APOLLONIA PONTIKA Black Sea Area Star Countermark Anchor Apollo Crayfish i40122

Item: i40122

 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of
Apollonia Pontika
of the
Black Sea Area

Bronze 17mm (4.70 grams) Struck circa 3rd-2nd century B.C.
Reference: SNG BM Black Sea 189.

Apollo

seated left on omphalos, holding bow, star
countermark.
EYKYΔHΣ,
Anchor
; A to left, crayfish to right.

A colony of Miletos, the city boasted

a fine temple of Apollo with a statue by the sculptor

Kalamis.

 You

Authenticity.   

Countermarked Coin is a
coin
marked after being
minted and while it is in circulation. Marking can mean
that the coin is fit for circulation or has been
revalued. The latter is the case for countries that
experience rapid changes in
inflation
and need to
quickly change currency valuations. On ancient Greek and
Roman bronze coins, there were ones that circulated so
much and their designs have been therefore worn beyond
recognition. This happened on many coins of emperor
Augustus, whose coins circulated many decades and
sometimes up to a century or more. In order to save
money and energy producing new coins, what the ancients
would do is make an incuse punch with either letters or
symbols. What this allowed is for the coin to continue
circulating because it was officially countermarked to
be a valid coin of the realm. There are many interesting
types of coins with countermarks to collect in ancient
Greek and Roman numismatic coins. What is interesting
about countermarked coins is that they truly have passed
so many hands, that, just to imagine it, could amaze
anyone.

In

Greek

and

Roman mythology

, Apollo
,

is one of the most important and diverse of the

Olympian deities

. The ideal of the

kouros
(a

beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the

sun; truth and prophecy;

archery
;

medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son

of Zeus
and

Leto, and has a

twin

sister, the chaste huntress

Artemis
.

Apollo is known in Greek-influenced

Etruscan mythology

as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both

ancient Greek

and

Roman religion

, as well as in the modern

Greco

–Roman

Neopaganism

.

As the patron of Delphi

(Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an

oracular

god — the prophetic deity of the

Delphic Oracle
.

Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god

himself or mediated through his son

Asclepius
,

yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly

plague

as well as one who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god’s

custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over

colonists

, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of

the Muses
(Apollon

Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god

of music and poetry
.

Hermes
created

the lyre
for him,

and the instrument became a common

attribute

of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called

paeans
.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo

Helios he became identified among Greeks with

Helios
,

god of

the sun
, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with

Selene
,

goddess

of the moon
.

In Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to

find any conflation of Apollo with

Sol

among the

Augustan poets

of the first century, not even in the conjurations of

Aeneas
and

Latinus
in

Aeneid
XII

(161–215).

Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological

texts until the third century CE.

 Mariner’s
Cross

The Mariner’s Cross is a stylized cross in the shape of an
anchor
. The
Mariner’s Cross
is also referred to as
Saint Clement’s Cross
in reference to the
way he was martyred.

The Anchored Cross, or
Mariner’s Cross
, is a stylized cross in the
shape of an anchor. It is a symbol which is shaped like a plus sign with
anchor
-like protrusions at the end of each arm,
hence the name Anchored Cross. The symbol can be used to signify ‘fresh start’
or ‘hope’.

Cross and Anchor are occasionally a feature of
coats of arms
in which context they are
referred to by the
heraldic
terms anchry or ancre.
The Mariner’s Cross is also referred to as
St. Clement’s Cross
in reference to the way he
was martyred.

The History of the
anchor
dates back millennia. The most
ancient anchors were probably rocks and many rock anchors have been found dating
from at least the
Bronze Age
. Many modern moorings still rely on
a large rock as the primary element of their design. However, using pure mass to
resist the forces of a
storm
only works well as a permanent mooring;
trying to move a large enough rock to another bay is nearly impossible.

The ancient Greeks used baskets of stones, large sacks filled with sand, and
wooden logs filled with lead, which, according to
Apollonius Rhodius
and
Stephen of Byzantium
, were formed of stone; and
Athenaeus
states that they were sometimes made
of wood. Such anchors held the vessel merely by their weight and by their
friction
along the bottom. Iron was afterwards
introduced for the construction of anchors, and an improvement was made by
forming them with teeth, or “flukes”, to fasten themselves into the bottom.

An anchor frequently appears on the flags and coats of arms of institutions
involved with the sea, both naval and commercial, as well as of port cities and
seacoast regions and provinces in various countries. There also exists in
heraldry the “Anchored Cross”, or Mariner’s Cross, a stylized cross in the shape
of an anchor. The symbol can be used to signify ‘fresh start’ or ‘hope’. The
Mariner’s Cross is also referred to as St. Clement’s Cross, in reference to the
way this saint was martyred (being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into
the Black Sea in 102). Anchored crosses are occasionally a feature of coats of
arms in which context they are referred to by the heraldic terms anchry or ancre.
 

A 1914 Russian poster depicting the
Triple Entente
. Britannia’s
association with the oceanic
British Empire
is indicated by her
holding a large anchor.

The anchor coinage was a series of four denominations of
silver coins
issued for use in some British
colonies in 1820 and 1822. The name comes from the crowned
anchor
that appears on the obverse of the
coins. The denominations were sixteenth, eighth, quarter and half dollars,
indicated by the Roman numerals XVI, VIII, IV and II on each side of the anchor.
The reverse design was the royal coat of arms.

According to Krause & Mishler’s Standard Catalog of World Coins,the
coins were issued for use in
Mauritius
and other Indian Ocean colonies, then
later circulated in the
West Indies
.

Sozopol (Bulgarian:

Созопол) is an

ancient town and seaside resort located 35

km

south of

Burgas

on the southern

Black Sea Coast

of

Bulgaria

. Today the town is mostly a seaside resort

known for the Apollonia art and film festival

(which takes place in early September) and is named

after one of Sozopol’s ancient names.

The busiest times of the year are the summer months,

ranging from May to September as tourists from around

the world come to enjoy the weather, sandy beaches,

history and culture, fusion cuisine (Bulgarian, Greek,

Turkish), and atmosphere of the colourful resort. The

increasing popularity of the town has led to it being

dubbed the Bulgarian

St. Tropez

, seeing stars like

Ralph Fiennes

,

Brad Pitt

,

Angelina Jolie

and

Goldfrapp

exploring its beauty and charm.

Part of

Burgas Province

, as of September 2005^[update]

Sozopol has a population of 4,641. The town is located

at

42.417°N

27.7°E /

42.417; 27.7

/ 42°25′N

27°42′E

and the mayor is Panaiot Reyzi. One of the most active

and popular mayors had been

Nikola Kaloyanov

, who initiated numerous

infrastructure changes to modernize the town in the 70s.

//

 History

Sozopol is one of the oldest towns on

Bulgarian Thrace

‘s

Black Sea

coast. The first settlement on the site

dates back to the

Bronze Age

. Undersea explorations in the region of

the port reveal relics of dwellings, ceramic pottery,

stone and bone tools from that era. Many anchors from

the second and first millennium BC have been discovered

in the town’s bay, a proof of active shipping since

ancient times.

The town, at first called Antheia, was

colonized in Thrace on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus,

principally on a little island, by

Anaximander

(born 610-609 BC) at the head of

Milesian

colonists. The name was soon changed to

Apollonia, on account of a temple dedicated to

Apollo

in the town, containing a famous colossal

statue of the god Apollo by

Calamis

, 30 cubits high, transported later to Rome

by

Lucullus

and placed in the

Capitol

. At various times, Apollonia was known as

Apollonia Pontica (that is, Apollonia on the

Black Sea, the ancient Pontus Euxinus) and

Apollonia Magna (Great Apollonia).

The coins, which begin in the fourth century BC, bear

the name Apollonia and the image of Apollo; the imperial

coins, which continue to the first half of the third

century AD, and the

also contain the name Apollonia;

but the “Periplus

Ponti Euxini“, 85, and the

have only the new name

Sozopolis. In 1328 Cantacuzene (ed. Bonn, I, 326) speaks

of it as a large and populous town. The islet on which

it stood is now connected with the mainland by a narrow

tongue of land. Sozopolis, in Greek Sozòpolis (Σωζωπολις,

meaning the “preserve” city), in Turkish Sizebolu,

in Bulgarian Sozopol, is in Burgas Province,

Bulgaria. Its inhabitants, in the past mostly Greeks,

lived by fishing and agriculture.

The town established itself as a trade and naval

centre in the following centuries. It kept strong

political and trade relations with the cities of

Ancient Greece

 –

Miletus

,

Athens

,

Corinth

,

Heraclea Pontica

and the islands

Rhodes

,

Chios

,

Lesbos

, etc. Its trade influence in the

Thracian territories

was based on a treaty with the

rulers of the

Odrysian kingdom

dating from the fifth century BC.

The symbol of the town – the anchor, present on all

coins minted by Apollonia since the sixth century BC, is

proof of the importance of its maritime trade. The rich

town soon became an important cultural centre. At these

times it was called Apollonia Magna.

Ruled in turn by the

Byzantine

,

Bulgarian

and

Ottoman

Empires, Sozopol was assigned to the newly

independent Bulgaria in the 19th century. Almost all of

its

Greek population

was exchanged

with Bulgarians from

Eastern Thrace

in the aftermath of the

Balkan Wars

.

 Ecclesiastical

history

Sozopol was Christianized early. Bishops are recorded

as resident there from at least 431. At least eight

bishops are known (Le

Quien, Oriens christianus, I, 1181):

Athanasius (431), Peter (680), Euthymius (787) and

Ignatius (869); Theodosius (1357), Joannicius, who

became

Patriarch of Constantinople

(1524), Philotheus

(1564) and Joasaph (1721).

From being

suffragan

to the

archbishopric of Adrianopolis

, it became in the

fourteenth century a

metropolis

without suffragan sees; it disappeared

perhaps temporarily with the Turkish conquest, but

reappeared later; in 1808 it was united to the See of

Agathopolis

. The titular resided at

Agathopolis

, in Ottoman days called Akhtébolou, in

the

vilayet

of

Adrianopolis

(Edirne, in European Turkey).

Eubel

(Hierarchia catholica medii ævi, I,

194) mentions four Latin bishops of the fourteenth

century.

The city remains a

titular see

of the Roman Catholic Church, that of

Sozopolis in Haemimonto, suffragan of Adrianopolis.

The seat has stood vacant since the death of the last

titular bishop in 2000.^[2]

Art flourished in the Christian era. The ancient

icons and magnificent woodcarving in the

iconostases

are a remarkable accomplishment of the

craftsmanship of these times. The architecture of the

houses in the old town from the

Renaissance period

makes it a unique place to visit

today.

 Names

The original name of the city is attested as

Antheia.^[3]

Coins were minted in the town bearing the inscription

Apollonia, which date from the sixth century BC to the

first half of the third century AD. During this period,

appellations such as Apollonia Pontica (Apollonia

on the Black Sea) and Apollonia Magna (Great

Apollonia) have been recorded. By the first century

AD, the name Sozopolis began to appear in written

records (e.g., in the

). After the town became

part of the Ottoman Empire, the name was Turkified to

Sizeboli, Sizebolu or Sizebolou. After

Bulgaria took possession of the town, it was Slavicized

to Sozopol.

Sozopol Gap

on

Livingston Island

in the

South Shetland Islands

,

Antarctica

is named after Sozopol.