Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Lampsacus.
Tetradrachm circa 160, AR 16.73 g. Bearded head of Priapos r., wearing ivy wreath, his hair falling in locks over shoulders. Rev. ΛΑΜΨΑ – ΚΗΝΩΝ / [Δ]ΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ [ΔΗΜΗ]ΤΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ / [ΜΕΙΚΑΛΟΥ] Apollo Kitharoidos standing r., wearing long robes and holding lyre in his l. hand, his r. at his side; below, in inner l. field, monogram and in inner r., bow and arrow. Baldwin, Lampsakos Pl. VIII, 1. Gaebler, 70 and pl. II, 42. SNG France 1229 (legend misread).
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. A very interesting and attractive
portrait of late Hellenistic style, wonderful old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex M&M 47, 1972, 493; Leu 33, 1983, 363; Lanz 102, 2001, 257 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero 257 sales.
According to Greek mythological tradition, the rustic fertility god Priapos, a son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, was born at the site of Lampsacus in Mysia. His earliest mention is in the fourth century BC as the title character in Priapos, a lost comic play by Xenophanes. He was worshiped as an important deity by the people of Lampsacus and his cult spread to mainland Greece and beyond in the third century BC. However, outside of Lampsacus and Mysia he tended to become somewhat of a joke and was increasingly associated more with ancient pornography than with serious worship. This is perhaps not entirely surprising. It is a little difficult to take seriously a god whose main identifying feature is a gigantic erect phallus. Nevertheless, despite the snickering in other parts of the Greek world, Lampsacus took the cult of Priapos very seriously, even going so far as to feature the god on the city's coinage in the second century BC. The most remarkable of the Priapos coinages of this period is surely the tetradrachm series exemplified by the present specimen. Here, the god is tastefully shown only from the neck up on the obverse and wearing an ivy wreath. This wreath alludes to his father Dionysus and may suggest that Priapos was sometimes equated with Dionysus at Lampsacus, which might account for the somewhat more serious reverence he enjoyed in the city. It is worth noting that Herodotus also equated the ithyphallic Egyptian deity Osiris with Greek Dionysus. The prominence of Apollo on the reverse may be explained by the settlement history of Lampsacus. The city was founded in the seventh century BC as a colony of Ionian Greeks from Phokaia. As Apollo was a favored deity among the Ionians and was generally considered a patron of Greek colonizing efforts, it is not especially surprising to see him here holding his kithara. The added attribute of a bow with arrow nocked and ready to shoot is somewhat unexpected at the god's feet and may possibly represent some connection between Lampsacus and neighboring Alexandria Troas. The nocked bow and arrow were a typical feature of that city's chief deity, Apollo Smintheus, who also appeared on contemporary coins. The exergue inscription naming the magistrate responsible for the Lampsakene issue is notable for the fact that it gives the filiation of the magistrate to two generations. Normally in ancient Greek naming convention it was sufficient to identify ones father, but here the legend names Demetrios, son of Demetrios, son of Meikalos-son, father, and grandfather.
Tetradrachm circa 160, AR 16.73 g. Bearded head of Priapos r., wearing ivy wreath, his hair falling in locks over shoulders. Rev. ΛΑΜΨΑ – ΚΗΝΩΝ / [Δ]ΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ [ΔΗΜΗ]ΤΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ / [ΜΕΙΚΑΛΟΥ] Apollo Kitharoidos standing r., wearing long robes and holding lyre in his l. hand, his r. at his side; below, in inner l. field, monogram and in inner r., bow and arrow. Baldwin, Lampsakos Pl. VIII, 1. Gaebler, 70 and pl. II, 42. SNG France 1229 (legend misread).
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. A very interesting and attractive
portrait of late Hellenistic style, wonderful old cabinet tone and extremely fine
Ex M&M 47, 1972, 493; Leu 33, 1983, 363; Lanz 102, 2001, 257 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero 257 sales.
According to Greek mythological tradition, the rustic fertility god Priapos, a son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, was born at the site of Lampsacus in Mysia. His earliest mention is in the fourth century BC as the title character in Priapos, a lost comic play by Xenophanes. He was worshiped as an important deity by the people of Lampsacus and his cult spread to mainland Greece and beyond in the third century BC. However, outside of Lampsacus and Mysia he tended to become somewhat of a joke and was increasingly associated more with ancient pornography than with serious worship. This is perhaps not entirely surprising. It is a little difficult to take seriously a god whose main identifying feature is a gigantic erect phallus. Nevertheless, despite the snickering in other parts of the Greek world, Lampsacus took the cult of Priapos very seriously, even going so far as to feature the god on the city's coinage in the second century BC. The most remarkable of the Priapos coinages of this period is surely the tetradrachm series exemplified by the present specimen. Here, the god is tastefully shown only from the neck up on the obverse and wearing an ivy wreath. This wreath alludes to his father Dionysus and may suggest that Priapos was sometimes equated with Dionysus at Lampsacus, which might account for the somewhat more serious reverence he enjoyed in the city. It is worth noting that Herodotus also equated the ithyphallic Egyptian deity Osiris with Greek Dionysus. The prominence of Apollo on the reverse may be explained by the settlement history of Lampsacus. The city was founded in the seventh century BC as a colony of Ionian Greeks from Phokaia. As Apollo was a favored deity among the Ionians and was generally considered a patron of Greek colonizing efforts, it is not especially surprising to see him here holding his kithara. The added attribute of a bow with arrow nocked and ready to shoot is somewhat unexpected at the god's feet and may possibly represent some connection between Lampsacus and neighboring Alexandria Troas. The nocked bow and arrow were a typical feature of that city's chief deity, Apollo Smintheus, who also appeared on contemporary coins. The exergue inscription naming the magistrate responsible for the Lampsakene issue is notable for the fact that it gives the filiation of the magistrate to two generations. Normally in ancient Greek naming convention it was sufficient to identify ones father, but here the legend names Demetrios, son of Demetrios, son of Meikalos-son, father, and grandfather.