Gemini, LLC
Auction 11 12 January 2014
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Ionia. Smyrna. c. 200 BC, concurrent with the earliest bronze Homereia. Drachm, 4.02g (11h). Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right. Border of dots. Rx: Homer seated left, himation draped over knees, holding scepter in left hand, reading from scroll held before him; [Σ]MYPNAIΩN before. Milne, NC 1921, p. 143 f. (same dies). Leu 38, 13 May 1986, lot 116 (same dies; realized Sfr 5800 + commission!) Milne 1914-. BMC (not in catalogue, an example was subsequently obtained by the BM). Grose-. SNG von Aulock-. SNG Cop.-. Slight wave in planchet at 10h. VF/Good Fine
Excessively rare. Apparently the fourth known example and the second in private hands, the other two being in the collections of the British Museum and Utrecht (Dutch Royal Collection). Milne knew of the Utrecht example from a cast when he wrote his 1914 NC article on Smyrna silver coins but declined to include it in that article. Presumably he entertained doubts about its authenticity, although he couched these doubts in euphemism about being "puzzled" by the cast. His excitement at being able to confirm the authenticity of this dramatic and brilliantly executed type is evident in his later article devoted to it alone. He writes, "This drachma is clearly earlier in style than any of the Smyrnaean drachmas previously published, and differs from all in the treatment of the figure of Homer on the reverse, wherein it is artistically far superior to either the later drachmas or the bronze Homereia, which have a similar type. In both of the latter groups the figure is in simple profile, with the right hand up to the chin, the roll held out almost horizontally in the left, the sceptre transversely resting on the right shoulder, and the whole body draped: the general effect is clumsy and huddled. The coin now under consideration shows a more majestic treatment, which suggests a derivation from a Zeus type: the upper part of the body is partly turned out of profile to the front, the roll in the right hand is pointed upwards on the diagonal of the knee-angle, the sceptre is vertical, and only the legs are draped. In the execution as well as in the conception of the type the superiority is equally marked." Milne places this coin--correctly in our estimation--at the very beginning of the Homereia series at Smyrna. The absence of a magistrate's name points to the same conclusion. Milne saw the remnants of a monogram in the exergue of the BM coin, but we believe this to be a misreading as neither the present specimen nor the Leu example show anything at all below the exergual line. This is an opportunity to own what is arguably the finest depiction of the renowned poet Homer on any ancient coin
Excessively rare. Apparently the fourth known example and the second in private hands, the other two being in the collections of the British Museum and Utrecht (Dutch Royal Collection). Milne knew of the Utrecht example from a cast when he wrote his 1914 NC article on Smyrna silver coins but declined to include it in that article. Presumably he entertained doubts about its authenticity, although he couched these doubts in euphemism about being "puzzled" by the cast. His excitement at being able to confirm the authenticity of this dramatic and brilliantly executed type is evident in his later article devoted to it alone. He writes, "This drachma is clearly earlier in style than any of the Smyrnaean drachmas previously published, and differs from all in the treatment of the figure of Homer on the reverse, wherein it is artistically far superior to either the later drachmas or the bronze Homereia, which have a similar type. In both of the latter groups the figure is in simple profile, with the right hand up to the chin, the roll held out almost horizontally in the left, the sceptre transversely resting on the right shoulder, and the whole body draped: the general effect is clumsy and huddled. The coin now under consideration shows a more majestic treatment, which suggests a derivation from a Zeus type: the upper part of the body is partly turned out of profile to the front, the roll in the right hand is pointed upwards on the diagonal of the knee-angle, the sceptre is vertical, and only the legs are draped. In the execution as well as in the conception of the type the superiority is equally marked." Milne places this coin--correctly in our estimation--at the very beginning of the Homereia series at Smyrna. The absence of a magistrate's name points to the same conclusion. Milne saw the remnants of a monogram in the exergue of the BM coin, but we believe this to be a misreading as neither the present specimen nor the Leu example show anything at all below the exergual line. This is an opportunity to own what is arguably the finest depiction of the renowned poet Homer on any ancient coin