Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 38 29 Jul 2017
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Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Head of youthful Perseus to left wearing winged cap; tunny fish downwards behind / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 65, pl. II, 18; SNG France 193. 16.13g, 21mm.
Very Fine. Minor metal flaws. Extremely Rare, one of very few known examples.
Kyzikos, purportedly the first Milesian colony, was located on the southwest shore of the Propontis in ancient Mysia next to the river Aisepos. Its prosperity was due principally to its two fine harbours, which made the city a convenient stopping point for merchant ships trading between the Aegean and Black Seas. Its principal export was the tunny, of which its waters had abundant stock.
The prevalence of winged beings in Kyzikene coinage is a reflection of archaic mythological convention that assigned wings to most divine or sacred entities as an immediately visible and understandable symbol of their nature, and in the case of gods, of their power to move at will across great distances. In the case of the winged animals, we should probably understand these to be attributes of or animals sacred to a particular Olympian god.
On the present coin we see Perseus, the child of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, the daughter of the king of Argos, who though he had no mythical connection to Kyzikos, is most likely chosen as the type in recognition of his divine status and widespread worship among the Hellenes. He wears here the Ἄϊδος κυνέην - the so-called Helm of Hades which rendered its user invisible to other supernatural entities, given to him by Athena to help him evade the gorgons Sthenno and Euryale after he had slain and decapitated their sister Medusa.
Very Fine. Minor metal flaws. Extremely Rare, one of very few known examples.
Kyzikos, purportedly the first Milesian colony, was located on the southwest shore of the Propontis in ancient Mysia next to the river Aisepos. Its prosperity was due principally to its two fine harbours, which made the city a convenient stopping point for merchant ships trading between the Aegean and Black Seas. Its principal export was the tunny, of which its waters had abundant stock.
The prevalence of winged beings in Kyzikene coinage is a reflection of archaic mythological convention that assigned wings to most divine or sacred entities as an immediately visible and understandable symbol of their nature, and in the case of gods, of their power to move at will across great distances. In the case of the winged animals, we should probably understand these to be attributes of or animals sacred to a particular Olympian god.
On the present coin we see Perseus, the child of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, the daughter of the king of Argos, who though he had no mythical connection to Kyzikos, is most likely chosen as the type in recognition of his divine status and widespread worship among the Hellenes. He wears here the Ἄϊδος κυνέην - the so-called Helm of Hades which rendered its user invisible to other supernatural entities, given to him by Athena to help him evade the gorgons Sthenno and Euryale after he had slain and decapitated their sister Medusa.