Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ionia, Clazomenae.
Tetradrachm circa 160, AR 16.84 g. Laureate head of Zeus r. Rev. ΔIOΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ – EΠIΦANOYΣ Amazon standing l., wearing tunic and boots, holding a long spear in her r. hand and double-headed axe in her l. over her l. shoulder and a short sword at her side. In inner r. field, monogram and, in exergue, KΛAZO. A. Meadows, 'The Hellenistic Silver Coinage of Clazomenae', in Ancient History, Numismatics and Epigraphy in the Mediterranean World, p. 248, 1 and pl. I, 1a (this coin). Coin Hoards VIII, 471 (Tartous, Syria, 1987), pl. LXIV, 1 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, apparently the second specimen known and the only one of this variety.
An interesting portrait of excellent style and a lovely old cabinet tone. Areas of weakness
and slightly wavy flan, otherwise good very fine / very fine
Ex New York sale XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 512.
This Hellenistic tetradrachm of Clazomenae belongs to a larger group of reduced-Attic weight tetradrachms often featuring wreathed reverses or naming deities that were produced in western Asia Minor around the mid-second century BC. It has been suggested that this coinage may have been produced to finance a second-century BC conflict with Temnos known from inscriptions. Within the Clazomenaen series of reduced Attic-weight tetradrachms, which consists of four known specimens, this coin is unique in that it is the only coin struck from Meadows' die pair A1/P1 and featuring a monogram on the reverse. In short, it is an extreme rarity. The obverse depicts the head of Zeus in a high Hellenistic style while the reverse specifically names him as Zeus Soter Epiphanes ("Zeus the Manifest Saviour"). It has been noted that it is somewhat odd that the reverse type does not actually depict Zeus, although it names him. Instead the standing figure of an Amazon is depicted, apparently representing the mythological founder of the city. A number of Ionian cities are reported by Diodorus Siculus to have had Amazonian origins, including Ephesus, Smyrna, Kyme, and Myrina and Roman provincial coins seem to indicate similar mythical foundations for Miletus, Phocaea, Magnesia ad Sipylum, Aegae, and Pitane. The rare tetradrachms of Clazomenae also strongly points to an Amazonian foundation myth for the city although it has not survived in any textual source. Many of the reduced Attic-weight issues of Asia Minor appear to have been used secondarily as a means for Attalus II of Pergamon to support Alexander Balas, a pretender to the Seleucid throne, against Demetrios I in 152-150 BC. This piece is no exception and has a pedigree extending to the Tartous Hoard of 1987 (CH 8.471). It was the first specimen discovered on which the exergue legend was sufficiently clear to identify the city of issue. With the exception of the tetradrachms and a few bronzes, representations of Zeus are rare on the coinage of Clazomenae.
Tetradrachm circa 160, AR 16.84 g. Laureate head of Zeus r. Rev. ΔIOΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ – EΠIΦANOYΣ Amazon standing l., wearing tunic and boots, holding a long spear in her r. hand and double-headed axe in her l. over her l. shoulder and a short sword at her side. In inner r. field, monogram and, in exergue, KΛAZO. A. Meadows, 'The Hellenistic Silver Coinage of Clazomenae', in Ancient History, Numismatics and Epigraphy in the Mediterranean World, p. 248, 1 and pl. I, 1a (this coin). Coin Hoards VIII, 471 (Tartous, Syria, 1987), pl. LXIV, 1 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, apparently the second specimen known and the only one of this variety.
An interesting portrait of excellent style and a lovely old cabinet tone. Areas of weakness
and slightly wavy flan, otherwise good very fine / very fine
Ex New York sale XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 512.
This Hellenistic tetradrachm of Clazomenae belongs to a larger group of reduced-Attic weight tetradrachms often featuring wreathed reverses or naming deities that were produced in western Asia Minor around the mid-second century BC. It has been suggested that this coinage may have been produced to finance a second-century BC conflict with Temnos known from inscriptions. Within the Clazomenaen series of reduced Attic-weight tetradrachms, which consists of four known specimens, this coin is unique in that it is the only coin struck from Meadows' die pair A1/P1 and featuring a monogram on the reverse. In short, it is an extreme rarity. The obverse depicts the head of Zeus in a high Hellenistic style while the reverse specifically names him as Zeus Soter Epiphanes ("Zeus the Manifest Saviour"). It has been noted that it is somewhat odd that the reverse type does not actually depict Zeus, although it names him. Instead the standing figure of an Amazon is depicted, apparently representing the mythological founder of the city. A number of Ionian cities are reported by Diodorus Siculus to have had Amazonian origins, including Ephesus, Smyrna, Kyme, and Myrina and Roman provincial coins seem to indicate similar mythical foundations for Miletus, Phocaea, Magnesia ad Sipylum, Aegae, and Pitane. The rare tetradrachms of Clazomenae also strongly points to an Amazonian foundation myth for the city although it has not survived in any textual source. Many of the reduced Attic-weight issues of Asia Minor appear to have been used secondarily as a means for Attalus II of Pergamon to support Alexander Balas, a pretender to the Seleucid throne, against Demetrios I in 152-150 BC. This piece is no exception and has a pedigree extending to the Tartous Hoard of 1987 (CH 8.471). It was the first specimen discovered on which the exergue legend was sufficiently clear to identify the city of issue. With the exception of the tetradrachms and a few bronzes, representations of Zeus are rare on the coinage of Clazomenae.