Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XII 29 September 2016
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Troas, Abydos EL Stater. Circa 520-500 BC. Milesian standard. Eagle with closed wings standing to left, head reverted, dolphin in left field, floral tendril to right; all within circular border / Incuse punch. Head, Historia Numorum, p.538; Head, 'Metrological Notes on Ancient Electrum Coins' in NC 1875, p.275, pl. VII, 7 (same dies). 14.16g, 19mm.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, apparently the second known example and more complete than the example published by Head in 1875. Of significant numismatic importance, and perhaps the earliest coinage of Abydos.
Abydos was first mentioned in the Iliad among the catalogue of Trojan allies. It was initially probably a Thracian town, as Strabo relates, but it was afterwards colonized by Milesians, with the consent of Gyges, king of Lydia, around 700 BC.
The city was under the control of a pro-Persian tyrant, Daphnis, in the 520s, and was directly occupied by the Persians in 514. Abydos was one of the unfortunate Hellespontine cities destroyed by fire by the Persian king Darios after his Skythian expedition; Strabo tells us that 'he burned them because he had learned after his return from his attack upon the Skythians that the nomads were making preparations to cross the strait and attack him to avenge their sufferings, and was afraid that the cities would provide means for the passage of their army."
The very similar stater type bearing an eagle standing in an identical posture but of later style and with a quadripartite incuse square (BMC Ionia pl. I, 23; Kraay ACGC 75) has long been attributed by noted numismatists including Head, Jameson and Kraay to Abydos. Kraay ascribed that type to the coinages of the Ionian Revolt in 499 against Persian overlordship, which Abydos certainly had good cause to join, and with the gold mines it possessed, had the means to support. The present coin's obverse style is considerably more archaic in form than the aforementioned type, a fact borne out not only in the eagle itself, but also in the primitive form of the dolphin and the placement of the curious 'floral tendril' symbol above and right of the eagle. The reverse punch too is indicative of a striking date earlier than that proposed for Kraay 75, having more in common with the staters of Chios and other uncertain mints dated c. 525-500 (see for example R. Jameson, 'Trouvaille de Vourla', RN 1911, pl. I, 1; BMC 31, pl. I, 19); the fabric too retains more resemblance to early globular type struck coins than does Kraay 75. It is therefore proposed that the present type, first catalogued by Head in 1875 and seemingly since, potentially represents the earliest known coinage of Abydos.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, apparently the second known example and more complete than the example published by Head in 1875. Of significant numismatic importance, and perhaps the earliest coinage of Abydos.
Abydos was first mentioned in the Iliad among the catalogue of Trojan allies. It was initially probably a Thracian town, as Strabo relates, but it was afterwards colonized by Milesians, with the consent of Gyges, king of Lydia, around 700 BC.
The city was under the control of a pro-Persian tyrant, Daphnis, in the 520s, and was directly occupied by the Persians in 514. Abydos was one of the unfortunate Hellespontine cities destroyed by fire by the Persian king Darios after his Skythian expedition; Strabo tells us that 'he burned them because he had learned after his return from his attack upon the Skythians that the nomads were making preparations to cross the strait and attack him to avenge their sufferings, and was afraid that the cities would provide means for the passage of their army."
The very similar stater type bearing an eagle standing in an identical posture but of later style and with a quadripartite incuse square (BMC Ionia pl. I, 23; Kraay ACGC 75) has long been attributed by noted numismatists including Head, Jameson and Kraay to Abydos. Kraay ascribed that type to the coinages of the Ionian Revolt in 499 against Persian overlordship, which Abydos certainly had good cause to join, and with the gold mines it possessed, had the means to support. The present coin's obverse style is considerably more archaic in form than the aforementioned type, a fact borne out not only in the eagle itself, but also in the primitive form of the dolphin and the placement of the curious 'floral tendril' symbol above and right of the eagle. The reverse punch too is indicative of a striking date earlier than that proposed for Kraay 75, having more in common with the staters of Chios and other uncertain mints dated c. 525-500 (see for example R. Jameson, 'Trouvaille de Vourla', RN 1911, pl. I, 1; BMC 31, pl. I, 19); the fabric too retains more resemblance to early globular type struck coins than does Kraay 75. It is therefore proposed that the present type, first catalogued by Head in 1875 and seemingly since, potentially represents the earliest known coinage of Abydos.