Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Kherei, 440 – 410.
Stater, Xanthus circa 400, AR 8.60g. Head of Athena l., wearing triple-crested Attic helmet. Rev. kherēi in Lycian characters Athena seated r. on dolphin, holding spear with r. hand and shield with her outstretched l., on which owl is perched l. Mørkholm-Zahle, Kherei 36. Vismara 166 and pl. XVII, 166 (these dies). S. Hurter, "Der Tissaphernes-Fund," Essays Thompson, 1 and pl. 8, 1 (this coin).
Extremely rare. Struck on a very broad flan and with a wonderful old cabinet tone.
Weakly struck on obverse, otherwise good very fine / extremely fine
Ex Leu 18, 1977, 221; Spink 1012, 2012, 1254 and Peus 403, 2011, 116 sales.
Kherei was one of many obscure native dynasts who ruled Lycia under Persian suzerainty in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Little is known about his rule beyond that he controlled the region around Xanthos and, judging from his portrait coinage, claimed some status as a satrapal governor. He may have been the dynast responsible for erecting the so-called Xanthos stele-a trilingual funerary dedication written in Greek, Lycian (Lycian A), and Milyan (Lycian B) important for the decipherment of the Lycian script. This extremely rare tetradrachm is remarkable for its illustration of cultural interactions taking place in Lycia in the in the late fifth century BC. The reverse inscription names Kherei in the indigenous Lycian script, but both obverse and reverse reflect the strong influence of Greek numismatic iconography. The head of Athena appears on the obverse with her triple-crested Attic helmet adorned with olive leaves. The olive leaves seem to be derived from depictions of Athena on the widely-circulating tetradrachms of Athens (imitated on the portrait issues of Kherei), but the helmet, with its triple crest and raised cheek pieces has much more in common with the helmets worn by the goddess in facing images found on Lycian coins of Zagaba and slightly later issues of the Persian satraps of Cilicia and Cappadocia. The ultimate model for these satrapal depictions of Athena seems to be the famous depiction of Athena by Eukleidas on the tetradrachms of Syracuse in c. 405-400 BC. The dolphin behind the head of Athena on Kherei's tetradrachm may perhaps suggest that Eukleidas' masterpiece has influenced it as well even though the head of Athena here is shown in profile not facing. Dolphins are not a regular feature of Athena's iconography, and yet her head is encircled by them on Eukleidas' tetradrachm. It is also possible that the dolphin appears as an indicator that the goddess depicted on the coin is not the standard Olympian version of Athena, but rather a local deity syncretized with Greek Athena. In Lycia, and especially Xanthos, the old indigenous Luwian goddess Miliya was frequently worshipped as an avatar of Greek Athena, but seems to have been a fertility goddess and a protector of tombs from desecrators without any obvious connection to the sea. Interestingly, the mirror image of this depiction of Athena seated with her spear in her arm and holding shield before her later formed the first reverse type for tetradrachms struck by the dynasts of Pergamon in the early Hellenistic period.
Stater, Xanthus circa 400, AR 8.60g. Head of Athena l., wearing triple-crested Attic helmet. Rev. kherēi in Lycian characters Athena seated r. on dolphin, holding spear with r. hand and shield with her outstretched l., on which owl is perched l. Mørkholm-Zahle, Kherei 36. Vismara 166 and pl. XVII, 166 (these dies). S. Hurter, "Der Tissaphernes-Fund," Essays Thompson, 1 and pl. 8, 1 (this coin).
Extremely rare. Struck on a very broad flan and with a wonderful old cabinet tone.
Weakly struck on obverse, otherwise good very fine / extremely fine
Ex Leu 18, 1977, 221; Spink 1012, 2012, 1254 and Peus 403, 2011, 116 sales.
Kherei was one of many obscure native dynasts who ruled Lycia under Persian suzerainty in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Little is known about his rule beyond that he controlled the region around Xanthos and, judging from his portrait coinage, claimed some status as a satrapal governor. He may have been the dynast responsible for erecting the so-called Xanthos stele-a trilingual funerary dedication written in Greek, Lycian (Lycian A), and Milyan (Lycian B) important for the decipherment of the Lycian script. This extremely rare tetradrachm is remarkable for its illustration of cultural interactions taking place in Lycia in the in the late fifth century BC. The reverse inscription names Kherei in the indigenous Lycian script, but both obverse and reverse reflect the strong influence of Greek numismatic iconography. The head of Athena appears on the obverse with her triple-crested Attic helmet adorned with olive leaves. The olive leaves seem to be derived from depictions of Athena on the widely-circulating tetradrachms of Athens (imitated on the portrait issues of Kherei), but the helmet, with its triple crest and raised cheek pieces has much more in common with the helmets worn by the goddess in facing images found on Lycian coins of Zagaba and slightly later issues of the Persian satraps of Cilicia and Cappadocia. The ultimate model for these satrapal depictions of Athena seems to be the famous depiction of Athena by Eukleidas on the tetradrachms of Syracuse in c. 405-400 BC. The dolphin behind the head of Athena on Kherei's tetradrachm may perhaps suggest that Eukleidas' masterpiece has influenced it as well even though the head of Athena here is shown in profile not facing. Dolphins are not a regular feature of Athena's iconography, and yet her head is encircled by them on Eukleidas' tetradrachm. It is also possible that the dolphin appears as an indicator that the goddess depicted on the coin is not the standard Olympian version of Athena, but rather a local deity syncretized with Greek Athena. In Lycia, and especially Xanthos, the old indigenous Luwian goddess Miliya was frequently worshipped as an avatar of Greek Athena, but seems to have been a fertility goddess and a protector of tombs from desecrators without any obvious connection to the sea. Interestingly, the mirror image of this depiction of Athena seated with her spear in her arm and holding shield before her later formed the first reverse type for tetradrachms struck by the dynasts of Pergamon in the early Hellenistic period.