Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 116 1 Oct 2019
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Crete, Gortyna
Tetradrachm circa 85, AR 15.82 g. Head of Athena Parthenos r., wearing triple-crested Attic helmet decorated with four foreparts of horses and a Pegasus; below, B. Rev. ΓO – P / TY – NI / Ω – N / ME – A / PN Owl standing r., head facing, on amphora; in r. field, bull butting r. All within olive wreath. Jameson 2521 (this coin). Svoronos 183 and pl. 16, 24 (these dies). Le Rider, Melanges Cain, 5a and pl. 3, 8 (this coin). SNG Lockett 2565 (these dies).
Of the highest rarity, only very few specimens known. A very intriguing and
important issue, lovely old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex Ars Classica XIII, 1928, 820; Hess/Leu 11, 1959, 226; Leu/M&M 3-4 December 1965, Niggeler, 330; Leu 33, 1983, 340; NFA XVIII, 1987, 164; Leu 52, 1991, 78 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 404 sales. From the Jameson collection.
This extremely rare tetradrachm of the Cretan city of Gortyna was struck in imitation of the late New Style tetradrachms of Athens. The obverse head of Athena Parthenos and the owl on an overturned amphora within a laurel wreath border closely copy the Athenian model, but the legends name the Gortynians and a local magistrate rather than the Athenians and their magistrate(s). Cretan coinage in general is often imitative in nature since the Cretans frequently served as mercenaries and were influenced by the pay they brought home in the form of foreign coins. Athenian New Style types were broadly imitated in Crete in the early first century BC with examples known from Hierapytna, Knossos, Kydonia, Lyppa, Polyrhenium, and Priansus, as well as Gortyna. It has been suggested that the interest in this international type might have been spurred by the arrival of the Roman quaestor L. Licinius Lucullus in 86 BC. In this case, the imitation New Style tetradrachms might represent financial contributions to the Roman cause in the First Mithridatic War, which was drawing to a close. On the other hand, the types enjoyed a wide popularity and the identical head of Athena also appears on issues of Pontic cities struck under Mithridates VI in the same period.
Tetradrachm circa 85, AR 15.82 g. Head of Athena Parthenos r., wearing triple-crested Attic helmet decorated with four foreparts of horses and a Pegasus; below, B. Rev. ΓO – P / TY – NI / Ω – N / ME – A / PN Owl standing r., head facing, on amphora; in r. field, bull butting r. All within olive wreath. Jameson 2521 (this coin). Svoronos 183 and pl. 16, 24 (these dies). Le Rider, Melanges Cain, 5a and pl. 3, 8 (this coin). SNG Lockett 2565 (these dies).
Of the highest rarity, only very few specimens known. A very intriguing and
important issue, lovely old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex Ars Classica XIII, 1928, 820; Hess/Leu 11, 1959, 226; Leu/M&M 3-4 December 1965, Niggeler, 330; Leu 33, 1983, 340; NFA XVIII, 1987, 164; Leu 52, 1991, 78 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 404 sales. From the Jameson collection.
This extremely rare tetradrachm of the Cretan city of Gortyna was struck in imitation of the late New Style tetradrachms of Athens. The obverse head of Athena Parthenos and the owl on an overturned amphora within a laurel wreath border closely copy the Athenian model, but the legends name the Gortynians and a local magistrate rather than the Athenians and their magistrate(s). Cretan coinage in general is often imitative in nature since the Cretans frequently served as mercenaries and were influenced by the pay they brought home in the form of foreign coins. Athenian New Style types were broadly imitated in Crete in the early first century BC with examples known from Hierapytna, Knossos, Kydonia, Lyppa, Polyrhenium, and Priansus, as well as Gortyna. It has been suggested that the interest in this international type might have been spurred by the arrival of the Roman quaestor L. Licinius Lucullus in 86 BC. In this case, the imitation New Style tetradrachms might represent financial contributions to the Roman cause in the First Mithridatic War, which was drawing to a close. On the other hand, the types enjoyed a wide popularity and the identical head of Athena also appears on issues of Pontic cities struck under Mithridates VI in the same period.