Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 126 17 Nov 2021
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Paphlagonia, Sinope
Tetradrachm circa 330-300, AR 16.86 g. Head of Sinope r., wearing mural crown. Behind, countermark of helmeted head of Athena r. Rev. ΣΙΝΩΠΕΩΝ Apollo seated r. on omphalos, holding lyre; in r. field, Α / Μ / H. Below, countermark of head of Heracles r., wearing lion's skin headdress. SNG BM Black Sea 1509 (this obverse die). SNG von Aulock 6861. SNG Lockett 2667 (this coin).
Very rare. Two very interesting countermarks and a lovely old cabinet tone,
a minor scratch on reverse, otherwise good very fine
Ex Glendining 21-23 February 1961, Lockett part IV, 2148 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 430 sales.
This tetradrachm of Sinope is dated to the last three decades of the fourth century BC-the time when Alexander the Great and the Macedonians were overthrowing the Persian Empire and, after his death in 323 BC, a time when his generals were dividing the territory of the conquered empire among themselves and local rulers were trying to take what they could for themselves amid the chaos. Alexander's conquests were probably a boon to Sinope since he recognized the autonomy of the city and fear of his army is likely to have kept local Paphlagonian rulers desirous of the city's wealth in check. Indigenous Paphlagonian kings and rapacious Persian satraps had made previous attempts to claim the city for themselves in the first quarter of the fourth century BC, but such attempts were stayed for a time by the passage of Alexander and the destruction of the Persian empire. However, once Alexander was dead, the city seems to have fallen under the domination of Paphlagonian rulers who sought the recognition (and money) of ambitious Macedonian generals. It is said that a local dynast named Scydrothemis, who apparently controlled Sinope at the end of the fourth century BC, forced the Sinopeans to sell a treasured cult statue of Pluto to Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt. Once the statue arrived in Alexandria it supposedly enjoyed a second life as the cult statue for the fabricated Greco-Egyptian cult of Serapis.An attractive late-classical rendering of a turreted goddess appears on the obverse of the present coin. She is regularly described as Sinope, the local water nymph for which the city is named, but the mural crown that she wears raises questions about this identification. Turreted goddesses also appear on the coins of other Greek cities of Paphlagonia, like Cromna and Amastris, possibly suggesting that she is actually a Paphlagonian deity, perhaps conflated with Phrygian Cybele or Cappadocian Ma who were both similarly represented. The coin is also notable for the large countermarks of the head of Athena and the head of Athena that have been applied with a hinged die or punch-a method of countermarking that was especially popular in the environs of the Black Sea.
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Tetradrachm circa 330-300, AR 16.86 g. Head of Sinope r., wearing mural crown. Behind, countermark of helmeted head of Athena r. Rev. ΣΙΝΩΠΕΩΝ Apollo seated r. on omphalos, holding lyre; in r. field, Α / Μ / H. Below, countermark of head of Heracles r., wearing lion's skin headdress. SNG BM Black Sea 1509 (this obverse die). SNG von Aulock 6861. SNG Lockett 2667 (this coin).
Very rare. Two very interesting countermarks and a lovely old cabinet tone,
a minor scratch on reverse, otherwise good very fine
Ex Glendining 21-23 February 1961, Lockett part IV, 2148 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 430 sales.
This tetradrachm of Sinope is dated to the last three decades of the fourth century BC-the time when Alexander the Great and the Macedonians were overthrowing the Persian Empire and, after his death in 323 BC, a time when his generals were dividing the territory of the conquered empire among themselves and local rulers were trying to take what they could for themselves amid the chaos. Alexander's conquests were probably a boon to Sinope since he recognized the autonomy of the city and fear of his army is likely to have kept local Paphlagonian rulers desirous of the city's wealth in check. Indigenous Paphlagonian kings and rapacious Persian satraps had made previous attempts to claim the city for themselves in the first quarter of the fourth century BC, but such attempts were stayed for a time by the passage of Alexander and the destruction of the Persian empire. However, once Alexander was dead, the city seems to have fallen under the domination of Paphlagonian rulers who sought the recognition (and money) of ambitious Macedonian generals. It is said that a local dynast named Scydrothemis, who apparently controlled Sinope at the end of the fourth century BC, forced the Sinopeans to sell a treasured cult statue of Pluto to Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt. Once the statue arrived in Alexandria it supposedly enjoyed a second life as the cult statue for the fabricated Greco-Egyptian cult of Serapis.An attractive late-classical rendering of a turreted goddess appears on the obverse of the present coin. She is regularly described as Sinope, the local water nymph for which the city is named, but the mural crown that she wears raises questions about this identification. Turreted goddesses also appear on the coins of other Greek cities of Paphlagonia, like Cromna and Amastris, possibly suggesting that she is actually a Paphlagonian deity, perhaps conflated with Phrygian Cybele or Cappadocian Ma who were both similarly represented. The coin is also notable for the large countermarks of the head of Athena and the head of Athena that have been applied with a hinged die or punch-a method of countermarking that was especially popular in the environs of the Black Sea.
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