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ANA Signature Sale 3094 19-20 Aug 2021
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Ancients
PAPHLAGONIA. Amastris. Queen Amastris (ca. 305-285/4 BC). AR stater or didrachm (23mm, 9.69 gm, 12h). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Persic standard. Head of Mên, Amastris or Mithras right, wearing laureate Phrygian cap / AMAΣTPIOΣ / BAΣIΛIΣΣHΣ, Aphrodite enthroned left, Nike right in outstretched right hand, transverse scepter surmounted by lotus in left hand. HGC 7, 353. SNG von Aulock 6799. Artistic, attractive portrait.
Amastris was the niece of the last Achaemenid King of Persia, Darius III, and was married off to several of Alexander's generals in succession in the years after the Macedonian conquest. After being "set aside" by Lysimachus in about 302 BC, Amastris decided to found her own city on the coast of Paphlagonia, and gave it her name. She served as its queen for the first years of its existence, and the city grew steadily in prosperity and importance in the decades and centuries that followed The city eventually became incorporated into the Roman province of Bithynia-Pontus. The city's coinage is both rare and intriguing, the obverse portrait wearing a laureate Phrygian cap being variously described as the head of Queen Amastris herself, the Persian hero Mithras, or an Amazon warrior.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-paphlagonia-amastris-queen-amastris-ca-305-285-4-bc-ar-stater-or-didrachm-23mm-969-gm-12h-ngc-ch/a/3094-34099.s?type=CoinArchives3094
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 1000-2000 USD
PAPHLAGONIA. Amastris. Queen Amastris (ca. 305-285/4 BC). AR stater or didrachm (23mm, 9.69 gm, 12h). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Persic standard. Head of Mên, Amastris or Mithras right, wearing laureate Phrygian cap / AMAΣTPIOΣ / BAΣIΛIΣΣHΣ, Aphrodite enthroned left, Nike right in outstretched right hand, transverse scepter surmounted by lotus in left hand. HGC 7, 353. SNG von Aulock 6799. Artistic, attractive portrait.
Amastris was the niece of the last Achaemenid King of Persia, Darius III, and was married off to several of Alexander's generals in succession in the years after the Macedonian conquest. After being "set aside" by Lysimachus in about 302 BC, Amastris decided to found her own city on the coast of Paphlagonia, and gave it her name. She served as its queen for the first years of its existence, and the city grew steadily in prosperity and importance in the decades and centuries that followed The city eventually became incorporated into the Roman province of Bithynia-Pontus. The city's coinage is both rare and intriguing, the obverse portrait wearing a laureate Phrygian cap being variously described as the head of Queen Amastris herself, the Persian hero Mithras, or an Amazon warrior.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-paphlagonia-amastris-queen-amastris-ca-305-285-4-bc-ar-stater-or-didrachm-23mm-969-gm-12h-ngc-ch/a/3094-34099.s?type=CoinArchives3094
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 1000-2000 USD