Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Dynasts of Lycia, Kuprlli, circa 485 – 440.
Stater, Aperlai (?) circa 470-440, AR 9.72 g. Dolphin r. above double dotted line; on its body, dotted line. Rev. Triskeles, r. leg ending in griffin's head. In lower r. field, KO. All within dotted frame in incuse square. BMC 53 pl. III, 14 (this reverse die). Mørkholm-Zahle, Kuprlli 5 var. (triskeles on body but this reverse die). Müseler-Nollé IV, 7 var. (triskeles on body but this reverse die).
Very rare. Struck on exceptionally fresh metal, light iridescent
tone and good extremely fine
Ex New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 571 and NAC 126, 2021, 248 sales. Previously privately purchased from G. Müller on 27th June 1988. From the Collection of an Aesthete.
We have few historical details about the dynasts of Lycia in the fifth century BC beyond what ancient coins and inscriptions can tell us since these rulers are rarely mentioned by Greek or Roman authors. Kuprlli, the dynast responsible for this very rare silver stater is believed to have ruled in the first half of the fifth century BC. He is thought to have been a son or grandson of Kybernis, the Lycian dynast who participated in the Persian invasion of Greece in 480-479 BC, archaeological evidence shows that the wooden necropolis at the Lycian capital of Xanthus was burned around 470 BC. It has been suggested that the conflagration was caused by the Athenian general Cimon seeking to avenge the wrongs done by Persian and allied forces to his city a decade earlier. Kuprlli then was responsible for rebuilding the necropolis in stone. Some of the impressive monumental tombs are still visible to this day. The circulation pattern for Kuprlli's coinage shows that he was recognised throughout much of Lycia, but that the focus of his power was probably centred in western Lycia. Kuprlli is believed to have been buried in the so-called "Theater Pillar" tomb at Xanthus. The present stater depicts a dolphin on the obverse and a triskeles on the reverse. The latter was a common Lycian emblem used on many dynastic coinages. Here an extra flourish has been given to one of the legs by the addition of a griffin's head. The abbreviated legend names Kuprlli using the Lycian alphabet. This southern Anatolian alphabet includes many letters of the Greek alphabet, but also differing letter forms and letters used to represent sounds not used in the Greek language.
Stater, Aperlai (?) circa 470-440, AR 9.72 g. Dolphin r. above double dotted line; on its body, dotted line. Rev. Triskeles, r. leg ending in griffin's head. In lower r. field, KO. All within dotted frame in incuse square. BMC 53 pl. III, 14 (this reverse die). Mørkholm-Zahle, Kuprlli 5 var. (triskeles on body but this reverse die). Müseler-Nollé IV, 7 var. (triskeles on body but this reverse die).
Very rare. Struck on exceptionally fresh metal, light iridescent
tone and good extremely fine
Ex New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 571 and NAC 126, 2021, 248 sales. Previously privately purchased from G. Müller on 27th June 1988. From the Collection of an Aesthete.
We have few historical details about the dynasts of Lycia in the fifth century BC beyond what ancient coins and inscriptions can tell us since these rulers are rarely mentioned by Greek or Roman authors. Kuprlli, the dynast responsible for this very rare silver stater is believed to have ruled in the first half of the fifth century BC. He is thought to have been a son or grandson of Kybernis, the Lycian dynast who participated in the Persian invasion of Greece in 480-479 BC, archaeological evidence shows that the wooden necropolis at the Lycian capital of Xanthus was burned around 470 BC. It has been suggested that the conflagration was caused by the Athenian general Cimon seeking to avenge the wrongs done by Persian and allied forces to his city a decade earlier. Kuprlli then was responsible for rebuilding the necropolis in stone. Some of the impressive monumental tombs are still visible to this day. The circulation pattern for Kuprlli's coinage shows that he was recognised throughout much of Lycia, but that the focus of his power was probably centred in western Lycia. Kuprlli is believed to have been buried in the so-called "Theater Pillar" tomb at Xanthus. The present stater depicts a dolphin on the obverse and a triskeles on the reverse. The latter was a common Lycian emblem used on many dynastic coinages. Here an extra flourish has been given to one of the legs by the addition of a griffin's head. The abbreviated legend names Kuprlli using the Lycian alphabet. This southern Anatolian alphabet includes many letters of the Greek alphabet, but also differing letter forms and letters used to represent sounds not used in the Greek language.