MACEDON. Mende. Ca. 460-423 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.08 gm, 8h). NGC Choice XF S 4/5 - 5/5, Fine Style. Dionysus, bearded and nude save for mantle draped around loins, reclining left on the back of an ass walking right, holding high-handled cantharus in right hand, bird (a crow?) standing right on ivy tendril before ass / MEN-ΔA-I-ON, legend surrounding linear frame enclosing vine of five grape clusters, all within shallow incuse square. S. P. Noe, "The Mende (Kaliandra) Hoard", NNM 27, 1926, 57 = SNG Lockett III 1346 (this coin). Ex. Hess-Leu 45 (May 1970), lot 118; Richard Cyril Lockett (1873-1950) Collection (Glendining, 25 October 1955), lot 1267; 1913 Mende (Kaliandra) Hoard (IGCH 358). The evocative coinage of Mende illustrates some long-forgotten myth regarding Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry. Mende was famous as a center of wine production, as evidenced by numerous amphorae bearing the city's stamp found throughout the Hellenic world. Dionysus was the patron god of the city. Although Dionysus is usually depicted in procession riding in a chariot pulled by panthers, on coins of Mende he is shown with a more humble form of transportation, reclining languidly on the back on an ass, clutching a high-handled wine cup and appearing pleasantly inebriated. Some rare varieties, including this example, also show a bird, likely a crow, in company of the god and ass; the meaning of this is unclear, and it might simply reflect the keen Greek observation of nature.

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