★ Dorylaion or Dorieion? ★

PHRYGIA. Dorieion (?), 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 10 mm, 1.65 g, 12 h). Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet. Rev. ΔOP[I] Owl standing right, head facing; to right, spear. Imhoof-Blumer, KM, p. 525, 1 ('Dorylaion?'). Winterthur 4088 ('Dorylaion). Von Aulock, Phrygien II, p. 63 ('Hierapolis'). Rare. Very fine.

From the collection of G. Plankenhorn, formed since the 1960s (with collector's ticket).

Reading the ethnic as DOPY, this issue was first assigned to Dorylaion by Imhoof-Blumer in 1902. Bloesch and von Aulock followed this reading, but the latter believed that it was a magistrate's name from Hierapolis rather than an ethnic of Dorylaion. Leaving aside this inexplicable (and implausible) suggestion, a series of recently surfaced coins (f.e. Naumann E-Auction 57 (2019), 275 and Lydia Numismatics E-Auction 10 (2021), 312) clearly reveal the ethnic to read DOPI, not DOPY, rendering an attribution of the issue to Doryleion unlikely despite the suggested pun of the spear (Δόρυ in Greek) symbol on the city's name.

In fact, in the Winterthur catalogue, Bloesch noted that 'da die Aufschrift auch Δορι gelesen werden kann [...], wäre es möglich, als Prägeort das numismatisch sonst unbekannte Dorieion in Phrygien zu erwägen (nach einer Notiz Imhoofs)' (= 'since the inscription can also be read as Δορι, one might consider the numismatically unattested [city of] Dorieion in Phrygia as the place of minting (following a note of Imhoof-Blumer)'). This is a much more convincing solution, as it does not require the awkward alignment of the I on the coins to the Y in Dorylaion's name.