Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Cyprus, Marion AR Stater. Sasmas, circa 470-450 BC. Lion standing right, licking its right foreleg; Boiotian shield above, [sa-sa-ma-o to-ka-ro-to-sa] (Sasmas, son of Doxandros) in Cypriot script across upper field, floral pattern in exergue / Phrixos standing left, clinging to the back of a ram advancing left; [ma-ri-eu-se] (of Marion) in Cypriot script to left and below, Boiotian shield below; all within incuse square. Zapiti & Michaelidou 1; Tziambazis 50; BMC p. 71, 1 = Traité II 1366; SNG Copenhagen 24; ACGC 1108 = E.S.G. Robinson, "British Museum Acquisitions for the Years 1933-1934" in NC 1936, 45; E.S.G. Robinson, "British Museum Acquisitions for 1930-31" in NC 1932, 10; Kunstfreund 168; Triton XVII, lot 356 = Triton XV, lot 1264 (all from the same obv. die). 11.31g, 25mm, 4h.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare, and exceptionally complete for the type.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s, outside of Cyprus prior to December 1992.
This coin is inscribed with the name of Sasmas, one of only five known kings of the city of Marion in Cyprus, which scholars generally agree is an incomplete list, built almost entirely from numismatic evidence. Sasmas and his father Doxandros are the only two recorded kings of the city prior to the Athenian takeover of the city in 449 BC. Marion is first definitively mentioned by Diodorus Siculus who recounts how Kimon, an Athenian general, laid siege to the city. This siege removed the city from Persian domination and placed it under Athenian rule; it was thereafter often known by geographers such as Skylax as 'Marion Hellenikon'. Under the Athenians Marion flourished, gaining wealth and becoming a trading hub due to the nearby Limni mines which provided gold and copper. However the prosperity of the city was not to last long as the next reference to Marion in Diodorus Siculus was to record the destruction of the city in 312 BC at the hands of Ptolemy I. The king of Marion at this time was Stasioikos II (the third ruler after Sasmas), who aligned himself with Antigonos I Monophthalmos in opposition to Ptolemy I who at that time was attempting to assert suzerainty over all of Cyprus. Ptolemy ordered the city to be laid to waste; his troops razed it to the ground and all the inhabitants were transferred to Paphos. It was not until 270 BC that a new city was established on the site of the ruins, which eventually prospered under its new name of Arsinoe.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare, and exceptionally complete for the type.
From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s, outside of Cyprus prior to December 1992.
This coin is inscribed with the name of Sasmas, one of only five known kings of the city of Marion in Cyprus, which scholars generally agree is an incomplete list, built almost entirely from numismatic evidence. Sasmas and his father Doxandros are the only two recorded kings of the city prior to the Athenian takeover of the city in 449 BC. Marion is first definitively mentioned by Diodorus Siculus who recounts how Kimon, an Athenian general, laid siege to the city. This siege removed the city from Persian domination and placed it under Athenian rule; it was thereafter often known by geographers such as Skylax as 'Marion Hellenikon'. Under the Athenians Marion flourished, gaining wealth and becoming a trading hub due to the nearby Limni mines which provided gold and copper. However the prosperity of the city was not to last long as the next reference to Marion in Diodorus Siculus was to record the destruction of the city in 312 BC at the hands of Ptolemy I. The king of Marion at this time was Stasioikos II (the third ruler after Sasmas), who aligned himself with Antigonos I Monophthalmos in opposition to Ptolemy I who at that time was attempting to assert suzerainty over all of Cyprus. Ptolemy ordered the city to be laid to waste; his troops razed it to the ground and all the inhabitants were transferred to Paphos. It was not until 270 BC that a new city was established on the site of the ruins, which eventually prospered under its new name of Arsinoe.