Lampsacus

Stater circa 360-340, AV 16 mm, 8.61 g. Head of bearded Kabeiros l., wearing laureate pileus. Rev. Forepart of Pegasus r. Baldwin, Lampsakos 39 and pl. III 25-28 (this obverse die). Traité II, 2250 (this obverse die). Boston, MFA 1600 (this obverse die). Jameson 2218 (this obverse die).
Extremely rare. Several edge marks, possibly traces of mounting, otherwise very fine

Ex MDC sale 4, 2018, 38. From a Scandinavian private collection
The bearded and helmeted head on the obverse of this Lampsacene stater has been variously described over the years as a possible depiction of Hephaestus, Odysseus or one of the Kabeiroi. Both the smith-god and the Ithakan adventurer had established iconography depicting them as bearded men wearing a pileus-type helmet, but it is currently the preferred scholarly interpretation to see the helmeted head on this coin as one of the Kabeiroi-mysterious twin deities of probable Thracian or Phrygian origin who were often associated with Hephaestus. In some traditions they were even identified as the grandsons of the smith-god, although in others they were known as the Idaian Dactyls-divine beings who served the Great Mother on Mount Ida in Troas. The Kabeiroi were most famously worshipped as part of a mystery cult on the island of Lemnos, where they were said to have welcomed Jason and the Argonauts during their voyage to reclaim the Golden Fleece, but they were recognized as divine beings throughout much of Asia Minor even down into Syria. Although they were known for working metal with their hands, which in some accounts were supposed to be like the pincers of crabs, the Kabeiroi were also akin to the Dioscuri as twin protectors of sailors and saviour gods to be invoked in times of crisis. In Greek art one of the Kabeiroi were normally depicted as an older, bearded man, named Axiocersus, and the other was a youth, the son of Axiocersus, named Kadmilos. If the helmeted head on the obverse of the present coin is indeed one of the Kabeiroi, he must almost certainly be identified with Axiocersus.