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Anchor Story

Greek Tetra-Obol Coin of 305-290 BC

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Selucid Kings- (SELEUKOS- A GENERAL OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT STARTED THIS DYNASTY) This was Seleukos 1, Nikator
AT the zenith of his power, this ex-General of Alexander, controlled almost the whole of Alexander'' conquests except for Egypt which had been bequeathed you might say to Ptolemy. This Seleukos however did not assume this control until about 305 BC when the above coin was minted or struck.
The purpose of this story is the kind that delights collectors who like to learn all they can about the coins they collect. However, the real thrill of sleuthing through the ancient debris of the past comes when one learns why a certain design was used on a coin. Another thrill comes when one learns they have acquired a rare coin- not just an ordinary coin. First, I would like to tell you how this coin came into my possession- then when the research began and the pains I took to learn what I considered secrets this coin could tell.
The acquisition of this coin took place in a trade that I made with a fellow collector. This was back in the 1960's when everyone was collecting Jefferson Nickels. It so happened that I had acquired some Brilliant Uncirculated 1950'd Nickels which were at a premium at this time. Actually they were worth $30.00 each. My collector friend says to me one day. "I have a trade proposition to make with you. Say I, "What is on your mind"? "Well", he said, "I have 7 little medals or coins that I have no idea of what they are- One is silver and quite small". The others are little coppers and the legends are plain but I can't understand them". "They came to me through my father who acquired them from a Merchant Seaman who had purchased them in Tunisia." Further to capture my interest, he said, "You are a curious fellow and I am sure you would have fun finding out what these coins are." Fred and I were great friends who fished together many times and he pleaded with me with the argument that I wouldn't miss one of those 50'd nickels as he knew I had three or four rolls of them at the time. After looking at his ugly coins, I decided sure I will take a chance- But Fred, I think you are getting the best of this deal. He was delighted with the Jefferson Nickel as this completed his set.
Now what was I going to do with these little metal disks? The one consolation I seemed to have was that one of them was a silver coin. If only I could find out what they really are. I put them in 2x2 coin holders, then carried one at a time around in my shirt pocket. I picked on the silver one first, as I was able to recognize the letters were Greek Characters. I wrote the letters down on paper until I had them memorized. Then I went to the Library and started looking up Ancient Greek kings. It was but a short time until I recognized the name on my coin was what the above title says he was. -Seleukos. This first hurdle but I was thrilled now because I was pretty sure my coin was made during his reign if it was authentic. Keep in mind where I live at this time, there were no ancient collectors I could collaborate with to learn from them. - This was in 1960. We did however, have one coin dealer in our city (town then) so I went to him to see if there were any ancient coin books in his store. No such thing- not even in our Library at that time. But he said, I think I can find out where I might order for you. I said, 'by all means get me a book on Ancient Greek Coins. In about 3 weeks I get a phone call and to my delight he had a book on Ancient coins. It was a book titled "Outline of Ancient Greek Coins by Zander H Klawans. I still have it. This book did not have my coin in it- but it served to whet my appetite to learn more- since it did not have my coin. I decided to turn my interest to the other coins but that is entirely another thrilling coin story of how I learned what each coin was.
It was not until 1964 that I was fortunate enough to have John at my coin store call me and say he knew where he could find me another Greek book. Yes, I said go ahead, In a short time the book was in my possession Titled Greek Coins, by E A Seaby. Much beautiful information but a disappointment because my coin was not listed. From this work I was able to learn what the specific grain weights were for the various denominations of Greek coins. Oh boy! Now I am getting somewhere.
I went to the feed store and bought some wheat grain- having learned these grains were once used to establish grain weights of coinage (later Troy standard came in to use from this). From this I was counting out grains and weighing them on a crude set of balances at home. When I found the proper grain weight for my coin (above named) I took the coin to the coin store with my counted out grains of wheat and ask John to weigh this coin on his scales and tell me how many grain weights it was. When he told me 45 grains. I was ecstatic! That is what my coin weighed. He had a pair of balances and I asked him to put my wheat on one side and the coin on the other. Sure enough - perfect balance. John laughed and shook his head. Now I knew I had an authentic Tetra-Obol. It would be several years before I would see my coin listed by an authority.
The next project I had in mind was to find out why the anchor on the reverse of this coin had a blob on the shank. If you will look again at the anchor, you will see this round blob. This puzzled me from the time of acquiring the coin. My search in this direction took me to Ancient Maritime History. I enlisted the help of my wife to find authoritative sources. In time, she found the perfect source and had to order it through one of our bookstores. She said nothing to me about what she had found until presenting me with this wonderful book on my birthday in 1969. It is "The Ancient Mariners" by Lionel Casson. In this book, I found what I was looking for. Somewhere, I had read that the British had invented the threaded two-part shank of an anchor, but could this really be true? This was the question in my mind when I noticed the blob on the shank of this anchor- You can clearly see it on my photo image.
I also knew about the Archimedes screw as it is called, His invention to bring up water from canals etc. Actually he lived during part of Seleukos' lifetime. This would have been near the time of my anchor. Therefore it just may be possible that I have an example of the threaded -two part shank on my coin. To my happy delight, Lionel Casson in his Ancient Mariner describes my anchor and the maritime museum in Marseilles, France has several specimens of this type. He further states that this convenient type of anchor type was forgotten even before the Roman Empire and stayed forgotten until the Dutch rediscovered it the eighteenth century. The British navy adopted it in their navy in the middle 1800's. This anchor with the threaded shank- or sometimes socketed had two distinct advantages. One was that they could be unscrewed and lay flat on the deck. The other advantage especially in the storms of the Mediterranean was that the cable to the anchor could be unscrewed from the fluke and free the ship when necessary. Finally, by now, after nearly five years I know what my coin is and know something of why it looks the way it does. Seapower of course would have been most important to Seleukos and he had anchors to help his captains in times of battle or approaching battles.
I must share this one other aspect of anchors on mintage issues by this King. The historian who wrote this up had an intimate knowledge of this man. It seems that Seleukos had a birthmark on his right thigh shaped exactly like an anchor. He therefore developed a fetish about anchors being good luck to him. This would be his logo or his mark if you please. He therefore began placing the image of an anchor on many of the coins that were issued during his rule. I have another of his in the denomination of the Tetradrachm, which shows this emblem (the anchor). I will include a photo image of this coin elsewhere in my photo album.
To conclude with my adventures connected with this particular coin, I must share one more nice surprise ending to the story. As previously mentioned, no reference to my coin was found in Seaby's Ancient Greek 2nd edition of 1966. Yet content with my own findings, I was happy to believe my coin was rare since it was not listed. If the British Museum had it listed, certainly Seaby's publication would not have missed it. I wrote my story up for Coin World but they were afraid of it Since there was no authority to back me up.
Stedfast in my own convictions as to what I had found, I simply placed the coin in a Safe Deposit box for the next few years until creating a web site where it is now pictured. http://www.thevision.net/deweymag/index.html By now, I realized revisions and later editions of the comphrensive works on Ancient coins were a slow process.. Still content to rest on my own convictions putting the story in the recesses of my own mind and leaving it there-until
In March 1999, a friend and myself went to the Livermore California show and there was an Ancient dealer present that had Ancient coin books for sale. Some Marked "New Publications" Under that Caption, I saw "Seaby's Greek Coin book. I asked if I could take a look at it- actually two volumes. When I looked in volume 2, I went to the index and immediately began to look for Seleukos. There were the page numbers. Hurriedly, I thumbed over to page 637 for there was Seleukos I, and he had to be the one. On page 637 in a third down the page is my beautiful tetra-obol now listed under Seaby's number 6838. I was jumping for joy. "How much for this book? These books aren't cheap- but so happy was I that the $68.00 for my authority was not a problem. My friend new of this coin that I had so proudly shown years before at a coin club 'show and tell.' That he was sharing my joy and of course this was the talk of some of the dealers at that show for that day. Now in 1979 edition Seaby shows the coin's value at 750 English pounds Sterling. Which was about 1300.00 US Dollars then. There is a prominent Ancient Dealer who has a similar Tetraobol of another time period a few years from mine that was priced at $3200.00 if you take inflation of 21 years since Seaby's it isn't off the mark. This dealer I mentioned is in the habit of getting his prices. So happy am I in the knowledge that I did not give up and toss this little metal disk in the junk box.

We shouldn't leave our story without some mention of the wonderful magnificent horse that helped kings in their struggles for power. The horse played an important part and Seleukos leader, Alexander the Great had great respect for the horse. He was very fond of his own horse and required his soldiers to take good care of their animals. The horse we see on this coin is a typical Celtic type of horse- These Celt people were in the habit of giving their horse some kind of decorations. In this instance, you will notice a horn as part of the bridle about the horses head. This was of course more for the oncoming riders in battle than any other purpose. Anyway to put an enemy down was the order of the day. This is what you see on this Tetraobol. Obverse side of the coin. Who knows? Perhaps this is another reason why the obverse is called the Head side of the coin. Yet, we must accept another reason and that was ego, vanity, or pride. All the rulers in history have put their sculptored heads on coins.
My dear collector friends, a lesson can be learned from this above experience of mine. Be strong in your own convictions- and do not allow anyone to persuade you from them unless your premise is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be wrong. Be diligent in your search, in what you do and you will surely be rewarded.
I tell this story simply because it is like so many collectors can tell. Yet each has their own particular flavor and a true blue collector never tires of hearing of another adventure. That is what I think makes this The King of Hobbies.
© Copyright Jan 23 2001











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