Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 116 1 Oct 2019
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Macedonian Tribal Coinage, Methone or Stageira
Samian stater circa 530-520, AR 8.19 g. Four flowers and, at the top, a boar l., each separated by a pellet, forming a rosette; at centre, pellet within dotted circle. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Svoronos Hellénism Primitif 4 and pl XVI, 40. Jameson 968. Gillet 766. SNG ANS 732 (Stagira). Troxell and Spengler ANSMN 15, pl. 18, B (Stagira).
Extremely rare. A lovely iridescent tone, minor areas of porosity, otherwise good very fine
Ex NAC sale 59, 2011, 554.
This piece belongs to a category of Archaic silver coins of Macedonian origin that have in common the design elements of a wild boar and flowers that often are termed 'roses'. On the present coin the design is arranged in a circular fashion around a central point, and on other issues a standing boar is the principal design, supplemented by a 'rose'. Some coins of this general category were attributed by Svoronos to Methone in his landmark work of the early 20th Century, but most of the issues are now attributed to Stageira, a city on the eastern coast of the Chalcidice founded in about 655 B.C. by Ionians from Andros. Its coinage seems to have been limited to the Archaic period, prior to the march of the army of Xerxes in 480 B.C., which the people of Stageira experienced firsthand. The city then came under indirect Athenian rule through the Delian League, against whom they revolted in 424 B.C., counting Sparta as an ally. A few generations later, in 349 B.C., the Macedonian King Philip II razed Stageira to the ground, only to rebuild it as a measure of goodwill to lure Aristotle – a native of Stageira – to Philip's court so he might tutor his son Alexander.
Samian stater circa 530-520, AR 8.19 g. Four flowers and, at the top, a boar l., each separated by a pellet, forming a rosette; at centre, pellet within dotted circle. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Svoronos Hellénism Primitif 4 and pl XVI, 40. Jameson 968. Gillet 766. SNG ANS 732 (Stagira). Troxell and Spengler ANSMN 15, pl. 18, B (Stagira).
Extremely rare. A lovely iridescent tone, minor areas of porosity, otherwise good very fine
Ex NAC sale 59, 2011, 554.
This piece belongs to a category of Archaic silver coins of Macedonian origin that have in common the design elements of a wild boar and flowers that often are termed 'roses'. On the present coin the design is arranged in a circular fashion around a central point, and on other issues a standing boar is the principal design, supplemented by a 'rose'. Some coins of this general category were attributed by Svoronos to Methone in his landmark work of the early 20th Century, but most of the issues are now attributed to Stageira, a city on the eastern coast of the Chalcidice founded in about 655 B.C. by Ionians from Andros. Its coinage seems to have been limited to the Archaic period, prior to the march of the army of Xerxes in 480 B.C., which the people of Stageira experienced firsthand. The city then came under indirect Athenian rule through the Delian League, against whom they revolted in 424 B.C., counting Sparta as an ally. A few generations later, in 349 B.C., the Macedonian King Philip II razed Stageira to the ground, only to rebuild it as a measure of goodwill to lure Aristotle – a native of Stageira – to Philip's court so he might tutor his son Alexander.