Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 102 3 Nov 2022
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Islands off Troas, Tenedos AR Drachm. Late 5th - early 4th century BC. Janiform head of female, facing left, and bearded male, facing right / Labrys; grape bunch to lower left, amphora to lower right, TEN-EΔ-I-ΩN around. SNG Copenhagen 512; SNG von Aulock -; HGC 6, 386. 3.61g, 15mm, 12h.
Near Extremely Fine; well-centred and exhibiting a stunning old cabinet tone. Rare with this combination of symbols on rev.
From a private Scandinavian collection.
Tenedos was an island of strategic importance throughout antiquity due to its location at the entrance to the Hellespont, which ensured every ship sailing to or from the Propontis and the Black Sea would pass by. It is referenced in both Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid, in the latter as the place where the Greek fleet was concealed towards the end of their siege of Troy in order to trick the Trojans into taking the fateful Trojan horse within the walls of the city. During the fifth century, Athens used the island as a stronghold to protect their vital shipping routes, but it came under the influence of successive Hellenistic dynasties from the third century onwards: controlled first by the Seleukids, then the Attalids and eventually by Mithridates VI Eupator, who used the island as a naval base in the Third Mithridatic War against the Roman general Lucullus in 73-63 BC.
Near Extremely Fine; well-centred and exhibiting a stunning old cabinet tone. Rare with this combination of symbols on rev.
From a private Scandinavian collection.
Tenedos was an island of strategic importance throughout antiquity due to its location at the entrance to the Hellespont, which ensured every ship sailing to or from the Propontis and the Black Sea would pass by. It is referenced in both Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid, in the latter as the place where the Greek fleet was concealed towards the end of their siege of Troy in order to trick the Trojans into taking the fateful Trojan horse within the walls of the city. During the fifth century, Athens used the island as a stronghold to protect their vital shipping routes, but it came under the influence of successive Hellenistic dynasties from the third century onwards: controlled first by the Seleukids, then the Attalids and eventually by Mithridates VI Eupator, who used the island as a naval base in the Third Mithridatic War against the Roman general Lucullus in 73-63 BC.