Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 123 23-24 May 2023
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CILICIA, Soloi. Circa 440-410 BC. AR Stater (21.5mm, 10.57 g, 12h). Amazon kneeling left, holding bow, quiver on left hip; head of satyr to right / Grape bunch on vine; E¨ to left of stalk, fly to lower right; all in dotted square within incuse square. Casabonne Type 2; SNG BN 128 var. (no letters on rev.); SNG Levante 40 var. (same). Some die wear on obverse. Good VF.
The community later known as Soloi arose quite early along the southern coast of Asia Minor, and was at first subject to the Hittite Empire. Greek settlers arrived and embellished the port in circa 700 BC; the later Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius claimed the Athenian sage Solon had founded the city as a colony of Athens and named it after himself, but other Greek historians regarded this as unlikely. From the sixth through fourth centuries BC, Soloi was subject to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, save for a brief interlude with the Delian League. Soloi's early coinage is on the local Cilian weight standard and boasts some evocative designs, including this type depicting an Amazon warrior with her bow and quiver. The legendary female warriors were likely based on the very real women fighters of Scythia and Sarmatia, who raided and traded with Cilicia. As viticulture flourished on the fertile Cilician alluvial plain, grapes also feature prominently on Soloi's coinage.
The community later known as Soloi arose quite early along the southern coast of Asia Minor, and was at first subject to the Hittite Empire. Greek settlers arrived and embellished the port in circa 700 BC; the later Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius claimed the Athenian sage Solon had founded the city as a colony of Athens and named it after himself, but other Greek historians regarded this as unlikely. From the sixth through fourth centuries BC, Soloi was subject to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, save for a brief interlude with the Delian League. Soloi's early coinage is on the local Cilian weight standard and boasts some evocative designs, including this type depicting an Amazon warrior with her bow and quiver. The legendary female warriors were likely based on the very real women fighters of Scythia and Sarmatia, who raided and traded with Cilicia. As viticulture flourished on the fertile Cilician alluvial plain, grapes also feature prominently on Soloi's coinage.