Watch List notes:

Greek Coins
Mysia, Cyzicus

Stater late 6th century BC, EL 15.63 g. Prow of galley to l., with ram in the form of a winged forepart of a collared wolf or dog; below, tunny to l. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Traité II 2797. von Fritze 80. SNG France 210 (this obverse die).
Extremely rare, the finest of five specimens known of which only three are
in private hands. A very fascinating and interesting representation
well struck in high relief on a full flan. Extremely fine
Ex Leu sale 52, 1991, Distinguished American Collector, 82.One mythical episode revered at Cyzicus was the Argonautic expedition to Colchis. It had a direct and personal connection to the city since along their journey the Argonauts had docked at Cyzicus and were treated hospitably. But after leaving, the Argo was blown back toward the city and was mistaken for enemies, at which point hostilities broke out. The leader of the Aeolians who then occupied the city, the eponymous Cyzicus, was killed in combat by Jason or by Heracles. In the aftermath his wife Cleite took her life as Argonauts and Cyzicenes, alike, mourned his deathBecause of the involvement of Cyzicus in the legendary Argonautic expedition, Greenwell identified it as one of several themes for the designs employed on Cyzicene electrum. With this in mind, he suggests that this prow likely was meant to represent the ship Argo. Eduardo Levante, in SNG France 5, accepts that proposition. Greenwell notes that the common appearance of a prow on the coinage of Cius, another city on the southern shore of the Propontis closely connected to the Argonautic myth, may be explained in the same way.