Scotland. James IV (1488-1513) AV Unicorn. IΛCOBVS DЄI GRΛCIΛ RЄX SCOTR, unicorn standing left, crown of three lis at neck, holding arms of Scotland; 6-point star stops, im: lis / ЄXVRGΛT DЄ ЄT DISIPЄnT nImICI, large twelve point star over cross fleury; six-point star stops, im: lis. S 5315; Friedberg 18. 3.85g, 25mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. Of outstanding quality, easily the finest example on CoinArchives. From the Dr. Murray Gell-Mann Collection. Widely regarded as the most successful of the Renaissance Stewart monarch’s of Scotland, James IV ruled for 25 years, having taken the throne at the age of fifteen, supposedly at the head of an army of rebellious Scottish nobles at the Battle of Sauchieburn. Although his father was an unpopular and ineffective ruler, it is said that James IV wore a belt of iron around his waist for the rest of his life in penance for his role in his father’s death. Well educated and a polyglot, according to Spanish envoy Pedro de Ayala in 1498 James spoke Latin, German, Flemish, Italian and Spanish, and he is also known to have been the last king of the Scots to speak Scottish Gaelic. A patron of the arts, it was during James’ reign that the printing press was introduced to Scotland in 1507, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, St Leonard’s College, St Andrews University and King’s College, Aberdeen were founded. The present coin featuring the unicorn was a type instituted towards the end of the reign of James III. Remaining the official animal of Scotland to this day, the unicorn has been a Scottish heraldic symbol since the twelfth century when it was used on an early form of the Scottish coat of arms by William I. Unicorns were worshipped by the ancient Babylonians, and written descriptions of them appear in texts from the ancient Persians, the Romans, the Greeks and ancient Jewish scholars, all describing a horse-like creature whose single horn had magical properties and could heal disease. In Celtic mythology, the Unicorn of Scotland symbolised innocence and purity, healing powers, joy and even life itself, and was also seen as a symbol of masculinity and power. James IV’s most notable achievement as king of Scotland would not pay dividends for generations: ‘The Marriage of the Thistle and the Rose’ took place at Holyrood on 8 August 1503, when James took the hand of Henry VII of England’s daughter Margaret. This paved the way for his grandson, James VI of Scotland, to become James I of England based upon the Tudor blood in his veins. However despite this alliance with England, when Henry VIII joined the Holy Alliance against France and England invaded France in 1513, James felt that he had to assist Scotland’s old ally under the ‘Auld Alliance’ and led his army - one of the largest ever to cross the border - south. The English forces led by Lord Surrey inflicted a crushing defeat, and James along with many of his nobles and a great part of his army were killed in the disastrous Battle of Flodden, three miles south-east of Coldstream, Northumberland on 9 September 1513. James IV was the last British monarch to be killed in battle.
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Sicily, Syracuse AV Dilitron. Emergency issue of the Second Democracy, winter 406/5 BC. Obverse die signed by 'IM...'. Head of Athena left, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with serpent, palmette and elaborate spiral tendrils, [ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ before, IM below truncation of neck] / Aegis with gorgoneion at centre. Boehringer, Essays Thompson, pl. 38, 12 = Hess Leu Sale (27 March 1956), lot 210 (same obverse die); Manhattan Sale I, 28 (same dies). 1.76g, 10mm, 7h. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare; one of very few known specimens - only one other on CoinArchives. The year 406 marked a desperate time for the Greeks in Sicily. A great Carthaginian invasion of Sicily had commenced in the Spring to punish the Greeks for having raided the Punic territories of Motya and Panormos. 60,000 soldiers under Hannibal Mago in 1,000 transports along with 120 triremes sailed for Sicily, where despite a plague that ravaged the ranks of the Carthaginian army and felled its commander, they successfully besieged and sacked Akragas, the wealthiest of all the cities of Sicily. After razing the city to the ground, the Carthaginians under their new commander Himilco marched east to Gela. Despite a spirited defence of the city by the defenders and the arrival of a relief force of 34,000 men and 50 triremes under Dionysios of Syracuse, the city fell after a poorly coordinated and unsuccessful attack launched by the Greeks. As Dionysios retreated from Gela first to Kamarina and then back to Syracuse, both of these now indefensible cities were sacked and levelled by Himilco's forces. It was against this backdrop of a desperate fight for survival that many emergency coinages were issued in Sicily. Gold was scarce in the Greek world and tended to be used only for emergency coinages, as in that famous instance when Athens in the last decade of the fifth century resorted to melting the gold from the statues of Nike on the Akropolis when cut off from their silver mines at Laurion. Gela, Akragas, Kamarina and Syracuse all issued emergency gold coinage in 406/5 BC, without doubt to pay the mercenaries they had hired in their doomed resistance to Himilco. The master engraver 'IM...' responsible for this coin is also known to have engraved Syracusan tetradrachms around this period (see Tudeer 67).
Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Time of Dionysios I, circa 405-400 BC. Charioteer, holding reins and kentron, driving galloping quadriga to left, detached chariot wheel beneath the back hooves of the horses; above, Nike flying to right, holding wreath, grain ear below double exergual lines / Head of Arethusa to left, wearing sakkos, double earring, and necklace; ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ and four swimming dolphins around. Tudeer 69 (O25/R47); Gulbenkian 288 (same dies); AMB 471 (same dies); Rizzo, pl. 47, 17 (same dies); Boston MFA 415 (same dies). 17.32g, 25mm, 2h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From the Angelo S. Collection; Ex Dr. Patrick Tan Collection, Gemini VII, 9 January 2011, lot 164; Ex A. Tkalec, 24 October 2003, lot 39. Sicily in the mid-5th Century BC was riven by continual warfare between cities vying for pre-eminence and power over their neighbours, and such warfare required vast amounts of money to finance, money which the cities of Sicily had in abundance thanks to their favourable position on the Mediterranean trade routes. This constant state of war stood in contrast to a climate of state-patronized cultural experimentation and development. Great artists, sculptors and die cutters were hired to imbue their employers' cities with elegance and grandeur; the need for ready coin to pay mercenaries naturally leant itself to the die cutter's advantage. The tetradrachms provided the ideal medium on which to explore, refine and hone their art, and while the first masters such as the 'Maestro della foglia', and the unknown master who signed his work 'A' (see lot 106) remained anonymous on their coinage, their students proudly signed their works with their signatures, and thus are passed on to us the names of Exakestidas, Kimon, Euainetos and others. Yet while the signed dies are often among the most coveted by collectors, many of the finest dies were left unsigned – as was the case with the present piece, which though lacking a signature is nonetheless an excellent example of the very best numismatic art of the period.
Kingdom of Epeiros, Pyrrhos AR Tetradrachm. Lokroi Epizephyrioi, 297-272 BC. Head of Zeus of Dodona left, wearing oak wreath; A below / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠYPPOY, Dione seated left, holding staff in right hand and lifting her veil with her left. Boston 944 (same dies); Kraay-Hirmer pl. 150, 472; Babelon, ANS Centennial Publication 1958, pl. VII, 3 (same obverse die); SNG Lockett 1650 (same obverse die); AMB 211. 16.36g, 28mm, 8h. Very Fine. Very Rare. Pyrrhos’ limited but highly artistic coinage advertises not his reign or that of his forebears, but rather he uses the coins to promote the cults of the two principal deities of Epeiros, Zeus of Dodona and his consort Dione. As remarked by Jenkins, “it is at once apparent that in one important respect Pyrrhos’ practice is closely akin to that of the Macedonian kings of this time, in that nowhere does his portrait appear. Much as we may regret this, the splendid and exuberant types of Pyrrhos’ Lokrian coins go far to compensate for it. The tetradrachm has for the obverse the head of Dodonean Zeus, whose sanctuary lay in Pyrrhos’ homeland; this head, crowned with oak leaves and with restless flowing hair and beard, makes a strong contrast with the restrained and classical head of the same god minted for Alexander of Epeiros at Tarentum, and even with the more concentrated style of Antigonos Doson’s Poseidon, but the Pyrrhos coin is masterly in its different way. Its exciting and dynamic quality is well matched by the calm majesty of the reverse type, Dione seated on a high-backed throne and swathed in the complex drapery so typical of Hellenistic sculpture.... The impressive style of these coins is quite different from anything we might have expected at an Italian mint at this time, and it may well be that the artist responsible was not a local one, but may have come from mainland Greece or Macedonia.” (G.K. Jenkins, Ancient Greek Coins [New York: Putnam, 1972], pp. 247-8.)
Thessaly, Larissa AR Drachm. Circa 400-380 BC. Facing head of the nymph Larissa, turned slightly to the right, wearing ampyx, drop earrings, and a necklace with a central pendant / ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙ, horse with straight legs feeding to right. BCD II, 214 (this coin); De Nanteuil 845 (this coin); Lorber -; Traité IV, 719 = pl. CCXCIX, 7 (this coin). 5.93g, 19mm, 3h. Near Extremely Fine. Very attractively toned. From the M.M. Collection; Ex Northern European Collection, Nomos 8, 22 October 2013, lot 126; Ex BCD Collection, Triton XV, 3 January 2012, lot 214; Ex L. de Nanteuil Collection, Bank Leu 42, 12 May 1987, lot 209; Ex W. C. Hazlitt Collection, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 5 July 1909, lot 118.
Thessaly, Larissa AR Drachm. Circa 475-425 BC. Thessalos advancing right, with petasos over his shoulders and chlamys tied at his neck, holding a band around the forehead of a bull rushing to right, lotus flower below / Horse prancing left, Λ-Α; below, R-I above, all within incuse square. Herrmann group III B, pl. I, 22 (same obverse die); cf. Triton XIII (5 January 2010) 1127 (same dies). 5.85g, 22mm, 3h. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. Ex BCD Collection, Triton XV, 3 January 2012, lot 152. The obverse of this coin depicts the taurokathapsia, a contest in which the athlete passes a band around the bull's head and pulls it tight in an attempt to bring the animal under control. This would no doubt have been not only a feat of great strength, but also of dexterity and agility to avoid being trampled or gored by the bull. This particular coin is overstruck on an early sandal-type drachm. The reuse of the earlier coinage in this manner explains why they are so rare today.
Islands off Thessaly, Skyros AR Stater. Circa 480 BC. Two goats back to back on either side of fig leaf, heads reverted / Stellate floral pattern within square incuse. J.M. Balcer, SNR 57 (1978), p. 96, 6, pl. 25 (same dies). 8.07g, 27mm. Very Fine. Extremely Rare, Balcer cites only 2 examples: ANS, New York (Skyros hoard. IGCH 31) and Athens, Numismatic Museum. This didrachm and other silver coins of the same type are all very rare and were often overstruck on Attic-weight coins of Akanthos. Since one such coin was found on Skyros (Balcer, no. 46) and six others were in the possession of an inhabitant of the island, it would appear that they were struck on Skyros prior to the arrival of Kimon, c. 475 BC. See J.N. Svoronos, JIAN 3 (1900), pp. 39-46 and Balcer, pp. 69-101. In the early fifth century an expedition was mounted to the island of Skyros under the command of the Athenian general Kimon, ostensibly under the auspices of the Delian League. The conquest of the island is mentioned by Thucydides (1.98), but Plutarch’s version in his Life of Kimon is much more detailed (Life of Kimon, 8). According to Plutarch the island was inhabited by non-Greek Dolopians whose constant plundering of ships, including those which were trading with them, eventually resulted in a request for Athenian intervention, addressed directly to Kimon, whose expedition ‘cleared the sea of pirates’. To complete this heroic effort, Kimon also fulfilled the edict of the Delphic oracle by ‘discovering’ the bones of the Athenian hero Theseus on the island – who, it was said, had been murdered by the jealous and fearful king Lycomedes – and returning them to Athens. Plutarch relates that he identified as the remains of Theseus “a coffin of a great corpse with a bronze spear-head by its side and a sword.” Thucydides, who was to some extent a contemporary of Kimon, and whose account precedes that of Plutarch by over four centuries, is much less elaborate in his description of the invasion, and simply tells us that the Athenians enslaved the local population and established a colony of Athenian citizens there. De Souza (Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World, Cambridge University Press, 1999) points out that Plutarch’s account is the only one to mention piracy (Diorodus and Pausanias also cover the invasion of Skyros), and it is unconvincing, and appears very much like an attempt to justify Athenian aggression. Dawe (Scandal at Skyros: The Delian League, Plutarch and the Maligning of the Dolopians, Studia Antiqua 6.1, 2008) arrives at the same conclusion, and contends that the real purpose of the expedition was to decrease Persian influence by removing a Medizing people from the Aegean, to expand the influence of Athens, and to add to his own political capital by returning the bones of the Athenian hero Theseus. Modern historians have tended to take Plutarch’s account at face value, and not question either his facts or motives, or why his version should differ markedly from those of Thucydides, Diodorus or Pausanias. Given no further evidence of piracy other than Plutarch’s word for it nearly half a millennium after the event, it seems probable that rather than being the product of a pirate gang, this coin represents one of the last remnants of a people exterminated by Athenian imperialism; a people who in the days of myth had supposedly sheltered the young Achilles at the request of his mother Thetis.
Lokris, Lokris Opuntii AR Obol. Circa 375-350 BC. Amphora with two ivy leaves hanging from handles / Stellate pattern. BCD Lokris 460.7 = Warren, Kato (Kraay-Mørkholm Essays), p. 292, 5 and pl. LXVII, 5 (this coin). 0.96g, 12mm. Good Very Fine. Toned. From the M.M. Collection; Ex Daniel Koppersmith Collection, Classical Numismatic Group 94, 18 September 2013, lot 335; Ex Classical Numismatic Group E-Auction 280, 6 June 2012, lot 27; Ex BCD Collection, Numismatica Ars Classica, 8 October 2010, lot 460 (part of); Ex Kato Klitoria Hoard, 1980.
Lucania, Metapontion AR Stater. Circa 400-340 BC. Head of Demeter right, wearing pendant earring and necklace / Ear of barley with leaf to right, upon which ΞΩ; META to left. Antikenmuseum Basel 145 (this coin); Noe-Johnston 507; HN Italy 1538. 7.89g, 22mm, 10h. Extremely Fine; die break on rev. Beautiful old cabinet tone. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 64, 17 May 2012, lot 632; Ex Antikenmuseum Basel & Sammlung Ludwig, Numismatica Ars Classica 13, 8 October 1998, lot 145; Exhibited at the Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig in Basel in 1988. Metapontion was among the first cities of Magna Graecia to issue coinage, and indeed long preceded its later rival Tarentum in this respect. The choice of the barley ear as the civic emblem is unusual in that the other cities of Magna Graecia all struck coinage displaying types relating to their foundation myths or principal cults. Metapontion's choice may well reflect a significant economic reliance on its major export, a hypothesis supported by the preponderance of Demeter portraits on its later coinage, a convention seemingly broken only in exceptional circumstances, such as the occasional Hygeia issue that was probably elicited by concern over pestilence, flooding or drought. The city's reliance on its agricultural exports made it particularly vulnerable to the increasing barbarian attacks in the fourth century that eventually caused Tarentum to request the assistance of the Epeirote king Alexander in driving the aggressive Lucani and other tribes back into the interior. It was this period of strife that caused the only significant variation in the coinage of Metapontion - the new demands placed on the city by the war against the Lucani and its support for Alexander of Epeiros' campaign are undoubtedly the cause of the sudden rise in output of the mint, as well as the hasty overstriking of Pegasi. It was at this time that militaristic types were introduced, engraved in double relief, depicting the helmeted portraits of the city's founder Leukippos, along with the deities Zeus, Athena 'Tharragoras', Apollo and Herakles - a fitting series of coinage for a Hellenic city threated by barbaric aggressors. Indeed it is not coincidental that the contemporary issues at Tarentum similarly allude to war, depicting Taras armed, the horseman armed, and sometimes accompanied by Nike. It is also probable that the appearance of the same signatures, notably KAL and API, represent a coordination of defence efforts at a federal level, rather than an artist's signature as is often suggested. It has been often suggested that the head of Demeter on this coin draws heavily for inspiration on the Arethusa portraits by Euainetos on the dekadrachms of Syracuse. Indeed, with the only exception being that Euainetos’ Arethusa wears a wreath of reeds, the images are so similar that this influence seems certain – the hair, in particular, is virtually identical in style. Returning Italian Greek mercenaries would have brought these coins home with them, and evidently they had a strong influence on the local die engravers.
Corinthia, Corinth AR Stater. Circa 375-300 BC. Pegasos flying left, Q below / Helmeted head of Athena left; Γ below chin; behind, dove flying left within wreath. Ravel 1029; Pegasi 419; BCD Corinth 110 = SNG Lockett 2094 (this coin); SNG Copenhagen –. 8.30g, 22mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. Attractive old collection tone. From the M.M. Collection; Ex Daniel Koppersmith Collection, Classical Numismatic Group 94, 18 September 2013, lot 374; Ex BCD Collection, Numismatik Lanz Auction 105, 26 November 2001, lot 110; Ex Richard Cyril Lockett Collection, Glendining, 27 May 1959, lot 1818 (part of); Ex Charles Austin Hersh Collection, Naville–Ars Classica XVI, 3 July 1933, lot 1259.
Cyclades, Paros AR Stater. Early 2nd century BC. Teisen, magistrate. Head of female right, hair bound in tainia / Goat standing right; TEIΣHN ΠAPI in two lines above. Tully Di2.A, 1b (O1/R1 - this coin); HGC 6, 661; SNG Berry 881 (same dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 4018 (same dies). 7.53g, 21mm, 12h. Very Fine, small chip at edge on obverse. Rare. From the J.T.B. Collection; Ex Hess-Divo 317, 27 October 2010, lot 206; Ex Künker 158, 28 September 2009, lot 238; Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 165, 28 July 2009, no. 187; Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 48, 22 April 1987, no. 116.
Kingdom of Macedon, Philip II AV Twelfth Stater. Pella, struck 345/2-340/36 BC. Laureate head of Apollo right / ΦIΛIΠΠOY, thunderbolt; facing lion head below. Le Rider 14c (D10/R10 – this coin); SNG ANS 209–15; SNG Copenhagen 542 (same dies). 0.71g, 8mm, 3h. Good Very Fine. Some deposits. From the M.M. Collection; Ex Classical Numismatic Group 94, 18 September 2013, lot 218; Ex Münzen und Medaillen XIX, 6 June 1959, lot 390.
Britannia, Catuvellauni and Trinovantes AV Stater. Cunobelin. Camulodunum (Colchester), circa AD 8-41. Grain ear, CA-MV across / Horse jumping to right, branch above, CVNO below. Rudd, ABC 2795 (this coin); BMC 1828; VA 2025. 5.49g, 17mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, and very well preserved for the type.
Lucania, Sybaris AR Stater. Circa 453-448 BC. Bull standing to left on ground line / Bull standing to right on ground line, MVBA (retrograde) above. The Golden Horn Collection, 2063 (same dies, sold for $11,000); otherwise unpublished; cf. HN Italy 1747. 8.16g, 18mm, 2h. Good Very Fine. Of the highest rarity - the second known specimen. A similar specimen cited in HN Italy (1747) has the obverse type of a bull walking to right. The obverse depiction of the bull standing to left was unpublished and thought to be unique at the time of the publication and sale of the Golden Horn Collection in January 2009. This extremely rare coin can be attributed to the short-lived third foundation of Sybaris (Sybaris III), an attempt to re-establish the city, sponsored by Poseidonia, after Kroton had already twice destroyed it. After the destruction of Sybaris I by Kroton in 510 BC, though many survivors fled to the Sybarite colonies of Laos and Skidros, some appear to have remained on the site which passed into Krotoniate dependency, as indicated by incuse coins bearing the joint ethnics of both Kroton and Sybaris and confirmed by a report that the Krotoniates appointed a governor at Sybaris. Sybaris II appears to have succumbed like its predecessor to an attack by the Krotoniates in 467 BC, in which conflict they appealed to the Syracusan tyrant Hieron for assistance, though none was forthcoming. In 453 BC, a full fifty-eight years after the catastrophe of 510, Sybaris was refounded again with the apparent blessing and sponsorship of Poseidonia. That city is recorded as having acted as a guarantor in a treaty between Sybaris and the Serdaioi, and indeed the coins of Sybaris III are closely modelled on the contemporary issues of Poseidonia (see Rutter, 'Sybaris: Legend and Reality' 1970, p. 173), suggesting that city had a significant interest in the endeavour. The refounded city advanced swiftly in wealth on account of the fertility of its lands, and after only five years again aroused the jealousy or fear of Kroton, who once more brought war against Sybaris, and drove away the inhabitants.
Thrace, Ainos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 374/3-372/1 BC. Head of Hermes facing slightly left, wearing petasos / Goat standing right; AINION above, laurel wreath to right; all within incuse square. May, Ainos 404a (A244/P286) = AMNG II 328.11 (this coin); SNG Copenhagen –; McClean 3932 = Rhousopoulos 536. 15.58g, 21mm, 12h. Very Fine, dark find patina. From the M.M. Collection; Ex Daniel Koppersmith Collection, Classical Numismatic Group Auction 94, 18 September 2013, lot 145; Ex Numismatik Lanz Auction 151, 30 June 2011, lot 12; Ex Consul Eduard Friedrich Weber Collection, J. Hirsch Auction XXI, 16 November 1908, lot 870.
Thrace, Abdera AV Quarter Stater. Epimeletes Polyphantos, circa 336-311 BC. ΑΒΔΗ-ΡΙΤΕΩΝ, griffin crouching left / Laureate head of Apollo left, ΕΠΙ ΠΟΛ-ΥΦΑΝΤΟΥ around. Unique and unpublished; for the same epimeletes, cf. J.M.F. May, The Coinage of Abdera (540-345 BC), edited by C.M. Kraay and G.K. Jenkins, Issue IX, London 1966, Group CXXXVII 547-8; M. Price, 'Thrace, 1980', in Coin Hoards VII, 1985, pp. 42-3, 50, fig. 5, 15 [= Triton sale 2, 1998, 347 (6.40g) = Leschorn II, p. 766]. 2.10g, 12mm, 12h. Very Fine. Unique and of significant numismatic interest. Ex Roma Numismatics IX, 22 March 2015, lot 244 (failed to reach owner's reserve, since lowered). The above mentioned Thrace 1980 hoard found wrapped in a sheet of lead near Abdera is of very considerable numismatic significance. The presence in this uncirculated hoard of posthumous Philip II types issued under Philip III together with the second known Abderan gold stater indicates that May's period IX, dated to c. 375-360, should be considerably lowered. Another hoard from Kasamovo in Bulgaria, found in 1894 (IGCH 741), but not noted by May, Kraay and Jenkins, in which the epimeletai (overseers or supervisors, commonly called magistrates by modern numismatists) from periods V, VIII and IX are present together with coins of the Thracian Chersonesos on a similar weight standard, also argue for the down dating of these three periods. The metrology of the later Abderan coinage is complex in the extreme, to the point that the only gold piece known at the time (signed by the epimeletes ΙΚΕΣΙΟΥ, weighing 6.42 and now in Oxford) is defined as a stater on p. 39, but as a half-stater on pp. 265, 267, 269 and on p. 274, catalogue no. 462. The discovery of the Abdera 1980 hoard gold stater signed by Polyphantos confirms a local Thracian weight standard of about 6.4 grams, exactly the double of two extant 'half-staters' of nearby Maroneia with an average weight of 3.2 grams (cf, Schönert-Geiss, Maroneia, 597, 1-2). The above newly discovered gold 1/4 Stater is logically based on the 'Attic' gold standard, which was presumably intended to circulate with the gold 1/4 staters in the name of Philip of the same weight, dated to c. 336-328 BC (cf, Le Rider 47-82 and SNG ANS 281-227).
Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion Æ26. Circa 340-325 BC. Wreathed head of Pan left / Bow and arrow, ΠANTI below. MacDonald 59; Anokhin 1022; HGC 7, 106. 13.81g, 26mm, 8h. Extremely well struck and centred on a flan of sound metal. Wonderful preservation of detail. Pleasing dark brown matt patina. Fleur de Coin.
Crete, Phaistos AR Stater. Mid-Late 4th century BC. Herakles standing in fighting attitude to right, wearing Nemean lion skin, seizing with his left hand one of the heads of the Lernean Hydra, and with his right hand preparing to strike with club; by right foot, crab on exergual line / ΦΑΙΣΤΙΩ, Bull butting to right on wavy exergual line. Cf. Svoronos 66, pl. 24, 22. 11.47g, 28mm, 7h. Good Very Fine - Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. The obverse of this coin depicts the second of Herakles' Twelve Labours set by Eurystheos, the agent of Hera. He was tasked with slaying the ancient serpent-like monster that resided in the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which guarded an underwater entrance to the underworld. Upon cutting off each of the Hydra's heads however, Herakles found that two more would grow back in its place, an expression of the hopelessness of such a struggle for any but the hero. Realizing that he could not defeat the Hydra in this way, Herakles called on his nephew Iolaos for help. Iolaos then came upon the idea (possibly inspired by Athena) of using a firebrand to cauterize the stumps after each decapitation. When Hera saw that Herakles was gaining the upper hand she sent a large crab to distract the hero, but Herakles crushed it underfoot. He cut off the last and strongest of the Hydra's heads with a golden sword given to him by Athena, and so completed his task. Hera, upset that Herakles had slain the beast she raised to kill him, placed it in the vault of the heavens as the constellation Hydra, and she turned the crab into the constellation Cancer. The encounter with the Lernean Hydra is not only well attested in epic, but is also the subject of some of the earliest securely identifiable Herakles scenes in Greek art. On two Boiotian fibulae of c. 750-700 BC (BM 3025, Philadelphia 75-35-1), the hydra is attacked by Herakles, at whose feet is the crab sent by Hera. This particular form of the scene would later be replicated on the coins of Phaistos (cf. Svoronos 60, pl. XXIV, 20), even including the crab.
Ionia, uncertain mint EL 1/12 Stater. Circa 5th Century BC. Siren standing right, holding tympanon (tambourine) / Bukranion with fillets hanging from each horn. Rosen 369. 1.00g, 7mm, 10h. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare, only the sixth recorded specimen. From the Doliones Collection. This type, which is known from just six examples including the current piece, was encountered for the first time in only 1957 when a specimen appeared for sale at the Hess-Leu auction in Lucerne on April 16 of that year. That piece, lot 271, now resides in Oxford. Two further examples were sold by Münzen & Medaillen, one on 6 October 1987 (lot 131), which was the Rosen specimen, and another on 22 March 2002 (lot 72). Jeffrey Spier wrote (Numismatic Chronicle 1988, p.221) that the first of these examples was 'gold rather than electrum', though it is clearly not. The fourth specimen was sold at The New York Sale 25 on 5 January 2011 (lot 97), whilst the fifth was sold in Roma Numismatics Auction III, 31 March 2012 (lot 197). The mythical Sirens are best known to us from two ancient epics: the 'Argonautica' by Apollonios, in which Jason and the Argonauts have to travel past them on their quest for the Golden Fleece, and Homer's 'Odyssey', where they are portrayed as a pair of dangerous creatures that lure passing sailors to their deaths with their sweet music (Odyssey XII, 40). They are supposed to have inhabited an island with a particularly rocky shoreline onto which sailors would be drawn by their desire to hear the Sirens sing, leading to shipwreck. Speaking to Odysseus and warning him of the dangers he would encounter further into his journey, Queen Circe describes the Sirens as sitting in a meadow, with around them "a great heap of bones of mouldering men" (XII, 45). Although later depicted as women with wings, feathery tails and scaly bird-like feet, and eventually as mermaids, whose bodies were as seductive as their voices, depictions of the Sirens in early Greek art were as they appear on this coin, combining the body of a bird with the head of a woman, as can be seen on the 'Siren Vase', now in the British Museum, decorated in c. 480-470 BC and roughly contemporaneous with this coin.
Lucania, Velia AR Hemidrachm. Circa 305-290 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian helmet bound with olive-wreath / Lion crouching left, holding sword in jaws and right paw; below, I; [ΥΕ]ΛHΤ IΩ[Ν] in exergue. Haeberlin, ZfN 1908, p. 231 (Volsinii); Giesecke, Italia Numismatica p. 21-22 (Volsinii); HN Italy 2677 (uncertain issue). 2.76g, 15mm, 8h. Toned, Good Very Fine. Unique. From the Dr. Murray Gell-Mann Collection; Ex Walther Giesecke Collection. When this long lost unique coin from the Walther Giesecke collection was first published by Ernst Haeberlin in 1908, it was attributed on the suggestion of Heinrich Dressel (then Director of the Königliche Museen zu Berlin) as part of the gold Volsinii series (Vecchi, Etruscan Coins, pp. 367-8), based on a misreading of the legend below the exergual line and misinterpretation of the I below the lion as an Etruscan value mark. This erroneous conclusion was followed by Giesecke in his masterful publication, Italia Numismatica, Leipzig 1928, and this incorrect identification was perpetuated by Italo Vecchi in a preliminary study on Etruscan coins, SNR 26, 1988 p. 61, with the caveat ‘as the coin is not available the recorded weight could not checked.’ In 2001 Historia Nummorum Italy (no. 2677), without the benefit of actually seeing the coin, correctly rejected the Volsinian identification, placing it under ‘Uncertain Issues’ (pp. 198-9) and tentatively suggested that the issue may belong to Velia based on the similarity of the reverse type to the Philistion group of didrachms (Williams 406-8; HN Italy 1303-4). The welcomed reappearance of the coin in this interesting American collection after nearly 100 years confirms the suspected attribution of HN Italy, with a slightly blundered, but clear legend: … ΛNΤ IΩ ... (sic).
Lesbos, Mytilene EL Hekte. Circa 454-428/7 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. 2.51g, 11mm, 8h. 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.
Lesbos, Mytilene EL Hekte. Circa 454-427 BC. Head of Athena wearing crested Corinthian helmet to right / Two confronted female heads, their faces overlapping; all within incuse square. Bodenstedt 55; HGC 6, 981; Boston MFA 1693; de Luynes 2555. 2.53g, 11mm, 1h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare (Bodenstedt lists only 8 examples), and among the finest known. This coin seems like a perfectly ordinary hekte when the obverse is first viewed; it is only when the coin is flipped to reveal its highly unusual reverse does the importance and novelty of the type become apparent. Employing a simple but effective form of optical illusion, the reverse appears to show the same female portrait both to the left and to the right. The design is deliberately intended to confound the eye and engage the viewer's attention in attempting to resolve both portraits independently of the other, which is of course impossible, thus presenting the viewer with a visual paradox. The image works by confusing the brain's figure-ground perceptual grouping process by giving it contradictory cues, thus preventing it from assigning definitive edges to the observed shapes. As a result, the human visual system will settle on one of the portraits, facing either left or right, and alternate between them. The importance of this type, both in terms of numismatic art and in the wider context of Greek art in general, cannot be understated. It is a thoroughly novel, and never to be repeated experiment in paradoxical illusion on the coinage of a Greek city-state. The Greeks were certainly familiar with the concept of a visual paradox - Plato describes the ourobouros 'tail-devouring snake' as the first living thing; a self-eating, circular being: the universe as an immortal, mythologically constructed entity. They were also aware of the power of illusions - Greek architects would apply a technique known as entasis in the construction of their temple columns. Columns formed with straight sides would appear to the observer to have an attenuated appearance, and their outlines would seem concave rather than straight. Therefore a slight convex curve would be built into the shaft of the column, resulting in a swelling in the middle parts, in order to correct this disagreeable trick of the eye. Why then, when they were clearly aware of the power of illusion and paradox, did Greek artists not employ such techniques? The answer most likely lies in the cultural shift away from the static representational art of the archaic period driven by new realistic and idealistic paradigms; artists now sought to demonstrate their skill through attempting to attain aesthetic perfection based on both observational study, and occasionally improvement of nature through idealisation of the subject's features. Thus non-practical forms of optical illusion were most likely dismissed as curious, but unlikely to earn an artist everlasting fame. It was therefore left to relatively modern artists such as Oscar Reutersvärd, who created the Penrose Stairs (also dubbed the impossible staircase), and psychologists such as Edgar Rubin, who developed the familiar Rubin's vase (sometimes known as the Rubin face or the figure–ground vase), to explore the visual and psychological implications of these images which trick the brain. The significance of this coin therefore is that it pre-dates the work of both of the aforementioned celebrated 'illusionists' by well over two millennia, and demonstrates an appreciation and understanding of optical illusions as an art form, not just a necessary practical expedience.
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. 2.59g, 10mm, 9h. Near Extremely Fine. 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'.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Chimaera to left, tunny fish below / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 55; BMFA -; SNG France -. 16.09g, 22mm. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare. The feared Chimaera was a monster of which a brief description in Homer’s Iliad is the earliest surviving literary reference. He depicts it as “a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire”. It was the offspring of Typhon (last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, and most fearsome of all the monsters of Greek mythology) and Echidna (a half-woman, half-snake, who with her mate Typhon was the origin of many monsters) and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. According to Greek myth, the Chimaera lived in Lycia, ravaging the land. It was eventually slain by Corinth’s most famous son Bellerophon, with the help of Pegasos, at the command of King Iobates of Lycia. Since the Chimaera was impervious to Bellerophon’s attacks even when mounted on Pegasos, an inventive weapon was required – thus, mounting a block of lead on the end of his spear, Bellerophon lodged the lead in the Chimaera’s mouth so that when it breathed fire the lead melted and blocked its airway, suffocating it. The Chimaera first appears at an early stage in the repertory of the proto-Corinthian pottery-painters, providing some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes that may be recognized in Greek art. The Corinthian type has been fixed, after some early hesitation, in the 670s BC. In Etruria too, the Chimaera appears in the Orientalizing period of the seventh cenury BC that precedes Etruscan Archaic art, where it found considerable popularity both as a myth and as a motif. The Chimaera appears in Etruscan wall-paintings of the fourth century BC, was one of the principal types employed on the coinage of Populonia, and is the subject of one of the most important surviving Etruscan bronze statues (see Chimera of Arezzo). It is well known that Kyzikos frequently took inspiration for its coin types from the art of other Greek city-states’ coins and wares, however the present type does not quite conform to the Chimaera seen on either the coinage of Populonia or Sikyon. The former’s coins were not widely distributed and on those of the latter the goat always (and the serpent tail usually) faces front. On this occasion therefore it is probable that this depiction copies the design of a vase or other vessel which found its way to Kyzikos - see for example Louvre A478 for a c.560-550 Attic black figure cup with a similarly formatted chimaera.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Hekte. Circa 550-500 BC. Head of Perseus left, wearing winged cap; tunny fish behind / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 65; SNG France -; SNG von Aulock 1186; Boston MFA -; Rosen -. 2.69g, 11mm. Very Fine. On the present coin we see Perseus, the child of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, the daughter of the king of Argos, who though he had no mythical connection to Kyzikos, is most likely chosen as the type in recognition of his divine status and widespread worship among the Hellenes. He wears here the Ἄϊδος κυνέην - the so-called Helm of Hades which rendered its user invisible to other supernatural entities, given to him by Athena to help him evade the gorgons Sthenno and Euryale after he had slain and decapitated their sister Medusa.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Hekte. Circa 550-500 BC. Nude Herakles kneeling to right, holding club and bow; below, tunny fish to right / Incuse square with mill-sail pattern. Von Fritze 69; Boston 1482; Ward Coll. 601; H. Troxell, The Norman Davis Collection, ANS 1969, #195 (this coin). 2.66g, 12mm. Very Fine. From the M.M. Collection; Ex Gemini VII, 9 January 2011, lot 464; Ex Norman Davis Collection.
Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos. Circa 315-300 BC. Nude warrior on horse prancing to right, holding reins, shield and two spears in left hand and striking with spear in right; ΣΑ below / Taras astride dolphin to left, holding trident and kantharos, TAPAΣ behind; AP ligate in upper left field, small dolphin in lower right. Vlasto 605 (these dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 278 (these dies); Fischer-Bossert 852; HN Italy 937. 7.91g, 24mm, 9h. Good Extremely Fine. An aesthetically highly pleasing coin, struck on a huge flan. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 84, 20 May 2015, lot 557; Ex private Swiss collection.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-500 BC. Head of Silenos facing; two tunny fish upward to either side / Quadripartite incuse square. CNG 75, 23 May 2007, lot 336; cf. Von Fritze 77 (fractions); SNG France -; Hurter & Liewald I, 77. 15.99g, 23mm. About Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, the sixth and finest known. A superb archaic head of Silenos. Of the other five examples, one was sold by CNG in 2007, and two were noted by Hurter & Liewald as being in the von Aulock Collection (but unpublished) and the Velkov Collection (Vinchon, 24 Nov. 94), lot 61 = CH II, p. 7, 2. Two others were sold by Roma Numismatics: Auction V, 2013, lot 364; Auction X, 2015, lot 483. This spectacular coin features a bold facing portrait of Silenos engraved in excellent archaic style. The teacher and faithful companion of the wine-god Dionysos, Silenos was described as the oldest, wisest and most drunken of the followers of Dionysos, and was said in Orphic hymns to be the young god's tutor. Originally a folkloric man of the forest with the ears of a horse (and sometimes also the tail and legs of a horse), Silenos was often depicted with thick lips and a squat nose, as is the case here, fat, and most often bald – though our Silenos may consider himself fortunate in that he sports a full head of hair. Unusual consideration has been given to symmetry in the composition of this type: though symmetrical designs do occur, as in the case of two eagles perched on an omphalos (v. Fritze 220) or the double bodied sphinx (v. Fritze 138) to name but two, this is one of a tiny minority of designs that incorporates two tunny fish for balance. Interestingly, it has been suggested that the head of Silenos on this coin very possibly served as the model for a silver issue of the slightly later Lykian dynast Teththiveibi (see BMC 88 and SNG Berry 1164). One of the principal myths concerning Silenos has him lost and wandering in Phrygia, rescued by peasants and taken to the Phrygian King Midas, who treated him kindly. In return for Midas' hospitality Silenos regaled him with tales and Midas, enchanted by Silenos’ fictions, entertained him for five days and nights. When the god Dionysos found his wayward friend, he offered Midas a reward for his kindness towards Silenos, a blessing which the avaricious Midas squandered by choosing the power of turning everything he touched into gold. How fitting then, that we should see in this beautiful coin a faint reflection of that classic myth of the drunken but sage Silenos looking out at us across the millennia through this window of golden metal.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 550-450 BC. Winged figure to right, consisting of man's body with dolphin's head, holding tunny fish in left hand, right hand raised behind head. Von Fritze -, cf. 79 (hemihekte); BMC -; von Aulock -; Franke-Hirmer 599 = Hurter-Liewald II, 79. 16.11g, 20mm. Of the highest rarity, only the second specimen known and the only one in private hands. The type of this coin is at first glance completely perplexing - there are no part man, part dolphin hybrid monsters known in Greek mythology. To better understand the type we must therefore consider other possibilities. The prevalence of winged beings in Kyzikene coinage is a reflection of archaic mythological convention that assigned wings to most divine or sacred entities as an immediately visible and understandable symbol of their nature, and in the case of gods, of their power to move at will across great distances. The presence of wings on this figure therefore indicates a divine identity. Several gods are associated with dolphins, notably Poseidon, Aphrodite and even Dionysos. The latter on one occasion was travelling in disguise among a group of Tyrrhenian pirates, who thinking him only a man, decided to sell him into slavery; Dionysos transformed them into dolphins as they dove into the sea to escape his wrath, charging them for evermore with rescuing sailors in distress. While it could be argued therefore that the image on this coin represents a sailor in mid-transformation, this does not satisfactorily explain why it should be accorded a divine aspect, nor why an obscure myth should be chosen to feature on the coinage of Kyzikos. Instead we should turn to the Homeric Hymns of Apollo, which relate that having been born on the island of Delos in the Cyclades, the god grew to manhood in just four days, and from there set out into the world, looking for a place to make his home, until he arrived at last at Mount Parnassos and the site of Pytho. Finding it occupied already by the oracle of Gaia and guarded by a serpent known as Python, the offspring of Gaia, Apollo slew the monster with an arrow and claimed the site for his own. Yet, despite being the son of Zeus, Apollo had nonetheless committed murder and to cleanse the blood-guilt he was required to serve king Admetos of Pherai in Thessaly for nine years. This he did, and when he returned to Pytho he came in the form of a dolphin bringing with him priests from Crete. The site became known as Delphi, from the Greek word for dolphin: 'delphis'. It is most likely that we are expected to see in this coin's winged dolphin-headed man a representation of Apollo Delphinios: Apollo of Delphi; Apollo the dolphin. This identification is further supported by some myths which name the eponymous founder of Kyzikos' father as being none other than the god Apollo; Aristides (Orat. Cyzic., 1, p.114) goes so far as to speak of the god himself as the founder of the city.
Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos. Circa 240-228 BC. Youth on horse leaping right, ΖΩΠΥΡΙΩΝ below; below forelegs, ΣΩ above bukranion / TAPAΣ below, Taras astride dolphin to left, holding hippocamp in extended right hand, trident against left arm; monogram and mask of Silenos right. Vlasto 941 (same obverse die); Evans IX B, 1; HN Italy 1054. 6.49g, 20mm, 3h. Near Mint State. Very Rare. A very unusual obverse type with the rider's head thrown back and facing the viewer of the coin.
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 450-400 BC. Male figure (Odysseus?), wearing a pilos and a chlamys, kneeling to left, in the act of sacrificing a ram; tunny fish below / Quadripartite incuse square. Greenwell 71, pl. III, 22; Von Fritze 156, pl. V, 4. 16.07g, 21mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. By quality far superior to the Prospero specimen, which realised $40,000 on a $20,000 estimate. The identity of the figure on the obverse of this coin has been widely debated. It has been suggested that it could be Phrixos, in the act of sacrificing the ram with the golden fleece. However, on the basis of the pilos, Odysseus, shown sacrificing the animal provided by Circe before his descent into Hades, has also been suggested.
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. 14.66g, 23mm, 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.
Lykia, Oinoanda AR Stater. Early Second Century BC. Laureate head of Zeus right; B and lotus-tipped sceptre behind / Eagle standing right on thunderbolt; before, round shield over sword; OINO-ANΔЄ Ѡ-N in exergue. Ashton, "The coinage of Oinoanda," NC 2005, 4 (A3/P3) (this coin). 7.79g, 20mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Rare. From the Mark Christenson Collection; Ex Gemini IV, 8 January 2008, lot 205.
Pamphylia, Aspendos AR Stater. Circa 380/75-330/25 BC. Two wrestlers beginning to grapple with each other; between them, ΔΡ / ΕΣ]ΤFΕΔΙΙ[ΥΣ], slinger striding right, preparing to launch sling-bolt; to right, triskeles to left above an uncertain symbol, perhaps a greave; all within rectangular frame of pearls. SNG Copenhagen 220 (same dies); SNG von Aulock 4550 (this coin). 10.96g, 23mm, 3h. Good Extremely Fine. Well struck in high relief, lightly toned with some iridescent highlights. An exceptional example of this series. From the M.M. Collection; Ex B. in B. Collection, Nomos 8, 22 October 2013, lot 198; Ex Bank Leu Auction 48, 10 May 1989, lot 248; Ex H. von Aulock Collection. Coins depicting a pair of wrestlers were first issued by Aspendos beginning circa 400 BC, and continued to be struck until they were replaced by Alexander's 'universal' currency in the 320s. These wrestler coins replaced the earlier types, which had generally featured a militaristic obverse depicting a hoplite warrior or cavalryman, with a triskeles or boar upon the reverse. The wrestler coins may seemingly be divided into two broad groups: the first, clearly minted earlier, shows a great deal of variation in the posture of the wrestlers; the second shows the wrestlers always in the same stances. This second group was in all probability inaugurated by an issue (von Aulock 4568) bearing the inscription MENETΥΣ EΛΥΨA, which Hill (NC 1920, pp. 115-116 ) interprets as the names of the two wrestlers: Menetos and Elypsa. The obvious conclusion is that the wrestlers depicted represent a commemorative statue group erected at Aspendos, with the first group of coins struck after the event commemorated, but before it was set in stone, and the second group with its unchanging stances being struck after the completion of the statue group. The reason for such a work is uncertain however. It is possible that one of Apendos' citizens was victorious at the Olympic games, since such victories are believed to have inspired coin types on more than one occasion (at Messana and on Philipp II of Macedon's coinage). It is also known however that games were instituted at Aspendos in 402 BC, and that they represented a revival of an earlier festival. In any case, the prominence of this type, which endured on their coins for over a century, suggests it was of particular significance to the city, and the importance of this coinage in the region was such that the city of Selge in Pisidia issued a series of its own staters in the 4th century that clearly imitated Aspendos’ coinage.
Cilicia, Mallos AR Stater. Circa 440-390 BC. Winged male deity (Kronos?) advancing right, holding solar disk with both hands / Swan standing left, MAP above, fish downwards to left; all within pelleted square border within incuse square. Casabonne Group 4; SNG France -; SNG von Aulock -; cf. BMC 12, pl. xvi, 8 (dotted incuse square, but grain kernel in place of fish); cf. Traité II 1399 = SNG Paris 378 (no square incuse or border, and ankh behind swan); SNG Levante -; Gemini IV, 209; otherwise apparently unpublished. 11.18g, 22mm, 1h. Near Mint State. Extremely Rare, perhaps the second known example. Beautiful early style, and in exceptional condition for this early series; very possibly the finest known example. Mallos (archaically known as Marlotas) issued a rich coinage between the early fifth century and 333 BC, when it came under Macedonian hegemony, featuring Greek deities including Herakles, Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes, Dionysos and Demeter, as well as securely identifiable oriental deities such as Baal and Ahuramazda. The solar deity present on the obverse of this coin is sometimes identified as Kronos (a Semitic god more properly known as 'El', and distinct from the Greek Titan and father of the Olympian gods, but with whom he was syncretised by Greeks). This seems eminently logical, since the spiral - which Robert Graves called a 'spiral of immortality' (The White Goddess, 1948), a symbol of power most likely appropriated from the Red Crown of Lower Egypt - and solar disc attributes do not belong to any Olympian deity, but to one of near-Eastern origin. It has moreover been suggested that Mallos was originally of Phoenician foundation (see IACP, 1009) on the basis of its original ethnik, a suggestion supported by the presence of other Semitic deities portrayed on the city's coinage, as well as the use of Aramaic legends. Curiously, the attribute of the solar disc is one with few parallels in the archaeological record. In a similar pose, a male solar deity is carrying a sun disc on a 6th century orientalising archaic Greek scarab from Cyprus, and an alabastron from the Isis tomb at Vulci, Etruria (suggested locations for its manufacture are Cyprus and Phoenicia) depicts a female carrying a winged sun disc. Possibly related also are Phoenician terracotta figurines from Punic sites holding a disc in front of them. In all cases a Semitic origin is apparent, further strengthening the likelihood that the deity of this coin should be the Semitic solar god Kronos.
Kingdom of Pontos. Mithradates VI Eupator AV Stater. Struck in Parion, Bithyno-Pontic year CΚΣ, month A (= October 72 BC). Diademed head right / Stag grazing left; BAΣIΛEΩΣ above, MIΘPAΔATOY / EYΠATOPOΣ in two lines below; to left, star-in-crescent; CKΣ (year) above ΠAP (= Parion) monogram to right, A (month) in exergue; all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit. Unpublished in the standard references cf. for date: de Callataÿ 1997, p. 49. 8.35g, 19mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Unique and unpublished, a coin of great numismatic importance. The same year and monogram were previously known from just one tetradrachm (as recorded in Recueil Général). The dating of this coin makes this the latest stater of Mithradates VI of which we are currently aware after the unique example dated two years earlier in October 74 BC (see Roma Numismatics Auction VII, lot 758). This unique piece was struck at Parion during the winter of 72/1 BC after the first engagements of the Third Mithradatic War (73-63 BC). Battered by the Roman armies under the consuls Lucullus and Cotta, who were sent by the Senate to quell the Pontic uprising, Mithradates used the break in hostilities to hastily rebuild his army. This issue then, would have been struck to pay mercenary troops to bolster his forces. This war, sparked when Nikomedes IV of Bithynia died without heirs in 75 and left his kingdom to Rome, would result in great devastation being wrought on Pontos, betrayal on the part of Mithradates son, Machares, who allied himself with Rome, and rebellion by another son, Pharnakes (see lot 765) who assumed control of the army and forced his father to commit suicide.
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy I, as satrap, AR Tetradrachm. Memphis, circa 323 BC. In the name and types of Alexander III. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned left, drapery about legs and waist, holding sceptre and eagle; AΛEΞANΔPOY to left, rose before, moneyer's signature ΔI-O beneath. Price 3971. 17.24g, 25mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Beautiful style. Ex Leu 28, 5 May 1981, lot 213; From the Demanhur Hoard of 1905. Alexander tetradrachms marked with the rose symbol and the letters ΔIO have long been admired as one of the most beautiful issues of his coinage. They were struck in Egypt, probably not long after Alexander’s death on 10 June 323 BC. Without Alexander’s leadership, and with no clear or legitimate heir to the vast empire he had created, Alexander’s generals fought amongst themselves and fractured the empire, dividing it into satrapies which they nominally managed on behalf of Alexander’s successor, his feeble-minded half-brother Philip Arrhidaeos. Ptolemy took Egypt, recognising its great potential. He initially retained Cleomenes, the caretaker Alexander had left in place in Egypt, as his deputy, though subsequently removed him on account of his many excesses and mismanagements, and appropriated the 8,000 talents Cleomenes had accumulated in his treasury. A part of this treasure was turned into new coin, like the present piece, and used to fund Ptolemy’s military ambitions.
Bruttium, Kroton AR Stater. Circa 530-500 BC. Tripod, legs terminating in lion's feet, serpents rising from bowl; QPO to left / Incuse tripod, legs terminating in lion's feet, with ornaments on and serpents rising from the bowl in relief. HN Italy 2075; SNG ANS 227-234; Gorini 3. 7.58g, 31mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Beautifully toned. From the Dr. Murray Gell-Mann Collection; This coin must certainly have a pre-2000 provenance, however this cataloguer has been unable to find it.
Seleukid Kings of Syria, Antiochos X Eusebes Philopator AR Tetradrachm. Antioch on the Orontes, First Reign, struck 94 BC. Diademed head right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOV EVΣEBOVΣ ΦIΛOΠATPOΣ, Zeus Nikephoros seated left, holding sceptre; monogram [above A] to outer left, monogram below throne; all within wreath. SC 2429.1c; HGC 9, 1287 corr. (without sideburn). 15.88g, 38mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. Lightly toned and lustrous.
Latium, Praeneste (?) Æ As. Circa 275-225 BC. Lion’s head facing, spear between jaws / Horse’s head left. HN Italy 249; ICC 254; Haeberlin p. 152, 16 = Sir Hermann Weber Collection, Forrer 1922, 224 (this coin). 247.34g, 68mm, 12h. Very Fine. Very Rare. Ex E. H. Bunbury Collection, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 10-14 June 1895, lot 210. Tentative identification of this remarkable issue to Praeneste (modern Palestrina) by most numismatists is based on find evidence provided by Garrucci (p. 22, 1) and Haeberlin (p. 151, 11). Praeneste was a very early Latin settlement 40 km south-east of Rome on Monte Ginestro, a strategic site facing the Alban hills, to which tradition gives various founders in the mythical period (Virgil. Aeneid 7,678). It became an ally of Rome after the battle of Lake Regillus in 499 BC, but opposed Rome in the Latin War and was eventually subdued by Cincinnatus in 388. Famous for its opulent Etruscan type tombs of the 7th century BC, the immense temple of Fortuna Primagenia and oracular sortes Praenstinae.
Q. Marcius Libo AR Denarius. Rome, 148 BC. Helmeted head of Roma right, X below chin, LIBO behind / The Dioscuri on horseback to right, Q•MARC below horses, ROMA in linear frame below. Crawford 215/1; RSC Marcia 1. 3.88g, 21mm, 5h. Fleur De Coin. Struck on a broad flan and with a beautiful golden tone. Ex Roma NumismaticsAuction III, 31 March 2012, lot 371.
Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio AR Denarius. Utica, 47/46 BC. P. Licinius Crassus Junianus, legatus pro praetore. Q•METEL•PIVS on right, SCIPIO•IMP on left, lion-headed figure of Genius of Africa (Sekhmet or leontocephalic Tanit?) standing facing, holding symbol of Tanit; above, G•T•A / Victory standing left, holding winged caduceus and small round shield; P•CRASSVS•IVN on right, LEG•PRO•P•R on left. Crawford 460/4; RSC Caecilia 51. 3.88g, 20mm, 8h. Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare - the rarest of Scipio's denarii, and exceptionally complete and well preserved for the issue. Arguably the best example on CoinArchives. From the Eucharius Collection. This coin is traditionally described as depicting the Genius Terrae Africae, or Sekhmet holding an ankh, however this remarkable statue is not Egyptian - the coin is struck in Africa and therefore an ankh symbol makes no sense in a Punic Carthaginian context. Actually, the symbol is quite obviously that of Tanit who was commonly represented by a simple linear female abstract. The identity of the figure must therefore also be called into question in light of statues recovered from Carthage and Tunis which some academics take to represent the Carthaginian deity herself in leontocephalic form. Either way, the coinage of Scipio shows a dramatic break with Republican tradition. No local or city goddess had previously been portrayed on the obverse of Roman coinage other than Roma herself, and certainly never a foreign one! In this case it was made all the more objectionable by either being or holding the symbol of Tanit - a god whose people had slain hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers and nearly vanquished Rome entirely. Nor indeed was there any precedent for the depiction of a Genius other than the Genius Populi Romani. In no way does Scipio use his coinage to champion the cause of the Republic; though it might have been designed to curry favour with the populace of their last remaining territory, the effect is that it nonetheless appears utterly in the style of an Eastern ruler. Caesar must not have been able to believe his luck, as nothing could better demonstrate to the rank and file the justness of their cause than the thoroughly un-Roman depths to which Scipio had lowered himself. Needless to say then, Scipio’s coinage stands in stark contrast to the traditional republican types of his colleague Cato, whose types replicated those of his ancestor, another M. Porcius Cato, moneyer of 89 BC. Perhaps we should not be surprised. Classical scholar John H. Collins summed up the character and reputation of Metellus Scipio thusly: “From all that can be learned of this Scipio, he was as personally despicable and as politically reactionary as they come: a defender of C. Verres (In Ver. II. 4. 79–81), a debauchee of singular repulsiveness (Valerius Maximus, 9.1.8), an incompetent and bull-headed commander (Plutarch, Cato Min. 58), an undisciplined tyrant in the possession of authority (Bell. Afr. 44–46), an extortioner of the provinces (BC 3.31–33), a proscription-thirsty bankrupt (Att. 9.11), a worthy great grandson des hochmütigen, plebejerfeindlichen Junkers (Münzer, RE 4.1502) who had led the lynching of Tiberius Gracchus, and a most unworthy father of the gentle Cornelia. Only in the ‘Imperator se bene habet’ with which he met death is there any trace of the nobler character of his great forebears (Seneca Rhet., Suas. 7.8).
Q. Metellus Pius Scipio AR Denarius. African mint, 47-46 BC. Laureate head of Jupiter right, in archaic style with beard and hair in ringlets; Q•METEL PIVS around / Elephant standing to right, SCIPIO above, IMP below. Crawford 459/1; RSC Caecilia 47. 4.12g, 17mm, 4h. Good Extremely Fine. After L. Caecilius Metellus' victory over Hasdrubal at Panormus and the capture of one of the Carthaginians' elephants, that beast became as a heraldic symbol to the gens Caecilia. It is ironic then that displayed on this coin it should be so reminiscent of Caesar's own earlier issue bearing an elephant on the reverse.
Quintus Labienus AR Denarius. Uncertain mint in Syria or south-eastern Asia Minor, early 40 BC. Bare head right; Q•LABIENVS•PARTHICVS•IMP around / Horse standing to right on ground line, wearing saddle with quiver attached and bridle. Crawford 524/2; Hersh 15; RSC 2. 3.33g, 18mm, 5h. Areas of old corrosion at edges, otherwise Extremely Fine. A bold and attractive portrait of Q. Labienus. Very Rare. It should perhaps not come as a surprise that Quintus Labienus, the son of Titus Labienus who was an important general to Caesar during the Gaul Campaign and then broke ties with him to form an alliance with Pompey, also became a traitor during his lifetime. After the assassination of Caesar, the younger Labienus joined Cassius and Brutus who sent him as an ambassador to Parthia to request support from King Orodes II. This mission proved to be unsuccessful and thus contributed to Cassius and Brutus being defeated in the battle of Philippi by Octavian and Antony in 42 BC. It is at this point that some may call Labienus a coward, and some an opportunist. He knew if he returned home he would face punishment, and the chances of advancement for himself would all but disappear. However, if he stayed with the Parthians he could perhaps have the opportunity to fulfil his military ambitions. Labienus therefore decided to stay and convince Orodes to invade Syria on the pretence that several areas under Antony and Octavian were not well protected. In 40 BC he jointly commanded forces with Orodes’ son Pacorus II that invaded areas of Syria and Asia Minor. Labienus and Pacorus were able to achieve much success and overtook Apameia, Antioch, and Cilicia. His success was short lived though, as in 39 BC he was defeated, captured and executed in an attack orchestrated by Antony and Octavian and carried out by Publius Ventidius. It is around the time of his military victories that he began striking coinage to pay the many soldiers he was acquiring through his conquests. This coin in particular strikes a balance between Roman and Parthian characteristics. The obverse depicts a very serious, yet commanding portrait in Roman style, but with a legend naming him PARTHICVS. The reverse depicts a horse with a bridled saddle and quiver, making reference to the infamous Parthian soldiers who were known for their accuracy and efficiency as horse archers. After Labienus was killed most of his coinage was melted down, making surviving examples very rare indeed.
Civil War, Vindex AR Denarius. Uncertain mint in Gaul, AD 68. S•P•Q•R• within corona civica, circular jewel in bezel at apex / SALVS GENERIS HVMANIS, Victory standing to right on globe, bearing wreath in outstretched right hand and palm branch over left shoulder. Martin 78; RIC 73a; C. 421; Nicolas 70, pl. III, 70NIG. 3.99g, 19mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. Very Rare – one of as few as a dozen examples. Interestingly, this issue reverses the normal convention of placing Victory on the obverse, who is instead relegated to the reverse of the coin, and replaced by the corona civica.
Sicily, Gela AR Tetradrachm. Circa 420-415 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in left hand and reins in both, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands / Forepart of man-headed bull right; ΓEΛAΣ above. Jenkins, Gela, group VIII, 468.29 (O90/R180) = Weber 1324 (this coin); SNG ANS 90; SNG Lloyd 971; BMC 50; McClean 2258 (all from the same dies). 17.33g, 26mm, 8h. Good Very Fine. From the J.T.B. Collection; Ex Hirsch 275, 22 September 2011, lot 3187; Ex Numismatik Lanz 24, 25 April 1983, lot 65.
Trajan AV Aureus. Rome, AD 116. IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIM AVG GER DAC PARTHICO, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / REGNA ADSIGNATA, Trajan seated to left on platform with two attendants standing behind him; before platform, three kings standing right. RIC 367; Woytek 564f; BMC 613; Calicó 524. 7.26g, 19mm, 6h. About Extremely Fine. Very Rare. This historically significant type proclaims Trajan's assignment of rulers to the freshly conquered kingdoms of Armenia, Parthia and Mesopotamia following his victories in the East. In his campaign of AD 114-116 Trajan expanded the territories of the empire to what was then the greatest extent of Rome's borders; her dominion now stretched from the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean to the waters of the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Trajan had his statue set up on the shore of the latter, and sent the Senate a laurelled letter declaring the war to be at a close but bemoaning that he was too old to go on any further and repeat the conquests of Alexander the Great, to whose conquests this expedition was widely compared. The admiration and respect in which Trajan held the Macedonian king was evidenced by his determination to return to Babylon where he intended to offer sacrifice to Alexander in the house where he had died in 323 BC. The successes referenced on this coin were to be short-lived however, as shortly after his death revolts erupted in Armenia, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and Cyrene, as well as in North West Africa and along the Northern borders of Europe, prompting his successor Hadrian to abandon much of the newly gained territory in favour of a smaller but more defensible empire.
Sicily, Gela AR Tetradrachm. Circa 420-415 BC. Charioteer, holding reins and kentron, driving slow quadriga to left; above, Nike flying left to crown the horses / Forepart of the river-god Gelas to right, ΓEΛAΣ above. Jenkins 473; SNG ANS 93 (same dies); Kraay/Hirmer 162; SNG Fitzwilliam 1000 (same dies); Jenkins 473. 17.45g, 24mm, 9h. Good Extremely Fine; obv. from the usual worn die. From the Angelo S. Collection; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 64, 17 May 2012, lot 682; Ex Nomos FPL 3, 2010, no. 11. The city of Gela was jointly founded by colonists from Crete and Lindos, Rhodes, 45 years after the foundation of Syracuse, around 688 BC. The city took its name from the nearby river, which itself was given the appellation Gela on account of the icy coldness of its waters, the word gela meaning ‘ice’ in the languages of the Opici and Siculi, as it does in Latin. Virgil applies the epithet immanis to Gela, which some believe is in reference to the river, others the city. The latter is more correct, and is an allusion to the horned, man-headed bull depicted on their coinage which is a personification of the river Gela itself. This image of the river-god is derived from that of Acheloüs, the ‘father of all rivers’. Those who apply the epithet to the river make it signify ‘cruel’ or ‘monstrous’, and consider this a reference to the number of perilous whirlpools in its waters, whence Ovid remarks ‘Et te vorticibus non adeunde Gela’ (Fasti, 4, 470) - ‘And you, Gela, whose whirlpools must not be approached’. This coin dates from the high period of die engraving at Gela. Though the prosperity of the city was severely diminished when Gelon removed a large part of its inhabitants to Syracuse, many inhabitants subsequently returned and the city regained a part of its power, until the Carthaginian destruction of Gela's colony Akragas forced the citizens to turn to Dionysios I of Syracuse for help. The latter delayed, and Gela was left to defend itself, wherein the inhabitants made a valiant defence with even the women toiling to repair the battered walls at night. At last Dionysios arrived to lift the siege, but following an initial defeat, he resolved to abandon the city and under cover of night he removed his army and the population of the city to Syracuse. The city thus fell to the Carthaginians and was thoroughly sacked, the spoils including a famous statue of Apollo which was carried away to Tyre.
Septimius Severus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 207. SEVERVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right / RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Roma seated left on shield, holding palladium and sceptre. RIC 288; Calicó 2529; BMC 358; Hill 840. 7.19g, 20mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. Lustrous metal. Rare. Septimius Severus was credited with restoring stability to the Roman Empire after the turbulent reign of Commodus and the civil wars that erupted in the wake of his murder, and by the time this coin was struck he had enlarged the empire in the East and strengthened the southern borders through the expansion of the Limes Tripolitanus, a frontier zone of defensive forts in north Africa. The improved security of the empire enabled Severus to undertake restorative works in Rome itself, the theme of this reverse type. Roma, personification of Rome, is portrayed here as a direct reference to Severus having restored peace and prosperity to the city.
Caracalla AV Aureus. Rome, AD 204. ANTON P AVG PON TR P VII, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA PARTHICA MAXIMA, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm. RIC 79; Calicó 2844 corr. (this coin); Hill 680. 7.42g, 20mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. Septimius Severus’ Parthian campaign was concluded in 198 with the capture of the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. On this occasion Septimius was acclaimed imperator for the eleventh time, and he received the title Parthicus Maximus. His successful campaign was celebrated on coinage over the next few years, and an arch was erected in Rome in commemoration of the event in 203. In the wake of his great triumph, Septimius elevated Caracalla, who had campaigned with him in the east, to co-augustus. That the coinage of Caracalla shared in the celebration of his father’s Parthian victory is attested to by the reverse of this aureus. We find Caracalla bearing the title given to his father, Parthicus Maximus, along with a figure of Victory. As Caracalla neither gained the military victory as Emperor or as a military leader, this aureus demonstrates that victory was also an abstract quality associated with emperorship. The willingness of Septimius Severus to share his victory names with his sons reflects his desire to create a strong and lasting dynasty.
Caracalla AR Antoninianus. Rome, AD 217. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / VICT PARTHICA, Victory seated right on cuirass, inscribing VO XX in two lines on shield which she props on her left knee and holds with her left hand; shield behind and helmet below. RIC IV 314 note; BMCRE 89; RSC 656b. 4.83g, 24mm, 7h. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. This coin was struck in anticipation of a Roman victory over the Parthians that was to coincide with the beginning of Caracalla's twentieth year as Augustus. Caracalla had taken the opportunity of a divided Parthian kingdom, invading their lands in early AD 216. Meeting initial success and pushing the Parthians back deeper into their territory, the emperor decided to consolidate his gains and winter in Edessa. A decisive victory however eluded the emperor, as in the spring of AD 217, while on a trip to Carrhae, Caracalla was assassinated by a member of his bodyguard.
Severus Alexander AV Aureus. Rome, AD 231. IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate bust right, slight drapery over far shoulder / VICTORIA AVG, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm. RIC 211b; Calicó 3138; BMC 699. 6.12g, 20mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. Very Rare, the only example on CoinArchives. Ex Jesus Vico 134, 28 February 2013, lot 399. In the second period of the reign of Severus Alexander, AD 228-231, the general character of his coinage remains unchanged. The same deities and personifications recur regularly, but at the end of the period we find Profectio, Virtus and Victoria types, which mark the preliminary stages of the campaign against Artaxerxes of Persia. In AD 227, Artaxerxes had invaded Parthia and overthrown King Artabanus V, proclaiming himself the restorer of the Achaemenids under the title of King of Kings. Having consolidated his position in Media and Persia, he proceeded to overrun Mesopotamia and threaten the provinces of Syria and Cappadocia. News of the impending danger reached Rome in AD 230, and in the following year Alexander and his mother set out for Antioch. Whilst the campaign appears to have brought little credit to the Roman army and still less to the Emperor as a military commander, the desires of Artaxerxes were temporarily arrested and Alexander celebrated a triumph in September AD 232. The Victory type we find on the reverse of this coin, as in several other cases, may have been anticipatory, rather than commemorative, although it was likely issued in connection with the campaign in the East.
Otacilia Severa AV Aureus. Rome, AD 245-247, in a gold pendant with an openwork border of leaf-pattern with a ribbed suspension loop. M•OTACIL SEVERA AVG, draped bust of Otacilia right, wearing stephane, hair in six tight waves with turned up plait / CONCORDIA AVGG, Concordia seated left, holding patera and double cornucopiae. R. Bland, ‘The gold coinage of Philip I and family’, in RN 171, 2014, pp. 93-149, 30 (OS10/O3); RIC Philip I 125; Calicó 3264. For a similar openwork gold setting with loop see: F.H. Marshall, Catalogue of the Jewellery, Greek, Etruscan and Roman, in the Department of Antiquities, British Museum, London 1969, pl. 68, 2937 (Philip I). 25.17g (including mount and chain), 28mm (coin in mount), 1h (coin). Extremely Fine. Rare.
Sicily, Kamarina AV Diobol. Emergency issue, circa 406/5 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing Attic helmet decorated with winged hippocamp / KA surrounded by olive sprig with two berries. Westermark & Jenkins 206; HGC 2, 518; SNG ANS 1209; Rizzo VII, 17; Weber 1248. 1.06g, 10mm, 5h. About Good Very Fine. Very Rare. This coin, like the contemporary issues at Gela, Stiela, Akragas and Syracuse (see lot 114), was struck to finance a defence against the great Carthaginian expedition which was at that time ravaging the Greek cities of Sicily. Akragas had been sacked and razed in 406, Gela in 405. Having suffered a defeat against the Carthaginian army at Gela, the Syracusan tyrant Dionysios chose not to offer battle again, but rather to evacuate the population. Retreating to Kamarina, it appears that Dionysios immediately ordered the complete evacuation of the city, and so Kamarina in its turn was also left to the advancing Carthaginians. The people fled toward Syracuse, chased by the fear of the Carthaginians, though not by the Carthaginians themselves; the rumour among the Greeks was that Dionysios had betrayed their cause and made a deal with the enemy to cement his power over Syracuse. With this issue, the high period of coinage at Kamarina came to an abrupt end.
Theodosius II AV Solidus. Constantinople, October AD 437. D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust facing slightly right, holding spear and shield with horseman motif / FELICITER NUBTIIS, Theodosius standing facing, crowned and nimbate, his hands resting on the shoulders of his son-in-law Valentinian III to left, and his daughter Licinia Eudoxia to right, both crowned and nimbate, who hold hands before Theodosius; CONOB in exergue. RIC 267; MIRB 8. 4.34g, 22mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. At least the equal of, if not better than, the example sold at A. Tkalec in January 2000 for CHF 31,000. Of the highest rarity. This coin was struck in Constantinople to commemorate the marriage between the daughter of Theodosius II, Licinia Eudoxia, to the Western Emperor Valentinian III on 29 October 437. As first cousins the marriage represented an attempt to maintain the stability of imperial succession by re-unifying both halves of the Theodosian family and consolidate dynastic power over both halves of the empire. The marriage of the eighteen-year old Valentinian to the fifteen-year old Eudoxia is depicted on this reverse with the senior emperor Theodosius II between the newlyweds, indicating the ultimate source of Valentinian’s power. Indeed, Valentinian had been placed on the throne at the age of six by Theodosius himself, following a period of instability over succession. Whilst the long reigns of Valentinian III and Theodosius II were indicative of periods of relative stability in both the East and West, the Western Empire would merely survive two decades after Valentinian’s death in 454. Though the Theodosian Dynasty would end in the East with the death of Marcian in 457, the Eastern Empire itself would survive another millennium.
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