Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Troas, Abydos AR Stater. Lampines, magistrate. Circa 320-280 BC. Laureate head of Apollo to right / Eagle standing to right, akrostolion before; ABY to right, ΛΑΜΠΙΝΗΣ to left. Cf. BMC 19 (Hemidrachm); otherwise unpublished in the standard references. 9.57g, 26mm, 12h.
Near Extremely Fine. Unique and unpublished.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
Having been a member of the Delian League, Abydos revolted against Athenian rule in 412/411 BC, allying itself instead to Sparta. Being situated at a strategically important point on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont, the city became the Spartan military station on that coast and an important port, growing wealthy enough to issue an extremely rare series of gold staters on the Attic standard. However, the Persian-brokered peace that ended the Corinthian War between Athens and its allies Thebes, Corinth and Argos on the one hand, and Sparta on the other, was a highly favourable outcome for King Artaxerxes, as it granted him total control of all of the cities of Asia, with both the Athenian alliance and Sparta surrendering their territorial claims there.
Seemingly ceasing to strike coins after the Peace of Antalkidas in 387, in which Abydos came under the rule of the Achaemenid Persian Empire until it was occupied by Macedonians around 335, the present coin likely dates to the period after the reopening of the city mint in c. 320 when the Apollo/Eagle types were struck by a series of more than twenty magistrates of which we know.
Near Extremely Fine. Unique and unpublished.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
Having been a member of the Delian League, Abydos revolted against Athenian rule in 412/411 BC, allying itself instead to Sparta. Being situated at a strategically important point on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont, the city became the Spartan military station on that coast and an important port, growing wealthy enough to issue an extremely rare series of gold staters on the Attic standard. However, the Persian-brokered peace that ended the Corinthian War between Athens and its allies Thebes, Corinth and Argos on the one hand, and Sparta on the other, was a highly favourable outcome for King Artaxerxes, as it granted him total control of all of the cities of Asia, with both the Athenian alliance and Sparta surrendering their territorial claims there.
Seemingly ceasing to strike coins after the Peace of Antalkidas in 387, in which Abydos came under the rule of the Achaemenid Persian Empire until it was occupied by Macedonians around 335, the present coin likely dates to the period after the reopening of the city mint in c. 320 when the Apollo/Eagle types were struck by a series of more than twenty magistrates of which we know.