Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 116 1 Oct 2019
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Colophon
Drachm circa 500, AR 5.65 g. Pearl-diademed head of Apollo facing. Rev. Square incuse punch. Traitè I, pl. 58, 11. Jameson 1312 (this coin). Weber, NC 1899, pl. 16, 6.
Extremely rare. Old cabinet tone and good very fine
Ex Leu 28, 1981, 151 and DNW A10, 2011, 1020 sales. From the Jameson collection.
Colophon was perhaps the oldest of the Greek cities of Ionia, said to have been founded by sons of Kodros, the semi-mythical king of Athens. In the aftermath of the Greek victory in the Trojan War, Colophon was said to be the scene of a contest between the famous Argive seer Kalchas and the equally renowned seer Mopsos of Klaros. The latter was an oracular cult site sacred to Apollo on the Ionian coast that belonged to the territory of Colophon. According to one tradition, during their meeting at Colophon Kalchas asked Mopsos how many figs hung from a nearby tree. When the figs were all picked it was discovered that Mopsos had correctly answered ten thousand and one. Mopsos then asked Kalchas how many piglets would be borne to a pregnant sow that they came across. Kalchas confessed that he could not answer such a question, to which Mopsos replied that the sow would give birth to ten piglets, only one of which would be male. The sow gave birth the next day and showed Mopsos to have been correct. Mortified by this defeat, Kalchas died of grief on the spot, leaving Mopsos the laurels as the greatest of Greek seers. The present archaic drachm of Colophon features a remarkable facing head of Apollo, the divine father of Mopsos and the ultimate source of his uncanny ability to predict the future and provide answers to seemingly impossible questions.
Drachm circa 500, AR 5.65 g. Pearl-diademed head of Apollo facing. Rev. Square incuse punch. Traitè I, pl. 58, 11. Jameson 1312 (this coin). Weber, NC 1899, pl. 16, 6.
Extremely rare. Old cabinet tone and good very fine
Ex Leu 28, 1981, 151 and DNW A10, 2011, 1020 sales. From the Jameson collection.
Colophon was perhaps the oldest of the Greek cities of Ionia, said to have been founded by sons of Kodros, the semi-mythical king of Athens. In the aftermath of the Greek victory in the Trojan War, Colophon was said to be the scene of a contest between the famous Argive seer Kalchas and the equally renowned seer Mopsos of Klaros. The latter was an oracular cult site sacred to Apollo on the Ionian coast that belonged to the territory of Colophon. According to one tradition, during their meeting at Colophon Kalchas asked Mopsos how many figs hung from a nearby tree. When the figs were all picked it was discovered that Mopsos had correctly answered ten thousand and one. Mopsos then asked Kalchas how many piglets would be borne to a pregnant sow that they came across. Kalchas confessed that he could not answer such a question, to which Mopsos replied that the sow would give birth to ten piglets, only one of which would be male. The sow gave birth the next day and showed Mopsos to have been correct. Mortified by this defeat, Kalchas died of grief on the spot, leaving Mopsos the laurels as the greatest of Greek seers. The present archaic drachm of Colophon features a remarkable facing head of Apollo, the divine father of Mopsos and the ultimate source of his uncanny ability to predict the future and provide answers to seemingly impossible questions.