Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Cyprus, Salamis AR Stater. Uncertain (Phoenician?) king, circa 450-430 BC. Ram recumbent to left, retrograde Cypriot script from top right to bottom left: 'pa-si-le-wo-se ma-xa-ko-sa'; all within dotted border / Ram's head to left, retrograde Cypriot script 'pa-si ku-ru-ko' above, ankh, astragalos and facing panther's head below; all within incuse circle. Unpublished in the standard references, for general type, fabric and style cf. K. McGregor, The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, from the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries, University College London (unpublished PhD Thesis 1998, J.I, 336-7, Euwateteos) = ACGC 1082 = BMC 38-9 = Traité II, 1135-6 (all in the name of king Evanthes). 10.98g, 22mm, 11h.
Good Extremely Fine, some areas of flatness. Unique and of considerable numismatic and historical importance.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The Greek dynasty of Salamis traced its ancestry back to the legendary hero Teukros, son of Telamon, king of the Greek island of Salamis in the Saronic Gulf. The first king and founder of the dynasty of Cypriot Salamis whose name appears on the Persian standard double sigloi and fractions is that of Evelthon (560-525 BC). It has long been recognised and confirmed by the Celenderis, Asyut, Lanarca, Zagazig and Jordan hoards, that many if not all of these issues were minted by his successors from c. 515 until the mid 5th century. Herodotus (5.104) lists four successors to Evelthon: Siromos, Chersis, Gorgos and Onesilos, none of whom are confirmed by the numismatic record. The only other names recorded on coins before the well attested Evagoras I are: Phausis (cf. J. Kagan and K. McGregor 1995: "The Coinage of king Phausis of Salamis", CCEC 23, 3-9, 1995); Nikotamos (cf. BMC 31-32 (Nikodamos) and Evanthes (BMC 38-9) dated to the period 480-450 BC. This brings us to a short and obscure period of Phoenician rule which, according to Isokrates (Evagoras 19-20), came about when "there came from Phoenicia a fugitive, who after he had gained the confidence of the king who then reigned, and had won great power, showed no proper gratitude for the favour shown him; on the contrary, he acted basely toward his host, and being skilled at grasping, he expelled his benefactor and himself seized the throne. But distrustful of the consequences of his measures and wishing to make his position secure, he reduced the city to barbarism, and brought the whole island into subservience to the Great King. Such was the state of affairs in Salamis, and the descendants of the usurper were in possession of the throne when Evagoras was born." Evagoras I, possibly as early as the 440s, took power from the Phoenician usurpers, the second of whom is recorded as having been named Abdemon, but the first whose usurpation is related by Isokrates is unknown to history. It appears that the above coin, clearly following the style of Nikodamos and Evanthes, but later than both and bearing an unrelated and strange obverse name, belongs to this brief Phoenician interlude.
The syllables 'ku' and 'ko-ru' appear elsewhere on the coinage of Salamis. A range of issues attributed to Evelthon and/or his successors feature an Ankh with 'ku' in the centre (cf. BMC, Salamis 18, p. 49, p. IX. 15), which given the royal associations of the ankh symbol, must impart some especial pertinence to that particular syllable; an association with Kuprou = Cyprus is logical (and indeed this association has often been posited by various scholars), which may possible suggest an implied meaning: 'Basileos of Kuprou'. Similar issues contemporary to the aforementioned coins of Evelthon and/or successors (cf. Dikaios 1961, p. 175, 6-7 = McGregor 223-224) additionally feature the syllables 'ru-ko' or 'ko-ru' adjacent to the ankh. The meaning of 'ko' and 'ru' remains elusive; K. McGregor 1999, (The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, From the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries BC, UCL doctoral thesis, p.52) notes the confusion and divided opinion concerning the ku-ru-ko legend: "Six 1883, p. 271, nos. 18-21 attributed the inscription to Gorgos; Deecke, 168 D read the syllables pu and po; Babelon 1893, p. cxiv-cxivi, no. 569 read the syllables as ru and po and combined the ku reading ku-po-ru 'Kuprou'... Certainly ko-ru can be read as go-ru, gru, or indeed gor. See A. Leukart, 'Syllabaire et dialecte chypriotes classiques', Chypre des origines au Moyan-Age, 1975, p. 107." None of these explanations is entirely satisfactory, however since it seems unlikely that a Phoenician usurper would bear the same name 'Gorgos' as one of Evelthon's successors (and have a mixed-up partially retrograde legend, if that is in fact how we are expected to read it: 'pa-si ku ko-ru' instead of the way it is actually written, which is 'pa-si ku ro-ko'), then a direct association with Cyprus seems more appropriate.
Therefore if we discount 'ku-ru-ko' as being the name of the king, we may tentatively attribute this coin on the basis of the obverse legend to a 'pa-si-le-wo-se ma-xa-ko-sa', or King 'Maxakosa' (=Mazaios or similar?).
Good Extremely Fine, some areas of flatness. Unique and of considerable numismatic and historical importance.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
The Greek dynasty of Salamis traced its ancestry back to the legendary hero Teukros, son of Telamon, king of the Greek island of Salamis in the Saronic Gulf. The first king and founder of the dynasty of Cypriot Salamis whose name appears on the Persian standard double sigloi and fractions is that of Evelthon (560-525 BC). It has long been recognised and confirmed by the Celenderis, Asyut, Lanarca, Zagazig and Jordan hoards, that many if not all of these issues were minted by his successors from c. 515 until the mid 5th century. Herodotus (5.104) lists four successors to Evelthon: Siromos, Chersis, Gorgos and Onesilos, none of whom are confirmed by the numismatic record. The only other names recorded on coins before the well attested Evagoras I are: Phausis (cf. J. Kagan and K. McGregor 1995: "The Coinage of king Phausis of Salamis", CCEC 23, 3-9, 1995); Nikotamos (cf. BMC 31-32 (Nikodamos) and Evanthes (BMC 38-9) dated to the period 480-450 BC. This brings us to a short and obscure period of Phoenician rule which, according to Isokrates (Evagoras 19-20), came about when "there came from Phoenicia a fugitive, who after he had gained the confidence of the king who then reigned, and had won great power, showed no proper gratitude for the favour shown him; on the contrary, he acted basely toward his host, and being skilled at grasping, he expelled his benefactor and himself seized the throne. But distrustful of the consequences of his measures and wishing to make his position secure, he reduced the city to barbarism, and brought the whole island into subservience to the Great King. Such was the state of affairs in Salamis, and the descendants of the usurper were in possession of the throne when Evagoras was born." Evagoras I, possibly as early as the 440s, took power from the Phoenician usurpers, the second of whom is recorded as having been named Abdemon, but the first whose usurpation is related by Isokrates is unknown to history. It appears that the above coin, clearly following the style of Nikodamos and Evanthes, but later than both and bearing an unrelated and strange obverse name, belongs to this brief Phoenician interlude.
The syllables 'ku' and 'ko-ru' appear elsewhere on the coinage of Salamis. A range of issues attributed to Evelthon and/or his successors feature an Ankh with 'ku' in the centre (cf. BMC, Salamis 18, p. 49, p. IX. 15), which given the royal associations of the ankh symbol, must impart some especial pertinence to that particular syllable; an association with Kuprou = Cyprus is logical (and indeed this association has often been posited by various scholars), which may possible suggest an implied meaning: 'Basileos of Kuprou'. Similar issues contemporary to the aforementioned coins of Evelthon and/or successors (cf. Dikaios 1961, p. 175, 6-7 = McGregor 223-224) additionally feature the syllables 'ru-ko' or 'ko-ru' adjacent to the ankh. The meaning of 'ko' and 'ru' remains elusive; K. McGregor 1999, (The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, From the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries BC, UCL doctoral thesis, p.52) notes the confusion and divided opinion concerning the ku-ru-ko legend: "Six 1883, p. 271, nos. 18-21 attributed the inscription to Gorgos; Deecke, 168 D read the syllables pu and po; Babelon 1893, p. cxiv-cxivi, no. 569 read the syllables as ru and po and combined the ku reading ku-po-ru 'Kuprou'... Certainly ko-ru can be read as go-ru, gru, or indeed gor. See A. Leukart, 'Syllabaire et dialecte chypriotes classiques', Chypre des origines au Moyan-Age, 1975, p. 107." None of these explanations is entirely satisfactory, however since it seems unlikely that a Phoenician usurper would bear the same name 'Gorgos' as one of Evelthon's successors (and have a mixed-up partially retrograde legend, if that is in fact how we are expected to read it: 'pa-si ku ko-ru' instead of the way it is actually written, which is 'pa-si ku ro-ko'), then a direct association with Cyprus seems more appropriate.
Therefore if we discount 'ku-ru-ko' as being the name of the king, we may tentatively attribute this coin on the basis of the obverse legend to a 'pa-si-le-wo-se ma-xa-ko-sa', or King 'Maxakosa' (=Mazaios or similar?).