Fontanille Coins
Auction 83 7 March 2016
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Herod Antipas, large denomination struck year 30-31 C.E. in Tiberias (GBC 1211) 13.38 g.
AI will never forget June 29th 2015. That day, I was lucky to discover a previously unnoticed star on a coin of Antipas. It was just incredible, and it was this coin! (now cleaned and restored). First, I looked for the same star on other coins from the same die, and then on all the obverse dies of the type. It definitely appeared this star is present on ALL of them (check by yourself, it is very interesting: http://www.menorahcoinproject.org/ant-14.htm). However, the star is never so well visible and well detailed than on this coin, which is probably why no one remarked it before. Also, this type is rare (only 30 examples listed to date) and, even more important, it is one of the most poorly preserved coin types of Antipas. Poor preservation is generally due to wear or corrosion (of the coin or of the die), in any case, it 'eats' the most minute details first.
It is a fascinating detail. But what does it mean? I would suggest 2 hypothesis: First, it might be the illustration of a remarkable, contemporary astronomical event (eclipse, comet, supernova) but the records I have checked do not return clear results for this period and location. Second, it might symbolize someone important (it was frequent at that time: the birth of Jesus was announced by a star, the leader of the revolt of Bar Kochba was the 'son of a star'). Does it symbolize Antipas himself? It is hard to say.... But I am sure of one thing: this star must be something important because, of this series of 4 denominations issued by Antipas, it is only depicted on the largest, and on the obverse.
On the reverse, another previously unlisted detail appeared to me in 2014 as I was working on a composite image to illustrate the dies of this coin type. Here again, this detail is present on all the reverse dies. I could not identify it by myself but a friend gave me the key: it is a stylized cornucopia, maybe as a reference to the Hasmonaean coins or to coin types of the father of Antipas, Herod the Great. Amazingly, this detail is also perfect on this coin!
It's not over. I am pretty sure there is a third unlisted object on this coin type, symmetric to the cornucopia, at right of the palm branch and under the letters D-Z (three dots are visible in this area). If you check the link above again, it appears there is 'something' in this area on almost all the coins. Unfortunately, I cannot identify what it is, this object is too poor and too partial on all the coins. I have worked on various imaging techniques to try to see something, but without success. It would be fantastic to know what it is!
These previously unlisted details probably make GBC 1211 the most fascinating and enigmatic coin type of Antipas now. The star and the cornucopia - with THIS coin illustrated - are the object of an article we just published in Israel Numismatic Research Vol. 10.
Est. $2,500-3,000
AI will never forget June 29th 2015. That day, I was lucky to discover a previously unnoticed star on a coin of Antipas. It was just incredible, and it was this coin! (now cleaned and restored). First, I looked for the same star on other coins from the same die, and then on all the obverse dies of the type. It definitely appeared this star is present on ALL of them (check by yourself, it is very interesting: http://www.menorahcoinproject.org/ant-14.htm). However, the star is never so well visible and well detailed than on this coin, which is probably why no one remarked it before. Also, this type is rare (only 30 examples listed to date) and, even more important, it is one of the most poorly preserved coin types of Antipas. Poor preservation is generally due to wear or corrosion (of the coin or of the die), in any case, it 'eats' the most minute details first.
It is a fascinating detail. But what does it mean? I would suggest 2 hypothesis: First, it might be the illustration of a remarkable, contemporary astronomical event (eclipse, comet, supernova) but the records I have checked do not return clear results for this period and location. Second, it might symbolize someone important (it was frequent at that time: the birth of Jesus was announced by a star, the leader of the revolt of Bar Kochba was the 'son of a star'). Does it symbolize Antipas himself? It is hard to say.... But I am sure of one thing: this star must be something important because, of this series of 4 denominations issued by Antipas, it is only depicted on the largest, and on the obverse.
On the reverse, another previously unlisted detail appeared to me in 2014 as I was working on a composite image to illustrate the dies of this coin type. Here again, this detail is present on all the reverse dies. I could not identify it by myself but a friend gave me the key: it is a stylized cornucopia, maybe as a reference to the Hasmonaean coins or to coin types of the father of Antipas, Herod the Great. Amazingly, this detail is also perfect on this coin!
It's not over. I am pretty sure there is a third unlisted object on this coin type, symmetric to the cornucopia, at right of the palm branch and under the letters D-Z (three dots are visible in this area). If you check the link above again, it appears there is 'something' in this area on almost all the coins. Unfortunately, I cannot identify what it is, this object is too poor and too partial on all the coins. I have worked on various imaging techniques to try to see something, but without success. It would be fantastic to know what it is!
These previously unlisted details probably make GBC 1211 the most fascinating and enigmatic coin type of Antipas now. The star and the cornucopia - with THIS coin illustrated - are the object of an article we just published in Israel Numismatic Research Vol. 10.
Est. $2,500-3,000