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Lesbos, Mytilene EL Hekte. Circa 454-427 BC. Forepart of goat right, head reverted / Owl standing facing, wings spread, within incuse square. Bodenstedt 42; HGC 6, 968; SNG von Aulock 1693; SNG Lockett 2757 = Pozzi 2320; Boston MFA 1682; BMC 29–30; Weber 5606. 2.53g, 11mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. The reverse design of this coin is thought to have been copied from the Athenian dekadrachms, coins famous and impressive even in their own day.

Macedon, Akanthos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 470-430 BC. Lion right, attacking bull crouching left; in exergue, fish left / AKANΘION in shallow incuse around quadripartite square, the quarters raised and granulated. Cf. Desneux 95 and 97–8 (unlisted dies); AMNG III/2, 21; SNG ANS –; Numismatica Genevensis SA 3, lot 23 (same dies); Triton XVII, lot 116 (same dies). 17.23g, 28mm, 10h. Fleur De Coin. Sharply struck, well centred on a full flan and displaying brilliant mint lustre. A coin of medallic, gem-like quality. The ubiquitous and persistent theme of the lion-bull combat can be traced back to the figurate art of the third millennium, where the geometrical motifs are replaced by narrative symbolic representations, and the scene is characteristic of Near Eastern art in its infancy. The earliest known depiction occurs on a ewer found at Uruk dated to the latter part of the Protoliterate period, circa 3300 BC. That ewer has a relief depiction of a lion attacking a bull from behind (see Henri Frankfort, Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient, 1963). The scene became widely distributed by 500 BC, featuring prominently in the Achaemenid Empire, and in particular at the palace of Darios in Persepolis, where it occurs no fewer than twenty seven times, including on the main staircase leading to the imperial complex. Its frequent appearance in key locations strongly suggests an important symbolic significance, which unfortunately has not survived antiquity in any explicitly clear form. Explanations for the symbolism and its power over the ancient peoples who reproduced it with prodigious enthusiasm have ranged from it being an expression of royal power, to it being an astronomical allusion, as well it being an embodiment of the constant struggle between civilisation (represented by the domesticated bull), and nature (represented by the untameable lion). This latter argument may well hold true for the Mesopotamians of Uruk, who it is known took a rather grim view of the world, seeing it as a battleground of opposing powers. One interpretation that has gained traction in recent years is that the motif is apotropaic in nature, serving to ward off evil in a similar function to the gorgoneion, which like the lion attack motif is very prevalent in ancient Greek coinage, though there is little evidence to support such a notion. G. E. Markoe ('The Lion Attack in Archaic Greek Art', Classical Antiquity Vol. 8, 1, 1989) convincingly suggests that a more likely explanation may be found in the examination of archaic Greek epic poetry, particularly in Homeric literature, wherein a lion attacking cattle or sheep is repeatedly employed as a simile for the aggression and valour of combatant heroes. In notable passages, Agamemnon's victorious advance against the Trojans in the Iliad (11.113ff and 129) and Hektor's successful pursuit of the Achaeans (15.630ff) are both likened to a lion triumphing over its hapless prey. In both of these cases the allusion is completed by the defeated being compared to fleeing prey animals. In all, there are twenty five examples present in the Iliad of heroic warriors being compared to leonine aggressors, with the victims variously compared to boars, sheep, goats, bulls or deer. The repetition of this literary device is clearly demonstrative of how deeply rooted the imagery was in the Greek (and perhaps more generally human) consciousness. Of further and great significance is the involvement of the gods as the primary instigators of heroic leonine aggression in almost every case, and as it is made clear that the lion itself is an animal that is divinely directed to its prey (11.480, by a daimon), so then is the lion attack a metaphor for divinely inspired heroic triumph.

Lucania, Herakleia AR Stater. Circa 330 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing single-pendant earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla throwing stone held in right hand; EY to right / |-HPAKΛEIΩN, Herakles wrestling the Nemean lion: Herakles stands facing, head and upper body turned to left, right hand holding club behind body, left hand grasping lion’s throat; fluted jug beneath. [Club and AΠΟΛ to left]. Work 47 (same dies); Van Keuren 51 (same obv. die); HN Italy 1378; SNG ANS 66; SNG Lloyd -; Basel -; Bement 138 (same obv. die); Gulbenkian -; Hunterian 7 (same dies); McClean 825 (same obv. die); Weber 706 (same dies). 7.76g, 21mm, 4h. Good Extremely Fine. Rare. An excellent example of this type, one of the finest to have come to the market in the past fifteen years. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Gemini VII, 9 January 2011, lot 30. The flourishing of an artistic culture in Herakleia is attested by the beauty and variety of its coinage, and that they survive in relative profusion is demonstrative of the wealth and commercial importance of the city. Despite this, it is not often that one encounters them in as good a state of preservation as is the case with the present coin. The depiction of Herakles on the reverse of this coin places the hero in a typical fighting stance of the Greek martial discipline Pankration, or Pammachon (total combat) as it was earlier known. Indeed, this fighting style was said to have been the invention of Herakles and Theseus as a result of their using both wresting and boxing in their encounters with opponents. The stance portrayed on this coin is paralleled on an Attic black-figure vase in the BM depicting two competitors, one in a choke hold similar to that of the lion here. The composition of this design is very deliberate - as the lion leaps forwards, Herakles who had been facing the lion, turns his body sideways. The myths tell us that Herakles had first stunned the beast with his club, and now he dodges the lion's bite and reaches his right arm around its head to place it in a choke hold. Impressively careful attention has been paid to the detail on this die, including realistic rendering of the hero's musculature, which has been engraved in fine style.

Leo I AV Solidus. Constantinople, circa AD 465-466. D N LEO PERPET AVG, helmeted, pearl-diademed and cuirassed bust three quarters facing, holding spear over right shoulder and shield, decorated with horseman motif, on left arm / VICTORIA AVGGG B, Victory standing left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field; CONOB in exergue. RIC 605; MIRB 3b; LRC 527; Depeyrot 93/1. 4.50g, 20mm, 5h. Fleur De Coin.

Karia, Achaemenid Period AR Tetradrachm. Circa 341-334 BC. Persian king or hero in kneeling-running stance right, drawing bow / Satrap on horseback right, thrusting spear; to left, bearded male head right. Konuk, Influences, Group 5 var. (head of Herakles); SNG Copenhagen (Persian Empire) 290-291 var. (same); Traité II 121 var. (same); CNG 72, 14 June 2006, 801. 14.72g, 24mm, 11h. About Very Fine. Very Rare, and unpublished in the standard references with this symbol. Struck in the last years before Alexander's invasion of the Persian empire, the archer-horseman tetradrachms of Achaemenid Karia are one of the rarest and most enigmatic Persian coinages struck in Asia Minor. We are unfortunately aware neither of where nor why they were produced - no inscription is present to facilitate identification of the issuing authority, with only various symbols and letters present as control marks. These control marks allowed Konuk to discern two distinct series: those with subsidiary symbols, and those without. Analysis of the Pixodarus Hoard has allowed the coinage to be dated from the decade beginning circa 350 BC. Additionally, since that hoard contained only the earlier, non-symbol, type, Meadows concluded that the date of deposit of the hoard (341 BC) should be seen as the earliest possible start of the second series, to which this coin belongs.

Domitian AR Denarius. Rome, AD 95-96. IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P XV, laureate head right / IMP XXII COS XVII CENS P P, winged figure of Minerva flying left, holding spear and shield. C. 294; BMC 237; RIC 791; CBN 210. 3.56g, 19mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. The iconography of this coin is most intriguing. This is the only depiction of a winged Minerva in all of Roman coinage, and indeed the concept itself has few parallels in surviving classical art. The closest comparable figure may be found in the winged statue of Minerva Victrix at Ostia, which originally formed part of the decoration of the upper gate known as the Porta Romana. This winged form of Minerva may well have been taken from earlier Greek images of Athena, such as that shown on a black-figure vase found at Orvieto and illustrated in Röm. Mitt. XII, pl. xii, which shows two representations of Athena – one winged and one without wings. With the exception of Nike-Victoria, most of the Greco-Roman gods had shed their wings by the early classical period; that such an archaism should be revived in the time of Domitian is therefore quite inexplicable, save perhaps for the possibility that it was simply an act of whimsy by an emperor who was known to favour Minerva above all other gods.

Diocletian AR Argenteus. Siscia, AD 294-295. DIOCLETIANVS AVG, laureate head right / VIRTVS MILITVM, the four Tetrarchs sacrificing over tripod before arched gateway to circuit of city walls with six raised towers; SIS in exergue. RIC 46a. 3.13g, 19mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. Very Rare.

Magnus Maximus AV Solidus. Treveri, AD 383-388. D N MAG MAXIMVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA AVGG, two emperors, in consular robes, seated facing on throne with their legs draped, together holding a globe; between and behind them the upper portion of a Victory with outspread wings; between and below them, a palm branch, TROB in exergue. RIC 77b; Depeyrot 52/1. 4.51g, 21mm, 6h. Near Mint State. Rare, particularly in such exceptional state of preservation. Magnus Maximus was acclaimed emperor by his troops whilst he was a general of the field army of Britain in 383. After defeating the senior western emperor Gratian, he sent ambassadors to Theodosius I in the East and Valentinian II in Italy, and was recognized by Theodosius as Augustus in return for leaving Valentinian II in power. The reverse of this coin, showing two emperors sharing a globe, reflects the sharing of imperial power across the whole of the Empire, and this is reinforced by the presence of the second 'G' in the last word of the reverse legend (AVGG = Augustorum), indicating that it is of two emperors rather than one. Sutherland and Carson suggest in RIC that, due to a number of factors including the similar size of the figures of the emperors, this coin was struck during the period of relative peace between Maximus and Theodosius; other issues of this type from the Italian mints show one figure much smaller than the other, which is thought to indicate the elevation of Maximus' son Flavius Victor to Augustus in 384.

Hadrian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 125-128. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, laureate head right / Hadrian on horseback right, raising right hand; COS III across field. RIC 186c; Calicó 1218a. 7.13g, 20mm, 5h. Near Mint State. Well struck from dies of very fine style, perfectly centred and displaying brilliant lustre. Certainly among the finest surviving aurei of Hadrian. This very attractive equestrian aureus was struck to mark the triumphant return to Rome of the emperor, and shows him riding into the city accepting the honours and praise of the people. Mattingly and Sydenham argue that during his four year absence from Rome there had been little change in the coinage, no development of style, and the mint had been virtually inactive. However, upon his return there was a great new output of coinage, of which this is a stunning example. For his new coinage, Hadrian drops the long legends favoured by his predecessor Trajan, preferring to simplify them to HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS on the obverse and COS III on the reverse. This new obverse legend very distinctly calls into mind the coinage of the first emperor Augustus, while the new, larger and more gracious style of imperial portrait that fills the fields of the flan is a complete change from the small, careful and cramped types of Trajan. Reverse types such as this one complement the new style and the result is a very attractive and artistic coin. Hadrian’s reign was dominated by his extensive travels across the provinces, and indeed he spent more than half of his reign outside of Italy. A known Hellenophile, shortly before the return to Rome that prompted the issue of coinage to which this aureus belongs the emperor had toured Greece and this, coupled with his studies in Greek academia, art and sculpture led the change to the very Hellenistic design we see here, a piece which can be seen as the product of the highest flourishing of Roman art and sculpture. Although no sculpture or written record of such survives, it is quite probable that this reverse type was modelled on an equestrian statue of Hadrian that stood in Rome and that is lost to us today. We know that numerous equestrian statues of emperors once graced Rome, and we know that equestrian statues of Hadrian in particular existed – sources corroborate one at Aelia Capitolina on the Temple Mount directly above the Holy of Holies, and another is known to have adorned the Milion built by Constantine I at Constantinople, which along with an equestrian statue of Trajan, must have been removed from its original location and placed there. Indeed, if it were the case that this coin depicts a now lost sculpture, this missing statue would easily fit into a series of imperial equestrian statues that are both well-attested and displayed on the Roman coinage, beginning with the sculpture of Augustus that can be seen on denarii of 16 BC struck under the moneyer L. Vinicius (RIC 362), through Domitian's addition to the Forum Romanum in AD 91 and Trajan's own statue in the Forum Traiani. All of these followed a traditional mode, of which the gilt bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was also featured on that emperor’s coinage and which is preserved in the Capitoline Museum, is the sole surviving example.

Calabria, Tarentum AV Hemistater. Circa 276-272 BC. Head of youthful Herakles in lion-skin headdress to right / Ephebe driving galloping biga to right; ΣΩΚ above to right, ΤΑΡΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ in exergue. Fischer-Bossert G 33; HN Italy 985; Vlasto 29. 4.28g, 15mm, 1h. Extremely Fine. Rare. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC the increasing power and influence of Rome in Southern Italy became a source of great concern to Tarentum. Aggravated by what they perceived as Roman interference within their area of dominion, increasing numbers of Roman colonies in Apulia and Lucania, and a growing fleet which threatened Tarentine naval supremacy in Italy, the Tarentines came to an agreement with Rome in 282 BC, part of which forbade Roman ships from entering the Gulf of Taranto. In the same year, ten Roman ships were caught in a storm and driven into the gulf, arriving in the sea off Tarentum during the festival of Dionysos. Considering this a hostile act, the Tarentines attacked the Roman flotilla, sinking four ships and capturing a fifth. A Roman delegation sent to negotiate and seek redress from the Tarentines was insulted and mocked, resulting in the Roman Senate declaring war on Tarentum, and the latter calling for assistance from Pyrrhos of Epeiros. The ‘victories’ of Pyrrhos at Herakleia and Asculum did little more than grant the Tarentines and their allies a temporary reprieve. After these battles Pyrrhos embarked on a Sicilian adventure that brought him no better fortune, but in the meantime the Magna Graecians were left to their own devices. After returning and fighting another costly but inconclusive engagement at Beneventum, Pyrrhos abandoned Italy for good, leaving Magna Graecia to its fate. Pyrrhos’ departure was followed swiftly by the Roman conquest of Lucania, Samnium, and finally in 272, after fighting on for a further three years after Pyrrhos’ departure, Tarentum itself was forced to surrender. This coin, struck as a last-resort war issue by a Tarentum that was determined but increasingly desperate (evidenced by the use of its emergency bullion reserves), is the legacy of a pivotal moment in history frozen in time and gold. The defeat of Pyrrhos and Tarentum marked a great turning point in the affairs of the world - the Roman conquest of Italy was complete, and the defeat of a powerful Greek king with a trained, professional army by an unheard-of Italian republic had sent shockwaves throughout the Hellenistic east. The successor states of the Alexandrine empire took note: a new power had emerged in the central Mediterranean, and less than a decade later the emboldened Rome would embark on a major overseas war, challenging the might of Carthage for control of Sicily.

Augustus AR Denarius. Uncertain Spanish mint (Colonia Caesaraugusta?), 19-18 BC. CAESAR AVGVSTVS, bare head right / S•P•Q•R• CL•V in two lines on round shield. RIC 42a; RSC 294; cf. RCV 1637. 3.83g, 20mm, 5h. Extremely Fine. In the year 27 BC Augustus was awarded with the Clipeus Virtutis, which is shown on the reverse of our coin and is also mentioned in the Res Gestae (VI, 18). The Res Gestae states: 'A golden shield was set in the Curia Julia, which the Roman Senate and the Roman People have consecrated for my bravery and gentleness, my righteousness and devotion, as the inscription on this shield testifies to.'

Titus, as Caesar, Æ Dupondius. Rome, 1 July AD 72-30 June AD 73. T CAESAR VESPASIAN IMP IIII PON TR POT III COS II, radiate head right / FELICITAS PVBLICA, Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and cornucopiae; S-C across fields. RIC 504, citing two known specimens (in Paris and Vienna); BMC -; C. -. 13.63g, 28mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. An imperial bronze of truly exceptional quality. Ex Numismatik Lanz 150, 13 December 2010, lot 150. Having been hailed emperor by the legions under his command while in the field, Titus’ father Vespasian departed Judaea to return to Rome and claim the throne from the usurper Vitellius, who had meanwhile already deposed Otho, second of the four emperors to rule Rome in the year AD 69. Vespasian had led a successful campaign to restore order in the province after the disastrous attempts by the legate of Syria, Cestius Gallus, who had suffered a defeat considered to be the worst the Roman military had been subjected to by a rebel province throughout its history. Titus was thus charged with concluding the war, having been left in a strong position by his father, with the remaining rebel factions largely cut off within the city of Jerusalem. Against his father’s designs, Titus resolved to besiege the city and over seven months in AD 70 he completely circumvallated it with a permanent army camp. Eventually breaching the walls, the city was ransacked, burnt and the treasures from the Temple were carried off. Depicted on the Arch of Titus on the Via Sacra in Rome, built by Domitian after his brother’s death, these same treasures were carried into Rome as part of the Triumph that Titus celebrated on his successful return in AD 71. Struck shortly after the suppression of the uprising in Judaea and his triumphant return to Rome to take his place as Caesar beside his father, the depiction of the goddess Felicitas on the reverse of this magnificent coin is highly appropriate for Titus at this time. Reinforced by the wonderfully detailed attributes she carries, with peace symbolised by the caduceus and plenty brought by the cornucopiae, Felicitas personified the luck, blessedness and happiness of the successful general, while the use of the epithet Publica more specifically highlighted the prosperity of the Roman people that he had helped to enhance. Looking very much his father’s son, the obverse portrait gives us a vigorous impression of Titus and shows him to be strong, robust and in the prime of life, qualities very important to highlight as held by the men of the fledgling Flavian Dynasty.

Ionia, Ephesos (?) EL Stater. Circa 575-560 BC. Forepart of bridled horse left, sunburst before; lotus flower on its back / Rectangular incuse punch between two square incuse punches, all with roughly patterned surfaces. Weidauer 138 (these dies); Mitchiner 135; ACGC 56. 14.31g, 20mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. The lotus flower that appears upon the horse's back is an element common to several electrum staters from uncertain mints attributed to Lydia or Ionia, all struck on the Milesian standard: the recumbent lion type (Rosen 245; NAC 72, 16 May 2013, 369), bull kneeling with its head reverted (Rosen 148), and two rampant lions upright on their hind legs with heads reverted and paws extended (Rosen 149). On all of these coins the lotus flower may initially appear incidental, though its commonality to all types indicates otherwise – it is evidently to be seen as the key element of the obverse type that links the different animal designs together. The lotus flower appears only sporadically in Greek mythology, though it had a deep rooted use in Egyptian art and legend, where it was taken as a symbolic representation of the sun on account of its physical behaviour: it closes at night time and descends into the water, rising and flowering again at dawn. In Egyptian creation myth, the lotus was the first thing to spontaneously form from chaos, and it was from the lotus that the sun itself was born on the first day. The eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean in the sixth century BC had been for a long time familiar with Egyptian religious beliefs that spread as a consequence of trade and population dispersal; the lotus' insinuation in its Egyptian meaning into Greek culture is evident in the lotus-tipped sceptre carried by Zeus on the coinages of Karia, Mysia and Kilikia (among others), being a legacy of the assimilation of an attribute of the major Egyptian solar deity Ra with the principal god of the Greek pantheon Zeus. The lotus' appearance here as a polyvalent symbol can best be understood then in the context of assimilated Egyptian beliefs, representing at once both a solar and divine aspect, as well as a clear allusion to the minting city's location. Interestingly however, the lotus is not the only solar element present on this coin – immediately before the horse's chest we can discern the presence of a sunburst similar in depiction to those found on the contemporary coinage of Alyattes. This element may have been included on account of its being more universally familiar, being well understood to signify what we now refer to as Anatolia, which comes from the Greek Aνατολή (Anatolē) meaning the 'East' or more literally 'sunrise', used to refer to the Ionian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. Moreover the horse was itself considered a solar symbol, not only throughout the East, but also among Celtic and Germanic tribes, suggesting a common ancient root to this association. Such preponderance of solar symbology is indeed only fitting for this metal, and is in fact an overt statement of the coin's composition: ἤλεκτρον, the Greek word for electrum, is derived from the word ἠλέκτωρ (ēlektōr) - 'shining sun'.

Roman Gaming Token (?), designed and elaborately cut from a Theodosius II Æ Nummus. [D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right] / Cross within wreath, X in jewel at top; [SMKA in exergue]. RIC 449. 1.48g, 13mm. Very Fine. Coin of good style, interesting re-working of the design.

Octavian AR Denarius. Rome, 29-27 BC. Bare head of Octavian right / IMP CAESAR, on architrave of arch surmounted by facing quadriga bearing Octavian. RIC 267; RIC 267; BMC 624; Sear Imperators 422; RSC 123 (Augustus). 3.81g, 20mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. A coin struck to commemorate Octavian's victory at the Battle of Actium over the forces of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, the reverse probably depicts the triumphal arch erected in the Forum in Rome to honour Octavian, circa 29 BC.

Severus Alexander AV Aureus. Rome, AD 230. IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder / P M TR P VIIII COS III P P, Romulus, radiate, walking right, carrying spear and trophy. RIC 103; BMC 620; Calicó 3121 (same dies). 6.33g, 20mm, 7h. Fleur De Coin; perfectly centred on the flan. Rare. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Roma Numismatics IV, 30 September 2012, lot 633; Ex Triton X, 9 January 2007, lot 701.

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 500-490 BC. Archaic head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet decorated with chevron and dot pattern / Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig behind, ΑΘΕ before. Cf. Svoronos Pl. 4, 15. 17.41g, 24mm, 4h. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare with a full crest. Athens was one of the few Greek cities with significant silver deposits in their immediate territory, a remarkable stroke of fortune upon which Xenophon reflected: 'The Divine Bounty has bestowed upon us inexhaustible mines of silver, and advantages which we enjoy above all our neighbouring cities, who never yet could discover one vein of silver ore in all their dominions.' The mines at Laurion had been worked since the bronze age, but it would be only later in 483 that a massive new vein of ore would be discovered that enabled Athens to finance grand new schemes such as the construction of a fleet of 200 triremes, a fleet that would later prove decisive in defending Greece at the Battle of Salamis. This coin was produced in the period before the discovery of the new deposits at Laurion, around the time of the Ionian Revolt and the subsequent first Persian invasion of Greece. Athens aided the Ionian Greeks in their rebellion against Persian tyranny with both coin and soldiers, participating in the 498 BC march on Sardes which resulted in the capture and sack of that city – the only significant offensive action taken by the Ionians, who were pushed back onto the defensive and eventually subjugated once more. Vowing to punish Athens for their support of the doomed rebellion, the Persian king Darius launched an invasion of Greece, landing at Marathon in 490 BC. Just twenty five miles from Athens, a vastly outnumbered Athenian hoplite army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians, who after suffering horrendous casualties turned to their ships and fled.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Cerberus standing to left on tunny fish / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 10; Boston 1538. 15.90g, 19mm. Etremely Fine. Extremely Rare. Ex David Walsh Collection, privately purchased in 2001. Early Greek descriptions of Cerberus (Kerberos) vary greatly. The earliest literary appearance of Cerberus in Hesiod’s Theogeny (c. 8th – 7th centuries BC) portrays the monster with fifty heads, while Pindar (c.522-443 BC) gives him one hundred heads. Later writers however almost all describe Cerberus as having three heads. For practical reasons, representations of Cerberus in Greek art often depict him with two visible heads (the third being assumed to be hidden), but occasionally three heads, and rarely only one, are also seen. The earliest securely datable artefact depicting a three-headed Cerberus is a mid-sixth century BC Laconian cup by the Hunt painter, which clearly shows the beast with three canine heads, covered by a coat of snakes, and a tail ending in a snake’s head, held on a chain leash by Herakles. A slightly later amphora fount at Vulci c.525-510 (Louvre F204) shows a two-headed Cerberus in similar pose to that on our present coin, also with a snake-headed tail. Though representations of Cerberus in Greek art are fairly common, with the familiar story of Herakles’ twelfth labour being a popular motif, depictions of Cerberus on Greek coins are seemingly limited to only this issue of Kyzikos, an extremely rare bronze issue of Epeiros (see Roma Numismatics 4, lot 114), and an exceedingly rare stater of Cumae in Campania (Rutter 76). Barclay Head proposed that the appearance of the monster here was in reference to or in honour of the city of Kimmerikon, sited on the southern shore of the Cimmerian Bosphorus which had previously been known as Cerberion (Pliny 6, 6, 6, 18), based on the assumption that the city would have been a familiar destination for Kyzikene traders. However it is probably incorrect to assign any specific significance to the type, since it is well known that Kyzikos frequently took inspiration for its coin types from the art of other Greek city-states’ coins and wares. The designs of Kyzikos’ coinage appear to have been decided upon apparently without necessarily requiring said types to have any deep meaning to either Kyzikene citizens or indeed anyone else in particular, often being admired it seems purely for their compositional beauty. Since the design of this coin does not copy any known type (the Epeirote bronze not being issued until the mid-fourth century), and Cerberos on Rutter 76 being of markedly different style (and only part of the design), it is probable that it copies the design of a vase or other vessel, such as the aforementioned Louvre F204 - an Attic red figure amphora - which found its way to Kyzikos. Regardless of the origin of the design, the present coin is a magnificent example of this important mythological theme, and is one of very few known staters of the type, the hektes being relatively more plentiful, but still rare.

Mysia, Lampsakos AV Stater. Circa 350 BC. Laureate head of Zeus left, sceptre over right shoulder, tip showing behind his neck / Forepart of Pegasos facing to right. Baldwin 29; SNG von Aulock 7394 (same dies); BMC 28, pl. XIX, 6; SNG France 1138 (same obverse die); Babelon, Traité II, pl. CLXXI, 3; Boston 1594; Kraay - Hirmer pl. 202, 729. 8.42g, 17mm, 2h. Near Extremely Fine. Privately purchased from Spink & Son Ltd., London, 7 August 1984; Ex Gustav Philipsen Collection, Jacob Hirsch Auction XXV, 29 November 1909, lot 1790. Lampsakos was founded in around 654/3 BC by Phokaian colonists, and in the sixth century became a dependency of Lydia; when the Lampsakenes had captured Miltiades, the Athenian tyrant of the Chersonesos, they were forced by Kroisos to set him free. After the fall of the Lydian kingdom in 547, the city then fell under the dominion of Persia. Lampsakos joined the Ionian cities in revolt in 499, but was conquered by Daurises (a son-in-law of Darios I) in 498 or 497, and thereafter remained under Persian control until it was given by Artaxerxes to the exiled Athenian general Themistokles as part of the governorship of the Magnesian district. Themistokles' district also included the cities of Myos, and Magnesia itself, who along with Lampsakos paid him revenue of 50 talents per year, for 'meat', 'bread' and 'wine' respectively. At an uncertain date after the death of Themistokles in 459 BC, Lampsakos joined the Delian League, and is recorded in the tribute lists from 453/2, paying a phoros of fifteen talents. Lampsakos was the first Greek city to make regular issues of gold coinage which enjoyed an international circulation. Struck on the standard of the Persian daric, Lampsakos’ use of the Pegasos protome as its invariable reverse type led to widespread recognition of its gold abroad, such that like the cities of Kyzikos and Phokaia who respectively employed tunny fish and seal badges, it was unnecessary to identify the mint by an inscription upon the coin. Indeed, the esteem in which Lampsakene staters were held was due in significant part to the regularity of their issue. Whereas most civic gold coinages of the Greeks were struck only in times of emergency, Lampsakos appears to have issued 41 series of gold staters over a period of 50 or 60 years, evidently for the purpose of facilitating commerce. Deriving its wealth from the traffic passing between the Aegean and the Black Sea, on account of possessing an excellent harbour in a strategic position guarding the eastern entrance to the Hellespont, Lampsakos appears to have enjoyed significant commercial ties with the northern Black Sea lands, which were likely the primary source of its gold.

Carthaginian Spain, Barcid Dominion AR 1½ Shekel. Akra Leuka, circa 229/228 BC. Laureate head left (Melqart or Hasdrubal), with club over right shoulder / Elephant to right. MHC, Class III, 44 (same obverse die); ACIP 554; AB 486. 11.10g, 24mm, 12h. Very Fine. Very Rare. The city of Qart Hadasht (or Carthago Nova, as it was known to the Romans), literally meaning ‘new city’ and identical in name to Carthage itself, had been re-founded by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair in 228 BC on the site of a town named Mastia. The site was chosen as it possessed one of the best harbours in the western Mediterranean, thus enabling it to serve as the primary port and capital city of the Barcid dominion in Spain. This new ‘empire’ had been carved out by Hasdrubal’s predecessor and father-in-law Hamilcar Barca, who had sought to replace the possessions in Sicily and Sardinia lost to Rome in the First Punic War, and to serve as a means of enriching and strengthening Carthage for any future war with Rome, a conflict he saw as inevitable. Hasdrubal ably succeeded his father-in-law in expanding the family’s territory in Spain and power over the local tribes, but was assassinated in 221. He was succeeded by Hamilcar’s son, Hannibal Barca, who was now of sufficient age to command the Carthaginian military forces, and who wasted little time in aggressively expanding Carthaginian influence over the surrounding regions. Barely two years later, Hannibal’s would besiege Saguntum and massacre the population, leading to renewed war with Rome. This bold type has been dated to the early period of Hasdrubal’s command in Spain; in contrast to the coinage attributed to Hamilcar, this type makes no reference to the traditional naval power of Carthage, instead adopting the African elephant as the reverse type. Evidently not a war-elephant (note the absence of either a mahout or a fighting tower) it is perhaps best interpreted as a sybol of Carthage or Barcid power in general. Indeed it is known that Hasdrubal favoured diplomacy and the demanding of hostages to further expand his influence in Spain; the club-wielding Herakles-Melqart implies the threat of force rather than its open display. Though Robinson (Essays Mattingly) interpreted the beardless head of Melqart on this coin as bearing the features of Hannibal Barca, the dating of the issue (as per Villaronga, MHC) suggests it is more likely to be Hasdrubal, if indeed an individual commander’s likeness is shown.

Octavian AR Denarius. Rome, 28 BC. Laureate bust of Apollo of Actium, right, with features of Octavian / Octavian, veiled and in priestly robes, ploughing right with team of oxen; IMP•CAESAR in exergue. RIC 272; BMC 638; RSC 117. 3.73g, 19mm, 5h. Good Very Fine. Ex Classical Numismatic Group MBS 72, 14 June 2006, lot 1358; Ex Coin Galleries, 16 February 2000, lot 202.

Sicily, uncertain Punic military mint AR Tetradrachm. Circa 320-310 BC. Head of 'Dido-Tanit' to left, wearing Phrygian cap encircled with plain diadem tied above forehead / Lion walking to left, head facing; behind, a palm tree with three clusters of dates; S'MMHNT (People of the Camp) in Punic characters in exergue. Rizzo pl. LXVI, 6; Jameson 911; SNG Lloyd 1628; Kraay-Hirmer pl. 73, 209; Jenkins SNR 56, 1977, pl. 61, 270 (all same dies). 17.10g, 25mm, 3h. Extremely Fine. In remarkable state of preservation for the type; sound and lustrous metal, with a light grey cabinet tone. Extremely Rare; one of the very finest surviving specimens. From the B.R.H. Collection, privately purchased c.1980s in Munich. Carthage, at the head of considerable commercial empire in the western Mediterranean, like Etruria and Phoenicia, did not adopt the Greek practice of coining until the last decade of the 5th century BC when she came into direct contact with the Greek city states of Sicily such as Naxos, Syracuse and Messana, which had started to produce coins of the highest technical quality in the artistic style of the late archaic Greek school in the last quarter of the 6th century BC. The origin of the so-called Siculo-Punic coinage, often of rather crude style mostly imitating contemporary Syracusan tetradrachms produced at Rash Melkarth (= ‘Promontory of Herakles’, possibly Kephaloidion), Panormos (Ziz, ‘the splendid’), Motya (the ‘spinning factory’) and the ‘people of the camp’ and ‘pay master’ military mint (generally considered that of Entella) for the payment of the army including many Italian and Greek mercenaries, is dated to about 410 BC and the Carthaginian military operations in Sicily. Hannibal, grandson of Hamilcar, taking the opportunity presented by the quarrels of the Greek cities in Sicily and of the mutual exhaustion of Athens and Syracuse, invaded western Sicily with a strong military force and defeated the Greeks at Himera in 409. This remarkable rarity belongs to a very small and isolated issue produced from three pairs of dies and is an undisputed masterpiece of Siculo-Punic coinage. Aspects of the engraving style led Jenkins to conclude that they belonged at the end of his series 2d (head of Kore/horse animated before palm tree) or the beginning of his series 3 (dolphins around the head of Arethusa/horse head and palm tree). This being the case, this coinage may well be associated with the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily in their war against Agathokles. Indeed, Jenkins goes so far as to suggest they may have been specially minted for the 2,000 elite citizens who headed the new Carthaginian armada led by Hamilcar Gisgo. The obverse female figure is wearing an oriental tiara in the form of a Phrygian cap, which in Greek iconography generally denotes personages of oriental origin, including Amazons, Trojans, Phrygians, Persians and the great Anatolian mother goddess Kybele and her youthful lover Attis, as seen on the coinage of Amastris (cf. SNG BM Black Sea 1304). 19th and 20th century numismatists poetically described this head as that of Dido (Virgil) or historically, Elissa (Timaeus), the sister of Pymalion, king of Tyre, who fled Phoenicia to found Carthage in 814 BC (cf. Pierre Straus in Münzen und Medaillon sale 43, 1970, 33-4). However, a realistically more convincing interpretation is that it is the portrait of a goddess also represented in certain terracotta figurines of the latter 4th century found at the archeological sites of Selinous and Gela, both within the Punic sphere of influence by this time. These terracottas depict a female in a Phrygian cap, sometimes accompanied by a lion and a palm tree. This goddess has been called Artemis-Astarte by some authorities and Kybele by others, but the only certainty is that she was one of the great Asian nature-deities, who were subject to syncretic amalgamation in the Hellenistic period (cf. P. Orlandini, ‘Typologia e cronologia del Materiale archeologico di Gela della nuova fondazione di Timoleonte all’atà di Ierone II,’ in Archeologia classica 9, 1957, pl. 14, 2). The reverse type combines two of her symbolic attributes. The palm tree is an ancient Semitic fertility symbol, recalling the Carthaginian homeland in Phoenicia. The lion is associated with the Asian mother goddess in her aspect as mistress of wild beasts. The lion is also a solar symbol as is the horse, which appears regularly on Punic coinage. The die engraving of both sides of this coin is of exceptional and restrained classical Greek workmanship, rarely found on 4th century Greek coins. The obverse is graced with a portrait of serene divinity, realistic curly hair below a convincingly soft headdress, reminiscent of the finest 5th century sculpture. The reverse is no less of a masterpiece, depicting a majestic lion with a muscular body, protruding veins, luxuriant mane and emphasis on the power of the animal reminiscent of 4th century funerary lions found in the Kerameikos cemetery in Athens.

Octavian AR Denarius. Rome or Brundisium, 32-27 BC. Bust of Venus right, wearing stephane, earring and necklace / Octavian in military attire advancing left, hand extended and holding spear; CAESAR–DIVI F across fields. RIC 251. 3.81g, 19mm, 5h. Good Very Fine. Toned and attractive. Ex Stack's Coin Galleries, 18 July 2007, lot 629.

Greek AV Danake. 5th-1st centuries BC. Bearded facing male head / Blank. Cf. CNG e220, 239; cf. CNG e214, 259; cf. CNG 55, 359 and 1866. 0.53g, 10mm. From the G.J.P. Collection, purchased c. 1920s. Such thin and lightweight pseudo-coins are known in a variety of types that mimic coin designs, (see, e.g., CNG 55, lot 359, mimicking the reverse type of New Style Tetradrachms of Athens; and CNG 55, lot 1866, mimicking the reverse type of Sikyon staters). They are commonly found in burial sites and have no signs of attachment for use as jewellery or decoration. Part of the ancient Greek funerary customs was the placing of a coin with the dead so that the deceased could pay the boatman Charon to ferry them across the river Styx. These pseudo-coins most likely served the same purpose.

Civil War, Vindex AR Denarius. Uncertain mint in Gaul, AD 68. MONETA, head of Juno Moneta to right, PACI•P•R, clasped hands holding winged caduceus. Martin -, cf. 55 for obverse type and 41-43 for reverse type; BMC -; RIC -; C. -; Nicolas -. 3.83g, 17mm, 6h. Near Extremely Fine. Unique and unpublished. Of great numismatic interest. Vindex was a descendent of a family of chieftains granted Roman citizenship during the time of Julius Caesar and who were admitted to the Senate by Claudius. On account of this it is tempting to view his revolt as a campaign for Gallic independence. The numismatic evidence, however, suggests the contrary and demonstrates that rather than having an anti-Roman agenda, Vindex was specifically anti-Neronian and anti-tyrannical. Indeed, allegedly in one of his speeches he condemned Nero on all fronts, only complimenting him when he stated he had done the right thing putting his own mother to death, as she had borne such a monster. His coinage employs consistently Augustan propaganda, recalling the great Pax inaugurated by Augustus following his defeat of Marc Antony, as seen on the reverse of this coin. The coins of Vindex are notoriously rare and difficult to obtain. Until relatively recently they had largely been ignored by scholars, though in the 1970s Peter-Hugo Martin, Colin Kraay and Etienne-Paul Nicolas all published studies on this obscure series. Despite the revolt being brief, a matter of just a few months, the coinage is exceptionally diverse. This is due in great part certainly to the large number of men Vindex was able to call to his standards - by his account, over 100,000 though more probably about 20,000 as reported by Plutarch - and the need to pay them. This remarkable and unique coin pairs Juno Moneta (Juno 'who warns') with a reverse type that is only otherwise known with an obverse type featuring a female head and the legend BONI EVENT (Martin 41-43). The Juno obverse was previously known only with a reverse that reproduced the types of T. Carisius (Crawford 464/2), which had been struck a little over a century before. In that context the head of Juno Moneta must be connected to the coinage implements depicted on the reverse (namely the dies and tongs), and her depiction should be understood to be in the guise of the protectress of the money. Juno Moneta's appearance here cannot be a mere error of mixed die sets, since the portrait is of a significantly superior style to that used to strike Martin 55, which is crude and shrewish. It is worth noting that the obverse type of Juno Moneta is also used on the denarii of L. Plaetorius Cestianus (Crawford 396/1), where it is paired with a reverse type of no connection to monetary matters. The massive 10th Century encyclopedic work known as the Souda draws on old oral traditions that Juno had counselled the Romans to undertake none but just wars. Roman tradition also revered Juno as a protectress who warned of impending disaster and of how to avert it; Cicero suggests that the name Moneta derived from the verb 'monere', because during an earthquake, a voice from her temple had demanded the expiatory sacrifice of a pregnant sow to stay the tremors. He also connects her epithet to the old legend wherein Juno's sacred geese had warned the Roman commander Marcus Manlius Capitolinus of the surprise attack made by the Gauls during the siege of the city in 390 BC. We may therefore interpret her presence in this instance as being that of a protectress of the Roman people, and patroness of a just effort to remove the cancer at the heart of the empire.

Ionia, Phokaia EL Hekte. Circa 478-387 BC. Bearded head of Tissaphernes to left, wearing satrapal headdress / Quadripartite incuse square punch. Bodenstedt 86; SNG von Aulock –; Boston MFA –; BMC –; Pozzi –; Traité –; Winzer 6.6; CNG e342, lot 287; CNG e210, lot 43; Gemini VI, lot 192; Peus 361, lot 184. 2.55g, 11mm. Mint State. Extremely Rare, only one example recorded by Bodenstedt, and apparently only the fifth known. From the Kleines Meisterwerk Collection. Since it is known that satraps issued coins in their own name with their own portraits, both Bodenstedt and Winzer named the satrap depicted on this coin as Tissaphernes on the basis of parallels between the portrait as seen here and those on other coinages. Indeed there are distinct physical similarities (the shape of the nose, brow and eye sockets) between the present type and the portrait of Tissaphernes on the Kyzikene-issued tetradrachms of Athenian owl reverse type struck c.420-395. Tissaphernes was born in 445 into an important Persian family; his grandfather was Hydarnes, who was a general under Xerxes, and commander of the Immortals during the invasion of Greece in 480. He rose to the position of commander in chief of the Persian armies in Asia Minor, and was appointed satrap of Lydia and Karia. Yet because Tissaphernes preferred duplicitous negotiation to open warfare, in 408 he was replaced in his position as general by the King’s second son, Cyrus the Younger. When King Darius II died in 404, his eldest son Artaxerxes II was crowned. Cyrus, seeking the throne for himself, attempted to have his brother assassinated, though Tissaphernes learned of the plot and informed Artaxerxes. Imprisoned, but soon pardoned through the intercession of their mother, Cyrus was sent back to his command, where he now gathered an army which included Xenophon’s ‘Ten Thousand’ Greek mercenaries. Tissaphernes was instrumental in warning Artaxerxes of his perfidious brother’s intentions, and in gathering an army to oppose Cyrus. Cyrus was undone at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401, through the disobedience of the Greek commander Klearchos of Sparta, who refused to move his troops to the centre of the line (wary of his undefended right flank) in order to directly attack Artaxerxes. The Greeks instead charged and scatted the loyal Persian left wing, but meanwhile Cyrus died in his assault on the centre while attempting to kill or capture his brother. Tissaphernes was then able to rout all of Cyrus’ leaderless and demoralised forces, except the Greek mercenaries who steadfastly maintained their discipline, and were unassailable by frontal assault. Tissaphernes therefore dealt with the Greeks by supplying them with food and leading them northwards for home. He invited the senior Greek commanders to attend a feast, whereupon he took them prisoner, led them before Artaxerxes, and had them decapitated. As a reward for his loyalty, Artaxerxes gave Tissaphernes one of his own daughters in marriage and restored him as governor of Lydia and commander in chief of the Persian armies in Asia Minor. Xenophon, until then a middle ranking officer, was hereupon elected one of the leaders of the Ten Thousand. In his Anabasis, he describes Tissaphernes as lacking in all honour, the supreme example of faithlessness and oath-breaking, for he used his hospitality to delude and decoy his victims before having them executed - a treachery of the most heinous kind.

Roman Gaming Token (?), cut from a Julian II Æ Nummus. Uncertain mint, AD 361-363. [D N FL CL] IVL[IANVS P F AVG], diademed, helmeted and cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield / VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath, tied with ribbons upwards; [mintmark in exergue]. 2.08g, 18mm, 12h. Very Fine. Original coin of good style.

Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 73. T CAES IMP VESP CENS, laureate head right / PONTIF TRI POT, Titus, togate, seated right, feet on footstool, holding sceptre in right hand and branch in left. RIC 555 (Vespasian); Calicó 753; BMCRE 114-5 (Vespasian); BN 95/96 (Vespasian); Biaggi 371. 7.25g, 20mm, 12h. Extremely Fine; very well preserved and detailed for the type. At the accession of Vespasian to the purple in AD 69, his sons Titus and Domitian were both raised to the rank of Ceasar as was customary, and granted those powers which the emperor traditionally gave his successor. Having returned to Rome in 71 and celebrated his triumph for the victory which he had secured in the east with the seige of Jerusalem, as the elder brother Titus shared tribunician power with his father, became Consul and was given command of the Praetorian Guard, as well as religious roles such as pontifex, as the reverse of this stunning aureus shows us. Domitian’s honours, however, were largely ceremonial and highlighted the superior position of Titus, both politically and militarily. In contrast to the extensive Judaea Capta coinage that was first struck under Vespasian to commemorate the military victory in the east and which continued to be struck for 25 years under both Titus and Domitian, this coin celebrates Titus as a respectful, pious figure following the traditional path to becoming emperor, whilst confirming his position as the chosen heir to Vespasian. The attributes which he is depicted with make reference to qualities he was taken to have attained, the sceptre underlining his imperial power and the branch representing the peace he had already brought to the empire. On the death of Vespasian in 79 the careful positioning of Titus as effective co-emperor made for a smooth succession, though by 81 he was dead: according to some sources he was poisoned by the overlooked Domitian, who went on to succeed him.

Julius Caesar AR Denarius. Military mint moving with Caesar, 48-47 BC. Diademed female head right, wearing oak-wreath, cruciform earring, and pearl necklace; IIT behind / Gallic trophy holding oval shield and carnyx above bearded captive (Vercingetorix?) seated to right on ground with hands tied behind back, wearing neck torque; CAE-SAR across field. Crawford 452/4; Kestner -; BMCRR Rome 3959; RSC 19a. 3.61g, 19mm, 9h. Near Extremely Fine, a couple of very minor marks. Extremely Rare. With the help of his political allies, Caesar had succeeded in making himself the governor of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, with Transalpine Gaul later added, giving him command of four legions. The term of this governorship, and therefore his immunity from prosecution, was set at an extraordinary five years, instead of the usual one. Deeply in debt, Caesar wasted little time in taking advantage of the unstable situation in Gaul to expand his territory through conquest, and thicken his holdings with plunder. What eventually became known as Caesar’s Gallic campaign was initially a piecemeal affair, but within six years he had expanded Roman rule over the whole of Gaul. Following years of relative success, mainly thanks to the disconnected nature of the tribes allowing him to take them on separately, he was faced with the chief of the Arverni tribe, Vercingetorix, who too late had built a confederation to stand against Caesar. In 52 BC, despite formidable resistance, Caesar finally defeated Vercingetorix at the Battle (or Siege) of Alesia. This illegal war which by Caesar’s own account had left a million dead, was instrumental in elevating him to a position of supreme power among the statesmen of the late Republic, making him incredibly wealthy through war booty, and also making him dangerously popular with the plebs. Struck in the course of Caesar’s war against the Senatorial faction led by Pompey and later Metellus Scipio, Caesar’s triumphant coinage trumpets his military achievements and conquest in Gaul, while reminding the bearer also of his claimed descent from Venus through Aeneas. The reverse figure tied below the trophy of arms is popularly believed to depict the defeated Vercingetorix. Although Crawford and Sear are sceptical of this identification, it has often been said that the carefully rendered details of the figure, from the prominent brow and sunken eyes to the torque around his neck are highly suggestive of an individualised portrait. In 48/7 BC the defeated Gallic chieftain still languished in the Tullianum, the underground prison beneath the Comitium. He would be hauled out for Caesar’s triumph in 46, then returned to his cell and strangled. This type is an early example of what would become a standard representation on Roman imperial coinage of a defeated captive seated on the ground beneath or beside a trophy of arms, a type proclaiming conquest that was used to great effect by Vespasian and Titus following their victorious campaign­ in Judaea. In order to consolidate his power when he returned, Caesar produced triumphant coinage to spread news of his military capability. The reverse of this coin is popularly believed to depict Vercingetorix himself. Although Crawford and Sear are sceptical of this identification, it has often been said that the carefully rendered details of the figure, from the prominent brow and sunken eyes to the torque around his neck are highly suggestive of an individualised portrait. This is an early example of what would become a tradition on coinage of portraying a defeated captive sitting on the ground, submissive to the might of the Romans.

Satraps of Karia, Pixodaros AV Quarter Stater. Halikarnassos, circa 341/0-336/5 BC. Laureate head of Apollo right / Zeus standing right, holding labrys and sceptre; PIΞΩΔΛPO downwards to right. Cf. Triton XIX, 2057 (hemistater), Konuk, Identities 31 (hemistater) and Traité II 108 (hemistater); cf. SNG Kayhan 897 (twelfth stater). 2.64g, 12mm, 12h. Near Extremely Fine. Apparently unique and unpublished for this denomination. This coin, engraved in a beautiful style and clearly by the same hand as the Triton specimen, fills in the missing denominational gap in the only gold series to have been issued by the satraps of Karia, which is otherwise known in 1/2, 1/8, 1/12 and 1/24 stater fractions. Konuk has proposed that the reason for this gold series may have been a shortage of silver, a situation that began under Pixodarus' predecessor, Hidrieus. Given the readily interchangeable values (a twelfth stater would equate to a silver didrachm, thus this quarter stater represents six drachms), the use of gold in this manner would not have proven difficult.

Bruttium, Kroton AR Stater. Circa 530-500 BC. Tripod, legs terminating in lion’s feet, two serpents at base; QPO to left / Incuse tripod. Attianese 4; SNG ANS 239-241; HN Italy 2075. 8.21g, 28mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. From the B.R.H. Collection, privately purchased c.1980s in Munich. In terms of quality, this coin is easily the best preserved of its series that has been seen at auction in a great many years. Certainly its sharpness far exceeds that of any example listed on CoinArchives, and represents one of the very finest surviving incuse staters of Kroton - it must have been virtually fresh from the die when lost or deposited over two and a half millennia ago. The importance of the Delphic oracle to the founding of Kroton was celebrated on its coinage from the earliest days. Despite later myths ascribing the founding of Kroton to Herakles, the city's historical oikist is recorded as Myskellos of Rhypai who, on consulting the Delphic oracle about his lack of children was given the response that Apollo would grant children, but that first Myskellos should found the city of Kroton 'among fair fields'. After being given directions on how to locate the site, Myskellos travelled to southern Italy to explore the land that he had been assigned, but seeing the territory of the Sybarites and thinking it superior, he returned once more to the oracle to ask whether he would be allowed to change. The answer came back that he should accept the gifts that the god gave him. A further element of the story is that Myskellos was accompanied on his expedition by Archias of Corinth; the Delphic oracle gave the pair the choice between health and wealth. Archias elected wealth, and was assigned the site of Syracuse, while Myskellos chose health: the favourable climate of Kroton, the eminent skill of its physicians and the prowess of its athletes later earned its citizens this reputation for good health.

Octavian AR Denarius. Rome, 28 BC. Laureate bust of Apollo of Actium, right, with features of Octavian / Octavian, veiled and in priestly robes, ploughing right with team of oxen; IMP•CAESAR in exergue. RIC 272; BMC 638; RSC 117. 3.88g, 19mm, 4h. Very Fine. The obverse of this rare coin borrows from the Greek tradition of moulding the features of a deity to resemble the ruler, as was the case on the coinage of Alexander and his father Philip. The reverse depicts Octavian as city founder of Nicopolis in Epeiros, established in 31 BC at the site of the battle of Actium in memory of his victory over Antony and Cleopatra. The sacred boundary was marked by a pomerium or sacred furrow. On the spot where Octavian's own tent had been pitched he built a monument adorned with the beaks of the captured galleys; and in further celebration of his victory he instituted the so-called Actian games in honour of Apollo Actius, who had an ancient temple on the promontory there.

Lucania, Metapontion AR Half-Shekel. Hannibalic issue, circa 215-207 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet / Ear of barley with leaf to right; META to left. HN Italy 1632; SNG Lloyd 403; SNG Lockett 437; E.S.G. Robinson NC 1964, The Coinages of the Second Punic War, p. 50, 1 and pl. VI, 4. 3.33g, 18mm, 1h. Good Extremely Fine. Sometime after the defeat of Pyrrhos of Epeiros by Rome, Metapontion came under Roman domination. We do not know precisely when this occurred or the circumstances of the event, but the city was amongst the first to defect to Hannibal after the battle of Cannae in 216 BC. However, it was still occupied by a Roman garrison sometime afterwards, and only in 212 when Hannibal captured nearby Taras did the Metapontines expel the Roman garrison and fully declare for the Carthaginian cause. Hannibal quickly utilised the city as a supply depot, garrisoning the town with his troops. It was during the Punic occupation of Metapontion that this coin was struck. Like other Punic issues minted at this time in southern Italy, the fabric and execution of strike are neat and precise, with thin flans and competent engraving. While the coin retains the grain ear on the reverse, the obverse employs a type rarely used before at the city, the head of Athena wearing a crested Corinthian helmet. It is not known the significance of this change, but is paralleled elsewhere at other Punic-aligned cities. After the Carthaginian defeat at the pivotal battle of the Metaurus in 207 BC, Hannibal’s hopes for victory in Italy were dashed. Having first relocated the inhabitants of Metapontion to protect them from Roman vengeance, in 202 he withdrew all his forces to Africa to protect the motherland from Scipio. Afterwards the city of Metapontion never regained its former prominence, and by the mid second century AD was, according to Pausanias, totally deserted and in ruins (Paus. vi, 19. § 11).

Cilicia, Tarsos AR Stater. Circa 425-400 BC. Bellerophon riding Pegasos to right, ankh symbol below / Bellerophon riding Pegasos to left, ankh symbol below. Cf. Baldwins 34, 214 for similar types on a tetrobol; otherwise apparently unpublished in the standard references. 10.78g, 20mm, 4h. Good Very Fine. Apparently unpublished in the standard references, and an important addition to the numismatic corpus. The use of Bellerophon on this coin is a reflection of one of the city’s early foundation legends. The myths tell us that as Bellerophon’s fame grew, so did his hubris. He felt that because of his victory over the Chimera, and because he thought he was a god he deserved to fly to Mount Olympus, the realm of the gods. This presumption angered Zeus and he sent a gadfly to sting Bellerophon’s mount, Pegasos, causing Pegasos to accidentally throw Bellerophon to the ground. The story as it pertains to Tarsos is that it was on the site of the future city that Bellerophon landed, hurting his foot, thus leading the city to be named tar-sos (the sole of the foot). In this region, on the Plain of Aleion (“Wandering”), Bellerophon lived out his life in misery as a blinded and crippled hermit, grieving and shunning the haunts of men until he died.

Sicily, Himera AR Tetradrachm. Circa 409-408 BC. Signed by the artist MAI(...). The nymph Himera driving a galloping quadriga right, Nike flying left above, holding wreath and tablet inscribed MAI; hippocamp left in exergue / The nymph Himera, wearing a long chiton and peplos, standing left, holding a phiale in her right hand and raising her left; to left, horned altar; to right, satyr standing right, showering in a fountain with a lion's head spout. Basel 306; Guttmann & Schwabacher 20; Kraay-Hirmer 71; Arnold-Biucchi 22. 17.51g, 27mm, 11h. Mint State. Bold iridescent toning. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Nomos 5, 25 October 2011, lot 114; Ex European Collection, purchased circa 1980. The reverse of this coin shows the nymph Himera at the city's principle altar, which was likely to have been that of Asklepios. The satyr to right bathes in the warm waters of the spring at Himera. The tablet on the obverse of this coin is the only known die signed by the artist 'MAI...'; it is very possible that the career of this evidently talented artist was cut short by the complete destruction of Himera at the hands of the Carthaginian general Hannibal Mago.

Ionia, Klazomenai AR Drachm. Circa 386-301 BC. Mandronax, magistrate. Head of Apollo facing slightly left, wearing laurel wreath / KΛ-A, swan standing left, wings spread; MANΔΡΩNA[Ξ] to left. SNG Copenhagen -; SNG München -; cf. BMC 26 (hemidrachm); SNG Lockett 2792 (same dies); Traité II 1998. 4.04g, 16mm, 7h. Near Extremely Fine. Exceptional metal for issue. Rare. Ex David Herman Collection, Triton X, 9 January 2007, lot 295; Ex Schweizerischer Bankverein 38, 12 September 1995, lot 213. Settled by colonists from Phlios and Kleonai, Klazomenai was a member of the Ionian League, and originally stood on the isthmus connecting the mainland with the peninsula on which Erythrai stood; but the inhabitants, alarmed by the encroachments of the Persians, removed themselves to one of the small islands of the bay, and there established their city. In the King’s Peace of 386 Klazomenai is explicitly mentioned as belonging to Persia, though the city continued to mint coinage in its own name. There was a Klazomenian treasury at Delphi, and Klazomenai consulted the oracle there in 383 about their dispute with Kyme over the city of Leukai. Both cities wished to gain control of Leukai and its cult centre of Apollo, and thus the oracle responded that the city that first managed to make a sacrifice at Leukai on a specified date should be the winner of the dispute. Since it was stipulated that representatives from the two cities should depart from their territory at dawn on the day specified for the sacrifice, the Klazomenians founded a colony close to Leukai and thus won the contest. This event was celebrated by a festival called Prophthaseia, and a beautiful series of coinage, to which this type belongs, was caused to be struck in commemoration of the city’s victory. Apollo is proudly displayed on the obverse, and the reverse bears a majestic image of a swan, a bird sacred to the god. According to myth, swans would draw the chariot in which Apollo every year flew south from his winter home in the land of the Hyperboreans. The reverse is also a punning allusion to the name of the city itself, as Klazomenai was also home to large numbers of swans, and κλaζειν meant ‘to scream’, and was used to describe the call of the swan. Leukai’s striking of similar coinage in this period attests to Klazomenai’s control over that city. This beautiful coin is believed to be an unsigned work by the famous artist Theodotus of Klazomenai, who was responsible for engraving the dies for the outstanding Klazomenian tetradrachm in the British Museum. That coin, which bears Theodotus’ signature, is of a sufficiently proximate style as to make this a very distinct probability.

Lucius Verus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 164. L VERVS AVG ARMENIACVS, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / TR P IIII IMP II COS II, Victory, naked to waist, standing right, holding writing instrument in right hand and with left hand steadying shield inscribed VIC AVG that is set atop palm tree. BMC 296; Calicó 2177; C. 247 var.; RIC 525. 7.26g, 19mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Leu 50, 25 April 1990, lot 321. Shortly after Lucius Verus succeeded to the position of co-emperor in AD 161, a position he shared with Marcus Aurelius, the peace Antontinus Pius had negotiated with the Parthians collapsed. The Parthian king Vologases IV invaded the Kingdom of Armenia, then a Roman client state, expelling the king and installing his own. Both initial attempts to recover the territory of Armenia by the Governor of Cappadocia, Marcus Sedatius Severianus, and the Governor of Syria, L. Attidius Cornelianus, were unsuccessful. Marcus Aurelius took the decision to send his imperial colleague Lucius Verus to defend the Eastern territories in person. This aureus was struck shortly following the successful invasion of Armenia and capture of Artaxata in AD 183 by M. Statius Priscus, the former Governor of Britain who had been sent to replace Severianus as the Governor of Cappadocia. The obverse proudly boasts the title of Armeniacus, which was granted to Verus despite him having never seen combat. Verus is believed to have spent the majority of the campaign in Antioch, where his contribution to military matters is one of historical dispute. Nevertheless, the recovery of Armenia into the empire as a subordinate client kingdom saw the end of the limited themes which had featured on the early gold issues of the two Augusti in favour of the new – Minerva, Felicitas, Pax – including Victory, who is depicted on the reverse of this coin.

Kingdom of Macedon, Philip II AV Hemistater. Lifetime issue. Amphipolis, circa 340-328 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Forepart of lion to right, crescent below, ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ above. Le Rider 2 (D1/R2); SNG ANS 280 var. (same obverse die; scallop shell on reverse). 4.30g, 14mm, 5h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare, and exceptional condition for the issue, being both well preserved and prefectly centred on a very large flan. Ex Roma Numismatics VI, 29 September 2013, lot 544. Philip II inherited a poor kingdom on the verge of collapse. His brother Perdikkas III had died in battle against the Illyrians along with a great part of the Macedonian army. As A. B. Bosworth (1988, 6) puts it, “Philip came to power... when Macedon was threatened by dissolution, debilitated by a decade of dynastic feuding and crippled by military defeat at the hands of the Illyrians”, and he is joined by J. R. Ellis (1976, 44, cf. 1980, 36f) who writes “seldom can any state have so nearly approached total dismemberment without utterly disintegrating”. Philip’s predecessors had paid large tribute to the Illyrians since the 390s, and it was really only through bribery and a complex and changing system of alliances that Macedon was able to stave off invasion and conquest. Despite his precarious position, within two years and with little money to do it, Philip had reformed the shattered Macedonian peasant-army, introducing the innovative, professional and highly effective Phalanx corps armed with 18 foot long sarissas. Putting to good use all he had learned from Epaminondas, from whom he had received a military and diplomatic education, Philip pushed back the Thracians and Paeonians with promise of tribute and crushed the Athenian force that had come against him in 359. He conquered Amphipolis in 357, follwed by Krenides in 356, and thus gained command of the Mount Pangeion region and the 1000 talents a year in gold that its mines provided. Following hot on the heels of his military reforms, Philip revolutionised the coinage of the kingdom of Macedon, which would eventually also supersede that of all Greece. Philip’s brother Perdikkas, though he had initially struck a silver coinage, was later like his elder brother Alexander II before him, only able to coin in bronze. Philip now had prodigious quantities of not only silver, but gold too in measure beyond what his brothers could have dreamed. Before Philip, gold coins issued by the Greeks had been extremely infrequent, and struck usually only in times of great emergency. Philip’s control of the Pangeion mines now enabled him to make Macedon the first state in the Greek world to issue gold uninterruptedly year on year, which he did with a new standardised Macedonian gold currency denominated in staters, hemistaters (such as the present example) and quarter staters, as well as 1/8 and 1/12 fractions. This wealth would provide the driving force behind his successive conquests, expansion and diplomatic manoeuvres that enabled him to unify all Greece under Macedonian hegemony, and set the stage for his planned invasion of Persia.

Lesbos, Mytilene EL Hekte. Circa 357-326 BC. Laureate head of youthful Apollo three-quarters facing / Head of an Amazon to right wearing ornamented helmet with cheek guards up. Bodenstedt 64.3; Traité II, pl. 160, 38; BMC 94, pl. 34, 8. 2.55g, 10mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, apparently one of only seven known, and in exceptional state of preservation. The obverse of this beautiful coin was inspired by the remarkable and widely praised ‘Parthenon Group’ tetradrachms of Amphipolis issued during that city’s short-lived war with Philip II of Macedon (see Kurt Regling, ZfN 33 (1922), p. 48, Anm. 2 and p. 60). It is a direct stylistic copy of this brief issue, which has been described as ‘the most beautiful of all the facing-head tetradrachms of Amphipolis and one of the prettiest of all ancient Greek coins’.

Lesbos, Methymna AR Stater. Circa 420-377 BC. Head of Athena left, wearing crested helmet ornamented with vine tendrils, ivy leaf and crescent / MAΘYMNAION around lyre on square tablet in relief; all within incuse square. BMC 10, pl. XXXVI, 11; Franke, Methymna 7A-7D; Imhoof MG 248; McClean 7987; Boston I 1666; Perkins 452; Montagu I, 537. 6.44g, 19mm, 10h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. Little is known concerning the foundation of Methymna; the only recorded historical event predating the Classical period is Herodotos’ piece of information that Methymna conquered the neighbouring city of Arisba, the sixth polis on Lesbos, and enslaved its population. Nonetheless, the city must have existed from an early date, since the story of Arion and the dolphin, which involves the Corinthian tyrant Periander and is evidently set at the turn of the 7th century BC, suggests that at this time Methymna must have already been a prominent city with far-reaching contacts across the Greek world. Viewed as the second city of Lesbos after Mytilene, the two cities were long-standing rivals. With the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, Mytilene revolted against Athenian hegemony (428 BC), and was joined by all the other cities of Lesbos except for Methymna, which despite Mytilenaian collaboration with an anti-Athenian faction in Methymna, sided with Athens. When the revolt was put down the following year, only Methmyna was spared from having its territory colonised and garrisoned by the Athenians. Indeed, after 427, along with Chios, Methymna was the only member of the Delian League allowed to remain self-governing and exempt from paying the phoros (tribute). The city’s unwillingness to join the other cities of Lesbos in revolt does seem to have been motivated by a genuine sense of loyalty within the city’s populace, as Thucydides indicates that the Methymnaians were much more inclined to side with Athens than Sparta, and when the Spartan commander Kallikratidas besieged Methymna in 406, the city stayed loyal to its Athenian garrison and held out until betrayed by several traitors. The present coin continues a long Methymnaian tradition of placing Athena on the obverse of their coinage, a practice that seems to have begun at the time of the founding of the Delian League. Methymna must have been an original member of the League, and was one of the city-states that encouraged Athens to replace Sparta as hegemon in the war with Persia. Given that the city remained in Spartan hands until c.379, the type, with its clear pro-Athenian character, most likely dates either to the period of the Peloponnesian War or to the time immediately after it had freed itself from Spartan influence and became one of the founding members of the Second Athenian Naval League.

Claudius AV Aureus. Lugdunum, AD 41-42. TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P, laureate head right / PACI AVGVSTAE, Pax-Nemesis advancing right, pointing a winged caduceus towards a snake on the ground before her, and holding out a fold of drapery below her chin. RIC 9; Calicó 363a; BMC 6. 7.71g, 19mm, 3h. Good Extremely Fine. An attractive and powerful portrait. Rarely preserved in such high quality. Ex Kroisos Collection, Stack's, 14 January 2008, lot 2353. In AD 41 the Jews and the Greeks of Alexandria began to squabble and fight again as they had for decades. The Jews sought more privileges, and to be allowed into Greek-only institutions such as the gymnasia. This swiftly escalated into riots and running battles in the streets of Alexandria between Greeks and Jews. Appealing to Claudius for aid, the authorities in Alexandria received back the famous letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians, which settled the issue. At the same time Claudius accepted the offer to erect a golden statue ‘made to represent the Pax Augusta Claudiana’ at Rome, while declining a similar one in Alexandria, wisely thinking it might be the cause of new disturbances. Some scholars (cf. Rostovtzeff 1926, 25) have interpreted this golden statue to be an image of Pax-Nemesis, and have therefore chronologically linked the letter to Claudius’ first issue of coins with the Nemesis reverse and legend PACI AVGVSTAE. However, there is no record of the appearance of the statue, and the link is uncertain and indeed tenuous. Nonetheless, the appearance of Nemesis on this coin is significant - depictions of Nemesis on imperial coinage are very rare. As the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, her appearance here may best be interpreted in the context of Claudius’ other first gold issues. These emphasise perseverance in the face of adversity (CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI), the achievements of his father (DE GERMANIS), the traditional honours given to the princeps (OB CIVES SERVATOS) and his assumption of power through the Praetorian guard (IMPER RECEPT and PRAETOR RECEPT). Pax Nemesis in this context could therefore be an indirect reference to the excesses and despotism of his predecessor Caligula, and the righteousness of his removal from power: the legend and the image together suggest the active role of Nemesis in the achievement of a state of peace presided over by the emperor

A 1916 Chinese one Yuan coin, with dragon and eight character marks verso

A 1908 Chinese one Yuan coin with dragon frontage and various character marks verso

A 1912 Chinese one Yuan coin, marked 'Birth of Republic of China' verso

Caracalla AR Tetradrachm of Laodicea ad Mare, Syria. AD 209-211. • AVT • KAI • ANTΩNЄINOC • CЄ •, laureate head of Caracalla right / • ΔHMAPX • ЄΞ • VΠATOC • TO • Γ •, eagle standing facing with wings spread, head left, holding wreath in beak; star between legs. McAlee group 4, 33; Prieur 1164. 13.53g, 27mm, 2h. Fleur De Coin. Perfect, lustrous metal and lightly toned.

Caracalla AV Aureus. Laodicea ad Mare, AD 200. ANTONINVS AVGVSTVS, laureate and draped bust right / P MAX TR P III, Roma seated to left on round shield, holding Victory in her right hand and a reversed spear with her left. Biaggi 1187; BMC p. 295, 715; Calicó 2703; C. 182; RIC 342a; Sear 6727. 7.22g, 20mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. A charming early portrait of Caracalla, struck two years after his elevation to the rank of Augustus, the young emperor is seen here as a vision of youth. If one looks at the progression of the portraits throughout his reign, they become more sinister looking, starting off youthful and moving towards a more intense face with furrowed brow. Those later portrayals appear to have been highly accurate, and are confirmed by the historical sources, which are not kind to him. They universally describe him as an angry and savage character who was not well liked. Caracalla reigned jointly with his father Septimius Severus until the latter's death in AD 211 and subsequently shared a joint rule with his brother Geta. Despite the strong bond between their parents and Septimius’ attempt to forge a strong and close-knit imperial family, Caracalla and Geta were irretrievably at odds and incapable of working together. Contrary to the picture of the imperial family presented to the outside world, fragments of which can be seen on the coinage of Septimius, which shows a united family sharing the responsibilities of rule, the truth of the matter was that Julia Domna spent much of her time mediating in her sons’ conflicts – a prescient warning of the future. The depiction of Roma on the reverse of this rare aureus is consistent with other issues from the third century which were heavy with military depictions and religious themes, and it is a fittingly patriotic image with which to associate the young co-emperor. The implication of this type, struck while Caracalla was still only twelve, is that he is being carefully prepared by his father to one day take over the rule of the empire. Laodicea ad Mare, the mint of this particular coin, had pledged its allegiance to Septimius during the civil war, and thus the town was granted titles and privileges, including the establishment of a provincial mint striking gold and silver, of which the present piece is a fine example. It is also quite possible, given the output of gold at Laodicea in 198-202, that the gold used in the minting of this and other coins was sourced from the spoils of war Septimius collected in the course of his victorious Parthian campaign.

Mysia, Lampsakos AV Stater. Circa 394-350 BC. Head of female left, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace / Forepart of Pegasos flying right within shallow incuse square. Baldwin, Lampsakos 27; SNG France 1156 = Traité II 2565 (same obv. die); G.F. Hill, “Greek coins acquired by the British Museum in 1919,” NC 1920, p. 111 and pl. XIV, 6 = Weber 5102 (same obv. die). 8.40g, 16mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare; one of only three known, the other two in museum collections (the BN and BM) and both of which are struck from the same die pair - the present coin therefore adds a new reverse die to the corpus. Ex Triton X, 9 January 2007, lot 273. This coin, struck from highly artistic dies.... The female on the obverse of this coin, though, does not have any characteristics that identify her as a particular deity, and she may simply be the representation of a nymph in the local folklore.

Rhodos, Rhodes AR Tetradrachm. Circa 404-385 BC. Head of Helios facing slightly right / Rose with bud to right; POΔION above, [grain ear and Δ to left]; all within incuse square. Hecatomnus 56 (A37/P48); IGCH 1209 = Bérend, SNR 51, pl. 5, 51 (this coin). 15.24g, 26mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, one of apparently only two known examples. From a European collection, privately purchased from NAC; From the Marmaris Hoard, 1971 (IGCH 1209). In Pindar's ode, the island of Rhodos was said to be born of the union of Helios the sun god and the nymph Rhodos, and the cities Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros were named for their three sons. The Persians invaded and overran the island, but were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC. The cities then joined the Athenian League, although when the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, even though officially it was still a member of the League. In 408 BC the cities of the island united to form one territory, building for themselves a new capital, the city of Rhodes, on the northern end of the island. Its regular plan was superintended by the Athenian architect Hippodamos. In 357 BC however, the island was conquered by the king Mausolos of Karia, and later it fell to the Persians in 340 BC. To the great relief of its citizens, Rhodes became a part of the growing Macedonian empire in 332 as Alexander the Great passed through Asia Minor, liberating or conquering the Persian lands as he went. Following the death of Alexander, Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in Alexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC. The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural centre; its coins circulated throughout the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy, science, literature and rhetoric shared masters with Alexandria. Its school of sculptors developed a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as 'Hellenistic Baroque'.

Leo I AV Solidus. Constantinople, circa AD 465-466. D N LEO PERPET AVG, helmeted, pearl-diademed and cuirassed bust three quarters facing, holding spear over right shoulder and shield, decorated with horseman motif, on left arm / VICTORIA AVGGG B, Victory standing left, holding long jewelled cross; star in right field; CONOB in exergue. RIC 605; MIRB 3b; LRC 527; Depeyrot 93/1. 4.49g, 20mm, 5h. Fleur De Coin.

Constantine XI Palaeologus AR Stavraton. Constantinople, Siege of Constantinople, AD 1453. Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus cruciger and holding book of Gospels, IC and B to left and right / KWNCTANTINOC ΔΕCΠΟΤΗC Ο ΠΑΛΕΟΛΟΓ in the outer circle, ΘV ΧΑΡΙΤΗ ΒΑCΙΛΕΩC ΡΟΜΕΟΝ in the inner circle, crowned bust of Constantine facing, wearing maniakon. Bendall, Revue Numismatique 1991, ‘The Coinage of Constantine XI’, pp. 135-142, pl. XV, 93 (this coin). 6.78g, 23mm, 12h. Extremely Fine for this issue. Extremely Rare and of great historical importance. Purchased from Harlan J. Berk Ltd., 16 July 1990; From the Constantine XI Hoard. The reign of Constantine XI is primarily remembered for marking the end of the so-called ‘Byzantine’ Empire, the remainder of the Eastern Roman Empire that had stood for a thousand years after the fall of Rome and the West. Constantine XI succeeded his brother John VIII Palaiologos on 6 January 1449, and had reigned for only two years when the Ottoman Sultan Murad II died, being followed by his zealous nineteen year old son Mehmed II, who was obsessed with the conquest of Constantinople. A diplomatic miscalculation on the part of Constantine was seized upon by Mehmed as a convenient casus belli, and preparations for war commenced. In the winter of 1451/2 Mehmed cut off Constantinople from the Black sea by establishing a fortification on the European side of the Bosporus which together with the existing fort on the Asian side, gave the Turks complete control of the strait. Specifically, it prevented help from Genoese colonies on the Black Sea coast from reaching Constantinople. Realising that a siege was imminent, Constantine prepared his defence of the city. Despite appealing to the Pope and Western princes for aid in the defence of the city, little help came. France and England were weakened by the Hundred Years War, Spain was in the final stages of the Reconquista, the German states were wracked by infighting and Hungary and Poland had suffered a crushing defeat at Varna which they had not recovered from. In the end only a few soldiers from the northern Italian city states arrived, together with some adventurers and independent companies. Any hope of help from Constantine’s brothers in Morea was dashed by an Ottoman invasion of the peninsula intended to pin down their troops. In the winter of 1452 Mehmed arrived with his army at Constantinople, and the siege of the city began. Greatly depopulated over the years, Constantinople was now a city of just 50,000 inhabitants, with an army of only 7,000 to defend them. Arrayed against Constantine was a force at least ten times larger than his, with state of the art artillery provided by the gunsmith Orban. After a siege of fifty-three days and determined fighting, the city fell. When all hope had faded, according to Michael Critobulus (writing later in Mehmed's service) Constantine tore off his imperial regalia so as to let nothing distinguish him from any other soldier and led his remaining men in a last charge, perishing in the fighting. Struck during the siege of Constantinople, the present coin is illustrative of how far the empire had fallen. Its fabric is crude, struck on recycled silver from church altar vessels in order to pay mercenaries, and the quality of the artistry no better than the worst barbaric imitative issues of the migration period, yet the historical importance of these extremely rare coins cannot be overstated. 29 May 1453 is often cited as end of the late Middle Ages of the post-classical era, and the start of the early-modern period. The siege coinage of Constantine XI can thus rightly considered to be the last ‘ancient’ coins.

Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius AV Aureus. Rome, AD 140. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / AVRELIVS CAE•SAR AVG P II F COS, bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust left. RIC III 417e; Strack 115δ; Calicó 1728 = Biaggi 797 (same dies); BMCRE 154 (same dies). 7.17g, 20mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Lustrous; two finely detailed portraits of handsome style. Very Rare. Ex Jacquier 24, 1 January 2000, lot 276. Antoninus Pius was adopted as Hadrian’s successor in 138, following the death of his first adopted son Lucius Aelius. In order to gain Hadrian’s favour, Antoninus had agreed to adopt Aelius’ son, Lucius Verus, as well as Marcus Aurelius, who was betrothed to Aelius’ daughter Ceionia Fabia. This acceptance of pre-determined successors was representative of Antoninus’ role as a surrogate emperor and the guardian of Hadrian’s adoptive line. Despite adopting Hadrian’s chosen successors, Antoninus was able to claim Marcus Aurelius as his own chosen heir. As the nephew of the Emperor’s wife Faustina, Marcus Aurelius was already a distant relative. Following Hadrian’s death, Antontinus convinced Aurelius to amend his marriage arrangements by annulling his betrothal to Ceionia Fabia and instead agreeing to marry the Emperor’s daughter Faustina. Aurelius was advanced in successive stages to near equality with Antoninus; he was granted the title of Caesar in 139 and become consul the following year, while Verus was almost neglected. This coin was most probably struck to commemorate the consulship of Marcus Aurelius in 140, and emphasise his legitimacy as the successor to the Emperor. The attempt to strengthen Aurelius’ claim to the Imperial throne over that of Verus was effective, for the Senate sought to make Aurelius sole emperor upon Antoninus’ death. It was only on the insistence of Aurelius that the Senate was to accept his adoptive brother Verus as joint ruler.

Gordian III AV Aureus. Rome, AD 241-243. IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate and draped bust right / P M TR P IIII COS II P P, Apollo, bare to waist, seated left, holding branch and resting left elbow on lyre. RIC 102; Calicó 3221a. 5.22g, 21mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. Rare. The depiction of Apollo seated with branch and lyre, as seen on this aureus, was a reverse type never seen on an imperial coin prior to the reign of Caracalla. The iconography of Apollo as depicted here has as its origin the provincial coinage of Colophon, the city responsible for the administration of the oracle of Apollo at Claros. Milne (Kolophon and its Coinage, NNM 96, 1941) concluded that this type must have been associated with the oracle at Claros, as early roman provincial issues suggest (see RPC II 1052). Whilst Colophon minted few coins during the imperial period until the reign of Caracalla, it would mint regularly thereafter until the cessation of provincial coinage in Ionia under Gallienus. Whilst the Roman mint may not have been consciously alluding to the Clarian cult, it has been suggested by C. Rowan (Under Divine Auspices: Divine Ideology and the Visualisation of Imperial Power in the Severan Period, 2012) that this iconography was most likely introduced to represent an emperor’s patronage and consultation of the oracle at Colophon.

Constantine I AV Solidus. Ticinum, AD 324. CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate bust right / VICTORIB AVGG ET CAESS NN, Victory seated right on cuirass and shield, holding shield inscribed VOT XX, trophy and captive before; SMT in exergue. RIC 110; Depeyrot 17/12. 4.44g, 19mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, apparently the third and finest known specimen, the only one in private hands. This type, known only from one example in Leningrad and a rather sad example acquired by the BM in 1981, was curiously dated by RIC to AD 320/1, despite the obvious vicennalia celebrated on the reverse, and the corresponding issues of Sirmium, Nicomedia and Cyzicus being dated all to 324. Struck in anticipation of Constantine’s vicennalia which would begin the following year on 26 July 325, this coin proudly advertises the military victories of Constantine and his sons Crispus and Constantine Caesar, and the shield held by Victory announces the coming vicennalia. The emperors had much to celebrate; the preceding four years had seen a string of dazzling victories. In 320 Crispus had led a victorious campaign against the Franks, bringing twenty years of peace to the Rhine frontier. The following year Constantine had expelled the Goths from the Danube frontier and led an expedition into the old province of Dacia, either repairing Trajan’s bridge or erecting a wholly new one in the process. In 323, taking with him his seven year old son and namesake, Constantine defeated an invasion of Goths and Sarmatians north of the Danube in Dacia, and claimed the title of Sarmaticus Maximus. Then in mid-324 renewed conflict with Licinius saw Constantine win a great victory at the Battle of Adrianople, and ultimately claim sole rule of the empire by year’s end. Yet despite the auspicious lead-up to Constantine’s vicennalia, the year’s celebrations would end in great bitterness. The climax of the vicennial year celebrations was to be in Rome in July 326, but while en route to Rome Constantine gave the order for the execution of his eldest son Crispus, supposedly on charge of attempted rape of Constantine’s wife Fausta. Zosimus in the fifth century and Joannes Zonaras in the twelfth century both reported that Fausta, jealous of Crispus, and ambitious for the succession of her own sons, brought this untrue accusation against Crispus. Constantine, believing her, and true to his strong personality and short temper, executed his beloved son. A short while later, discovering the truth, Constantine had Fausta killed by suffocation and ordered a damnation memoriae with the result that no contemporary sources record the specific details of her fate.

Anonymous Æ Quadrans. Time of Domitian to Antoninus Pius. Rome, AD 81-161. Head of Annius Verus right, as the personification of Summer, crowned with vine-leaves and with grape-clusters over neck / S•C within wreath of vine-leaves and grapes. RIC 34. 3.89g, 18mm, 12h. Very Fine. Rare. The head on the obverse has been identified as Annius Verus, a son of Marcus Aurelius (Cohen). Van Heesch, in Studia Paulo Naster Oblata I, pp. 193-197, distinguished four types of busts in the series, and connects them with representations of the four seasons, the bust on this coin being that of Summer.

Sicily, Syracuse EL 100 Litrai. Agathokles, circa 304-289 BC. Laureate head of Apollo to left; tripod behind, ΣYPAKOΣIΩN before / Head of Artemis to right, wearing earring and pearl necklace, a ribbon in her hair and a quiver over her shoulder; ΣΩTEIPA before, tripod behind. Jenkins, ‘Electrum Coinage at Syracuse’, in Essays to Robinson, Group D, pl. 15, 3 (these dies); SNG Lockett 992; Gulbenkian 344. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare, and among the finest specimens known. Ex Leu 33, 3 May 1983, lot 245; Ex Monnaies et Médailles 54, 26 October 1978, lot 132. With the usurpation of Agathokles in 317 BC, Syracuse once more monopolised the right of coinage for the whole of Sicily, even more distinctly than in the time of Dionysios. Yet the reign of Agathokles, as noted by Malcolm Bell (Morgantine Studies I, 1981) “was a watershed for the arts in Sicily, just as it was for politics. The change from a conservative late-classical style to the new modes of the early-Hellenistic period came very quickly, within the space of a decade, and it coincided with the replacement of democratic government by the new monarchy. It is clearly perceptible in the coins that Agathokles issued... the bronze Artemis Soteira and the electrum Apollo-Artemis issues, both of which belong after Agathokles’ assumption of the kingship in 304, document the full acceptance of early-Hellenistic style.” Certainly, the quality of the artistry demonstrated on this coin is of the highest standard. The opposing portraits of the divine twins were no doubt favoured by Agathokles on account of being patron deities of the island-fortress of Ortygia, the ancient heart of Syracuse, where according to myth the goddess Leto stopped to give birth to Artemis – and in some versions Apollo too. A temple is present on Ortygia which according to its inscription honours Apollo, but when Cicero visited Syracuse he wrote that it was dedicated to Artemis. Despite having suffered a humiliating defeat against Carthage and settled a peace treaty re-establishing the status quo between Carthage and Syracuse, the latter years of Agathokles’ reign were comparatively peaceful, and were prosperous times for the city. From c.300 Agathokles concentrated his efforts on southern Italy (Diod. Sic. 21 4 ff). In two campaigns he briefly brought Bruttium under his control, and supported Tarentum in 298/7 against the native Lucanians and Messapians. He conquered Kroton in 295 and concluded alliances with other cities. His aim seems to have been the union of Sicilian and south Italian Greeks under his rule. His preparations for another campaign against Carthage were brought to nothing however, as he was assassinated in 289/8, and owing to familial rivalries his designs for a dynasty were thwarted. Thus he ‘restored to the people their self-government’ (Diod. Sic. 21. 16. 5). Depicted often as a cruel and unscrupulous adventurer and tyrant, Agathokles achieved little of lasting historical importance; indeed after his death anarchy erupted both in Syracuse, where a damnatio memoriae was decreed, and in other places that had been under his rule (Diod. Sic. 21. 18). Nonetheless, his patronage of the arts left a legacy of beauty as embodied by a small number of surviving works of art from his reign, and smaller but no less wonderful objects such as this stunning coin.

Sicily, Katane AR Drachm. Circa 405-403/2 BC. Facing head of Silenos / Diademed head of Apollo left, olive leaf and berry behind, ΚΑΤΑΝΑΙΩΝ before; all within circular incuse. Mirone 103; SNG ANS 1262 var. (no leaf and berry); Jameson 554 (same dies). 3.56g, 17mm, 5h. Very Fine. Very Rare. During the ill-fated Athenian expedition to Sicily of 415-413 BC, Diodoros reports that Katane was at first in favour of Syracuse, though upon hearing the case of the Athenian strategoi Thucydides relates that the Katanaians were compelled to espouse the alliance of the invaders. Katane thus became the headquarters for the Athenian force, and remained its principal base of operations throughout the campaign. It was to this city that the survivors of Nicias' massacred army escaped, finding refuge there until they could return to Athens. Despite the utter destruction of their ally's forces, Katane appears to have emerged from the war largely unscathed, and may indeed have gained some economic benefit from the 300 talents of silver that the Athenian reinforcements brought with them in 414 to hire Sicilian cavalry, as well as the money the Athenians spent within the city. In any case, Katane remained free from Syracusan rule until 403, when a force under Dionysios I was able to capture the city by surprise thanks to the treachery of the strategos Arkesilaos. Dionysios then sold its people into slavery and granted the city itself to his Campanian mercenaries. It is to this late classical period, beginning with the Athenian alliance, that this drachm belongs. This brief span saw a second flourishing of the die engraver's art at Katane, with such masters as Herakleidas producing magnificent dies of remarkable skill and beauty (see the following lot). Though the present coin is not signed, the level of technical ability required to engrave such a high relief facing portrait is indicative of it being the work of a master of the first order. Indeed, the style of Apollo's portrait on the reverse is remarkably similar to those produced and signed by the 'Maestro della foglia', cf. Rizzo pl. XII, 1-10; pl. XIII, 4; pl. XV 1-2. It is conceivable therefore that this could be an unsigned work by the same individual. The depiction of Silenos is an unexpected departure from the typical Apollo/chariot issues of the main period; though Silenos features prominently on the coinage of Katane as a reference to its chief export, he had never been depicted by the Katanaians as the principal subject on a denomination greater than a litra. It is probable that the artist took some inspiration from an earlier electrum issue of Phokaia (Bodenstedt 43), struck c.521-478 that also featured a facing portrait of Silenos, and which has been described as a masterpiece of the Archaic period.

Kings of Mauretania, Juba II AR Denarius. Caesarea, Circa 25 BC-AD 23. REX IVBA, laureate head right / ΒΑΣΙΛΙ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ, head of Cleopatra Selene left. Mazard 364; MAA 107-8; Cf. SNG Copenhagen 566 (rev. legend and bust variant). 3.21g, 18mm, 5h. Good Very Fine, lightly toned with blue iridescence. Beautiful style, with a very sensitive portrait of Cleopatra Selene. Extremely Rare. The Ptolemaic princess Cleopatra Selene was born to Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony in about 40 BC, but the precise date of the death of is unknown - she may have died before AD 6/7 when Juba II married the Herodian Princess Glaphyra, but dated coin issues in her name indicate her being still alive until about AD 17 and that in fact Glaphyra was probably Juba’s second wife while she still lived. It is known that by the time Juba II died in AD 23 she was already dead, as it is recorded that he was buried alongside his first wife in the Royal Mausoleum near ancient Iol, later Caesarea Mauretaniae, modern Cherchell in what is today Algeria.

Julia Domna AV Aureus. Rome, AD 193-196. IVLIA DOMNA AVG, draped bust of Julia Domna right, her hair in six waves and bound up at the back / VENERI VICTR, Venus standing right, seen from behind, half nude with drapery hanging low beneath her posterior, holding palm branch in her left hand, a globe in her right and leaning with her left elbow on a low column to her left. BMC 47; Calicó 2641a; Hill 100; RIC 536 (Severus). 7.29g, 21mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Hirsch 281, 2 May 2012, lot 899. Cassius Dio relates an anecdote that, prior to the wedding of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, Septimius is supposed to have dreamt that Faustina Junior, wife to the last worthy emperor Marcus Aurelius, prepared their nuptial chamber within the Temple of Venus and Roma, near the imperial palace. Such a link back to the golden years before the depravations of Commodus and the ensuing civil war implied to the ever-superstitious plebs Faustina's approval of Septimius and Julia, offering her blessing to them while portending their destiny as the rightful rulers of the empire, sent to guide Rome back to better times. Septimius aspired to restore peace and stability to the Roman Empire, and his wife Julia was to play an instrumental role in this endeavour. By all accounts their marriage was a very happy one, and it is testament to affection in which Julia held her husband that she chose to accompany Septimius on all of his military campaigns at a time when the women of Rome were expected to stay behind in the city and await their husband's return. Fittingly, the high regard in which Septimius held his wife for her resilience, political views and faithfulness is attested to by the great number of titles conferred upon her, including that of Mater Senatus et Patriae (mother of the Senate and Rome) and, on account of her companionship in the field, Mater Castrorum (mother of the camp). The naturally strong bond exhibited by Septimius and Julia could not have been a better stabiliser to the teetering empire after the so-called 'Year of the Five Emperors' in AD 193, and the opportunity was not lost on the new emperor and empress to secure their own positions. An association with Venus was favoured for the Empress' early coinage, so that the first issues struck for Julia feature the goddess, as we see on this stunning aureus. Julia was to be presented as a model of traditional Roman values, and here we see why the association with Venus was a crucial starting point: Venus is here represented as the goddess of victory, holding a globe in her hand to signify Roman dominion over the known world. Of course, her other roles as goddess of love, beauty, fertility and motherhood, all equally important to Julia, are not forgotten in the design of this reverse type and further secure her position as the mother of the state.

Thracian Chersonesos, Paktye Æ11. Circa 375-325 BC. Head of roaring lion left / Wheat grain, scallop shell below, ethnik ΠAK-TY around. Roma Numismatics IV, 256 (this coin); see IACP p. 909, 671 for information on this polis. 0.91g, 11mm, 8h. Extremely Fine. Unique and of significant numismatic importance. Ex Roma Numismatics IV, 30 September 2012, lot 256. It is rare now to encounter a real novum in Greek numismatics. This coin bears the ethnik of Paktye, attested as a polis in ancient sources, that was founded by Athenians under Miltiades in the sixth century BC. Situated on the Propontic coast of the isthmus of the Chersonesos near the site of Helle's tomb, at the eastern end of the fortification wall constructed by Miltiades, Paktye appears to have been a settlement of limited size, and was never included in the Athenian tribute lists. Before the discovery of this coin it was believed that the city had never issued its own coinage. This wonderfully preserved specimen proves that not to be the case. A lion of distinctly Chersonesean style occupies the obverse, and this animal representation of the sun is paired with the wheat grain, for whose germination and growth it was responsible; on the reverse we see also the scallop shell, a noted symbol of fertility. The Thracian Chersonesos was renowned for its production of wheat, and as the foundation of their economy this grain has appropriately been taken for a civic emblem much as it was at Metapontion.

Greco-Baktrian Kingdom, Eukratides I 'the Great' AV Stater. Circa 170-145 BC. Diademed and draped bust right, wearing crested helmet adorned with bull's horn and ear; all within pelleted border / BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛΟΥ above, EYKPATIΔOY below, the Dioskouroi on rearing horses right, holding palm fronds and spears; monogram in lower right field. Al. N. Oikonomedes, 'The Gold Coinage of the Indo-Greek King Eukratides I (171-155 B.C.),' North American Journal of Numismatics 7.6 (1968), Group B; F.L. Holt, 'Eukratides of Baktria,' Coins, Cults, History and Inscriptions III: Studies in Honor of Al. N. Oikonomedes, pp. 72-76; Bopearachchi 5 var. (unlisted monogram); cf. Bopearachchi 7A (drachm); cf. SNG ANS 463 (monogram); MIG Type 176 var. (unlisted monogram); HGC 12, 129; Triton XVIII, lot 837 (same obv. die); Triton XIV, lot 428 (same obv. die); Triton VIII, 645 (same dies); Triton I, lot 618 (same dies); Tkalec (29 February 2000), lot 199 (same obv. die). 8.50g, 20mm, 12h. Near Mint State; lustrous. The close die links (only one obverse die and two reverse dies) suggest that this issue was very limited and struck for a special occasion, no doubt at the same time as the fabulous 20 stater medallion weighing 169.2g now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in France, which is the largest gold coin to have been struck in antiquity. The occasion that merited such grand celebration was undoubtedly the victory over Demetrios of India and the conquest of the western parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom: 'Eukratides led many wars with great courage, and, while weakened by them, was put under siege by Demetrios, king of the Indians. He made numerous sorties, and managed to vanquish 60,000 enemies with 300 soldiers, and thus liberated after four months, he put India under his rule' (Justin XLI, 6). Eukratides was one of the last but most important Greco-Baktrian kings, responsible for the overthrow of the Euthydemid dynasty and for waging numerous campaigns against the Indo-Greek kings, temporarily holding territory as far east as the Indus. By the range, quantity and quality of his coinage, which included the above mentioned medallion, we can surmise that his was a reign of considerable significance and prestige. Eukratides was murdered on his way home from India, apparently by his son, who hated his father so much that he 'ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture' (Justin XLI,6). The subsequent civil war between rival members of the dynasty, combined with external pressures from the Indo-Greeks, Sogdians and Parthians led to the ultimate collapse of the Greco-Baktrian Kingdom a mere fifteen years later, when it was conquered by the Parthians under Mithradates.