Gemini, LLC
Auction X 13 January 2013
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Lesbos. Mytilene. c. 500-440 BC. EL Hecte, 2.50g. (11h). Obv: Ram's head left; below, cock running right. Rx: Incuse lion's head right. This variant apparently unpublished, cf. Bodenstedt 16 (ram's head left instead of right). On this unique coin the types face opposite direction of the common issue. Fine.
Rams can be found in various religious contexts: in the Dionysiac imagery, as the sacrifice for heroes (unlike the sacrifice for the Olympian gods, the cow), and as the sacred animal of the Cabeiroi (cf. the coins of Cebren). It is not clear which cult is alluded to here; in any case the direction of the ram's head, left instead of right, is exceptional at Mytilene, where most types face right.
Rams can be found in various religious contexts: in the Dionysiac imagery, as the sacrifice for heroes (unlike the sacrifice for the Olympian gods, the cow), and as the sacred animal of the Cabeiroi (cf. the coins of Cebren). It is not clear which cult is alluded to here; in any case the direction of the ram's head, left instead of right, is exceptional at Mytilene, where most types face right.