Analysed coins Die analysis Visual catalogue

Analysed coins

Coin catalogue section:	Holmoi, Group 2
Coin corpus dataset:	Holmoi, Group 2

The number of analysed coins recorded in the corpus as of 16 July 2025 is presented in Table 1.

Type	Count
2.1a	2
2.1b	3
2.1c	2
2.1d	2
Total	9

Table 1: Number of analysed coins

Die analysis

An overview of the dies used to strike the known Group 2 staters is given in Table 2. Identifying the dies is complicated by the presence of test cuts and countermarks and by the poor preservation of some specimens. Coins of variants 2.1a and 2.1b appear to have been struck from the same obverse die, O1. By the time it was used to strike specimen 1 of variant 2.1b, however, this die was already worn; reverse die R3 also appears more worn on this specimen. Obverse die O1 was subsequently used in this worn state to strike specimen 1 of variant 2.1c. The second specimen of variant 2.1c was probably struck from the same obverse die after it had become badly damaged and been reworked: Athena’s left hand and shield were recut, and her spear was moved farther to the left (the line marking the spear’s original position is visible in the photograph). Reverse die R4 is shared with coins of variant 2.1d, but it appears more worn on the 2.1c coins.

If these observations are correct, the relative chronological order of these issues was as follows:

1. variant 2.1a, struck from obverse die O1 and reverse dies R1 and R2;
2. variant 2.1b, struck from obverse die O1 and reverse die R3;
3. variant 2.1d, struck from die pair O2/R4;
4. variant 2.1c, struck from die pairs O1/R4 and O1b/R4, with O1 probably being reused after O2 had been damaged beyond repair.

Type	Ref. No.	Specimen	Coin dies
			Obverse	Reverse
2.1a	HO4001	1	O1	R1
	HO4002	2	O1	R2
2.1b	HO4003	1	O1	R3
	HO4004	2	O1	R3
	HO4005	3	O1	R3
2.1c	HO4006	1	O1	R4
	HO4007	2	O1b	R4
2.1d	HO4008	1	O2	R4
	HO4009	2	O2	R4

Table 2: Overview of the dies used to strike individual coins

The fact that only two obverse dies have been identified suggests that the production of these staters was limited. Using statistical methods to estimate the original number of dies would be misleading given the very small dataset.

Visual catalogue

Photo credits are provided in the coin corpus dataset for Holmoi, Group 2.

Type 2.1a, Specimen 1 (Ref. No. HO4001). Obverse and reverse dies O1/R1.

Type 2.1a, Specimen 2 (Ref. No. HO4002). Obverse and reverse dies O1/R2.

Type 2.1b, Specimen 1 (Ref. No. HO4003). Obverse and reverse dies O1/R3.

Type 2.1b, Specimen 2 (Ref. No. HO4004). Obverse and reverse dies O1/R3.

Type 2.1b, Specimen 3 (Ref. No. HO4005). Obverse and reverse dies O1/R3.

Type 2.1c, Specimen 1 (Ref. No. HO4006). Obverse and reverse dies O1/R4.

Type 2.1c, Specimen 2 (Ref. No. HO4007). Obverse and reverse dies O1b/R4.

Type 2.1d, Specimen 1 (Ref. No. HO4008). Obverse and reverse dies O2/R4.

Type 2.1d, Specimen 2 (Ref. No. HO4009). Obverse and reverse dies O2/R4.