Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 123 23-24 May 2023
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WESTERN ASIA MINOR, Uncertain. Circa 145-140 BC. AR Tetradrachm (30.5mm, 15.34 g, 12h). Stephanophoric type. Wreathed head of Demeter right / Two Kabeiroi, nude but for cloak tied at their necks, standing facing, each wearing laurel wreath and holding staff; ΘEΩN KABEIPΩN at sides, ΣYPIΩN below, monogram to lower right; all within wreath. Nicolet-Pierre & Amandry pl. 2, 13–8 var. (unlisted dies; Syros); HGC 6, (Syros). Toned, some find patina, porous, cleaning scratches and marks. Near VF. Very rare.
This issue had long been attributed to the island of Syros based on the reverse legend. Recent scholarship, however, has convincingly shown that this attribution is erroneous, as the reverse legend does not contain an ethnic, but names the type: the Divine Syrian Kabeiroi. As the issue has long been linked to a rare portrait emission of Eumenes I with the same reverse type, it is clear that it must belong to a mint in the sphere of the kings of Pergamon. Although it is tempting to attribute it to the royal mint at Pergamon, this Attic-standard issue could have been struck at one of several mints under Attalid control. See A. Meadows, "The Closed Currency System of the Attalid Kingdom" in P. Thonemann, Attalid Asia Minor (Oxford, 2013), pp. 184–91 for the most current analysis of this intriguing coinage.
This issue had long been attributed to the island of Syros based on the reverse legend. Recent scholarship, however, has convincingly shown that this attribution is erroneous, as the reverse legend does not contain an ethnic, but names the type: the Divine Syrian Kabeiroi. As the issue has long been linked to a rare portrait emission of Eumenes I with the same reverse type, it is clear that it must belong to a mint in the sphere of the kings of Pergamon. Although it is tempting to attribute it to the royal mint at Pergamon, this Attic-standard issue could have been struck at one of several mints under Attalid control. See A. Meadows, "The Closed Currency System of the Attalid Kingdom" in P. Thonemann, Attalid Asia Minor (Oxford, 2013), pp. 184–91 for the most current analysis of this intriguing coinage.