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Lot 236
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Bearded head of Poseidon to left, wearing a helmet in the form of the head of a sea monster; tunny fish to right below / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze -; cf. Hurter & Liewald, SNR 81, 2002, p. 28, no. 17a-b (hekte and hemihekte); SNG Aulock 7291 (hekte). 16.10g, 21mm. Good Very Fine. Unique and unpublished as a stater. From the A.F. Collection, Germany. The male head on this coin has been variously identified as a nameless hero, Perseus wearing a griffin skin helmet, or Herakles wearing a lion skin. Other specimens of the type such as the present piece have revealed that the helmet in fact bears a fin-like crest and pointed ears. It therefore seems that the headdress is actually in the form of a ketos, one of the familiar sea monsters of Greek myth which is most frequently seen on Sicilian coinage, in particular that of Katane and Syracuse. Given that the bearded head is less likely to represent Perseus (who appears beardless, as on von Fritze 65) it could well be Herakles, who killed a ketos in the course of rescuing the Trojan princess Hesione, daughter of Laomedon and sister of Priam. According to some versions of the myth, Herakles was swallowed whole by the monster, and slew it by hacking at its innards for three days until it died, by which time he had lost all his hair. Perhaps during the course of this contest, Herakles temporarily misplaced his trademark lion skin headdress, and resorted to covering his baldness with a nice ketos skin hat. We must bear in mind however that Kyzikene electrum is more frequently influenced by religion (and, it has been supposed, by cult images in particular) than by myth, and so we must look elsewhere for a positive identification - given the marine monster, Poseidon is a prime candidate. Although the god is more frequently encountered with a trident attribute to facilitate identification, a ketos headdress attribute is also appropriate. F. Catalli (Monete Etrusche, Roma 1990, p. 90) included in his work an image of the remarkable Volterra kelebe which depicts a very similar god head wearing a ketos, which though formally identified as Hades, must in fact be Poseidon due to the presence on the one side of a marine monster, and on the other of a bridled horse – both symbols of the God of the Sea. This identification is confirmed by the Etruscan coinage – see Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage I, part 1 pp. 319-321, nos. 2-4 – on these coins we find an identical head identified as Nethuns (Neptune-Poseidon), paired with a reverse showing a hippocamp and border of waves.
Lot 246
Kingdom of Lydia, Alyattes or Walwet (Valvel) EL Hekte - 1/6 Stater. Sardes, circa 610 BC. Head of roaring lion left, solar-disk on forehead, confronting open jaws of lion's head right; WALWET (in Lydian retrograde script) between / Two incuse square punches. Weidauer 99; SNG Kayhan 1012. 2.33g, 10mm. Good Very Fine. From the collection of D.I., Germany, purchased before 1992. As with the trites of this series, the hektes bear two lions' heads, though like their larger counterparts they normally suffer from being struck on flans too small for the dies, and consequently it is usual to only find one lion and a partial legend. On this example however, we see a significant portion of the second lion's head, and five out of six letters of the legend.
Lot 261
Karia, Halikarnassos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 400-387 BC. Head of Apollo facing slightly right / AΛIKAPNAΣΣEΩN, eagle standing to right, with wings spread, star to right; all within shallow incuse square. Cf. S. Hurter, ‘42 Tetradrachmen von Klazomenai’, SNR 45, 1966, p. 45, pl. VI, F = Lorber, Amphipolis, the Civic Coinage in Silver and Gold, 1990, pl. IV, fig 21 = The New York Sale XXVII, 533; Gemini XIII, 80 (same dies); Roma XIII, 328 (same dies). 15.24g, 21.5mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Of the highest rarity; one of only five known tetradrachms of Halikarnassos, and one of just three of this type. Ex Triton XX, 10 January 2017, lot 303. A single example of this important tetradrachm type was published in 1966 by S. Hurter (‘42 Tetradrachmen von Klazomenai’, SNR 45, 1966, p. 45, pl. VI, F) which for over half a century remained the only known example to have survived. Four further examples, including this coin, recently came to light, which though clearly from the same issue, bear different control marks (sunburst or serpent, not bow). Numismatists have however been aware of the coinage series as a whole for quite some time; approximately 34 drachms are known to exist, along with 3 hemidrachms (see the preceding lot), yet it is remarkable that so few of the larger denomination survived. Originally thought to have been struck after the satrap Maussolos moved the capital of the satrapy of Karia from the Hekatomnid ancestral seat of Mylasa to Halikarnassos, the dating of the Hecatomnus hoard disproves this notion. This coinage therefore most likely represents a civil issue of Halikarnassos struck prior to the King’s Peace of 387 BC, when virtually all civil coinages of the Greek states in Asia Minor ceased. Certainly, despite the city having been firmly aligned with Persia in the days of Artemisia in the early fifth century, her grandson Lygdamis II brought the city into the Delian League and the city was, for an uncertain period of time, independent of Persian rule. It is tempting therefore to view this type as a product of the turbulent early years of the fourth century, when the Athenian general Thrasyboulos, in response to renewed conflict with Sparta, began re-establishing Athenian alliances with the cities in Asia Minor that had previously been allies. If this issue, evidently intended to be a reasonably substantial one considering that at least two die pairs existed, was begun in circa 389-387 and cut short by the reassertion of Persian influence in 387, this would explain the relative rarity of this series today. That the obverse of this coinage was heavily influenced by the Rhodian facing-head coinage that had been recently introduced is clear. That it was retained by the Hekatomnid satraps as the obverse type of their coinage once the move from Mylasa to Halikarnassos was complete is also evident, but more difficult to explain. Relegating his father’s obverse of Zeus Labraundos to the reverse while doing away entirely with the lion motif may have been nothing more than political expedient aimed at cultivating goodwill, but perhaps it may also reflect the distinct thread of philhellenism that ran through the Hekatomnid family.
Lot 36
Bruttium, Kroton AR Stater. Circa 400-325 BC. Head of Hera Lakinia facing slightly right, wearing necklace and polos decorated with palmettes; B to right / Young Herakles, nude, holding cup in extended right hand and club in left, reclining left on lion skin draped over rock; KPOTΩNIATAΣ around, bow below. Attianese 138; HN Italy 2169; SNG ANS 375 (same dies); SNG Lloyd –; Gulbenkian 131 (same dies); Kraay & Hirmer 270 = de Luynes 728 (same dies). 7.73g, 23mm, 3h. Good Very Fine. Rare in this grade. Ex Giessener Münzhandlung 69, 18 November 1994, lot 85 (and coverpiece). The depiction of Hera on the obverse is that of a local aspect of the deity, whose sanctuary the Heraion Lakinion was situated 10 kilometres away from Kroton at Lakinion, now Cape Colonna. The site takes its name from the sole surviving column of the temple built upon that spot in around 470 BC, which was largely intact until the sixteenth century when it was extensively quarried. Theokritos' Korydon sings the praises of the 'Lakinian shrine that faces the dawn', and Livy 24.3.3-7 tells us that it was 'a building more famous even than the city itself and held in reverence by all the peoples there around' and that within were countless masterpieces and treasures including a column of solid gold dedicated to the goddess. By the time of Livy's writings however, the temple had long been plundered. This facing portrait of Hera can be considered to be directly inspired by Kimon's famous facing Arethusa tetradrachm that was widely admired and imitated throughout the ancient world; the difficulty of creating an attractive facing portrait apparently led to engravers considering the undertaking of such a die as a challenge and proof of their skill. Hera's headdress, a low crown known as a polos, was no longer worn in classical times but was common in Mycenaean art. Many of the terracotta figurines from late Helladic IIIA Mycenaean period circa 1400–1300 BC seem to wear poloi, and its use can thus be seen as a deliberate archaism for representing a Mother Goddess. Herakles appears on the reverse of this coin in his role as ‘founder’ of Kroton. Later Krotoniate tradition conveniently bypassed Myskellos in favour of associating the city with a past more ancient even than the Trojan War; according to myth Herakles landed at the nearby promontory with the oxen of Gerion and was hospitably received by one Kroton and his wife Laureta. Her father Lakinio however, was discovered trying to steal an ox from Herakles’ sacred herd, resulting in Herakles fighting and killing him. In the confusion, it transpired that Herakles had also mortally wounded his host Kroton. Saddened, Herakles gave Kroton an honourable burial, and predicted the founding of a great city there that would bear his name. We see also on the reverse of this coin the fabled bow of Herakles, that Philoktetes (a Greek hero of the Trojan War) was said to have taken with him to the land between Sybaris and Kroton, where he founded the non-Greek cities Petelia, Chrone, Krimisa and Makalla. A prophecy arose as in the Trojan War, that victory would be Kroton’s if the bow and arrows of Herakles would be theirs. Thus, these sacred relics of Philoktetes were removed from his tomb and deposited in the Krotoniate sanctuary of Apollo Aleos. This coin is therefore rare among Greek coins in that it may be considered to have a threefold significance - referring directly to the sanctuary of Hera, to Herakles as 'founder' of the city, and to the sanctuary of Apollo.
Lot 62
Sicily, Syracuse AR Dekadrachm. Time of Dionysios I, circa 405-370 BC. Charioteer driving galloping quadriga to left, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left; above, Nike flies to right, a wreath in her outstretched arms to crown the charioteer; in the exergue, a panoply of arms is set on two steps: a cuirass, two greaves, and a Phrygian helmet / Head of the nymph Arethusa to left, wearing a reed wreath, triple-pendant earring, and a pearl necklace; ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ behind, four dolphins playing around her, a star below the rearmost. Gallatin XXIII-KII. 43.27g, 35mm, 5h. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare. Ex Roma Numismatics V, 23 March 2013, lot 133; Privately acquired from the B.R.H. Collection, purchased c. 1980s in Munich. This type with a star behind Arethusa's head and below the rearmost dolphin is one of the most infrequently encountered in the dekadrachm series. Struck from a remarkable reverse die, not only on account of the excellent style of the Arethusa portrait, but also because of the astonishing high relief in which it was engraved. Standing proud from the fields 33% more than the majority of its counterparts, this nymph commands reverence and admiration. The fortuitously superb metal quality and lustre of the fields further complement the appearance of this sculptural marvel. The dekadrachms of Syracuse have been called 'the admiration of the ancient and modern world', and 'perhaps the most famous of all ancient coins'; rightly so, for by virtue of not only their impressive size and weight, but more importantly the incredibly detailed artistry of exquisite style which they bear, they represent the zenith of cultural and numismatic technological achievement at ancient Syracuse, and are among the most beautiful coins ever struck for circulation. Produced at the apex of Syracuse's power and glory, the dekadrachm issue began circa 405 BC, following the election of Dionysios as supreme military commander of Syracuse for his achievements in the war against Carthage, and his subsequent seizure of total power. Syracuse had only recently defeated an Athenian invasion of Sicily that resulted in the utter destruction of Athens' expeditionary force and ultimately contributed significantly to their defeat at the hands of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Then under Dionysios in 405, despite the ruin of great cities such as Akragas and Gela, Syracuse repulsed a Carthaginian invasion that might have resulted in a complete conquest of the island. Such glory was short-lived however, as the rule of Dionysios' son and successor was to bring only civil strife that would weaken the power of Syracuse. Never again would the city issue coinage on such a grand scale, and with the cessation of tetradrachm production in c. 400 BC, the dekadrachms represent the last great flourishing of classical numismatic art at Syracuse before two centuries of steady decline and eventual conquest at the hands of the Romans.
Lot 1335
AKSEL HOLMSEN; a 925 stamped silver and guilloche enamel brooch decorated with a polar bear, length 2.5cm and a similar example by David Andersen depicting seagulls at sunset (2). CONDITION REPORT: The pin on the polar bear has been replaced but is otherwise in good condition, the second brooch has some damage to the enamel to the left of the plaque and some surface scratches.
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