Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Euboea. Carystus.
Didrachm circa first half of V century BC, AR 8.45 g. Cow standing r., head turned back towards its calf suckling l. Rev. K – A Cock standing r.; within incuse square. Hurter, Archaischer Silberfund, in Essays Leo Mildenberg 13 (this coin illustrated). Imhoof-Blumer p. 221, 54. BCD Euboia 548 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. Of impressive Archaic
style and struck on a very fresh metal. Light iridescent tone and extremely fine
Ex Lanz sale 111, 2002, BCD, 548.
Along with Chalcis, Histiaia and Eretria, Carystus was one of the four major cities of the island of Euboea. During the Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC), these cities provided aid to the Greek cities of western Asia Minor in their failed bid to escape from Persian domination. However, once the revolt was crushed, Darius I, dispatched a fleet to conquer and punish any city that had assisted the rebels. In 490 BC, the punitive expedition reached Euboea. Initially Carystus refused to submit to the Persian yoke, but after Persian forces ravaged its territory and placed the city under siege, the Carystians thought better of standing firm and accepted the Great King as their new master. This meant that when Xerxes I undertook his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, the Carystians fought on the side of the Persians against fellow Greeks. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, after the Persian fleet was defeated at the Battle of Salamis, the Athenians sought revenge against the Carystians and other Greeks who had assisted the invaders. Carystus again suffered the plunder of its territory, but a siege was avoided by the payment of an indemnity. In the aftermath of the failed Persian invasion of Greece, the increasingly powerful Athenians sought to control Euboea and waged war against Carystus between c. 476 and 469 BC. At last, the Carystians were decisively defeated at the Battle of Carystus and forced to join the Delian League and pay tribute to Athens. The city also suffered the indignity of receiving a body of Athenian cleruchs (colonists) in order to maintain the loyalty of the Carystians. This extremely rare didrachm may have been struck in relation to the conflicts between Carystus and Athens in the period c. 480-469 BC. Its obverse type is a loving archaic depiction of a cow nuzzling her suckling calf-a type that also enjoyed popularity on the coinages of Corcyra and Dyrrhachium. However, in the Carystian context, the type is not merely a happy bucolic image, but rather a punning emblem of the island on which the city was founded. Literally translated from Greek, Euboea means "[land of] good (or well-fed) cattle." Nothing could be a better symbol of Euboea as an island good for cattle-raising than a cow and her calf. The intended meaning of the cock depicted on the reverse is less clear, but it and the cow and calf obverse were also used together on equally rare contemporary tetradrachms of Carystus. This type combination seems to have been very popular at the city since it was later resurrected for Carystian staters struck in the early third century BC.
Didrachm circa first half of V century BC, AR 8.45 g. Cow standing r., head turned back towards its calf suckling l. Rev. K – A Cock standing r.; within incuse square. Hurter, Archaischer Silberfund, in Essays Leo Mildenberg 13 (this coin illustrated). Imhoof-Blumer p. 221, 54. BCD Euboia 548 (this coin).
Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. Of impressive Archaic
style and struck on a very fresh metal. Light iridescent tone and extremely fine
Ex Lanz sale 111, 2002, BCD, 548.
Along with Chalcis, Histiaia and Eretria, Carystus was one of the four major cities of the island of Euboea. During the Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC), these cities provided aid to the Greek cities of western Asia Minor in their failed bid to escape from Persian domination. However, once the revolt was crushed, Darius I, dispatched a fleet to conquer and punish any city that had assisted the rebels. In 490 BC, the punitive expedition reached Euboea. Initially Carystus refused to submit to the Persian yoke, but after Persian forces ravaged its territory and placed the city under siege, the Carystians thought better of standing firm and accepted the Great King as their new master. This meant that when Xerxes I undertook his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, the Carystians fought on the side of the Persians against fellow Greeks. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, after the Persian fleet was defeated at the Battle of Salamis, the Athenians sought revenge against the Carystians and other Greeks who had assisted the invaders. Carystus again suffered the plunder of its territory, but a siege was avoided by the payment of an indemnity. In the aftermath of the failed Persian invasion of Greece, the increasingly powerful Athenians sought to control Euboea and waged war against Carystus between c. 476 and 469 BC. At last, the Carystians were decisively defeated at the Battle of Carystus and forced to join the Delian League and pay tribute to Athens. The city also suffered the indignity of receiving a body of Athenian cleruchs (colonists) in order to maintain the loyalty of the Carystians. This extremely rare didrachm may have been struck in relation to the conflicts between Carystus and Athens in the period c. 480-469 BC. Its obverse type is a loving archaic depiction of a cow nuzzling her suckling calf-a type that also enjoyed popularity on the coinages of Corcyra and Dyrrhachium. However, in the Carystian context, the type is not merely a happy bucolic image, but rather a punning emblem of the island on which the city was founded. Literally translated from Greek, Euboea means "[land of] good (or well-fed) cattle." Nothing could be a better symbol of Euboea as an island good for cattle-raising than a cow and her calf. The intended meaning of the cock depicted on the reverse is less clear, but it and the cow and calf obverse were also used together on equally rare contemporary tetradrachms of Carystus. This type combination seems to have been very popular at the city since it was later resurrected for Carystian staters struck in the early third century BC.