Nomos AG
Auction 20 10 Jul 2020
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Euboia
Histiaia. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Tetrobol (Silver, 15 mm, 2.38 g, 10 h). Head of the nymph Histiaia to right, her hair rolled and bound up on the top of her head, wearing a wreath of grape leaves, a pendant earring and a pearl necklace. Rev. ΙΣΤΙ - ΑΙΕΩΝ Nymph seated right on stern of galley, holding stylis in her left hand and resting her right on the deck; on the side of the stern to left, wing; on the aphlaston, Macedonian shield; below, trident and monogram. Apparently unpublished, but cf. BCD Euboia 405. Attractive and clear. Minor marks and some striking flatness, otherwise, about extremely fine.
The unusual appearance of what is clearly a Macedonian shield in the middle of the aphlaston is highly surprising. The aphlaston, itself, has antecedents going back to the Bronze Age and may have originated as a stern ornament in the form of a long, bent-over neck of a water bird (duck, goose or swan) with the head facing inwards (it could also be a group of necks). In most Greek examples it was changed into a frond-shaped curved element, losing any zoological connection: Roman merchantmen, however, often were adorned with a bent swan's head facing outwards. The shield on the present piece might just be interpreted as an eye, derived from the original bird's head, but its remarkably careful rendition makes it much more likely to actually be a Macedonian shield, perhaps put there to honor the soldiers of the Macedonian royal army who were, in fact, paid with just these tetrobols.
Histiaia. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Tetrobol (Silver, 15 mm, 2.38 g, 10 h). Head of the nymph Histiaia to right, her hair rolled and bound up on the top of her head, wearing a wreath of grape leaves, a pendant earring and a pearl necklace. Rev. ΙΣΤΙ - ΑΙΕΩΝ Nymph seated right on stern of galley, holding stylis in her left hand and resting her right on the deck; on the side of the stern to left, wing; on the aphlaston, Macedonian shield; below, trident and monogram. Apparently unpublished, but cf. BCD Euboia 405. Attractive and clear. Minor marks and some striking flatness, otherwise, about extremely fine.
The unusual appearance of what is clearly a Macedonian shield in the middle of the aphlaston is highly surprising. The aphlaston, itself, has antecedents going back to the Bronze Age and may have originated as a stern ornament in the form of a long, bent-over neck of a water bird (duck, goose or swan) with the head facing inwards (it could also be a group of necks). In most Greek examples it was changed into a frond-shaped curved element, losing any zoological connection: Roman merchantmen, however, often were adorned with a bent swan's head facing outwards. The shield on the present piece might just be interpreted as an eye, derived from the original bird's head, but its remarkably careful rendition makes it much more likely to actually be a Macedonian shield, perhaps put there to honor the soldiers of the Macedonian royal army who were, in fact, paid with just these tetrobols.