Islands off Caria, Carpathos
Stater circa 500-480, AR 13.90 g. Two dolphins leaping in opposite directions and a third smaller one swimming r. below; floral symbols in the corners. All within a dotted frame within a linear square. Rev. Incuse rectangle, with irregular surface, divided horizontally by a broad band. Traitè pl. XIX, 10. Jameson 1542 var. (different orientation of dolphins). SNG von Aulock 2743 var. (different orientation of dolphins). Cahn, 'Poseidon on Karpathos?', NC 1957, pp. 11-12. Asyut 691. Very rare. Struck on very fresh metal and with a light iridescent tone. Extremely fine Ex Tkalec & Rauch 16 April 1987, 119; Leu 72, 1998, 273; New York 3, 2000, 156 sales and Freeman & Sear Fixed price list 8, 2003, 17. The early silver staters traditionally attributed to the Aegean island of Karpathos represent an enigma of Archaic Greek coinage. They are given to the island based on the late issues in the series that feature the legend ΠOΣ, which is believed to abbreviate the ethnic of Poseidion, one of the four cities on Karpathos. However, the attribution has been questioned due to the apparent use of the Milesian weight standard and the Attic form of the ethnic. According to Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, Karpathos and Poseidion were settled by Dorian Greeks. Therefore, the ethnic should be ΠOT rather than ΠOΣ and one might expect the use of the Aeginetan rather than the Milesian standard. Nevertheless, the distinctive parallel rectangular incuse punches used for the reverse strongly suggest a connection to the same coinage tradition of the Dorian cities of Ialysos, Kamiros and Lindos on the island of Rhodes. The present stater belongs to the early anepigraphic period of the Karpathian series and features leaping dolphins in a delightful Archaic style.