The Propontis Hoard (IGCH 888) - article ; n°21 ; vol.6, pg 7-29

Nancy M.Waggoner

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Revue numismatique - Année 1979 - Volume 6 - Numéro 21 - Pages 7-29
23 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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• Publié par: REVUE_NUMISMATIQUE
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1979
• Nombre de lectures: 56
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Nancy M. Waggoner
The Propontis Hoard (IGCH 888)
In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 21, année 1979 pp. 7-29.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Waggoner Nancy M. The Propontis Hoard (IGCH 888). In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 21, année 1979 pp. 7-29.
doi : 10.3406/numi.1979.1788
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/numi_0484-8942_1979_num_6_21_1788Nancy M. WAGGONER
THE PROPONTIS HOARD (IGCH 888)
(PL 1-Х)
Most of no. 888 in the Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards1 has lain
dormant in the trays of the ANS almost since the time of its
discovery in 1950, reportedly on the Thracian Coast in the region
of the Propontis. While in Paris in September 1979 I was
privileged, through the kind permission of Mme Hélène Nicolet to
review the papers of Henri Seyrig at the Cabinet des Médailles.
One folder contained his thoughts on the Propontis Hoard, and
he would be the first person to allow me to share them. His
notations will become apparent in the passages that follow.
The hoard consists entirely of tetradrachms of Alexander the
Great, many of which have still to receive thorough study and an
absolute chronology. The 163 pieces acquired by the ANS in
1951 represent 22 mints that have been identified, 5 uncertain
issues, and 6 ancient imitations. All, of course, bear the head of
Herakles on the obverse, with the figure of Zeus aetophorus
enthroned on the reverse, and all with one exception carry the
name of Alexander with or without the royal title. Except for
nine very worn lifetime and early posthumous specimens, the
coins are autonomous issues of the latter 3rd and early 2nd centuries
B.C., mostly from mints in Asia Minor. In the Inventory, the
burial date has been set by the late Henri Seyrig around 180 B.C.2
1. M. Thompson, O. Morkholm, С. М. Kraay, Eds. Published by the American
Numismatic Society (New York, 1973). Cited hereafter as IGCH.
2. Under no. 888, IGCH notes that Eric von Post, former Swedish ambassador in
Turkey, acquired possibly 25 additional pieces from this hoard. Both Mrs. Ulla
Westermark and Dr. Christof Boehringer have very kindly sent a record of 17 pieces О NANCY M. WAGGONEK
My interest in this deposit was aroused by the presence in it of
a cistophoric countermark of Pergamům applied to the obverse of
a tetradrachm of Phaselis in Lycia (nos. 79, 79a). Within the
circular one finds a bow in case with the Greek
letters, pi, epsilon, rho, running upward just inside the rim to the
left and gamma, alpha, almost entirely off flan, running upward to
the right.3
Until recently, the appearance of a cistophoric countermark in
this particular hoard would not have given cause for alarm,
because Seyrig's date of 188 for the beginning of the cistophoric
coinages in Asia Minor had been generally accepted.4 However,
this date has now been challenged by Fred Kleiner's study in
which he has established the year 166 for the earliest appearance
of the cistophori.5 The question immediately arises, how can a
hoard buried in 180 contain a coin with a countermark that
reflects a coinage not initiated until 166? Clearly something is
wrong either with Kleiner's proposed dating of the cistophori, or
with the given burial date of the Propontis hoard; or this counter-
marked Lycian coin is an intrusion.6 The last possibility has led
in the collection of Eric von Post which might possibly have derived from this deposit.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding the positive identity and exact number of coins
involved, it is deemed judicious not to include them in our catalogue. Rather, an
itemized description is appended at the end. They add nothing new to the contents
published herein.
3. On the cistophori, themselves, the main reverse type is a bow in ornate case
set between two coiled serpents. The Pergamene ethnic appears in monogram form
in left field. Throughout the history of this cistophoric mint, the was
never expanded on the coins as it is seen on the countermarks. The most thorough
study of the early cistophoric mints has been undertaken by Fred S. Kleiner (and
Sidney P. Noe), The Early Cistophoric Coinage, ANS Numismatic Studies 14
(New York, 1977). See especially pp. 10-18 and 22-40. Robert Mowat has published
various cistophoric countermarks in « Trois contremarques inédites sur des tétra-
drachmes de Side, » Corolla Numismatica, Numismatic Studies in honour of Barclay
V. Head (London, New York and Toronto, 1906), pp. 189-207.
4. H. Seyrig, « Monnaies hellénistiques. V. Questions cistophoriques, » RN 1963,
pp. 22-28.
5. Note 3, above, p. 18.
6. Cistophoric countermarks are found, with one or two exceptions only on Pam-
phylian Alexanders (Aspendus, Perge, Sillyum), on the contemporary Pamphylian
coins of Side with autonomous types, and on Alexanders of Phaselis in near-by Lycia.
The question why these countermarks are confined almost exclusively to these
particular issues has not yet been satisfactorily answered. Nor has any published
study yet revealed how early these countermarks might have been employed. Kleiner
only states in a footnote (n. 3, above), p. 110, n. 5, that since they do not appear on
Pamphylian issues in a hoard from Asia Minor (IGCH 1453), buried around 145 B.C.,
they must not have been put into use very soon before that date. However, he has
recently informed me that he is now reconsidering an earlier date for their application. THE PHOPONT1S HOAKD 9
to the basic consideration of the integrity of the hoard as a whole.
To this end, we have had to consider first what proportion of the
contents is commensurate with a deposit date of 180, then which
pieces, if any, might genuinely allow for a lower date and finally,
which elements be so late as to be judged modern interlopers.
These considerations will be weighed in the general commentary
that follows the catalogue.7
It has been this writer's opinion that countermarks must surely have been applied by
cistophoric mints prior to 145 for several reasons. First, IGCH 1453 is the one and
only relevant hoard yet known to contain cistophori mixed with foreign issues. Also,
it is difficult to understand why these mints would wait twenty years or more to
counterstamp coins of heavier, Attic weight circulating within Pergamene territory.
Further, our coin does not seem sufficiently worn to bear a countermark applied some
55 years after it was struck. I tend to believe along with Georges Le Rider (« Contre
marques et surfrappes dans l'antiquité grecque, » Numismatique antique. Problèmes et
méthodes. Études d'archéologie classique IV (Nancy-Louvain, 1975), pp. 40-45,
especially p. 43, n. 87a) that the earliest purpose of cistophoric countermarks would
have been to validate foreign coins of heavier weight circulating in the area in order
that the latter might serve as necessary bullion before the new domestic coinage
had been minted in sufficient quantity.
7. The die positions of all coins entered in the catalogue are set at 12 o'clock unless
otherwise indicated. Those illustrated are marked by an asterisk. As will
be seen, several of our issues and a large number of our obverse dies are to be found
in the Syrian hoards published recently by H. Seyrig, Trésors du Levant anciens et
nouveaux, Trésors monétaires Séleucides II (Paris, 1973), cited hereafter as Trésors;
and above all in the important Mektepini hoard {IGCH 1410), published by
Nekriman Olcay and Henry Seyrig, Le Trésor de Mektepini en Phnjgie, Trésors
monétaires Séleucides I (Paris, 1965), cited hereafter as Mektepini. 10 NANCY M. WAGGONER
CATALOGUE
SicYO.MA : Sicyon Before c. 225 B.C.
Rev . : In 1. field, youth with arms raised, holding fillet; beneath
throne, bird r. above [zsP.
1*. 16.91 Noe 45.2".
Macedonia : Amphipolis с 328-327 B.C.
Rev. : In 1. field, herm.
2*. 16.92 | Restruck. Demanhur 716Э.
Pella с 277 B.C.
Rev. : In 1. field, Macedonian helmet; beneath throne, oE10-
3*. 17.07
The Bottiae at Pella11 с 187 B.C.
Rev. : In 1. field, tripod; beneath throne, B.
4*. 16.91/
5. 16.66 /r Obv. and rev. dies of 4.
6*. 16.88 die of 4.
7. 16.195 Obv. die of 4.
8. 16.88 die of 4.
Rev. : In 1. lield, club; beneath throne, B.
9*. 17.10-»
10. 16.73 -> Obv. and rev. dies of 9.
11. 16.49 die of 9.
12*. 16.83
This series is discussed in the General Commentary.
8. S. P. Noe, The Alexander Coinage of Siajon, ANSNS 6 (1950).
9. E. T. Newell, Hoards II. Demanhur, 190-5, ANSNNM 19 (1923),
cited hereafter as Demanhur. By "restruck" it is meant here, as in other instances
where restriking occurs, that the flan did not slip but, rather, received two separate
blows.
10. Struck under Antigonas Gonatas, according to V. J. Hunter, "A Third Century
Hoard from Serbia and its Significance for Celtic History." ANSMN 13 (1967), p. 19.
11. So attributed by H. Seyrig, note 4, above, "III. Philippe V ou les Botliéens,"
pp. 14-18. Our nos. 4-8 are Seyrig's first class (p. 14); our nos. 9-12 are his second
class (p. 15). Although he lists only