Gemini, LLC
Auction X 13 January 2013
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Caria. Rhodes. c. 408/7-404 BC. Tetradrachm, 15.09g. (12h). Obv: Head of Helios three-quarter facing with flowing hair. Rx: ΡΟΔΙΟΝ Rose with two buds and signed ΞENO in small letters between tendril and rose. Berend, Les tetradrachms de Rhodes de la premiere periode, SNR 51 (1972), p. 13, no. 24, pl. 2 (this coin). Ashton in Meadows & Shipton, Money and Its Uses in the Ancient Greek World, p. 99, no. 4. This spectacular tetradrachm of Rhodes, first published in 1972 and then in 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, is one of only three artist-signed tetradrachms of Rhodes. Struck in ultra high relief. Toned EF.
Ex Harlan J. Berk, 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, pp. 48 & 123 (this coin).
One of the earliest coins of the city of Rhodes, struck immediately after the foundation of the new capital of the island, and rivalling its contemporary female counterpart, Kimon's facing Arethusa head from Syracuse. While the impressive reverse image of a rose is simply a pun on the name of city and island, the obverse image of the sun god Helios refers to the most popular cult of Rhodes. Despite his oriental origins (gods like Shamash), Helios was a panhellenistic deity but did not have many sanctuaries. In Rhodes, his cult included a very unusual and spectacular sacrificial rite: "a quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses, is driven over a precipice into the sea, with its overtones of the plight of Phaeton noted" (W. Burkert, Greek Religion, p. 174). The obverse of our coin expresses well the power of the sun god who could make the people of Rhodes perform such a cruel rite.
Ex Harlan J. Berk, 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, pp. 48 & 123 (this coin).
One of the earliest coins of the city of Rhodes, struck immediately after the foundation of the new capital of the island, and rivalling its contemporary female counterpart, Kimon's facing Arethusa head from Syracuse. While the impressive reverse image of a rose is simply a pun on the name of city and island, the obverse image of the sun god Helios refers to the most popular cult of Rhodes. Despite his oriental origins (gods like Shamash), Helios was a panhellenistic deity but did not have many sanctuaries. In Rhodes, his cult included a very unusual and spectacular sacrificial rite: "a quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses, is driven over a precipice into the sea, with its overtones of the plight of Phaeton noted" (W. Burkert, Greek Religion, p. 174). The obverse of our coin expresses well the power of the sun god who could make the people of Rhodes perform such a cruel rite.