Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Elis, Olympia.
Stater circa 460s, Olympiads 78-82, AR 12.35 g. Eagle flying l., grasping snake in its beak and talons. Rev. F – A Thunderbolt upright, with volutes above and wings below. Seltman, Olympia –, z (this reverse die). SNG Copenhagen 355 (this reverse die). Boston, MFA 1189 (this reverse die). BCD Olympia 5 for the type.
Extremely rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, undoubtedly one of the finest
specimens in private hands. One of the earliest staters produced by Elis with a
wonderful old cabinet tone, minor areas of weakness on reverse,
otherwise good extremely fine / extremely fine
Ex Schulman sale 28-31 sale March 1960, 1091. From a Distinguished Swiss Collection.
The sanctuary of Zeus and Hera at Olympia in the northern Peloponnese were originally controlled and administered by the city of Pisa. Great wealth accrued to the Pisatans from possession of these sacred sites thanks to the introduction of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC. This great panhellenic festival, which involved athletic and artistic competitions in honour of Zeus, brought tourists and money to Olympia from throughout Greece. Indeed, the Olympic Games were such an important event for the Greeks, that truces were invoked in ongoing wars in order to permit safe passage to and from the festival. Around the mid-eighth century BC, the Elean neighbours of Pisa decided that despite the panhellenic character of the Olympic Games, they would prefer to see the profits from the festival go to them. Therefore, they conquered Pisa and assumed control of the sanctuaries and the festivals at Olympia. The sanctuary inherited from Pisa consisted of a single temple shared by both Zeus and Hera and a sacred grove known as the Altis. However, between 470 and 456 BC-the period in which the present silver stater was struck-the Eleans constructed a new grand temple for Zeus Olympius alone that was famous for its colossal cult statue of the god sculpted by the artist Phidias from gold and ivory. In the Hellenistic period the statue was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is thought to have provided the model for many representations of Zeus enthroned on Greek coinages. The silver stater was struck during the construction of the new temple of Zeus and before the completion of Phidias' masterwork. Zeus is not actually depicted on the coins of Olympia until the 430s BC. It therefore follows an earlier iconographic program that features an eagle-the bird of Zeus-on the obverse. As here, the eagle is often shown fighting with a coiling snake, which has sometimes suggested the influence of the contemporary silver coinage of Euboean Chalcis. The reverse features an archaic depiction of Zeus' thunderbolt with curving wings and detailed representation of its destructive fire. The abbreviated legend FA refers to the Eleans using an epichoric (local) alphabet that still included the letter digamma (F). This letter, which had died out in many other Greek alphabets by the fifth century BC, represented the w-sound, meaning that the legend should probably be more properly understood as identifying the issuing authority as the "Waleans."
Stater circa 460s, Olympiads 78-82, AR 12.35 g. Eagle flying l., grasping snake in its beak and talons. Rev. F – A Thunderbolt upright, with volutes above and wings below. Seltman, Olympia –, z (this reverse die). SNG Copenhagen 355 (this reverse die). Boston, MFA 1189 (this reverse die). BCD Olympia 5 for the type.
Extremely rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, undoubtedly one of the finest
specimens in private hands. One of the earliest staters produced by Elis with a
wonderful old cabinet tone, minor areas of weakness on reverse,
otherwise good extremely fine / extremely fine
Ex Schulman sale 28-31 sale March 1960, 1091. From a Distinguished Swiss Collection.
The sanctuary of Zeus and Hera at Olympia in the northern Peloponnese were originally controlled and administered by the city of Pisa. Great wealth accrued to the Pisatans from possession of these sacred sites thanks to the introduction of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC. This great panhellenic festival, which involved athletic and artistic competitions in honour of Zeus, brought tourists and money to Olympia from throughout Greece. Indeed, the Olympic Games were such an important event for the Greeks, that truces were invoked in ongoing wars in order to permit safe passage to and from the festival. Around the mid-eighth century BC, the Elean neighbours of Pisa decided that despite the panhellenic character of the Olympic Games, they would prefer to see the profits from the festival go to them. Therefore, they conquered Pisa and assumed control of the sanctuaries and the festivals at Olympia. The sanctuary inherited from Pisa consisted of a single temple shared by both Zeus and Hera and a sacred grove known as the Altis. However, between 470 and 456 BC-the period in which the present silver stater was struck-the Eleans constructed a new grand temple for Zeus Olympius alone that was famous for its colossal cult statue of the god sculpted by the artist Phidias from gold and ivory. In the Hellenistic period the statue was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is thought to have provided the model for many representations of Zeus enthroned on Greek coinages. The silver stater was struck during the construction of the new temple of Zeus and before the completion of Phidias' masterwork. Zeus is not actually depicted on the coins of Olympia until the 430s BC. It therefore follows an earlier iconographic program that features an eagle-the bird of Zeus-on the obverse. As here, the eagle is often shown fighting with a coiling snake, which has sometimes suggested the influence of the contemporary silver coinage of Euboean Chalcis. The reverse features an archaic depiction of Zeus' thunderbolt with curving wings and detailed representation of its destructive fire. The abbreviated legend FA refers to the Eleans using an epichoric (local) alphabet that still included the letter digamma (F). This letter, which had died out in many other Greek alphabets by the fifth century BC, represented the w-sound, meaning that the legend should probably be more properly understood as identifying the issuing authority as the "Waleans."