Leu Numismatik AG
Auction 5 27 Oct 2019
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KYRENAICA. Kyrene. Circa 440-435 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 24 mm, 17.29 g, 2 h), in alliance with Euhesperides. Attic standard. [E-Y] Silphium plant with two pair of leaves and fruits. Rev. KYPA Bearded head of Zeus Ammon to right, with ram's horn over his ear. BMC pl. VII, 17C = SNG Copenhagen 1182 (same dies). Extremely rare, and of very elegant early Classical style. The obverse struck somewhat off center, otherwise, extremely fine.
Kyrene and its neighboring cities gained their fabulous wealth not least from the export of the silphium plant, which grew wild in the Kyrenaika and was used both for medical purposes and eaten as a vegetable. Growing demand and the over-cultivation of the hinterland eventually led to the extinction of the wild plant, whose appearance we only know from coins, by the 1st century AD. The present issue was struck in Alliance with Euhesperides, the most western city of the Kyrenaikan Pentapolis, which appears to have joined forces with Kyrene against the interjacent city of Barke in the turmoil following the downfall of the Battiadae in 440 BC, the Royal dynasty which had ruled Kyrene since the late 7th century BC.
Kyrene and its neighboring cities gained their fabulous wealth not least from the export of the silphium plant, which grew wild in the Kyrenaika and was used both for medical purposes and eaten as a vegetable. Growing demand and the over-cultivation of the hinterland eventually led to the extinction of the wild plant, whose appearance we only know from coins, by the 1st century AD. The present issue was struck in Alliance with Euhesperides, the most western city of the Kyrenaikan Pentapolis, which appears to have joined forces with Kyrene against the interjacent city of Barke in the turmoil following the downfall of the Battiadae in 440 BC, the Royal dynasty which had ruled Kyrene since the late 7th century BC.