Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXV 22-23 Sep 2022
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Macedon, Stagira or Sermylia (?) AR Stater. Circa 500-480 BC. Four 'roses' and archaic bearded head to left (Rhesos?), arrayed around central pellet within circle of dots; four pellets in petals / Stellate pattern in incuse square. Moushmov 6986, pl. 53, 16 (uncertain mint); cf. SNG ANS 730 (Stagira); HPM p. 134, 18, pl. 16, 47 (same obv. die, Pieria in Pangaion, Methone); Traité II, 1850 pl. 59, 9 (uncertain mint of Thrace and Macedon); cf. HGC 3.1, 688 (Stagira). 8.74g, 18mm.
Extremely Fine; struck in fine archaic style. Extremely Rare; only the second recorded example with this obv. die.
From the VCV Collection.
This rare variant belongs to an extraordinary series of staters struck on the Euboic-Attic weight standard and attributed by Babelon in 1907 to an uncertain mint of Thrace or Macedon by Svoronos in 1919 to Methone and by Gaebler in 1930 to Stagiros. Gaebler's attribution was based on the similarity to an issue with a sow and the archaic legend STAΓI (Gaebler 21-2; HGC 3.1, 692), and has been followed by most numismatists since then. In reality it shares more of its design elements with the mint of Sermylia.
The so-called roses are probably acanthus flowers, a popular fertility symbol employed by various mints in the mount Pangeion region, historically famous for its flora, while the bearded archaic head might reflect that of the heroic mounted warrior on the tetradrachms and tetrobols of Sermylia (SNG ANS 721-6) and the bearded head obols attributed to the Pangeion region (HPM p. 134, 19-20 pl. 16, 51-6). This representation may well be identified with Rhesos, the mythical Thracian king in the Iliad, Book 10, who fought on the side of Trojans and from whom Diomedes and Odysseus stole a team of fine horses during a night raid on the Trojan camp.
Extremely Fine; struck in fine archaic style. Extremely Rare; only the second recorded example with this obv. die.
From the VCV Collection.
This rare variant belongs to an extraordinary series of staters struck on the Euboic-Attic weight standard and attributed by Babelon in 1907 to an uncertain mint of Thrace or Macedon by Svoronos in 1919 to Methone and by Gaebler in 1930 to Stagiros. Gaebler's attribution was based on the similarity to an issue with a sow and the archaic legend STAΓI (Gaebler 21-2; HGC 3.1, 692), and has been followed by most numismatists since then. In reality it shares more of its design elements with the mint of Sermylia.
The so-called roses are probably acanthus flowers, a popular fertility symbol employed by various mints in the mount Pangeion region, historically famous for its flora, while the bearded archaic head might reflect that of the heroic mounted warrior on the tetradrachms and tetrobols of Sermylia (SNG ANS 721-6) and the bearded head obols attributed to the Pangeion region (HPM p. 134, 19-20 pl. 16, 51-6). This representation may well be identified with Rhesos, the mythical Thracian king in the Iliad, Book 10, who fought on the side of Trojans and from whom Diomedes and Odysseus stole a team of fine horses during a night raid on the Trojan camp.