What I got for Christmas

Here is what I got for Christmas:




INDO-SCYTHIAN, AZES II Silver tetradrachm, Zeus right type. CHOICE!

Obverse: King mounted on horse right, holding whip, Kharoshthi letter de at right, Greek legend around: BAΣIΛEΩΣ BAΣIΛEΩN MEΓAΛOY / AZOY.

Reverse: Zeus standing right, holding right hand outstretched, holding sceptre in left, monogram at left, Kharoshthi letter si right, Kharoshthi legend around: Maharajasa rajarajasa mahatasa / Ayasa.

Date: c. 1st century BCE

Weight: 9.73 gm.

Diameter: 24 mm.

Die axis: 2 o'clock

Reference: MIG 828, Sen 99.67T

Comments: Mitchiner identifies the deity on the reverse as Poseidon, perhaps on the strength of the trident-like sceptre, but Senior identifies the figure as Zeus. A CHOICE coin!

A Note on the tetradrachms of Azes II: Azes II issued a wide array of tetradrachms that can be bewildering even to advanced collectors. The obverse is typically the so-called "KMW" or King mounted with whip. The reverses feature different deities: sometimes Zeus, sometimes Pallas Athena, sometimes a city goddess, and a given deity can be in different poses. The next criteria for differentiation is the monograms and/or letters on the reverse. Finally, there are distinguishing Kharoshthi letters on the obverse in front of the horse.

Description by seller CoinIndia.

I had one of these already but I wanted to upgrade when I saw this one on Vcoins and so I emailed the link to my wife who was kind enough to get it for me. In hand it looks nearly Mint-state, EF++ as my old dealer pal Mike Marx would say.


S-W-E-E-T!

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
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Holiday Hiatus Over!

Greetings,

The holidays are over (nearly over, my B-day is Wednesday the 21st) and so I have decide it was time I got back to work. I have auctions posted on eBay and I am back to blogging on all things concerning ancient and world coins.

There is a fairly new Yahoo group devoted to Biblical coinage (the other one is functionally a dead group) started by my friend Jerry who has several other groups on Yahoo.

As I sit here watching a rented DVD of The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor



it seems only appropriate that I mention the Pobjoy Mint on behalf of the Isle of Man is releasing a new Silver and Gold coin set commemorating the coming of the Terracotta Army to the British Museum (in London, I didn't know London was on the Isle of Man ;-)) They are the first coins that the Pobjoy Mint has made with a hole through the centre. The coins are part of an ongoing 'History of Man' series which started with the Tutankhamun collection (didn't know the Tut exhibit was on the Isle of Man either!).



More info here.

Thats all for now,

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
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Bible Numismatics 1: Jesus And The 30 Pieces Of Silver

Greetings,

Recently there has been a lively discussion going on at Moneta-L, a Yahoo Group for ancient coin collecting. It has been over the value of the 30 pieces of silver given for Jesus' life to Judas Iscariot by the 'Chief Priests' of the Jewish Temple. Here are the relevant passages:

Matthew 26:14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. King James Version (KJV)

and

Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. King James Version (KJV)

The post started off here, you might have to be logged in as a member (free to join) to read the posts so I will copy the better posts here minus the author's names and with a few minor spelling and grammar changes:

1st Post

Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

Dear List,

I was at my local coin store today when the owner, who knows I'm a pastor, asked me if I knew what the infamous thirty pieces of silver from Jesus' betrayal might possibly be worth in today's currency - not in numismatic value, but in real earnings. In other words, how much would thirty shekels be in 2008 dollars.

I didn't have a good answer for him so I said I'd ask.

I know this is a vague and difficult question to answer, but are there educated guesses out there?

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Re: [Moneta-L] Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

I think we are all in agreement that a denarius/drachma was about a days pay for a skilled laborer, so 30 pieces of Silver is equal to about 120 days pay, but I believe this was based on a low standard of living - more like the 3rd world today.

A good point for value reference is in 1st century AD (outside Rome) it would have cost about 100 Denari (200 Denari in Rome) to buy a years supply of wheat, oil and wine (basics) for a family of 4.

Here are some actual rates in 1st century Rome (before Nero)

Secretary =15 Denari/month
Lecturer =12 Denari/month
Messenger = 9 Denari/month
Fortune Teller = 10 Denari/month
Legionary = 20 Denari/month
Praetorian = 60 Denari/month

Prices in Rome

A Modius (6.67 kg) of wheat cost 32 AS (Rome), in the provinces about 1/2 that and 1/4 in rural areas
Loaf of Bread = 2 AS
Sextarius (1/2 liter of table wine) = 1 - 5 AS
Sextarius of fine wine = up to 30 AS
Public Bath = 1/4 AS
1 cloth tunic = 15 Sestersi
1 donkey = 500 Sestersi
1 slave = 500 denari
1 morgan(?) of land 250 denari

Prices as posted in Pompey

1 modium rye = 3 Sestersi
1 litra (1/3 kg oil) = 1 Sestersi
1 loaf of bread (+/- 1 lb)= 1 AS
1/2 liter of table wine = 1 AS
1 pot = 1 AS
1 dish = 1 AS
1 Oil Lamp = 1 AS
1 tunic cloth = 15 Sestersi
1 bucket = 8 AS
Criminal Fine = 25 Sestersi

I believe when talking about a denarius or drachma a day we must consider that this is a society where you could buy a slave for 500 Denarius so labor wages had to be competitive with slave labor. In Rome if it cost 200 Denarius a year just for basic food - a Denarius a day would not have been a very high standard of living.

One Roman writer (I forget who it was) says he would need 2500 denarii a year to maintain a middle class life style in Rome.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Re:Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

On Passover night, the Jews have a long elaborate meal combined with narrative about the exodus from Egypt. At the very end, there is a song, the refrain for which is "one kid (i.e. a small goat used for the Passover sacrifice) which my father bought for two zuzim". A zuz is ~ to a denarius (in the time of Bar Kochva, ~131-135 ce) the zuzim were overstruck on Roman denarii. It's denomination is 1/4 shekel. So a shekel would buy 2 goats with a maximum age of one year old. I never bought a goat, but a 55kg (121 pound) sheep/lamb cost me in Israel ~$250 US. I think that they are cheaper in the United States.

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Re:Thirty Pieces of Silver in Today's Terms

Afaik the legend tells us not what became of the proceeds, but 14oz of silver would provide Thanksgiving dinner for dozens of our destitute brethren, those said to be first in the heart of the hero betrayed.

Relating this tale of ancient coins to our own lives has been thought-provoking and fun.

Today we count blessings that can't be equaled in silver.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The coin in question is most likely the Shekel of Tyre, I have a very corroded one in my own collection which I recieved from a British dealer who mistook it for a tetradrachm of Elagabalus for a mere £5 GBPs ($10 USD at the time) :



Here is a better one from the lifetime of Christ (4/5 A.D.) :



Here is what 30 (mixed dates) would have looked like:


Full Lot Description here.

More profound than the coins themselves, the price seems related to the cost of living in real terms. It is folly to translate the value of something like 30 tetradrachms into 2008 dollars as if we could just crank it through a currency converter or tabulate the value of silver or gold then and now. But a skilled laborer, someone like today's Nurse or Tool and Die Maker, take what they make per day, times 4, times 30 and you begin to get a handle on it. I did some of my own calculations based upon when my wife was a nurse and it came out to about a 1/2 a years wages.

Would you kill a close, faithful friend or sell your soul for 6 months of what you earn?

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
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New eBay Policy - No Personal Checks

Greetings,

I have got this real love/hate thing with eBay. Some days I make OK money selling on it and other days it does these stupid things that make me want to scream! Today is one of those days. I updated a fixed price listing to accept 'Best Offers' and toward the end (when the item was listed) I was told I had an unacceptable form of payment listed. Huh?

Long ago I had cleaned up my auction listing terms of any references to Western Union, Bidpay, Greenzap and all the other forms of payment I used to take. I find it pretty remarkable that the U.S. government would allow eBay to bar the use of Cash (printed by the government and still legal tender last time I checked) or Money Orders (also printed by the government at the Post Office) and ONLY allowing Paypal and ProPay (essentially private banking companies).

I mean, isn't there a U.S. law about merchants having to accept cash if offered since it is legal tender? I'd like to hear from anybody who knows one way or the other in the comments.

And . . . if you think this new policy is inconvenient bullsh**, feel free to contact eBay and tell them it is.

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
http://stores.ebay.com/Polymath-Numismatics-and-Etcetera

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My Coin Blog
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2008 - A Year of Hoards

Greetings,

2008 was certainly a year of hoards.

1st there was the hoard found in January (or at least reported then) from Gainsborough, UK during the construction of the Gainsborough Hotel & Thermal Spa.

Then there was a hoard of Gaulish coins in February as well as some Roman Republican coins found in Bulgaria.

Then a Viking era hoard of mainly Middle-Eastern coins in Sweden in April.

And then in the fall we had Celtic and Germanic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht, about 6,000 copper alloy coins were found buried in two pots in Wales , a number of thin silver coins in Novgorod, Russia.

And of course there was the find uncovered by Odyssey of over 500,000 silver and several hundred gold coins. One of the largest finds ever.

I am sure I am missing some others but suffice it to say as the year draws to a close this has been an exciting year for coin finds.

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
http://stores.ebay.com/Polymath-Numismatics-and-Etcetera

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The Final Reply Paul Would Not Post

Greetings gentle readers,

As you may know, Paul often edits or simply does not print my replies to him. It's his blog and that is his right but he then goes on to say what I said was off topic and so on with the usual distortions . . . sigh, whatever. Here is my last reply he just wouldn't print:

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Greetings,

I think Shanks is right, no method currently employed stops looting, if anything the current laws encourage it. The looters are making money selling what they find. It would be better for those areas to be professionally dug and the artefacts professionally conserved and for archaeologists to make money and fund the needs archaeology has like site security, documentation, etc.

I know you are concerned about digging for digging's sake in order to produce items which collectors want. I hold that concern in common with you and that is why I would prefer it be done by professionals instead of reckless looters. Then it can be done professionally and be taxed & regulated by the government.

As for telling tens of thousands of ancient coin collectors to give up their hobby - you would have just as much luck changing human nature, making water dry or making fog transparent. It was once opined that there were (conservatively) 50,000 serious ancient coin collectors in North America (U.S. & Canada) alone and that was several years ago and did not really account for those who only buy lots of uncleaned coins because back at the time, those people were not considered 'serious collectors' by dealers.

You can't change human nature, you need to create laws that work with human nature. I know when I took anthropology one of my key disagreements with the discipline was that it viewed human nature as either plastic or a soup of heredity & environment. I don't discount hereditary or environmental factors in how a person turns out but I feel there are certain things that are fixed about us and not subject to change and I think the desire to acquire is one of them.

I had an International Relations professor at my university who was Polish and was involved in Solidarity in the 1980s. He was neither left or right politically but one thing he was convinced of was how the Soviet system was entirely at war with human nature. The idea of rejecting the family in favor of the state, private property for collective property and so on.

You cannot get rid of collectors and not all items are of equal significance. It would be better to have a fully licit market which allows for private ownership of items of minor significance with incentives for following the law and disincentives for breaking it.

You don't like my solution and I don't like yours and this is the crux of the problem. I think my proposal is a very good middle ground (obviously it is someplace in the middle as some dealers rejected it as too complicated and/or labor intensive) because it allows collecting minor items (coins) to continue but also empowers archaeologists to have a hand in regulation and implementation.

I am no apologist for the uber-rich collector of priceless national treasures. I am not the defender of people who break heads off of statues, steal icons out of Churches or cuts reliefs off monuments. That said however, I do not think it serves anyone to refuse to study or publish items that do not have a provenance. As Hershel Shanks noted, the Dead Sea Scrolls were taken from their context and look what we have learnt from those.

Jim

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Since Paul is in the habit of quoting me out of context, editing my replies and putting words in my mouth I have gotten into the habit of copying and pasting my replies to him into txt documents because otherwise he plays these games.

I've had much more civil exchanges with Nathan Elkins and David Gill. I don't think all archaeologists who are concerned with cultural property issues are obnoxious or closeminded like Barford, nor as ideological. I am sure they look at some of my colleagues and have similar thoughts.

Nuff said for now,

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
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Collectors - Few and Anachronous? - A Possible Cultural Divide?

One last critique of what Paul Barford said in his latest posting about collecting antiquities (including ancient coins):

(Quoting me--->) “Humans are acquisitive by nature, many people collect something”.
”Many” maybe, but in fact the majority do not. In addition, the majority of people who take an interest in the past read books or indulge their interest in other ways, they do not buy looted artefacts. Portable antiquity collectors are an anachronous and erosive minority, taking for their own personal entertainment and profit that which modern archaeology says should form the basis of knowledge available to all. It is as simple as that, it is a matter of conservation of a finite resource and not any “property laws” .

The majority do not collect? How does that square with 'many'? Doesn't 'many' imply more than a few? There is also this problem of 'looted artefacts'. It is as if to say all artefacts are looted. This is the archaeological 'Party Line' of course but it is not the truth.

I went on eBay and did an open search under 'Collectibles' and came up with 2,123,906 hits - just for U.S. listings. Then I did it again for 'Coins and Paper Money' and came up with 286,069 items - once again this is only for the U.S. eBay website. Next I did 'Stamps' and came up with 206,562 hits. I did 'Antiquarian & Collectible Books' and came up with 103,342 hits - once again for U.S. listings only.

Another reality check, both the U.S. and U.K. have highly rated T.V. shows with large followings on antique (or antiquity by UNIDROIT legal norms) collecting such as the Antiques Road Show in the U.S. and Cash In The Attic which is broadcast in both the U.K. and the U.S.

Mr. Barford can assert what he wants to about collectors but it does not make it true, it certainly does not mesh well with the hard evidence.

I mean, I know you want to try to marginalize us (collectors) with every verbal weapon you can Paul, but frankly when you try to pull off this kind of nonsense you look and sound pretty damn foolish. OR - maybe we are both half-right - maybe since you have been living in a former communist country for some time you don't see collections and collectors regularly like I do here in the U.S. and don't realize the volume of people who actually collect and the volume of those collections. Maybe you and I have a culturally created gap in our human experience.

I know there is a wide gulf between some Europeans and America in regards to intellectual property. Years ago when Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software was new, a friend of mine and some colleagues of his were going to take the full German edition of Luther's Works and scan it and then translate it and publish both the English and German together electronically. Here in America after a certain amount of time, any book, film or song goes into the 'public domain'. My friend and his colleagues were prevented from doing their work because of German copyright law even though the books themselves were well over 100 years old and the publisher was out of business.

If this gulf is insurmountable then the problem will remain where it is right now ad infinitum like a car with it's tires stuck in the mud - wheels spinning vigorously but going nowhere.

TTFN,

Jim McGarigle
Polymath Numismatics
ANA, ANS, ACCG

My Ebay Store
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