Stater

Features

Issuer Kyzikos (Mysia)
Period City administration (600 BC - 1 AD)
Type Standard circulation coin
Years 550 BC - 500 BC
Value Electrum Stater (1)
Currency Electrum Stater (600-330BC)
Composition Electrum
Weight 15.87 g
Diameter 18.00 mm
Shape Round (irregular)
Technique Hammered, incuse
Demonetized Yes
Number
N#
132056
References Greenwell# 57,
William Greenwell; 1887. The electrum coinage of Cyzicus. Rollin and Feuardent​, London, United Kingdom.
Von Fritze# 123,
Hans von Fritze, Hugo Gaebler; 1907. Nomisma / Band 1 : Untersuchung auf dem Gebiete der Antiken Münzkunde. Mayer & Müller, Berlin, Germany.
And 11 more volumes.
SNG France# 271,
Edoardo Levante; 1993. Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, France / Volume 2. Bibliothèque nationale de France: Cilicie. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France.
And 6 more volumes.
SNG von Aulock 16 My# 1198,
Hans von Aulock, Peter Robert Franke; 1967. Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Deutschland / Hefte 16. Nachträge 2 : Mysien,Troas, Aeolis, Lesbos : Sammlung von Aulock. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
BostonMFA# 1457,
Agnes Baldwin Brett; 1955. Catalogue of Greek Coins. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Jameson# 2560
Robert Jameson; 1913. Collection R. Jameson / Tome 1. Monnaies grecques antiques : monnaies grecques antiques. Feuardent​, Paris, France.
And 3 more volumes.

Obverse

Winged male mythological creature kneeling towards left, head facing right and holding tunny by its tail in his left hand.

Reverse

Quadripartite incuse square.

Mint

Cyzicus, modern-day Kapıdağ Peninsula, Turkey

Comments

In his 1887 book on Cyzicene coinage, Greenwell lists this issue as "naked male figure, with rounded wings and short tail, and the head of a lion" and goes further to say "a type perhaps impossible to explain with entire satisfaction. The oriental character of the monster is evident, and its occurrence on a coin of Cyzicus may be due to Persian influence."

Dr. Imhoof-Blumer, in 1881, described the creature as Fear (Phobos), the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and a similar creature is found on a frieze in Pergamon. Other cultures with similar artistic influences were the Phoenicians and Assyrians. Also, there are a number of bas-relief near the village of Jasili-Kaia, in ancient Cilicia, which are attributed to the Hittites, are two winged monster, one a lion-headed man, the other possibly a dog-headed man.

Alternatively, this is, perhaps, a humanized form of Chrysaor, the winged boar brother of Pegasus and son of Poseidon and Medusa, or an amalgam of several of the winged mythical creatures all displayed on Cyzicene coinage.

Cyzicus was an important city on the northwestern coast of Anatolia, well positioned to take advantage of trade across and through the Sea of Marmara. Its coinage was in more or less continuous production from circa 550 BC-AD 630, a nearly 1,200 year span unmatched by any other ancient mint. The tunny (tuna) fish was the symbol of Cyzicus from mid-6th century BC, when the city began striking electrum staters and fractions that circulated so widely the generic term for a stater became a cyzicenus. The fishing trade was critical to the economy of Cyzicus and it is likely the tunny fish became a form of pre-coinage currency, which carried over to become a mint symbol after the invention of coinage in nearby Lydia.

See also

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Date VG F VF XF AU UNC
ND (550 BC - 500 BC)  Photo $ 51 000

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Past sales

Pictures Sale Date Grade Sold price
Picture 1 of a sold StaterPicture 1 of a sold Stater
Heritage Auctions
2023 August 17 - 19 ANA World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction 3109
Lot 31016
Internet Archive
17 Aug 2023 XF
(NGC XF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style)
USD 60 000.00
(incl. buyer's premium)
Picture 1 of a sold Stater
Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 120
Lot 390
Internet Archive
6 Oct 2020 XF USD 37 541.64
(CHF 34 000.00)
(+ buyer's premium)
See the sales

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