Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVII 28 Mar 2019
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Cyprus, Salamis AR Stater. Gorgos II (?), circa 450-430 BC. Ram recumbent to left, Cypriot script from top right to bottom left: 'pa-si-le-wo-se ku-ru-ko-[?]'; all within dotted border / Ram's head to left, Cypriot script 'pa-si ku-ru-ko' from right to left above, ankh, astragalos and facing panther's head below; all within incuse circle. Roma XIII, 411 (same dies, corr: obv. legend), otherwise unpublished in the standard references; for general type, fabric and style cf. K. McGregor, The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, from the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries, University College London (unpublished PhD Thesis 1998, J.I, 336-7, Euwateteos) = ACGC 1082 = BMC 38-9 = Traité II, 1135-6 (all in the name of king Evanthes). 11.13g, 25mm, 11h.
Extremely Fine. Of the greatest rarity, only the second known example and of considerable numismatic importance.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s, outside of Cyprus prior to December 1992.
Herodotus (5.104) lists four successors to Evelthon: Siromos, Chersis, Gorgos and Onesilos, none of whom are believed to be confirmed in the numismatic record. The only other names recorded on coins before the well attested Evagoras I are: Phausis (cf. J. Kagan and K. McGregor 1995: "The Coinage of king Phausis of Salamis", CCEC 23, 3-9, 1995); Nikotamos (cf. BMC 31-32 [Nikodamos], and see previous lot in present auction) and Evanthes (BMC 38-9) dated to the period 480-450 BC.
The present type was unknown until a single specimen was published in Roma Numismatics Auction XIII (lot 411). At that time the legend, due to the lightly degraded state of the die and in particular the presence of several die breaks in the area of the legend did not then easily permit an accurate reading, was misinterpreted. Further study has however yielded an alternative reading of the first three syllables that is more probably correct, while accepting that the fourth remains too indistinct to identify.
This new reading is 'ku-ru-ko-[?]', and is highly significant. The syllables 'ku' and 'ko-ru' appear elsewhere on the coinage of Salamis. A range of issues attributed to Evelthon and/or his successors feature an Ankh with 'ku' in the centre (cf. BMC, Salamis 18, p. 49, p. IX. 15), which given the royal associations of the ankh symbol, must impart some especial pertinence to that particular syllable; an association with Kuprou = Cyprus is logical (and indeed this association has often been posited by various scholars), which could suggest an implied meaning: 'Basileos of Kuprou'. Similar issues contemporary to the aforementioned coins of Evelthon and/or successors (cf. Dikaios 1961, p. 175, 6-7 = McGregor 223-224) additionally feature the syllables 'ru-ko' or 'ko-ru' adjacent to the ankh. The meaning of 'ko' and 'ru' has remained elusive though; K. McGregor 1999, (The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, From the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries BC, UCL doctoral thesis, p.52) notes the confusion and divided opinion concerning the ku-ru-ko legend: "Six 1883, p. 271, nos. 18-21 attributed the inscription to Gorgos; Deecke, 168 D read the syllables pu and po; Babelon 1893, p. cxiv-cxivi, no. 569 read the syllables as ru and po and combined the ku reading ku-po-ru 'Kuprou'".
Due to the syllabic nature of the Cypriot alphabet, there was no formal or fixed interpretation for the written characters, and certainly a 'k' could be read as a 'g' sound: see A. Leukart, 'Syllabaire et dialecte chypriotes classiques', Chypre des origines au Moyan-Age, 1975, p. 107. With the reassessment of the obverse legend of this type since the first example was published in Roma XIII, what was then read as 'ma-xa-ko-sa' should in fact be correctly read as 'ku-ru-ko-[?]', and this is the same legend that appears on the reverse, but is explicitly and unambiguously preceded by the title Basileos, and must therefore be unequivocally taken to refer to King 'Ku-ru-ko' (=Gu-ru-go), or seemingly, a 'Basileos Gorgos', thus apparently confirming Six's 1883 interpretation of the 'ku-ru-ko' inscription as Gorgos.
The matter is not resolved however. This type cannot pre-date the coins of Nikodamos, and certainly was not issued by Gorgos, grandson of Evelthon. There remain two possibilities therefore: that either this coin was struck by a hitherto unknown member of the Teukrid dynasty for whom no other coinage or reference survives, or that it was struck by the unknown Phoenician usurper mention by Isokrates. Isokrates (Evagoras 19-20), relates that "there came from Phoenicia a fugitive, who after he had gained the confidence of the king who then reigned, and had won great power... expelled his benefactor and himself seized the throne." Evagoras I, possibly as early as the 440s, took power from the Phoenician usurpers, the second of whom is recorded as having been named Abdemon, but the first whose usurpation is related by Isokrates is otherwise unknown to history. Although it seems unlikely that a Phoenician usurper would happen to bear the same name 'Gorgos' as one of Evelthon's successors, the possibility that he assumed a name of an earlier ruler of the Teukrid dynasty in order to better assimilate himself cannot be excluded.
Extremely Fine. Of the greatest rarity, only the second known example and of considerable numismatic importance.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s, outside of Cyprus prior to December 1992.
Herodotus (5.104) lists four successors to Evelthon: Siromos, Chersis, Gorgos and Onesilos, none of whom are believed to be confirmed in the numismatic record. The only other names recorded on coins before the well attested Evagoras I are: Phausis (cf. J. Kagan and K. McGregor 1995: "The Coinage of king Phausis of Salamis", CCEC 23, 3-9, 1995); Nikotamos (cf. BMC 31-32 [Nikodamos], and see previous lot in present auction) and Evanthes (BMC 38-9) dated to the period 480-450 BC.
The present type was unknown until a single specimen was published in Roma Numismatics Auction XIII (lot 411). At that time the legend, due to the lightly degraded state of the die and in particular the presence of several die breaks in the area of the legend did not then easily permit an accurate reading, was misinterpreted. Further study has however yielded an alternative reading of the first three syllables that is more probably correct, while accepting that the fourth remains too indistinct to identify.
This new reading is 'ku-ru-ko-[?]', and is highly significant. The syllables 'ku' and 'ko-ru' appear elsewhere on the coinage of Salamis. A range of issues attributed to Evelthon and/or his successors feature an Ankh with 'ku' in the centre (cf. BMC, Salamis 18, p. 49, p. IX. 15), which given the royal associations of the ankh symbol, must impart some especial pertinence to that particular syllable; an association with Kuprou = Cyprus is logical (and indeed this association has often been posited by various scholars), which could suggest an implied meaning: 'Basileos of Kuprou'. Similar issues contemporary to the aforementioned coins of Evelthon and/or successors (cf. Dikaios 1961, p. 175, 6-7 = McGregor 223-224) additionally feature the syllables 'ru-ko' or 'ko-ru' adjacent to the ankh. The meaning of 'ko' and 'ru' has remained elusive though; K. McGregor 1999, (The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, From the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries BC, UCL doctoral thesis, p.52) notes the confusion and divided opinion concerning the ku-ru-ko legend: "Six 1883, p. 271, nos. 18-21 attributed the inscription to Gorgos; Deecke, 168 D read the syllables pu and po; Babelon 1893, p. cxiv-cxivi, no. 569 read the syllables as ru and po and combined the ku reading ku-po-ru 'Kuprou'".
Due to the syllabic nature of the Cypriot alphabet, there was no formal or fixed interpretation for the written characters, and certainly a 'k' could be read as a 'g' sound: see A. Leukart, 'Syllabaire et dialecte chypriotes classiques', Chypre des origines au Moyan-Age, 1975, p. 107. With the reassessment of the obverse legend of this type since the first example was published in Roma XIII, what was then read as 'ma-xa-ko-sa' should in fact be correctly read as 'ku-ru-ko-[?]', and this is the same legend that appears on the reverse, but is explicitly and unambiguously preceded by the title Basileos, and must therefore be unequivocally taken to refer to King 'Ku-ru-ko' (=Gu-ru-go), or seemingly, a 'Basileos Gorgos', thus apparently confirming Six's 1883 interpretation of the 'ku-ru-ko' inscription as Gorgos.
The matter is not resolved however. This type cannot pre-date the coins of Nikodamos, and certainly was not issued by Gorgos, grandson of Evelthon. There remain two possibilities therefore: that either this coin was struck by a hitherto unknown member of the Teukrid dynasty for whom no other coinage or reference survives, or that it was struck by the unknown Phoenician usurper mention by Isokrates. Isokrates (Evagoras 19-20), relates that "there came from Phoenicia a fugitive, who after he had gained the confidence of the king who then reigned, and had won great power... expelled his benefactor and himself seized the throne." Evagoras I, possibly as early as the 440s, took power from the Phoenician usurpers, the second of whom is recorded as having been named Abdemon, but the first whose usurpation is related by Isokrates is otherwise unknown to history. Although it seems unlikely that a Phoenician usurper would happen to bear the same name 'Gorgos' as one of Evelthon's successors, the possibility that he assumed a name of an earlier ruler of the Teukrid dynasty in order to better assimilate himself cannot be excluded.