ANCIENT COINS THAT WERE PIERCED

Don't buy damaged coins. They will be impossible to sell. This was some of the best advice I ever got from an experienced collector of ancients.

But like most things in classical numismatics, there are exceptions.

Ancient coins were sometimes pierced with a hole, to be worn as ornaments or amulets, or to be attached to a garment, a weapon, or some other object. If a coin type is so rare that you will never be able to afford a perfect specimen, a pierced coin may be an acceptable alternative. Out of a collection of over 300 ancient gold coins, I have acquired just three pierced coins over the years, all three being scarce types and one of those was holed and plugged in antiquity.

[T]his article will be limited to examining coins that were deliberately pierced in antiquity after they left the mint, in many cases long after they had ceased to circulate as money.

Ainos Silver Drachm

 

THRACE. Ainos. Drachm (Circa 357-342/1 BCE). Obv: Head of Hermes facing slightly right, wearing petasos. Rev: AINION. Cult statue of Hermes Perpheraios on throne; grain ear to left.May 442-7; BMC 25; HGC 3.2, 1280. Rare Weight: 3.58 g. Diameter: 17 mm. Numismatik Naumann (formerly Gitbud & Naumann) > Auction 72, 2 December 2018, Lot: 15, realized: 140 EUR (Approx. 159 USD).

An early example of a holed ancient Greek coin comes from the coastal town of Ainos in Thrace (now Enez in the European part of Turkey). The well-worn silver drachm was carefully pierced above a portrait of Hermes, the local patron god. In a 2018 auction, the coin brought €140 against an estimate of €80. In recent auctions, unpierced examples of the same type have sold for about €250 to €300.

Gold Quarter Drachm of Berenike II

 

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III. Circa 244/3-221 BCE. AV Quarter Drachm (10mm, 1.01 g, 12h). Attic standard. Alexandreia mint. Struck under Ptolemy III, circa 242/1-222 BCE. Veiled and draped bust right / Filleted cornucopia; stars flanking. Svoronos 982; van Driessche 982, dies unlisted;. VF, holed. Very rare. From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 66 (19 May 2004), lot 745; Marian A. Sinton Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 53, 15 March 2000), lot 701. Classical Numismatic Group > Auction 100 7 October 2015, Lot: 113, realized: 2,100 USD.

A tiny gold quarter drachm of Egyptian ruler Ptolemy III (c. 244-221 BCE) weighing just one gram was pierced with a relatively large hole behind the portrait of Queen Berenike II. Formerly in the famous collection of Dr. Lawrence Adams, this rare coin brought $2,100 against an estimate of $500 in a 2015 American auction[3]. The only unpierced example of this rare type that I could find, graded good Extremely Fine, sold for 24,000 Swiss francs against an estimate of 2,500 in 2011.

To read the complete article, see:
The Hole Truth: Ancient Coins That Were Pierced (https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/the-hole-truth-ancient-coins-that-were-pierced/)

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