Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 133 21 Nov 2022
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Greek Coins. Thebes.
Stater circa 450-440, AR 11.65 g. Boeotian shield. Rev. ΘΕΒΑ - ΙΟΝ Heracles kneeling r., stringing bow held in his r. hand; in l. field., club. The whole within incuse square. Traité 224 and pl. CXCIX, 22 var. (no club). BMC 30 and pl. XII, 2 var. (no club). de Sartiges 249 (this reverse die). de Hirsch 1248 (this reverse die).
Very rare and in unusually fine condition for the issue, among the finest specimens
in private hands. Lovely iridescent tone and good very fine
Ex Gemini sale VII, 2011, 339. From the Rockefeller University/Dr. Alfred E. Mirsky collection.
The earliest coins of Thebes, drachms produced starting c. 525 B.C., paired a 'Boeotian shield' design with a utilitarian punch that became increasingly sophisticated over the course of six or seven decades. In about 460 or 450 B.C. a legitimate reverse design was introduced in the form of an amphora; thus creating the shield-and-amphora that is so familiar to numismatists. With minor interruption it would last until the final staters were produced not long before the Macedonian King Philip II put an end to Theban authority at the battle of Chaeronea in August, 338 B.C. Without question the period of great creativity at Thebes occurred from about 460 to 395 B.C., when a surprising array of reverse designs were paired with the shield obverse. Many of the amphorae in this period were of considerable artistic merit since the high relief, rounded body of the vessel was set against a flat field that was framed by the overlapping planchet at the edges. But the greatest attention – understandably – is drawn to more than a dozen of the reverse types that show gods or heroes, sometimes as portrait busts, other times as figures in motion. The dominating subjects were the god Dionysus and the hero/demi-god Heracles, who reputedly was born in Thebes. On this rare stater Heracles is shown stringing a bow; it is similar to the BCD specimen (Triton IX, lot 416) except that the inscription has been cut in a more compact manner so as to permit the inclusion of a club before the lower portion of his left leg. On other staters in the group Heracles is shown as a young man advancing with his club and bow at the ready, or holding his club aloft as he carries off the Delphic tripod; on others he is shown as an infant struggling with two serpents or his portrait is shown fully bearded and wearing his signature lion's scalp. Thus, on these Theban staters we find representations of the hero in all stages of his life.
Stater circa 450-440, AR 11.65 g. Boeotian shield. Rev. ΘΕΒΑ - ΙΟΝ Heracles kneeling r., stringing bow held in his r. hand; in l. field., club. The whole within incuse square. Traité 224 and pl. CXCIX, 22 var. (no club). BMC 30 and pl. XII, 2 var. (no club). de Sartiges 249 (this reverse die). de Hirsch 1248 (this reverse die).
Very rare and in unusually fine condition for the issue, among the finest specimens
in private hands. Lovely iridescent tone and good very fine
Ex Gemini sale VII, 2011, 339. From the Rockefeller University/Dr. Alfred E. Mirsky collection.
The earliest coins of Thebes, drachms produced starting c. 525 B.C., paired a 'Boeotian shield' design with a utilitarian punch that became increasingly sophisticated over the course of six or seven decades. In about 460 or 450 B.C. a legitimate reverse design was introduced in the form of an amphora; thus creating the shield-and-amphora that is so familiar to numismatists. With minor interruption it would last until the final staters were produced not long before the Macedonian King Philip II put an end to Theban authority at the battle of Chaeronea in August, 338 B.C. Without question the period of great creativity at Thebes occurred from about 460 to 395 B.C., when a surprising array of reverse designs were paired with the shield obverse. Many of the amphorae in this period were of considerable artistic merit since the high relief, rounded body of the vessel was set against a flat field that was framed by the overlapping planchet at the edges. But the greatest attention – understandably – is drawn to more than a dozen of the reverse types that show gods or heroes, sometimes as portrait busts, other times as figures in motion. The dominating subjects were the god Dionysus and the hero/demi-god Heracles, who reputedly was born in Thebes. On this rare stater Heracles is shown stringing a bow; it is similar to the BCD specimen (Triton IX, lot 416) except that the inscription has been cut in a more compact manner so as to permit the inclusion of a club before the lower portion of his left leg. On other staters in the group Heracles is shown as a young man advancing with his club and bow at the ready, or holding his club aloft as he carries off the Delphic tripod; on others he is shown as an infant struggling with two serpents or his portrait is shown fully bearded and wearing his signature lion's scalp. Thus, on these Theban staters we find representations of the hero in all stages of his life.