‡ Crete, Knossos allied with Gortyna, Ae 19mm, c. 220 BC, Europa on bull left; two dolphins below; all within circle of rays, rev., ΚΝ-Ω-ΣΙΩΝ, square labyrinth; star above, 3.51g, die axis 10.00 (Svoronos 122, pl. 7, 12; Laffaille 130, this piece; BMC 36; SNG Copenhagen 378), good very fine and unusually well preserved with dark green patina Provenance: Maurice Laffaille collection, Münzen und Medaillen, Basel, 1990, lot 387; and Tradart, Geneva, 8 November 1992, lot 91; European Connoisseur collection (formed before 2002). Note: This coin is a manifestation of the importance of bulls in classical Cretan myth and in particular their erotic interweaving with the island’s so-called ‘original’ ruling family. On the obverse we see Zeus, having transformed himself into a bull in order to deceive and abduct the Phoenician princess Europa, carrying her across the sea to Crete, where she, having been made queen, will father three sons to him, including king Minos of Crete. (Interestingly, Europa was also said to be descended from the princess Io, a lover of Zeus who was transformed into a heifer.) The coin’s reverse depicts the labyrinth at Knossos, built to house the Minotaur, the product of the lust of Minos’ wife Pasiphaë for a different bull, sent by Poseidon. It is likely that this type recorded an alliance between Knossos (the site of the labyrinth) and the neighbouring city of Gortyna (where Zeus’ affair with Europa was supposed to have taken place).

Estimate: GBP 1000-1500