Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
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Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Roaring lion standing to left; tunny fish to left below / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 42; Greenwell 104; Boston MFA -; SNG France 182. 16.11g, 22mm.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; only five other examples on CoinArchives.
From the inventory of a UK dealer.
This extremely rare issue is not be confused with another, relatively more common, issue (Von Fritze 84) also depicting a lion standing left on a tunny fish. The staters of Von Fritze 84 depict the lion with one forepaw slightly raised and its jaws barely open, while those of 42 represent the lion with its forefront feet firmly planted and a convincing, jaws wide open, roar. The overall style of 84 is clumsy and unrefined in comparison to 42, lacking the minute detail and intense expression exhibited by the magnificent example presented here. Of the five other examples that have appeared on the market, this is equal, if not superior, to the best of them (CNG, Triton XX, 213).
The early Milesian foundation of Kyzikos on the isthmus of the Arktouros peninsula, protruding from the south-west coast of the Propontis, was ideally situated for its role as commercial intermediary par excellence at the centre of east-west trade. The earliest electrum coinage of Kyzikos with its characteristic 'tunny fish' emblem dates from about 550, and was based on the Phokaic weight standard of about 16.1g, the equivalent value to a Persian gold daric of 8.4g. They were contemporarily called Kyzikenes and the distribution of hoard finds makes it clear that it was the acceptable currency for trade between Thrace and the northern coasts of the Black Sea, and from Athens to Ionia, so much so that Kyzikenes are mentioned in Athenian inventories (cf. ACGC p. 261-2). This electrum coinage bears a wide variety of types, many of which are mythological or historical and types copied from contemporary Greek poleis from Magna Graecia to the Levant. Depictions of the lion on Greek coinage date from the earliest electrum coinage struck by Lydia, where the lion personified the attributes aspired to by the kings of the Lydian dynasty and was emblematic of the region itself.
Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; only five other examples on CoinArchives.
From the inventory of a UK dealer.
This extremely rare issue is not be confused with another, relatively more common, issue (Von Fritze 84) also depicting a lion standing left on a tunny fish. The staters of Von Fritze 84 depict the lion with one forepaw slightly raised and its jaws barely open, while those of 42 represent the lion with its forefront feet firmly planted and a convincing, jaws wide open, roar. The overall style of 84 is clumsy and unrefined in comparison to 42, lacking the minute detail and intense expression exhibited by the magnificent example presented here. Of the five other examples that have appeared on the market, this is equal, if not superior, to the best of them (CNG, Triton XX, 213).
The early Milesian foundation of Kyzikos on the isthmus of the Arktouros peninsula, protruding from the south-west coast of the Propontis, was ideally situated for its role as commercial intermediary par excellence at the centre of east-west trade. The earliest electrum coinage of Kyzikos with its characteristic 'tunny fish' emblem dates from about 550, and was based on the Phokaic weight standard of about 16.1g, the equivalent value to a Persian gold daric of 8.4g. They were contemporarily called Kyzikenes and the distribution of hoard finds makes it clear that it was the acceptable currency for trade between Thrace and the northern coasts of the Black Sea, and from Athens to Ionia, so much so that Kyzikenes are mentioned in Athenian inventories (cf. ACGC p. 261-2). This electrum coinage bears a wide variety of types, many of which are mythological or historical and types copied from contemporary Greek poleis from Magna Graecia to the Levant. Depictions of the lion on Greek coinage date from the earliest electrum coinage struck by Lydia, where the lion personified the attributes aspired to by the kings of the Lydian dynasty and was emblematic of the region itself.