Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 116 1 Oct 2019
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Lampsacus
Stater circa 360-340, AV 8.41 g. Head of Satyr l., wearing ivy wreath, earrings and necklace. Rev. Forepart of Pegasus r. Baldwin 32 and pl. III, 13 (these dies). BMC 24, pl. XIX, 2 (these dies).
Extremely rare. A wonderful portrait of excellent style struck in high
relief on a full flan. Good extremely fine
Ex Gemini sale VII, 2011, 472.
Lampsacus was originally a native Mysian settlement known as Bebrykia, but it was reportedly obtained by the Greeks of Phokaia in a peace settlement following a conflict with the Mysians. It was refounded as the Greek colony of Lampsakos in 654/3 BC and seems to have prospered under both the Lydian Empire of Croesus and the Persian Empire that followed. Indeed, the city is famous for having been granted to Themistokles by Artaxerxes I "for his wine". This, of course, should not be taken to mean that the exiled Athenian statesman was either an extremely heavy drinker or had a taste for extremely expensive vintages, although both may have been true. Instead, he was granted the revenues of the city, which had a reputation as a cult center for the worship of the wine-god Dionysos and his lewd companion Priapos. Among the Greek cities of western Asia Minor Lampascus could be counted very fortunate in that it possessed gold mines within the borders of its territories. Although the city had produced some rare electrum issues earlier in the fifth century BC, pure gold coin production seems to have begun in c. 404 BC under the influence of Spartan hegemony. The initial coinage was probably struck to finance the development of the Spartan navy following the crushing defeat of the Athenian fleet at Aigospotamoi. From this point Lampsakos continued to strike Persic-weight gold staters, possibly for trade or, more likely, to support the designs of the Persian satraps of Mysia and Hellespontine Phrygia, until the conquest of western Asia Minor by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Lampsakos subsequently ceased production of its traditional civic gold and became an important Macedonian imperial mint for Alexander's Attic-weight gold staters. As with the electrum of Cyzicus, Lampsakene gold was regularly anepigraphic and frequently changed its obverse types. The Pegasus civic badge on the reverse, however, was fixed as a clear indicator of the issuing city. The obverse type of the present issue is especially remarkable and rare due to its depiction of what appears to be a female satyr. The satyrs were goat-legged, pointy-eared, and often ithyphallic associates of Dionysos frequently found carrying off nymphs for unspecified purposes. Here, while the pointed ear seems to clearly signal a satyr, the facial features and especially the beaded necklace seem to indicate a female. As a female satyr is unheard of in Greek iconography and incompatible with the mythology in which male satyrs regularly coupled with female nymphs one wonders whether the type might represent a maenad (the usual female follower of Dionysos) who has been conflated with a satyr, either accidentally or by design. Both maenads and the usual male satyrs appear on other issues of gold at Lampsacus.
Stater circa 360-340, AV 8.41 g. Head of Satyr l., wearing ivy wreath, earrings and necklace. Rev. Forepart of Pegasus r. Baldwin 32 and pl. III, 13 (these dies). BMC 24, pl. XIX, 2 (these dies).
Extremely rare. A wonderful portrait of excellent style struck in high
relief on a full flan. Good extremely fine
Ex Gemini sale VII, 2011, 472.
Lampsacus was originally a native Mysian settlement known as Bebrykia, but it was reportedly obtained by the Greeks of Phokaia in a peace settlement following a conflict with the Mysians. It was refounded as the Greek colony of Lampsakos in 654/3 BC and seems to have prospered under both the Lydian Empire of Croesus and the Persian Empire that followed. Indeed, the city is famous for having been granted to Themistokles by Artaxerxes I "for his wine". This, of course, should not be taken to mean that the exiled Athenian statesman was either an extremely heavy drinker or had a taste for extremely expensive vintages, although both may have been true. Instead, he was granted the revenues of the city, which had a reputation as a cult center for the worship of the wine-god Dionysos and his lewd companion Priapos. Among the Greek cities of western Asia Minor Lampascus could be counted very fortunate in that it possessed gold mines within the borders of its territories. Although the city had produced some rare electrum issues earlier in the fifth century BC, pure gold coin production seems to have begun in c. 404 BC under the influence of Spartan hegemony. The initial coinage was probably struck to finance the development of the Spartan navy following the crushing defeat of the Athenian fleet at Aigospotamoi. From this point Lampsakos continued to strike Persic-weight gold staters, possibly for trade or, more likely, to support the designs of the Persian satraps of Mysia and Hellespontine Phrygia, until the conquest of western Asia Minor by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Lampsakos subsequently ceased production of its traditional civic gold and became an important Macedonian imperial mint for Alexander's Attic-weight gold staters. As with the electrum of Cyzicus, Lampsakene gold was regularly anepigraphic and frequently changed its obverse types. The Pegasus civic badge on the reverse, however, was fixed as a clear indicator of the issuing city. The obverse type of the present issue is especially remarkable and rare due to its depiction of what appears to be a female satyr. The satyrs were goat-legged, pointy-eared, and often ithyphallic associates of Dionysos frequently found carrying off nymphs for unspecified purposes. Here, while the pointed ear seems to clearly signal a satyr, the facial features and especially the beaded necklace seem to indicate a female. As a female satyr is unheard of in Greek iconography and incompatible with the mythology in which male satyrs regularly coupled with female nymphs one wonders whether the type might represent a maenad (the usual female follower of Dionysos) who has been conflated with a satyr, either accidentally or by design. Both maenads and the usual male satyrs appear on other issues of gold at Lampsacus.