Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVIII 29 Sep 2019
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Skythia, Olbia AR Stater. Dynast Eminakos, circa 450-425 BC. Beardless Herakles kneeling to right, stringing bow; [EMINAKO] before / Four-spoked wheel wheel surrounded by four dolphins within corners of incuse square. SNG Stancomb 342 (this coin); Traité IV, 1771, pl. 355, 21; SNG BM Black Sea 358; Jameson 2536; Rosen 147; Prospero 217; HGC 3, 1929. 11.22g, 21mm.
Good Very Fine; superb late archaic style, attractive old cabinet tone. Extremely Rare.
From the William Stancomb Collection; this coin published in Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Great Britain, Volume XI, The William Stancomb Collection of Coins of the Black Sea Region (Oxford, 2000);
Acquired from Spink & Son Ltd., 1972;
Ex Adolph Hess AG - Bank Leu AG, Auction 45, 12 May 1970, lot 91;
Noted as ex Feuardent Frères (1911-1937: uncertain sale date).
The name 'Eminakos' is known to history only from numismatic evidence. Scholars have debated the role of this elusive character; some assert that he was a Skythian king or governor at Olbia, part of the framework of the Skythian protectorate for the city. Others believe that he was a native Olbian with no prominent role as there is no evidence of him in any other historical source.
Eminakos' association with Olbia is based primarily on the find location of three different hoards which contained these staters - this coinage has been found nowhere else. Minns (Scythians and Greeks, 1913) however comments that the style of the obverse and the shallow incuse of the reverse on these staters could suggest a Thracian origin for this coin type; although he also notes that the weight and style of the reverse is more consistent with an Olbian mint. Hill, writing on behalf of the British Museum (The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Vol. 6 (1926), pp. 117-136) concludes that the evidence of the hoards and the distinctive studded wheel on the reverse is more persuasive than Minns' argument and therefore lands on an Olbian origin.
The dating for this coin given here and by William Stancomb as 450-425 BC, has been questioned by Mariusz Mielczarek who thinks that the range given is too large and that the coin should be dated firmly in the middle of the 5th century only. His theory is based on a coin of this type which was found in an archaeological exploration of Olbia which exposed other items clearly from this period. This suggestion of an earlier date holds if we assume that Eminakos is part of the Skythian rule of Olbia. It is suggested that the city joined the Delian league after 437 BC (Karyshkovskij, 'Ol'viya i Afinskij soyuz', Materialypo arkheologii Severnogo Prichernomor'ya, 1959) and would therefore have had no Skythian ruler past this time. The 437 date is no doubt taken from Perikles' expedition to the Black Sea region, where he journeyed to strengthen trading ties (Plutarch, Pericles 20), however this date and even the trip itself is strongly disputed by academics as no other source aside from Plutarch mentions it. We are left with no definitive conclusions for the dating of this coin beyond the date range given above.
Good Very Fine; superb late archaic style, attractive old cabinet tone. Extremely Rare.
From the William Stancomb Collection; this coin published in Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Great Britain, Volume XI, The William Stancomb Collection of Coins of the Black Sea Region (Oxford, 2000);
Acquired from Spink & Son Ltd., 1972;
Ex Adolph Hess AG - Bank Leu AG, Auction 45, 12 May 1970, lot 91;
Noted as ex Feuardent Frères (1911-1937: uncertain sale date).
The name 'Eminakos' is known to history only from numismatic evidence. Scholars have debated the role of this elusive character; some assert that he was a Skythian king or governor at Olbia, part of the framework of the Skythian protectorate for the city. Others believe that he was a native Olbian with no prominent role as there is no evidence of him in any other historical source.
Eminakos' association with Olbia is based primarily on the find location of three different hoards which contained these staters - this coinage has been found nowhere else. Minns (Scythians and Greeks, 1913) however comments that the style of the obverse and the shallow incuse of the reverse on these staters could suggest a Thracian origin for this coin type; although he also notes that the weight and style of the reverse is more consistent with an Olbian mint. Hill, writing on behalf of the British Museum (The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, Vol. 6 (1926), pp. 117-136) concludes that the evidence of the hoards and the distinctive studded wheel on the reverse is more persuasive than Minns' argument and therefore lands on an Olbian origin.
The dating for this coin given here and by William Stancomb as 450-425 BC, has been questioned by Mariusz Mielczarek who thinks that the range given is too large and that the coin should be dated firmly in the middle of the 5th century only. His theory is based on a coin of this type which was found in an archaeological exploration of Olbia which exposed other items clearly from this period. This suggestion of an earlier date holds if we assume that Eminakos is part of the Skythian rule of Olbia. It is suggested that the city joined the Delian league after 437 BC (Karyshkovskij, 'Ol'viya i Afinskij soyuz', Materialypo arkheologii Severnogo Prichernomor'ya, 1959) and would therefore have had no Skythian ruler past this time. The 437 date is no doubt taken from Perikles' expedition to the Black Sea region, where he journeyed to strengthen trading ties (Plutarch, Pericles 20), however this date and even the trip itself is strongly disputed by academics as no other source aside from Plutarch mentions it. We are left with no definitive conclusions for the dating of this coin beyond the date range given above.