Watch List notes:

Mysia, Cyzicus.
Stater circa 400-350, EL 16.00 g. Dionysus, nude and holding a thyrsus, reclining l. on the back of a panther prancing l.; below, tunny-fish. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Boston, MFA 1568. Gillet 1071. Jameson 2571 (this coin). Greenwell –. von Fritze –.
Extremely rare, and a very important and fascinating issue. Good very fine

Ex Naville sale IV, 1922, 732. From the Jameson and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich collections and a Distinguished Swiss Collection. Cyzicene electrum coinage is famous for its use of numerous different types. Some feature playful variations involving the tunny badge of Cyzicus, others the animal emblems of other cities, but the majority depict representations of the Greek gods, either as portraits or full-length depictions. This rare electrum stater belongs to the second half of the fifth century BC, when full-length depictions of the gods seem to have been especially popular with Cyzicene engravers. In Greek myth, Dionysus was the god of wine who was born from the union Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, and Zeus in the form of an eagle. Unfortunately, Hera learned of this dalliance and convinced Semele to ask that the true form of her lover be revealed. Zeus complied and the power of his divine form instantly incinerated the hapless Semele. Amind the ashes, Zeus found the unborn Dionysus and to save him the king of the gods was said to have sewn him up in his thigh until he was fit to be born. Following his birth, he gifted mankind with the grape and wine and developed a following of men and women as well as the rustic satyrs, all of whom appreciated a good drink. Here Dionysus is shown reclining on the back of his panther and carrying a thyrsus. The latter was a staff regularly carried by the god's votaries during religious rites and festivals. It was topped by an acorn, which was apparently dipped in honey. At least Euripides noted that honey dripped from the thyrsi carried by maenads in the Bacchae. While such staves might seem innocuous, on at least one occasion, it was said that during the travels of Dionysus on earth, the thyrsi carried by his followers concealed viciously sharp iron spearheads that could be revealed at a moment's notice. Thus armed, Dionysus and his band of worshippers were believed to have conquered Asia as far as India. This dual usage of the thyrsus tends to reflect the nature of Dionysus the wine god as understood by the ancient Greeks and exemplified by Euripides. Like the thyrsus, which could be a sign of festival or a weapon of war, so too did the gift of wine to mortals-and the god himself-have the power to free or to destroy. The panther was the traditional animal associated with Dionysus and frequently appears alongside the god in Greek art. It has been suggested that this association was intended to give a "foreign" and exotic quality to Dionysus, whose mythology often characterises him as a late arrival in the Olympian pantheon, and one who came from elsewhere and was not immediately recognize, although it has been noted that his name already appears in Linear B records from Pylos in the Peloponnesus. Whatever the case, the panther was a boon companion and frequent mount of Dionysus from very early on. Dionysus is depicted riding the panther on Attic red-figure vases of the fifth century BC and the image seems to have enjoyed great popularity in later periods. God and animal appear in a famous mosaic from the House of the Masks on Delos (dated c. 120-80 BC), the Cyzicene type bears closest resemblance to the mosaic from the House of Dionysos in Pella, which is probably only slightly later than the stater type. It is very likely that both derive from an ancient Greek painting that was well known at the time, but which is now lost.