Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
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Kierion.
Hemidrachm circa 400-360, AR 2.66 g. Laureate head of Zeus r., slightly bearded; behind, thunderbolt. Rev. ΚΙΕ – ΡΙΑΙ – ΟΝ / ΑΡΝΑ The nymph Arne kneeling r. on one knee, her head turned back, wearing drapery that leaves her nude to the waist, playing with knucklebones thrown from her r. hand and resting her l. arm on her l. knee. Traité IV, 510 and pl. CCLXXXIX, 23 (these dies). BCD Thessaly 1, 1067 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. A portrait of great beauty
and a lovely light iridescent tone, surface slightly porous, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Nomos sale 4, 2011, BCD, 1067.
It was generally believed that the city of Kierion was originally founded as Arna (the name of a nearby river) by Aiolian Greeks. However, during the Greek Dark Age (c. 1100-800 BC), or 60 years after the Trojan War according to Thucydides, the Arnaians were driven out by the arrival of the Dorian Greek Thessalians. The dispossessed Arnaians then moved south to settle in the region of Boiotia while the Thessalian conquerors settled in Arna and renamed it Kierion. The obverse of this hemidrachm depicts Zeus in a somewhat severe early Classical style while the reverse features the nymph Arna playing knucklebones. Knucklebones was a popular pastime in antiquity similar to the more modern game of jacks, involving the tossing and catching of sheep anklebones (astragaloi) that could involve gambling and divination. The depiction of Arna playing this game on coins of Kierion probably reflects the influence of the fifth-century obols of Larissa, which frequently carry types showing the local nymph playing ball.
Hemidrachm circa 400-360, AR 2.66 g. Laureate head of Zeus r., slightly bearded; behind, thunderbolt. Rev. ΚΙΕ – ΡΙΑΙ – ΟΝ / ΑΡΝΑ The nymph Arne kneeling r. on one knee, her head turned back, wearing drapery that leaves her nude to the waist, playing with knucklebones thrown from her r. hand and resting her l. arm on her l. knee. Traité IV, 510 and pl. CCLXXXIX, 23 (these dies). BCD Thessaly 1, 1067 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. A portrait of great beauty
and a lovely light iridescent tone, surface slightly porous, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Nomos sale 4, 2011, BCD, 1067.
It was generally believed that the city of Kierion was originally founded as Arna (the name of a nearby river) by Aiolian Greeks. However, during the Greek Dark Age (c. 1100-800 BC), or 60 years after the Trojan War according to Thucydides, the Arnaians were driven out by the arrival of the Dorian Greek Thessalians. The dispossessed Arnaians then moved south to settle in the region of Boiotia while the Thessalian conquerors settled in Arna and renamed it Kierion. The obverse of this hemidrachm depicts Zeus in a somewhat severe early Classical style while the reverse features the nymph Arna playing knucklebones. Knucklebones was a popular pastime in antiquity similar to the more modern game of jacks, involving the tossing and catching of sheep anklebones (astragaloi) that could involve gambling and divination. The depiction of Arna playing this game on coins of Kierion probably reflects the influence of the fifth-century obols of Larissa, which frequently carry types showing the local nymph playing ball.