Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 114 13-14 May 2020
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KINGS of CAPPADOCIA. Ariarathes III. Circa 230-220 BC. Æ (19.5mm, 6.14 g, 12h). Uncertain mint (Tyana?). Head right, wearing bashlyk / Herm of goddess, holding branch and palm, supported by two sphinxes, seated back-to-back, below; ΔΣ API to left, ANIΣA/ΔΩ in two lines to right. Simonetta 8; Simonetta, Coins –; HGC 7, 801 var. (legends). Dark green patina, minor double strike. VF. Extremely rare, Simonetta notes only two examples, in the BM and Berlin; none in CoinArchives, thus possibly the only example in private hands.
This issue is often mistakenly attributed to Zariadres of Sophene (cf. Nercessian, Coinage 30, and Bedoukian, Coinage 18), who has no known coins (see Kovacs p. 4, and F. Kovacs in Armenian Numismatic Journal XXX.3 [2004], 17 and 19). This issue is very similar to another that has the same types, but different legends. The other issue was struck in Tyana, whose ethnic appears on the coins, so it is possible that this coin was also struck there. Simonetta notes that the ΔΣ preceding Ariarathes's name on the left side legend possibly stands for a title synonymous with 'dynast' or 'satrap', implying that it was struck during the early part of his reign, when he was ruling alongside his father, Ariaramnes. This is likely correct, as the ΔΣ is present on other issues (cf., e.g., HGC 7, 800), but never appears on coins that have the royal title, BAΣIΛEΩΣ. The interpretation of the right-side legend, though, remains unclear; perhaps it refers to the goddess depicted on the reverse, whose identity also remains unknown.
This issue is often mistakenly attributed to Zariadres of Sophene (cf. Nercessian, Coinage 30, and Bedoukian, Coinage 18), who has no known coins (see Kovacs p. 4, and F. Kovacs in Armenian Numismatic Journal XXX.3 [2004], 17 and 19). This issue is very similar to another that has the same types, but different legends. The other issue was struck in Tyana, whose ethnic appears on the coins, so it is possible that this coin was also struck there. Simonetta notes that the ΔΣ preceding Ariarathes's name on the left side legend possibly stands for a title synonymous with 'dynast' or 'satrap', implying that it was struck during the early part of his reign, when he was ruling alongside his father, Ariaramnes. This is likely correct, as the ΔΣ is present on other issues (cf., e.g., HGC 7, 800), but never appears on coins that have the royal title, BAΣIΛEΩΣ. The interpretation of the right-side legend, though, remains unclear; perhaps it refers to the goddess depicted on the reverse, whose identity also remains unknown.