51 Gallery
June 2017 Auction 9 Jun 2017
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MYSIA, ELECTRUM HEKTE OF KYZIKOS, 5th-4th century BC, 2.628g. Fritze 158. Lightly toned with underlying luster. A powerful obverse design of exceptional execution by a talented master engraver. Choice extremely fine. Nomos 2015 (11) lot 104
Kekrops was the mythological founder and the first king of Athens. Born from the earth itself... he had his top half shaped like a man and the bottom half in serpent or fish-tail form. He appears on Athenian red-figure vases and his statue was in the west pediment of the Parthenon. On this coin, perfectly shaped flan for the design, Kekrops holds the olive tree that Athena gave to Athens during the famous contest with Poseidon. The fact that this distinctly Athenian myth should appear on the coinage of Kyzikos can be explained by the close ties between the two cities.
Kekrops was the mythological founder and the first king of Athens. Born from the earth itself... he had his top half shaped like a man and the bottom half in serpent or fish-tail form. He appears on Athenian red-figure vases and his statue was in the west pediment of the Parthenon. On this coin, perfectly shaped flan for the design, Kekrops holds the olive tree that Athena gave to Athens during the famous contest with Poseidon. The fact that this distinctly Athenian myth should appear on the coinage of Kyzikos can be explained by the close ties between the two cities.