Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 124 23 Jun 2021
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Cyrenaica, Cyrene.
Didrachm circa 250, Koinon issue, AR 7.82 g. Diademed head of Zeus Ammon r. Rev. Silphium plant, ibex horn to upper l.; KOI-NON across fields. BMC p. 68, 1, pl. xxvii 13-15. SNG Copenhagen 1275.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. A portrait of enchanting beauty, work
of a very talented master engraver. Perfectly struck on fresh metal and with a
wonderful light iridescent tone. Good extremely fine
Ex Tkalec 23 October 1992, 192; Millon & Associés, 8 June 2007, 54 and Manhattan II, 2011, 78 sales. From the Peter Guber collection.
The Cyrenaica was famous in the Greek and Roman world for its possession of the oracular shrine of Zeus Ammon and its cultivation of the silphium plant. The former was a temple located at the desert oasis of Siwah that was originally dedicated a native Libyan deity who became syncretized with both the Egyptian fertility god Amun and Greek Zeus. The oracle was already well known in the Greek world in the fifth century BC, when it was mentioned by Herodotos, but became supremely famous after it was visited by Alexander the Great and confirmed his divinity. Zeus Ammon is easily distinguished from other forms of Zeus by his ram's horns-a feature borrowed from the iconography of Egyptian Amun. Here is depicted in a vibrant Hellenistic style reflecting the influence of neighbouring Ptolemaic Egypt. Silphium is thought to have been an extinct variety of giant fennel and was used in antiquity for seasoning and medicine. It grew only on a narrow coastal strip of the Cyrenaica and was used as a cure for a variety of ailments including cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, general aches and pains, and even insanity. However, it has been suggested that the plant may have been most desired for its use as a contraceptive. Overharvesting and excessive demand led to the extinction of the plant in the first century AD-the last stalk of silphium is said to have been sent to Nero (AD 54-68). This coin is also notable for the fact that it was not struck in the name of Cyrene, but rather in that of the koinon or league established in the Cyrenaica by the philosophers Demophon and Ekdemos in c. 250 BC. These two intellectuals from Megalopolis had the opportunity to experiment with the constitutional organization of the Cyrenaica in this year thanks to the death of Magas, who had ruled Cyrene as king since 276 BC, and the bloody end to the short marriage of Magas' daughter Berenike to Demetrios the Fair. Th koinon of Demophon and Ekdemos survived for some four years, until 246 BC, when Ptolemy III Euergetes asserted his long-claimed right to marry Berenike and annex the Cyrenaica to Egypt.
Didrachm circa 250, Koinon issue, AR 7.82 g. Diademed head of Zeus Ammon r. Rev. Silphium plant, ibex horn to upper l.; KOI-NON across fields. BMC p. 68, 1, pl. xxvii 13-15. SNG Copenhagen 1275.
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. A portrait of enchanting beauty, work
of a very talented master engraver. Perfectly struck on fresh metal and with a
wonderful light iridescent tone. Good extremely fine
Ex Tkalec 23 October 1992, 192; Millon & Associés, 8 June 2007, 54 and Manhattan II, 2011, 78 sales. From the Peter Guber collection.
The Cyrenaica was famous in the Greek and Roman world for its possession of the oracular shrine of Zeus Ammon and its cultivation of the silphium plant. The former was a temple located at the desert oasis of Siwah that was originally dedicated a native Libyan deity who became syncretized with both the Egyptian fertility god Amun and Greek Zeus. The oracle was already well known in the Greek world in the fifth century BC, when it was mentioned by Herodotos, but became supremely famous after it was visited by Alexander the Great and confirmed his divinity. Zeus Ammon is easily distinguished from other forms of Zeus by his ram's horns-a feature borrowed from the iconography of Egyptian Amun. Here is depicted in a vibrant Hellenistic style reflecting the influence of neighbouring Ptolemaic Egypt. Silphium is thought to have been an extinct variety of giant fennel and was used in antiquity for seasoning and medicine. It grew only on a narrow coastal strip of the Cyrenaica and was used as a cure for a variety of ailments including cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, general aches and pains, and even insanity. However, it has been suggested that the plant may have been most desired for its use as a contraceptive. Overharvesting and excessive demand led to the extinction of the plant in the first century AD-the last stalk of silphium is said to have been sent to Nero (AD 54-68). This coin is also notable for the fact that it was not struck in the name of Cyrene, but rather in that of the koinon or league established in the Cyrenaica by the philosophers Demophon and Ekdemos in c. 250 BC. These two intellectuals from Megalopolis had the opportunity to experiment with the constitutional organization of the Cyrenaica in this year thanks to the death of Magas, who had ruled Cyrene as king since 276 BC, and the bloody end to the short marriage of Magas' daughter Berenike to Demetrios the Fair. Th koinon of Demophon and Ekdemos survived for some four years, until 246 BC, when Ptolemy III Euergetes asserted his long-claimed right to marry Berenike and annex the Cyrenaica to Egypt.