Gemini, LLC
Auction X 13 January 2013
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Cilicia. Tarsus. c. 425-400 BC. Stater, 10.63g. (2h). Obv: Persian satrap on horseback. Rx: TRZ Warrior, nude but for the helmet, kneeling left, holding round shield ornamented with Medusa head and spear. SNG Aulock 5913. SNG Paris 226. SNG Levante 61. Furthermore, see W. Weiser, ZPE 76 (1989), p. 280, pl. 19, 19; O. Casabonne, La Cilicie a l'epoque achemenide (Paris 2001), pl. 2, 26. The hoplite, usually indistinct because struck from a worn die, is exceptionally sharp on this specimen. Choice EF.
Ex Superior, 30 May 1995, lot 7682, Lewis Egnew Collection. Ex NFA, 18 October 1990, lot 835.
At first sight, the two types of this issue, a Persian satrap and a Greek soldier, seem to contradict each other. After all, some decades earlier the Persians had been defeated by the Athenians and their allies in southern Asia Minor in a battle at the river Eurymedon. However, the Persians had learned from their experiences and soon started to hire Greek mercenaries, who proved to be loyal and fought in all later battles of the Persian empire, even against their compatriots. One of the most famous examples is the so-called March Up Country, the expedition led by Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II in 400 BC that was described by the Greek historian Xenophon. So our coin gives a picture of the actual warfare of the period. Moreover, this coin is a real gem.
Ex Superior, 30 May 1995, lot 7682, Lewis Egnew Collection. Ex NFA, 18 October 1990, lot 835.
At first sight, the two types of this issue, a Persian satrap and a Greek soldier, seem to contradict each other. After all, some decades earlier the Persians had been defeated by the Athenians and their allies in southern Asia Minor in a battle at the river Eurymedon. However, the Persians had learned from their experiences and soon started to hire Greek mercenaries, who proved to be loyal and fought in all later battles of the Persian empire, even against their compatriots. One of the most famous examples is the so-called March Up Country, the expedition led by Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II in 400 BC that was described by the Greek historian Xenophon. So our coin gives a picture of the actual warfare of the period. Moreover, this coin is a real gem.