Nomos AG
Auction 25 20 Nov 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
SIKYONIA. Sikyon. Circa 365/45-335/0 BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 12 mm, 1.74 g, 9 h). Dove flying to right. Rev. Ϻ (= the ancient Greek letter san) branch with a slightly curved stem and 4 upwardly curved leaves. Warren, Bronze - (but cf. 4 with a triple-spurred leaf) . BCD Peloponnesos -. An extremely rare variant, if not unknown. Clear and pleasing with a green patina. About extremely fine.
Even the best studied series in Greek coinage have a habit of surprising us with new variants; this is one of them. The late Jennifer Warren did a Herculean job of putting the coinage of Sikyon in order (her and Christof Boehringer's masterly rearrangements of the chronology of the coinage of the Hellenistic Peloponnesos are beyond criticism), but there can always be additions. For example, among the chalkoi of her Group 2 (Dove/San) are a number she classified as having palmettes, but some actually have a branch with five downwardly pointing leaves (as the BCD coin that appeared as CNG 81/2, 2009, 2082). And now we have the present piece, with a completely different kind of branch!
Even the best studied series in Greek coinage have a habit of surprising us with new variants; this is one of them. The late Jennifer Warren did a Herculean job of putting the coinage of Sikyon in order (her and Christof Boehringer's masterly rearrangements of the chronology of the coinage of the Hellenistic Peloponnesos are beyond criticism), but there can always be additions. For example, among the chalkoi of her Group 2 (Dove/San) are a number she classified as having palmettes, but some actually have a branch with five downwardly pointing leaves (as the BCD coin that appeared as CNG 81/2, 2009, 2082). And now we have the present piece, with a completely different kind of branch!