Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Mysia, Pergamon AV Stater. Mid-late 330s BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Archaistic Palladion: statue of Pallas Athena standing facing, holding spear aloft in right hand, preparing to strike, on left arm, a shield adorned with a four-point star and fillet hanging below; to lower left, a crested Corinthian helmet right; all within concave circular incuse. Callataÿ, Statères 2o (D2/R3 - this coin); Von Fritze, Pergamon 7 = Saida 36 var. (rev. not incuse); SNG France 1557 = De Luynes 2493 = Saida 37; Gulbenkian 699 var. (same) = Jameson 2580 var. (same); PCG pl. 28, 25 var. (same). 17mm, 8.62g, 1h.
Fleur De Coin; beautiful, lustrous metal displaying full mint bloom. Very Rare; among the finest known examples.
This coin published in F. de Callataÿ, Les statères de Pergame et les réquisitions d'Alexandre le Grand: l'apport d'un nouveau trésor (RN 169, 2012);
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex SF Collection (USA), Nomos AG, Auction 3, 10 May 2011, lot 112 (hammer: CHF 130,000);
Privately purchased from Harlan J. Berk Ltd. in 2007.
This remarkable coin is unusual in many regards, not least on account of the fact that it bears no legend at all. It can nonetheless be attributed to Pergamon thanks to the similar silver fractions which bear the city ethnic (see SNG France 1558-66). The presence of two examples of this type in the Saida hoard along with a gold stater of Philippi in Macedon and ten of the twelve known gold staters of Kios indicates that it was struck sometime between 356-345 BC and 323-320 BC; the close stylistic affinity with the coinage of Alexander III suggests a more specific minting date at some point during his reign. Indeed, F. de Callataÿ's study of the small group of specimens that have come to the market in the past decade confirmed that they were struck at a date earlier than 323-320 BC, but more importantly that they were struck on the Attic standard used by Alexander, a fact that previously had not been provable due to the worn state of the then known examples.
De Callataÿ's study also established a population of a total of five obverse and seven reverse dies by two engravers used to coin the issue, all of which are die-linked. On the surface then, this would seem to indicate a substantial issue, yet the very small number of surviving coins today suggests otherwise. Its extreme rarity today must be due to a very limited striking; it has been estimated that no more than five talents were coined (enough for 3000 staters), which would certainly explain the paucity of surviving examples.
The apparently brief but intense minting of these Pergamene staters is suggestive of their having been struck from immediately available bullion for an extraordinary and immediate requirement. In the time of Alexander, Pergamon was little more than a hill-top fortress with a small settlement attached, and a population of no more than a few thousands, yet its strategic position commanding the Kaikos valley which provided access from the Aegean coast and the port town of Elaea in the west to the Persian royal road in the east made it a significant military asset. Because of their clear link to the Macedonian Herakles type, it has been suggested that this coin may have been autonomously struck at Pergamon during the period of 334-332 while the Persian navy and remaining land forces made counter-offensives against the Macedonian gains, and the situation (and the outcome of the war) remained confused and uncertain.
That the reverse depicts an archaistic Palladion or cult statue of Pallas Athena is certain - the silver fractions clearly display a base upon which the statue of Athena stands. Its use on this coin is perhaps best explained as an invocation of Athena, whose cult at Pergamon was ancient (the city's mythical founder was Telephos, the son of Herakles and Auge, who was a priestess of Athena) for the protection of the city.
This particular coin, in this cataloguer's opinion, is the very best of all of those that have come to the market in the past decade, being perfectly centred on both obverse and reverse, having a broad field before the head of Herakles, and completely encompassing every element of the design on the reverse, as well as showing fewer surface marks than the other specimens. Evidently others have been of the same opinion, as in Nomos 3 it hammered for CHF 130,000 - equivalent to just under US $150,000, only slightly less than a not so attractive and off-centre example sold at NAC 52 in 2009.
Fleur De Coin; beautiful, lustrous metal displaying full mint bloom. Very Rare; among the finest known examples.
This coin published in F. de Callataÿ, Les statères de Pergame et les réquisitions d'Alexandre le Grand: l'apport d'un nouveau trésor (RN 169, 2012);
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex SF Collection (USA), Nomos AG, Auction 3, 10 May 2011, lot 112 (hammer: CHF 130,000);
Privately purchased from Harlan J. Berk Ltd. in 2007.
This remarkable coin is unusual in many regards, not least on account of the fact that it bears no legend at all. It can nonetheless be attributed to Pergamon thanks to the similar silver fractions which bear the city ethnic (see SNG France 1558-66). The presence of two examples of this type in the Saida hoard along with a gold stater of Philippi in Macedon and ten of the twelve known gold staters of Kios indicates that it was struck sometime between 356-345 BC and 323-320 BC; the close stylistic affinity with the coinage of Alexander III suggests a more specific minting date at some point during his reign. Indeed, F. de Callataÿ's study of the small group of specimens that have come to the market in the past decade confirmed that they were struck at a date earlier than 323-320 BC, but more importantly that they were struck on the Attic standard used by Alexander, a fact that previously had not been provable due to the worn state of the then known examples.
De Callataÿ's study also established a population of a total of five obverse and seven reverse dies by two engravers used to coin the issue, all of which are die-linked. On the surface then, this would seem to indicate a substantial issue, yet the very small number of surviving coins today suggests otherwise. Its extreme rarity today must be due to a very limited striking; it has been estimated that no more than five talents were coined (enough for 3000 staters), which would certainly explain the paucity of surviving examples.
The apparently brief but intense minting of these Pergamene staters is suggestive of their having been struck from immediately available bullion for an extraordinary and immediate requirement. In the time of Alexander, Pergamon was little more than a hill-top fortress with a small settlement attached, and a population of no more than a few thousands, yet its strategic position commanding the Kaikos valley which provided access from the Aegean coast and the port town of Elaea in the west to the Persian royal road in the east made it a significant military asset. Because of their clear link to the Macedonian Herakles type, it has been suggested that this coin may have been autonomously struck at Pergamon during the period of 334-332 while the Persian navy and remaining land forces made counter-offensives against the Macedonian gains, and the situation (and the outcome of the war) remained confused and uncertain.
That the reverse depicts an archaistic Palladion or cult statue of Pallas Athena is certain - the silver fractions clearly display a base upon which the statue of Athena stands. Its use on this coin is perhaps best explained as an invocation of Athena, whose cult at Pergamon was ancient (the city's mythical founder was Telephos, the son of Herakles and Auge, who was a priestess of Athena) for the protection of the city.
This particular coin, in this cataloguer's opinion, is the very best of all of those that have come to the market in the past decade, being perfectly centred on both obverse and reverse, having a broad field before the head of Herakles, and completely encompassing every element of the design on the reverse, as well as showing fewer surface marks than the other specimens. Evidently others have been of the same opinion, as in Nomos 3 it hammered for CHF 130,000 - equivalent to just under US $150,000, only slightly less than a not so attractive and off-centre example sold at NAC 52 in 2009.