zanchi , Chemin Cure 6 B. CH-J008 Prill y, Switzerland , or send him a fax at +41 21 728 65 61, or an emai l to pmzanch i @b luewin.ch.

40 The Celator

Lot 818-ltaly. Savoy; Carlo Giovanni Amadeo (1490-1496). Testone, not dated, Turin (?). Gnecchi 4971. Extremely rare. Very fine. Re-

alized 18,000 euros.

ously conducts auctions at eBay. To check it out, please cl ick at http :// www.ebay.de/sch/numismat ikl anzl m.htmI?JkN=&_armrs=1&_from=&...P9=100

The results of auction 153 can be viewed at www.lanz.com.

Editor's Note ConI. from pg. 2

I visited John the day after Thanks­giving. and he showed me his copy of the Red Rose Coin Club's 50-Year His­tory. He didn' t say anything about it, which was not unusual for him. but I could tell he was proud of the finished product.

The Red Rose Coin Club of Lancast­er. PA is the host club of the 20 12 ANA World's Fair of Money in Philade lphia next August 7- 11, and I am the Host Club Chai rman. If it were not for John Eshbach 's influence and guidance, I doubt that our club would be the host club, nor would I be the chai rman. Hopefu lly, we can help the ANA pro­duce another blockbuster convention, and honor the memory of the quiet, dis­tinguished ex Marine from L ancaster, Pennsylvania that lived the Corp's mot­to until the very end: Semper Fidelis­"AlwllYs faithful. '·

The Symbolic World ofNaqadaH

Pre Dynastic Egyptian Painted Pottery

In Egypt proper, as opposed to Nu­bia, where outs ide influences were at work , pa inted poltery is onl y found in a few periods: notably. the Pre Dynas­tic. New Ki ngdom, Classical, and Copt ic periods. In the New Kingdom, painti ng was large ly decorat ive and not figural. wh ile in the Classical pe­riod it was influenced by Greek and Roman prototypes. Copti c pa int ing was, like the decorated tex ti les o f the period, mostl y a development of classi­cal themes. However, in the Pre Dynas­tic period a unique fi gural painted style is characteristic of the Naqada period.

This style was highly absuuct and linear but for the most parI cohesive. It favored 3quatic themes such as riv­er fauna and boats bUI also depiction s of the adjacent marshlands. In some cases, the an imals of the desert be­yond, such as an telope. were sh9wn. It is quest ionab le whether actual dei­ties are shown. although totemic ani ­mals may be. Certain ly. we do not see the lInimal-headed hum:m dei ties so common in later Egyptian art. How­ever, some scholars have post ulated that a few human figures appear 10 be worshipping others. Many of the boats bear standards, which may be sy mbols of d ivi nity. although it has a lso been speculaled that they were the symbol s of the various ports along the Ni le. Anothe r theory is that they are tri bal standards, a practice that survived in to

Say that you

read it in

The Celator

later Egyptian periods. The Bible de­scribes such tri bal standards as being in use during the period of the Exo­dus. Where humans are depicted. they are usually engaged in such common aclivities as hunting and fighting.

A separate class of pain ted pOt­tery in the period has geometric de­signs, includi ng circles, spirals, and scales. Since these designs usually appear on shapes that clearly imi ­late stone vessels of the period, they may have been intended to mimi c natural patterns in the stone. Dior­ite. a very common stone for these lug-hand led pots, has putlern s of inclusion s, which though not exact­ly the same, might we ll have served as a source of inspiration to the con­temporary pottery pa inte rs.

The painted pottery of this period is relatively scarce. It is also highly desirab le to modem coll ectors. and thus commands very high prices at auction. Because the style is so easy to imitate and many more undecorated but genuine vessels are on the market than painted ones, it is not uncommon fo r forgers to paint a genuine but unpainted pot in modem times. Such repainting can be detected by scientific examination but some of the usua l tests. such as the r-

A Naqada /I Egyptian painted pot in the Lou­vre Museum, Paris. Photo by Guillaume Blanchard, Wikimedia Commons.

moluminesccncc, will not work, as the unde rl ying vesse l is ancient. Tota lly f:l ke pots also ex ist and are difficu lt 10 detect on style alone. so the collec­lor must be part icularly carefu l in con­sidering the purchase of one of these objects and an expert should be con­su lted whenever poss ible.

January 2012 41

Countermarks on Procurator Coins

Fr. A. Spijkerman published a countermarked coin of Valerius G ra­tus in 1963; it was the first noted ex­ample of a co untcrmarked coin of a prefect or procurator of Judacu. In 1993, Kenneth Lonnq visl published the most detailed study to date on these coins and noted there were "to our knowledge 20 counlermarked coins of Valerius Gratus and Pontius Pilate." Since U:innqvist's paper was published, we have seen on ly lWO additional examples of counter­marked coins of Pontiu s Pilate, hence a total of fewer than 25 kn own.

The counterrnark s, which occu r on Valerius Gratus coins oflhe palm branch type (Hend in 1340a) and on co in s of Po ntius Pi la te (Hendin 1343d), consist of a palm branch within a circle. Sometimes the let ­ters C n flank the palm branch. Liin ­nqv ist identifies the first letter as a Greek " sigma," which often appears in thi s fOfm (lunate) on provincial coins and inscriptions. He believes tha t this is an abbreviation of a Greek word that means "cohort"- a tactical military unit, which was a major element of a leg ion.

By examin in g the coins on which they were struck, Lonnqvi st con­cludes that the countermarks were s truck on the coins after 29/30 CE but before 41 C Eo

Lonnqvist refers to a portion of Acts:

Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a CClI­

I!lrion of what was adled the Ital­ian cohort.. (Acts 10: I)

This cohort was comprised of Ro­man citizens and may be identified with the Cohors /I Itahca, known from inscriptions, and Lonnqvist argues convincingly that this ·'had been th e detachment which applied the countermarks on the coins of the Roman prefects of Judaea. The dat ­ing of this passage of the text of the Acts and the countermarks coincide well , the countermarks having been applied after 31132 AD and before 41 AD, and the text of Acts being pl aced around 40. This new evidence from the countermarks of the Jud ae­an provinc ial coinage lends strong support to the credibility of the New Testam ent on this point. Epigraphi­cal material shows that this cohort had been transferred (back) to Syria by 69."

Lonnq vist also cites a number of passages in the book of Acts that dis­cuss a certain Roman citizen cohort, or a part of it , that was stationed in the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem at around the time St. Paul was appre­hended there.

And while they were seeking to kill him, a report came lip to the commander of the Koman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. (Acts 21:31)

Lonnqvist concludes that this unit, stationed in the Antonia, was a portion of the I ,OOO-man unit of the Cohors /I llalica transferred to

ffiH. D. RAUCH GmbH Vienna RAUCH Numismatist and Auctioneer since 1969

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42 The Celator

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Countermark with the letters C n flanking a palm branch on a coin of Valerius Gratus (Hendin 1340a; left photo) and Pontius Pilate (Hen din-1343d; right photo). These letters may be the abbreviation of a Greek word that means "cohort," possibly re ferring to a portion of the 1,000-man unit of the Cohors II ll alica that was garrisoned in Jerusalem.

Judaea in 37 CE to escort Agrippa I to his ne w kingdom in Judaea, and then stati oned in Caesarea . That unit was then divided into three smaller units, which were garrisoned in Jeru sa lem , Caesarea. and possibly Ma sada. While there is no real indi ­cation of where the countermark ing operation was locat ed, Lonnqvist believes it was in Jeru salem, "which must have been the most important garrison of the cohort and where its rolc was to restore order after Pi ­late 's rule."

E ven though these counter­marked coins of the prefecls and procurators are extremely rare to­day, Lonnqvist has identified at least 12 different countermark dies. thus indicating that the number of coins counterm arked by the Second Le­gion Cohort must have been consid­erable.

Copyright © 20 12 by Dav id Hendin

LETTERS Continued/rom page 4

was actually a numismatist. This idea is accepted today by everyone who fails to study the subject.

Anthropologist David Graeber (To­ward An Anthropological Theory of Value: The Fa lse Coin of Our Own Dreams, Palgrave Macmillan, 200 1) asserts thai no so-called ~pri mitive~

society has ever shown evidence of evolving from barter to money. Grae­ber pOints out that barter is what mon­ey economies revert to when current coin fa ils. Money, says Graeber, was invented solely to keep track of debts. While hi s own commu nist-anarchist fear of monetary debt must warn us, his science seems accurate. It sup­ports the non-ideological research of Denise Schmandt·Besseral (How Writ­ing Came About, University of Texas Press 1996). literacy evolved from numeracy. Large numbers such as five, six, and seven, were invented as a re­sult of thousands of years of use of clay tokens representing debts.

Independent developmen t in the New World substantiates the claim that money evolved from ritua l gift ex ­change. This rests on ~debt" being per­ceived as a social obligation , not just the transfer of stuff. We know that wampum was invented by Hiawatha to ameliorate conflicts between tri bes. (See Curious Currency: The Story of Money from the Stone Age to the In­ternet Age by Robert Leonard , Whit­man, 2010, Odd & Curious Money by Charles Opitz , First Impression, 1986 and An Ethnographic Study of Primi­tive Money by Charles Opitz, First Im­pression, 2001.)

Not every Bronze Age culture be­gan with copper tool s. In any case, copper does not hold an edge. Gold and silver, while pretty, are also even less useful. Understanding the devel­opment 01 bronze and then iron tech­nologies is a separate challenge far beyond my own reading. I leave it to others to clarify that for us.

As for coinage, many theories have been offered . After 20 years of study­ing this myself, t believe that Ronald M. Cook is most correct: coins were invented as bonus payments-not pri­mary payments- to mercenaries. How­ever, this means that the ornamental mark ings like ly had no pro mise of weight or purity. That function came

cO llli/wed 011 page 46 .

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January 2012 43

Little by Little. We Lose Some

Freedom A Memorandum of Understa nding

(MOU) is a bil ateral agreement be­tween two (or more) parties to set rules and term s of cooperation to reach a specific goal. For example. the Ant­arc tic Treaty is a form of MOU thai govern s the peaceful ex ploration and scient ific study of the vast Antarctic reg ion. At its best, MOUs provide a framework for peacefu l internationa l coo peration. And al its worst. it ca n be used as a tool of opp ression.

As anc ienl coins coll ec tors and dealers, most of the MOU s (and at­tempted MOUs) Ihal we are currently imcreslcd in in volve agreements be­twecn the US Slate Department and host countries over importing of an­cient coi ns. Or rather banni ng the im­port of anc ient coins. Unfo rtu nately, it see ms like the MOU s just keep on co ming.

In late October, the Bulgari an gov­ern me nt started the process of creat ­ing an MOU with the US State Depart­ment to ban the import of art ifacts. incl uding all co ins minted from 7500 BC through the 191t1 century AD. The comment period closed in early No­vember. with most of the comments on the ancient coin issue and 7 1 % of them

agai nst the MOV. No word yet as to the fate of that MO U, bu t j udgi ng from past State Depart ment prac ti ce it will probably be passed and s igned i nto law so me t i me a round t he Chris tm as holidays, when they hope no o ne wil l not ice.

Th en , on Dece mber I ", 20 I I , a MOV betwee n the State Department and the Government of Greece go v­e rn ing the restrictions on importin g certain cl asses of (mcient Greek coi ns took effect. The memo covers certa in bronze and si lver coi ns minted within the boundaries of modern Greece from the classica l through Roman periods.

There arc many curi ous hol es in the lis t o f ba nn ed co ins. s uch as the drachms of Alexande r I I I arc cove red, but apparently tetradrach ms arc not. Greek bronze coins through the late I" century BC are covered and then Ro­man provinci al bronzes from the 2nd centu ry BC through the 3n:l ce ntu ry A D. And , curiously. the re is no men­tion of gold at a ll. We woul d have thou ght tha t gold coi ns, from the ir relative rari ty. wou ld have been more "culturally signi ficant" than common bron ze coin s.

Then again . wh at do we know? You shou ld read the full memo to absorb a ll of the fi ner nua nces on what is and isn' t banned from import . Full details of the memo can be seen he re:

tutp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-20 1 1-12-01/htmIl20 1 1-30905.htm.

On the o ther ha nd , t he C ypru s MOU is curren tly open for comments on extend ing the original agreement on anc ient coi ns signed in 2007 . With typical State Department sneaki ne ss, the comment period is sho rt and takes places during the hol idays . For detai ls on Ihe MOV sec:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkglFR-20 11 -12-07/htmI120 11 -3 1408.htm.

Fi nally. for the latest info rmation in the ongoi ng fi ght with the anti-col-

Learn All About Collecting Ancient Coins

www.ancientcoinmarket.com New Articles Monthly

44 The Gelator

lecting forces, SlOp by the Cult ura l Property Obse rve r blog (by Peter To mp a) at : h ttp :// culturalpropcrtyobserver.blogspot.coml

That is about all thi s month . We wish all of our readers a Happy Holi­day and a sa fe New Year.

And we hope that you didn't for­get to leave your comments on th e Cyprus MO U.

Supernova Cont. from pg. 37

Xi. Z. & S. Bo, "Ancient Novae and Supernovae Recorded in the Annals of Chi na, Korea. and Japan and Thei r S ignifi cance in Radi o Astro no my," Acra A.I"tronumica Sinica , Vol. 13, No . 1,1965, pp . 1-2 1.

Xu , Z., D.W. Pankeni er & Y. J ia ng , Ea.\"( A,\'ial1 A rchaeoastrollomy: Histo r­ical Records of Astrol1omical Oln'er­I'(ItiollS of China, Japal/, alld Korea, Gordon & Breach Science Pub lishers. S ingapore, 2000.

Yeomans, O. K. , Comels: A Ch ro-1I0iogiCll I History of Observat ions, Scient'e, My th and Folk lore. John Wi ley & So ns, NY, 1991.

Youn g, EM. , M.1 . Edward s & P.M. Parvis, 5111ditl Patristica . Vol. XXXIX­XLII. Papers presenre(/ at the 14th In­ternatiollal Conference on PlIIristic Studies held ill Oxford, 2003. Leuven. Paris & Dudley. MA, 2006.

About the (llI thor-Roben S. Mci vor was born in Ireland in 1946 and moved to Canada in 1968. He hold s a Fel low­ship degree fro m the Insurance Insti­tute of Canada, and he has been an in­sura nce cl aim s invest ig ator for 30 years. His hobbies include num ismat­ics. astronom y, and chronology. This is his six th art icle fo r The Celli/or.

When you con tact the dealers advertising in thls issue, don 't forget to tell them that

y ou saw their a d in

~ The ~ Celator

Capital "B"ureaucracy

There have been several "schol ar­ly" discussions in recent years about "who owns the past" or w ho own s objects from the past. Everyone seem s 10 agree that "we" own both Ihe past and it s objects. What is in dispute is the defini tion of "we," Is that we in­divi duall y. or we as a group? Do "we the people" o f an ind ividu al nation state or homogeneous ethni c group have congregate rights that we person­ally do not possess? If so, how are those rights decided nnd protected?

Historically, the question of rights has been decided by one overriding cl­ement of soc ial organization-pow­er-and power is nearl y always vest­ed in the hands of Ihe state. The rights of individuals have varied consider­ably from state to stule, but the con­cept of property rights or "ownership" typically tracks a long wi th the form of government wielding power with­in it s sphere of innuenee. During the pas t centu ry, diverse fo rm s of gov­ernmen t like Communism, Social­ism. Dictatorships and Democracy have im posed on their ci tizenry di ­amet ri call y opposed views about property r ight s. Wh en soc ia l unres t or exte rn a l force changes a form of govern ment, property rights a lso are s usce ptible to change.

In the American form of Democra­cy. power is theoreti call y vested in the government throu gh a process of di­rect represe ntation . The agencies wield ing that power arc a ll subject at sOllle poi nt to the authority of an elect­ed official. Those who admini ster the laws of Ihe land serve at the will of the people in a plural sense, not at the will of a person. In theory, the gen ­eral w ill o f the publi c prov ides th e mandate for la w and auth or ity to e n fo rce the law. So i n a n idea l wo rld , the co ncept o f pr ivate own­ership and individual rig ht s that America n capitali sm and American society evolved from would serve as the guid ing light o f gove rnment.

Actually, that core phi losophy be- · hind {he "American Way". what Amer­icans think of as the ir fundamenta l rights, is constant ly being challenged both by external and internal oppos i­ti on. The question o f fede ra l ri ghts versus states rights led to a major civ­il war 150 years ago in which the fed­e ral view prevailed. Through the pow­e r con solidated in federa l authority at that time, came a new order in America where direct representation was diluted by a rapidly growing and powerful bu­reauc racy. This necessary element of government was never envisioned by the fou nding fa thers as becoming fu nction­ally autonomous. Consequently, the sep­aration of powers that was incorporated to provide checks and balances within the federal system has proved ineffec­tive in dealing with the modern over­reach of bureaucracy.

As a result. a century tater, the Bu­reaucracy (now a capi ta l " B") has about the same relalionship to the Peo­ple that the emperor had in Rome. The legislat ive body holds very litt le sway ove r the Bureaucracy, and in many re­gards has become the servant of Bu­reaucracy rather than of the electorate. The executive office, being a revolv­ing door. is virtuall y powerless to in­fluence the Bureaucracy in any sub­stant ial way.

Wh ethe r th is turn of events is a good thing or a bad thing depends pret­ty much on one' s poi nt of view and the im pact of Bureaucracy on one's most immed iate personal issues. The most obvious impacts (good or bad) are seen in lhe areas where widespread crisi s ca n quickly emerge, like health care, law and order. disaster control, nati on­a l sec uri ty, finance, e tc . There are, however, myriad ways in which Bu­reaucracy can affect indi viduals with­out drawing attention from the mass­es. These effects arc often cloaked and insi dious. Even wh en objections are

Ancient N"ll Research

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raised, the issues_arc usually masked .. in controversy and complex ity. Taking on the Bureaucracy head-Io-head is truly an ad ventu re in frustration .

The old say ing that absolute pow ­e r corrupts abso lutely is not applica­ble just to de spots. Within a system where checks and balances are no longe r in play, the re is a ripe environ­ment fo r the nurturing of spec ial in­lerests. One savvy bureaucrat in the righ t place ca n have a tremendous in­fluence on the interests of a single per­spective. One might ask, is it really so bad if a special inte rest gets its way now and then, but the broader inter­ests of the nation are provided fo r in the long run ? That's almost a rhetori­cal question. because again it depends on one's point of view.

Shou ld the Bureaucracy be a stew­ard for a ll of soc iety? Is it the role of governmen t to serve as an age nt for social change? T hese ominous ques­tions can arise from seemingly innoc­uous sit uations, even in the pursuit of a centuries old avocation like coin col­tecting. Should the Bureaucracy take sides in a debate over private owner­ship and trade in coins? Should the Bu­reaucmcy inte rpret federa l law with a bias toward one social view over anoth­er view with equal rights? What recourse is available to the People, or to a per­son. if Bureaucracy goes astray?

These arc not imponderable ques­lions, they are questions of fu ndamen­tal rights and are therefore questions of concern 10 the People, no t just to a special interest like coi n collectors. They are ques tion s that should be weighed by an unb iased court of en­quiry, eithe r in the Juslice system or the Legis lat ive branch of government. Bureaucracy is here to stay. make no mistake about that. but does it get a free pass to ope rate wi th impunity?

cOilIinued on page 46 .. .

January 2012 45

Rudd Cont. from pg. 39

A metal deteclorisl unearthed an­o ther speci men of Ih is e lu sive silver coin-only the four th known-in Hert­fordsh i re, heartland of the Catuvel1au­nl tribe, probably at a sile nen T Heme l Hemp stead, where Evans lived and worked most of hi s life, My owl-eyed coll eague Elizabeth Cottam acqu ired thi s coi n, realized th at the name on the reverse was indeed CA R not CAM, and published it as "an unrecogni zed coin of Caratacus" (Chris RI/lld Lisl 118, July 2001,5). " He fought so hard for Britain ," says Liz, " I think it's only fai r that he gets the credit for iss uing this coi n. not his dad." Co inc identally, Dr. Alice Roberts foc uses on Ca ratacus in the third Digging for BriTain TV pro­gram (BBC2, August 2011 ).

Photo Credits I. Photo by Chris Rudd . woodcut

by Thomas Bewick. 1797. 2. J-M. Chauvet. E.B. Deschamps. and C. Hi· laire, Dawn of Art: The Challl'et Cave, the Oldest known Pa intings ill the World. New York, 1996. 3. Dix Noon­an WCbb, 22.6.2011, Lot No. 10 13. 4. Tile Book of Symbols. Eds. Ami Ronn­berg :.md Kathleen Manin. Taschen. Co­logne, 20 10. 5. Detai l from stained gl:lSS window in Mool Hall . Colchester Town Hal l, Photo© Miranda Aldhousc-Grcen. Boudic(l Britannia, 2006; coin drawing of BN 9564 by Paul Sellier in J. Evans, The COill.5 of the Ancient Britons, 1890. 6. Chris Rudd.

Letters Cont. from pg. 43

later. Also, for these electrum nuggets to be valued at all, a previous devel­opment was required, one not fully ex­plored and understood today. Cook's theory fails to account for the rap id (one century) development of coinage for commerce , wh ereby distant cities struck to common ratios for conve· nience. Just to say: even the strongest theory on this is not complete.

For many years, the Encyclopedia Britannica carried Charles Sellman's article, ·Money.~ Sellman touted his own ucommercial theory" for the inven· tion of coinage, to the exclusion of all others . In his time, several were of· fered. Considering the etymology of ~monela" from th e Temple of Juno Moneta ("the Warner"), Ernst Curti us theorized that coinage began in tem· pies because they attracted surplus wealth. Thirty years later, the discov· eries of what we still consider the old· est coins al the Temple of Altemis al Ephesus would seem to have substan· tiated thai ; but Se ltman ignored it to· tally. Curti us was likely wrong about that, but , it is interesting to note, again , the temples of Sumeria are now ac· cepted as the origins of debt , tokens, numeracy, and literacy.

When it comes to the history of money and the origins of coinage, add it up as you wish, the tallies are only subtotals.

Michael E. Marotta Austin, Texas

I Say that you read it in The Celatorl

/lARCUS AURWUS BRA/PLUS , TH~ ~~W~ST CHATOR AT TH~ IMP[RIAL MI~T, D~CID~STO 'UHP OUr-BY TAKI~G SOM~ WORK HOM~ · RAV~~~A gS C.~ .

46 The Gelator

Sayles Cont. from pg. 45

The issues thaI ancient co in col · lectors face with the State Depart ­men t Bureaucr acy are nOI al a[ 1 unique. A simple search w ill bring up thou sands of stories about prob­lems ex perienced and d i scontent among the masses. A t some point. one might hope thai th e situation might improve, Meanwhi le, the need to actively oppose bu rea ucra tic overreach i s real and immed iate.

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January 2012 49

Professional Directory

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50 The Gelator

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January 2012 51

Professional Directory ( Coins & Books ) ( Coins & Books )

Ancient COins, Antiquities, Literature & Related Collectibles! Bought, Sold and Auctioned!

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52 The Cefator

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January 2012 53

Club & Society Directory

Ancient Coin Club of Chicago

Meets the 4,h Monday of the month (e cept D~ a 6..r.m at th e resea C li brary of Harl an J. Berk, I:td. at 7;; W. Washington, 13,h Floor,t in downtown Chi~ caga. or infor arion, please write: AC.fC

P.O) ,!ox' 933, Ch;cago L 606ifl} 933.

www.anc"e~t-cOin..-Clu~cago.com

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Ancient Coin Club ofLos Angeles

Meets the 2nd Sunday of the month at lpm a t the Com­muni ty Room in th e Sher­man Oaks Galleria in Sher­man Oaks, CA. For more infor mation, please visit http ://www.accia .org.

San Francisco Ancient Numismatic Society

Meets the 2nd Saturday of each month at 2: JSpm at Fort Ma­son, San Francisco. Guests are welcome. For further infonna­

tion, please contact the club at SF ANS@ancient-coins.com.

PAN - The Pacific Ancient Numismatists

Meets the 2nd Sunday

~~. 'P.j{ .... ,( of the month at 1 :OOpm . ::. rJ at the Bellevue Public

library in Bellevue , WA. For further infor-mation write to PAN at

P.O. Box 1384, Langley, WA 98260. www.pnna.org/pan

Join a Club & Enjoy Your Hobby Even More!

54 The Ce/ator

Twin Cities Ancient Coin Club

Meets the 4th Thursday of the month at 7:30PM at Immanuel l utheran Church, 104 Snelling Ave. , one block south of Grand Ave. in St. Paul. MN. For more information, please visit the club's webs ite at www.ti nyurl.com/ w5wkn.

DAWN Denver Area World

Numismatists Meets the "t Friday of each month at 7PM at Calvary Chapel located at 9052 W. Ken Caryl Ave near So. Garrison Street in littleton, Colo­rado . For collectors of AnCient, Me­dieval and World coins. All are wel­~Call Bill Rosenblum at 720-981-0785 for further information.

Classical Numismatic Society of the

Delaware Valley M eets the 2nd Sat urday of each month at I :OOpm at Camden County Library, 15 MacArthur Blvd. , Westmont, NJ 081 08 . For info rmation, please call Dick Shultz at (856) 667-0346.

Ancient Coin Collectors Guild

P.o. Box 911 Gainesville, MO 65655

Orange County

OCACC Ancient Coin Club

The OCACC meets on t~ 4th Soturday of the month from 1:30J.4:)OPM Of the Fountain Valky Public

Library. The library i. 10<: •• 00" 17635 U,. Alamo, S.reet in f ountain V.lIey, PI •• "" conla'" Breit Telford

a t (909) 965 ·2909 or at brelt@soc.lcoin"comfo. details on future mooting.,

www.roc.loo;ns.wmJOCACC.htm

:7Incienl %,mismalic

0OC,"iy ojWashin'l/on, ,])C Usually meets the 3m Sunday of each month at 2:00pm. Please join us for our programs and discussions of ancient nu­mismatics and history. Por more infor­mation, please contact First Consul Mike Mehalick at 301-552-2214, GENIOA VGVSTI@comcast.nclOrvisit http://answ.ancicnKinfo.

VANCOUVER ANCIENT COIN CLUB

The Vancouver. BC Anciem Coin Club usually meets the second

Sunday of each month from 2-4 pm at the McGill Branch of the Burnaby Library. 4595 Albert Street, Burnaby, ncar Willingdon and Hastings. For

more infomlation, contact Paul at 604 -314-4976 or email

Assoelatio" of Det>icMet> 13\jza"fj"e Collectors

Meets Saturday at 11 :00 AM at major events : January NYI NC, Summer ANA, with guest speaker and mutual display of treasures. Annual dues are $10. Contact the Empress at Thalassa888@yahoo.com. Dues to ADBC, P.O. Box 585, Okemos, MI 48805-0585; (5 17) 349-0799 .

Wayne G. Say!es.

Executive Director 417-679-2 142

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Club & Society Directory

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INDEX OF DISPLAY ADVERTISERS Album. Stephen ___________ ... .. ....... ...... " ......... ...... 48 Amphofa . 43 ANACS _____________ .... ............. .... .............. .......... 19 Ancient Coin Market (ACM·Ll _____ ... .... ......... .......... 44 Ancient Imports ___ ........ ... " ...... ...... .... " .. .................. 51 Antiqua lnc.. .. ___________ _____ 20 Antiquarius _ "" .... .... ........ ................ 47 ApoloniaAncient Art 47 Art lor Etemily Ga~ery 52 Artemi<!e Aste s.'. I. 1. 51 A rt~ Primilivo ____ .... .... ........ ...... ......... .... .................. 47 Beach, James E. 49 Beasl Co<ns "" ... ............... ................... ................. ..... 49 Beo1<ltd .. Ha~M J _______ ...... ... .......... . 47 , 8ackCover Berman, Allen G .... " .................................................. t4 Cabinets by Craig 52 Calgary Coin Ganery . .. _ ......................................... 4 9 Cederlind , Tom ........ ....................... Inside Froot Cover CGB-CGF ___ _ -. ...................................................... 25 Civitas Galleries 49 Classical Numismatic Group. Inc.. Inside Back Cover Co<nArt.nel ______________ .. .................................. 47 Co<nAlJCtionBid .com ............... ; .......... ................... ..... :J.8 Co<n News.. 56 CoinP'oiect.com.. 50 Connie's Coins .. 36 Davis. Charles" 37 Davis. Kill< ____ _ .. _ ........ .. ........ .............. ..... " ...... 16, 52 Davissons Ltd _ ........... ...................... ..... .................... 48 Dix Noonan Webb .. 24 Dorney, Kenneth W 39,51 Dow, Joser>hA _______ ............. .... . " ...................... .. 31 Fragments of Tim~ ___ " ........................................ .... 47 Freeman & Sear ________________ ______ ________ " 27 G_rg AlJC'iooeetS, Ira & Larry ..... " ." ..... . " .... ___ 21 Gorny & Mosch Giessener Mun,handl""g GmbH ..... 27 HD Enterprises 47 Herakles Numismatics. Inc_ 47 Heritage Numismatic Auctioos, loe . ................... 28 &. 29 Hirsch, Gerhard Nachf. l3. Jencek Historical Enlerprise ............ " ..................... " ... 8 Kern Co .. Jonathan K. _ 50 Kolbe &. Fanning LlC _ " ............................... 34, 48 Krin. Brian 48 K(jn~er, Fritz Rud<>1 . 25 London Ancierlt Coins Ltd ................ " ........................ 39 l ondon Coin Ga lleries 01 Mission Viejo ..................... 52 Malter GaHanes Inc_ " ...................... " ......................... 52 MA-Shops_com .. .... ............................ ................ .... .... 31 Menorah Coin Store 17 MOIlon & Eden Ltd ...... " ................. " ................... " ... 33 MCtnzhandlung Riner GmbH ........... ......... .... .............. 49 Murphy, Barry P ......................................................... 47 M & M Numismatics, Ltd ................ " ................ .......... 50 M & R Coins 50 MOn,en und Medail ",n Companies .. ...... ............ .... ... 10 Najaf Coins _ _ ......... " .................. 43, 50 New Yo, k International Numismalic Cony ___ -. ........... 9 NGCAncients _ _____ .. " ............................. " .......... . 13 Nilus CoinsIB iII Kalmbach.. . ____ 49 NUMISMATA Munich 33 Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG ................... ..... _ 12 Num ismati~ Lanz MUochen . . _ 50 Parker, Doll _____ " ....... .... ...................... ...... " ............ 52 Pars Coins 32 , 51 Peanman, Richard 41,51 Pegasi Numismatics ........................ " .................... 5. 51 PenetopeCoinS.CQm .-. ........ ................ ....... ................ 52 Peus, Dr_ Bu$$O Nachfolger .... " ................ ......... ...... . 18 Phillips, Wayne C __________ ..... _ ............................... 30 Professional NumismatislS Guild ............................... :J.8 Rauch GmbH. H. D 42 Rosenblum, LLC, William M. _ ,, -. ... ........................ 6, 51 Rudd. Chris _ _ ____ ............. "" .................... 4, 49 Rudnik Numismatics _ ".- -. ............ 48 SAFE Colfectill\l SUpplies 50 Soya !he Manatoo Clob . 46 Sayles & lavender 45 Sayles , Wayne G., Antiquarian 50 Sch in~e, Glenn 48 Sear. DaWl R ______ .... ................... " ....................... 48 Shofe, FredB.. . .. _________ 48 Spartan Numismatics __ .. ................................ ........... 49 Sphinx Numismatics . .. ...... 52 Stack'.·6oW(!rs and Ponterio ...................................... 3 Steinbe rg·s . Inc_ 49 Swiss Numismalic Societ~. .. _____ -' ____ __ 40 Time Machi"" Co_ _ _ ........... " ................. 47 TreaSlJre Island 51 TrustedCoins_oom 51 VAudions.com _ " .......................... 15 VCoins .com ... ........ ....... .... ...... ............. .. ................... .. 11 Vosper. Mike 52 Waddell, Edward J_ Ltd 22,48 Warden Numismatics, LLC _ _ ." ....................... 50 Weiss Collectabfe Sales 52 WikIWinds.com ............................... .. " .... ........... ____ 55 Wilkes, Tim _________ ""_ .... .............. .. " .............. ... ...... 43 WIN-Women In Numismatics 55 Ye Oide Curiositie Sroppe 35 York Coins __ __ ___________ ______ ......................... ". 48 Zuzim Ju<Jaea . 36

January 2012 55

Franck-Weiby Coni. from page 34

He gave freely of his time to teach the art of coin die engraving . He spent countless days and pages of back and forth email detailing exactly how and why

simple to follow steps. All you had to do was hil print and run to your workbench with paper in hand 10 advance your skill.

Once, I sent him a trail strike of my honeybee of Ephesus coin. He replied simply: "It is beautifu l.~ I answered, "This is not Ihe Greg I know, what's wrong wilh

Obverse and reverse of a "Da/er of New Dale, " 1 oz. fine silver. Shire Post Mint. Photo courtesy of Truemark Photography.

his students could and should try for perfection. Greg's analysis of his slu­dent's work was incredibly insightful, frankly honest, and full of joy. Even through email, Greg could explain where and how to improve your die carving in

An IE follis style coin for Marion Zim· mer Bradley, and modelled after an 8 rh

century Byzantine Irene solidus. Pho­to courtesy of Truemark Photography.

il?" Four pages of detailed text later, I knew enough to make my next giant leap forward in die carving .

He spent countless days studying and testing how to make punches for a partic­ular lettering style on a coin; which tools a Greek die engraver would use to smooth a wide field on a portrait coin; whether to use specialty punches or engrave a fea· ture so as to be true to the original style; how to make Greek, Roman or Celt die and coin blanks; and so much more. He was good enough to make coins that could pass for ancient artifacts. He was too hon­est and loving of his art to do so.

How does one do a tribute to someone's life and art in a few paragraphs? It is not pos­sible. Perhaps the best way is through pic­tures of his art and in his own words:

http://www.gmmnut .com/gmm/sca/ sca .html htlp:llwww.windward.org/ush/ loken/loken10.htm

http :// wiki.antir.sca.org/

The obverse and reverse dies for an experimental bronze die modelled on a 3'" century BC Rome denarius. Pho­to courtesy of Truemark Photography.

index.php?litle",Moneyers_Guild hllp:/Iwi ki .ant i r. sca.o rg/

index.php?title=lan_Cnulle Most of the coins at these sites are

Greg's work: h tip :lIwww. sh i repost .com/

COinage.hlml http://www.bluewatersmint.com/ Greg's closest friends seek any and

all information about his life works with a goal of publishing it on a web site. Please send your stories, pictures, and anything you wish to share about Greg to wm.david.peters@gmail.com.

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56 The Celator

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Macena Barton (1901-1980) Alexander the Great gold stater, Athens silver tetra drachm, c. 336-323 B.C. Confederate Stonewall c. 440 B.C. 0 Q Jackson $500 1935 Silver Certificate Gregory Orloff (1890-1981)

Bar Kochba Revolt tetradrachm, 132 A.D. 453" ~ 11 :w Ii I

George Inness (1825-1994)

Roman Marble Torso of Young Dionysos, c. 154-284 A.D

1899 Oncpapa Sioux Chief $5 Silver certificate 0 <.0 Egyptian Bronze Hawk, ()-() ____ .19.01. $.10".fWS'fn Note

c. 715-330 B.C. Greek Attic Ceramic Skyphos (Cup), c. 440 B.C.

Constantine the Great five siliqua, 330 A.D. ~

1652 Massachusetts Pine Tree Shilling

1907 St.Gaudens High Relief

Constantine the Great AB, 307-337 A.D.

George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925)

160lHB German States Saxony Silver Thaler

Outsider Artist-Elmer Saunders (1960's)

. 0 I I I I 0 Justinian I follis, 538-542 A.D.

1900 Russian Gold 5 Roubles

1895 Puerto Rican Silver Peso 1872 British 0 • 0 ' Gold Sovereign

Cleopatra and Mark Antony denarius, 34 B.C.

Titus Colosseum sestertius, 80-81 A.D .

Nero Port of Ostia sestertius, c. 64/65 A.D. 1864 2C piece

Corinthian silver stater, 500 B.C.

Brutus 'Eid Mar' denarius, 42 B.C.

Decadrachm of Syracuse, c. 400 B.C.

Zeus Olympic stater, c. 416 B.C

Cnossus Minotaur stater, c. 450 B.C.

Indian Sandstone Stele of Shiva, c. 16th-17th Century A.D.

Greek Bronze Corinthian Helmet c. 6th Century B.C.

luristan Bronze Dagger, c. 800 B.C.

Viking bronze and silver jewelry, c. 7th cent. A.D.

Jerusalem Tyrian type shekel. 33 A.D.

. I II 0 1776 8 Schillings Colonial note

Ezio Martinelli (1913-1980)

Widow's Mite, 1st century A.D.

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