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Dallas Signature Sale 3091 6-7 May 2021
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Ancients
MYSIA. Cyzicus. Ca. 450-350 BC. EL sixth-stater or hecte (10mm, 2.65 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 4/5. Laureate, bearded male head right (Timoetheos of Athens or Philip II of Macedon?); tunny left below / Quadripartite incuse mill-sail pattern with ridged interior surfaces. cf. Greenwell 81 for type with different figure. Unpublished type for this series as a hecte. Very rare and historically interesting. Sharply struck from obverse die with careful, realistic portrait.
The portrait on the Greenwell 81 issue has been a subject of debate for centuries. "The Electrum Coinage of Cyzicus", written by William Greenwell in 1887, describes the obverse as "bald, bearded and laureate head" and described this enigmatic issue as "a most remarkable coin, and one which presents grave difficulties in its explanation. On account of the time at which it must have been struck, it is perhaps impossible, not withstanding the exceptional scope of the Cyzicene representations, to consider it as intended to portray any individual personage of however exalted a position. At the same time it must be remembered that there is, upon a coin attributed to Colophon, as well as on others, a head which can scarcely be regarded as other than a portrait, though Professor Gardner (Types of Greek Coins, p. 144) believes it to be the idealized head of a Persian king. But whoever the artist of the Cyzicene stater meant to represent, there can be little doubt he modelled the portrait from the life."
Eleven years later, J.P. Six (NC 1898, pp. 197-198) was the first to suggest that the bearded male portrait is that of the Athenian general Timotheos (d. 354 BC), who had raised the siege of Cyzicus in 363 BC (Diod. Sic. 15.81.6), based on a similarity between the coins and a marble portrait in the Capitoline Museum (no. 46). Subsequent numismatists refuted that conclusion and proposed others, however Mildenberg in "The Cyzicenes: A Reappraisal," AJN 5-6 [1993-1994], pp. 9-11, defended Six's hypothesis. Cyzicus was under Persian control from 540 BC until 445 BC, and then from 387 BC until the end of the Achaemenid Empire. During the interim period, Cyzicus was allied with Athens as a member of the Delian League. Normally League members were not allowed to coin their own electrum staters, however Cyzicus was exempted because it benefitted Athens as their coins were internationally accepted. As such, when the general Timotheos and his forces from Athens successfully raised the Persian siege of Cyzicus in 363 BC, the citizens may have opted to place his portrait on this issue of staters to show their appreciation and honor him in a way already familiar to Athenians.
Maria Regina Kaiser-Raiss, in SNR 63 (1984), proposed the identity as likely to be Philip II of Macedonia, reflecting his influence and power at the time in Cyzicus and the Greek world. Considering the careful execution of the portrait, it's nearly certain the person represented on this example is different than the one on Greenwell 81 - the hairline is far further forward on the brow and the shape of the forehead is less pronounced. In any case, this series is among the first set of portraits of a Greek personage to appear on a coin, the first portrait known in electrum, and apparently the first hecte denomination to come to light. Worthy of considerable interest and further study.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-mysia-cyzicus-ca-450-350-bc-el-sixth-stater-or-hecte-10mm-265-gm-ngc-choice-vf-4-5-4-5/a/3091-32091.s?type=CoinArchives3091
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 1000-2000 USD
MYSIA. Cyzicus. Ca. 450-350 BC. EL sixth-stater or hecte (10mm, 2.65 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 4/5. Laureate, bearded male head right (Timoetheos of Athens or Philip II of Macedon?); tunny left below / Quadripartite incuse mill-sail pattern with ridged interior surfaces. cf. Greenwell 81 for type with different figure. Unpublished type for this series as a hecte. Very rare and historically interesting. Sharply struck from obverse die with careful, realistic portrait.
The portrait on the Greenwell 81 issue has been a subject of debate for centuries. "The Electrum Coinage of Cyzicus", written by William Greenwell in 1887, describes the obverse as "bald, bearded and laureate head" and described this enigmatic issue as "a most remarkable coin, and one which presents grave difficulties in its explanation. On account of the time at which it must have been struck, it is perhaps impossible, not withstanding the exceptional scope of the Cyzicene representations, to consider it as intended to portray any individual personage of however exalted a position. At the same time it must be remembered that there is, upon a coin attributed to Colophon, as well as on others, a head which can scarcely be regarded as other than a portrait, though Professor Gardner (Types of Greek Coins, p. 144) believes it to be the idealized head of a Persian king. But whoever the artist of the Cyzicene stater meant to represent, there can be little doubt he modelled the portrait from the life."
Eleven years later, J.P. Six (NC 1898, pp. 197-198) was the first to suggest that the bearded male portrait is that of the Athenian general Timotheos (d. 354 BC), who had raised the siege of Cyzicus in 363 BC (Diod. Sic. 15.81.6), based on a similarity between the coins and a marble portrait in the Capitoline Museum (no. 46). Subsequent numismatists refuted that conclusion and proposed others, however Mildenberg in "The Cyzicenes: A Reappraisal," AJN 5-6 [1993-1994], pp. 9-11, defended Six's hypothesis. Cyzicus was under Persian control from 540 BC until 445 BC, and then from 387 BC until the end of the Achaemenid Empire. During the interim period, Cyzicus was allied with Athens as a member of the Delian League. Normally League members were not allowed to coin their own electrum staters, however Cyzicus was exempted because it benefitted Athens as their coins were internationally accepted. As such, when the general Timotheos and his forces from Athens successfully raised the Persian siege of Cyzicus in 363 BC, the citizens may have opted to place his portrait on this issue of staters to show their appreciation and honor him in a way already familiar to Athenians.
Maria Regina Kaiser-Raiss, in SNR 63 (1984), proposed the identity as likely to be Philip II of Macedonia, reflecting his influence and power at the time in Cyzicus and the Greek world. Considering the careful execution of the portrait, it's nearly certain the person represented on this example is different than the one on Greenwell 81 - the hairline is far further forward on the brow and the shape of the forehead is less pronounced. In any case, this series is among the first set of portraits of a Greek personage to appear on a coin, the first portrait known in electrum, and apparently the first hecte denomination to come to light. Worthy of considerable interest and further study.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-mysia-cyzicus-ca-450-350-bc-el-sixth-stater-or-hecte-10mm-265-gm-ngc-choice-vf-4-5-4-5/a/3091-32091.s?type=CoinArchives3091
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 1000-2000 USD