Savoca Coins
Online Auction 23 | Silver 17 Jun 2018
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Mysia. Kyzikos circa 404-394 BC. Symmachy coinage
Tridrachm AR
20mm., 11,03g.
The Herakliskos Drakonopnigon: the Infant Herakles crouching right, strangling a serpent coiled around each arm, Σ-[Y]-N around / Head of roaring lion left, with outstretched tongue, and dotted truncation, below, tunny left, KY-ZI around (Z as H), all within shallow incuse circle.
nearly very fine
Delrieux, Ententes 19 var. (unlisted dies) = Schönert-Geiss, Byzantion 857 var. (same) = G.F. Hill, "Greek Coins Acquired by the British Museum in 1927" in NC 1928, 30 = AGC 193 = GPGG pl. 18, 15 = Kraay & Hirmer 720 = Seltman, Greek pl. 32, 10 = BM Museum Number 1927,1015.1.
The third known example after BM and CNG Triton XIX (1/2016), lot 166.
At the turn of the fifth to fourth centuries BC, several important cities in western Asia Minor - Byzantion, Knidos, Kyzikos, Ephesos, Iasos, Lampsakos, Rhodes, and Samos - struck an issue of silver denominations bearing on the obverse the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon, along with the Greek letters ΣYN, generally interpreted as syn[machoi] (allies).
Karweise in his article, "Lysander as Herakliskos Drakonopnigon (NC 140 [1980], pp. 1-27) argued that the infant Herakles probably represented the Spartan admiral Lysander, whose defeat of the Athenians at Aigospotamoi in 405 BC effectively ended the Peloponnesian War. Lysander was a member of the Heraklidai - direct descendents of Herakles - and the use of the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon would have particularly apt, given that Spartan power was now on the rise, having "strangled" that of Athens. Thus, for Karweise, these coins should have been struck shortly after the end of the war - about 404 BC.
Delrieux argued that the alliance of these cities occurred in two brief phases - the first circa 395-390 BC, when Rhodes became the base of operations for the Athenian general Konon and his ally, the Persian general, Pharnabazos, against the Spartans. In 394 BC, following the defeat of the Spartan fleet at Knidos, many cities north along the Ionian Coast, including Ephesos and Samos, joined this alliance, which continued through to at least 390 BC when Sparta reasserted control in Asia Minor. The second phase began circa 389-387 BC. At that time, the Athenian general Thrasyboulos, who replaced Konon as commander, began re-establishing Athenian alliances with those Asia Minor cities that had previously been their allies (many of these cities once belonged to the Delian League). The result of this action was Spartan fear over a resurgent Athenian empire, prompting counter-attacks against the cities of the Hellespont and the Propontis. To protect themselves from these attacks, these pro-Athenian cities allied themselves. With the King's Peace in 386 BC, however, this second phase of the alliance was no longer necessary: the alliance broke up and ceased striking this coinage.
Tridrachm AR
20mm., 11,03g.
The Herakliskos Drakonopnigon: the Infant Herakles crouching right, strangling a serpent coiled around each arm, Σ-[Y]-N around / Head of roaring lion left, with outstretched tongue, and dotted truncation, below, tunny left, KY-ZI around (Z as H), all within shallow incuse circle.
nearly very fine
Delrieux, Ententes 19 var. (unlisted dies) = Schönert-Geiss, Byzantion 857 var. (same) = G.F. Hill, "Greek Coins Acquired by the British Museum in 1927" in NC 1928, 30 = AGC 193 = GPGG pl. 18, 15 = Kraay & Hirmer 720 = Seltman, Greek pl. 32, 10 = BM Museum Number 1927,1015.1.
The third known example after BM and CNG Triton XIX (1/2016), lot 166.
At the turn of the fifth to fourth centuries BC, several important cities in western Asia Minor - Byzantion, Knidos, Kyzikos, Ephesos, Iasos, Lampsakos, Rhodes, and Samos - struck an issue of silver denominations bearing on the obverse the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon, along with the Greek letters ΣYN, generally interpreted as syn[machoi] (allies).
Karweise in his article, "Lysander as Herakliskos Drakonopnigon (NC 140 [1980], pp. 1-27) argued that the infant Herakles probably represented the Spartan admiral Lysander, whose defeat of the Athenians at Aigospotamoi in 405 BC effectively ended the Peloponnesian War. Lysander was a member of the Heraklidai - direct descendents of Herakles - and the use of the figure of Herakliskos Drakonopnigon would have particularly apt, given that Spartan power was now on the rise, having "strangled" that of Athens. Thus, for Karweise, these coins should have been struck shortly after the end of the war - about 404 BC.
Delrieux argued that the alliance of these cities occurred in two brief phases - the first circa 395-390 BC, when Rhodes became the base of operations for the Athenian general Konon and his ally, the Persian general, Pharnabazos, against the Spartans. In 394 BC, following the defeat of the Spartan fleet at Knidos, many cities north along the Ionian Coast, including Ephesos and Samos, joined this alliance, which continued through to at least 390 BC when Sparta reasserted control in Asia Minor. The second phase began circa 389-387 BC. At that time, the Athenian general Thrasyboulos, who replaced Konon as commander, began re-establishing Athenian alliances with those Asia Minor cities that had previously been their allies (many of these cities once belonged to the Delian League). The result of this action was Spartan fear over a resurgent Athenian empire, prompting counter-attacks against the cities of the Hellespont and the Propontis. To protect themselves from these attacks, these pro-Athenian cities allied themselves. With the King's Peace in 386 BC, however, this second phase of the alliance was no longer necessary: the alliance broke up and ceased striking this coinage.