Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Stymphalos.
Stater circa 360-350, AR 11.78 g. Laureate head of Artemis Stymphalia r., wearing necklace and pendant earring. Rev. ΣΤΥΜΦΑΛΙΩΝ Heracles in fighting stance l., preparing to strike with club in raised r. hand, holding bow and lion's skin in l. hand; between legs, ΣΟ. Traité III 884 and pl. CCXXIV, 22. BMC 6 and pl. XXXVII, 4 (this obverse die). Gillet 1006. Jameson 1267. Boston 1269 (these dies). SNG Berry 871 (this obverse die). BCD Peloponnesos I, 1705 (this coin). BCD Peloponnesos II, –.
Extremely rare. A portrait of enchanting beauty, work a very talented master engraver,
struck in high relief. Wonderful old cabinet tone, weakly struck on reverse,
otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Leu 28, 1981, 118 and LHS, 96, 2006, BCD, 1705 sales. Privately purchased from NAC in 2011.
The Arkadian city of Stymphalos was notorious in Greek mythology for the monstrous birds that inhabited a nearby swamp. The Stymphalian birds had been the pets of Artemis, but fled to the environs of the city in order to escape a pack of wolves. Once ensconced in the marsh they became a serious problem as they devoured all the fruits of the land and developed an unnerving taste for human flesh. Making matters worse was the fact that the birds were virtually unstoppable since they possessed beaks of bronze as well as sharp bronze feathers that they could launch at their enemies like knives. Even their droppings were said to be poisonous. Luckily for Stymphalos, Herakles was tasked with the destruction of the birds as his sixth labor for Eurystheus of Tiryns. Because the loose soil of the marsh would not support the weight of the great hero, he used a rattle fashioned by Hephaistos to frighten the birds into taking flight. Once in the air, Herakles shot them with arrows dipped in the toxic blood of the Lernean Hydra. The types of this stater celebrate both the original keeper of the Stymphalian birds and their slayer.
Stater circa 360-350, AR 11.78 g. Laureate head of Artemis Stymphalia r., wearing necklace and pendant earring. Rev. ΣΤΥΜΦΑΛΙΩΝ Heracles in fighting stance l., preparing to strike with club in raised r. hand, holding bow and lion's skin in l. hand; between legs, ΣΟ. Traité III 884 and pl. CCXXIV, 22. BMC 6 and pl. XXXVII, 4 (this obverse die). Gillet 1006. Jameson 1267. Boston 1269 (these dies). SNG Berry 871 (this obverse die). BCD Peloponnesos I, 1705 (this coin). BCD Peloponnesos II, –.
Extremely rare. A portrait of enchanting beauty, work a very talented master engraver,
struck in high relief. Wonderful old cabinet tone, weakly struck on reverse,
otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Leu 28, 1981, 118 and LHS, 96, 2006, BCD, 1705 sales. Privately purchased from NAC in 2011.
The Arkadian city of Stymphalos was notorious in Greek mythology for the monstrous birds that inhabited a nearby swamp. The Stymphalian birds had been the pets of Artemis, but fled to the environs of the city in order to escape a pack of wolves. Once ensconced in the marsh they became a serious problem as they devoured all the fruits of the land and developed an unnerving taste for human flesh. Making matters worse was the fact that the birds were virtually unstoppable since they possessed beaks of bronze as well as sharp bronze feathers that they could launch at their enemies like knives. Even their droppings were said to be poisonous. Luckily for Stymphalos, Herakles was tasked with the destruction of the birds as his sixth labor for Eurystheus of Tiryns. Because the loose soil of the marsh would not support the weight of the great hero, he used a rattle fashioned by Hephaistos to frighten the birds into taking flight. Once in the air, Herakles shot them with arrows dipped in the toxic blood of the Lernean Hydra. The types of this stater celebrate both the original keeper of the Stymphalian birds and their slayer.