Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 132 30-31 May 2022
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Mysia, Cyzicos
Stater circa 500-450, EL 16.03 g. Facing head of Athena, wearing crested helmet; below, tunny-fish l. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. SNG France 196 (these dies). Greenwell 32 and pl. II, 7 (possibly this coin). Traité 2611 = von Fritze 69 and pl. II, 21 (these dies).
Extremely rare. An interesting and unusual representation of
Athena struck in high relief. Extremely fine
Possibly ex Sotheby, Wilkson & Hodge sale 10 July 1884, Whittall, 744. From a Distinguished Swiss collection.
The Mysian city of Cyzicus holds a special place in the history of ancient Greek coinage. Whereas most Greek cities had abandoned the use of electrum-an alloy of gold and silver that may have been first found naturally in the Pactolus River of Lydia-in favor of parted silver and gold for coinage, Cyzicus and a few others still held on to this old tradition in the classical period. This seems to have been done in order to facilitate trade along the coasts of the Black Sea, where electrum continued to be a preferred alloy. This preference continued as late as the fourth century BC, when the city of Olbia found it necessary to establish an exchange rate between Cyzicene staters and Olbian silver drachms. The present electrum stater features the facing helmeted head of Athena. This is a fairly rare treatment of the goddess for the early Classical period with most mints preferring to depict her head in profile. Facing heads of Athena are much more common in the fourth century BC after Kimon of Syracuse created a fashion for this sort of treatment with his celebrated facing head of Arethusa. The head on the Cyzicene stater, however, seems to be influenced to some degree by contemporary gorgoneion types, suggesting that the goddess may have been intended to serve some apotropaic purpose.
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Stater circa 500-450, EL 16.03 g. Facing head of Athena, wearing crested helmet; below, tunny-fish l. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. SNG France 196 (these dies). Greenwell 32 and pl. II, 7 (possibly this coin). Traité 2611 = von Fritze 69 and pl. II, 21 (these dies).
Extremely rare. An interesting and unusual representation of
Athena struck in high relief. Extremely fine
Possibly ex Sotheby, Wilkson & Hodge sale 10 July 1884, Whittall, 744. From a Distinguished Swiss collection.
The Mysian city of Cyzicus holds a special place in the history of ancient Greek coinage. Whereas most Greek cities had abandoned the use of electrum-an alloy of gold and silver that may have been first found naturally in the Pactolus River of Lydia-in favor of parted silver and gold for coinage, Cyzicus and a few others still held on to this old tradition in the classical period. This seems to have been done in order to facilitate trade along the coasts of the Black Sea, where electrum continued to be a preferred alloy. This preference continued as late as the fourth century BC, when the city of Olbia found it necessary to establish an exchange rate between Cyzicene staters and Olbian silver drachms. The present electrum stater features the facing helmeted head of Athena. This is a fairly rare treatment of the goddess for the early Classical period with most mints preferring to depict her head in profile. Facing heads of Athena are much more common in the fourth century BC after Kimon of Syracuse created a fashion for this sort of treatment with his celebrated facing head of Arethusa. The head on the Cyzicene stater, however, seems to be influenced to some degree by contemporary gorgoneion types, suggesting that the goddess may have been intended to serve some apotropaic purpose.
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