Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich

Auction 84/1a  –  20 May 2015

Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich, Auction 84/1a

Greek, Roman and Byzantine Coins

We, 20.05.2015, from 5:00 PM CEST
The auction is closed.

Description

Greek Coins Corinthia, Corinth Stater circa 560, AR 8.38 g. Pegasus flying l.; below, qoppa. Rev. Mail sail pattern incuse. ACGC 220. Ravel 19 (this coin). BCD Korinth –. An exceedingly rare issue known in very few specimens. Lovely old cabinet tone, a few minor marks on obverse, otherwise about extremely fine Ex Naville I, 1921, Pozzi, 1642. From the collection of the Conte Sola.One of the earliest coinages of the Greeks was produced in Corinth, a city at the juncture of the mainland and the Peloponnesus. It was an ideal staging point for trade throughout Greece, and to the west, where so many Greeks had established colonies in Italy and Sicily. Between Corinth and the Greek cities in Magna Graecia lie the westernmost regions of the Greek mainland – Illyria, Epirus, Acarnania, and the island of Corcyra – all locations where Corinthian colonies would later issue their own versions of the famous Corinthian ‘colts’. The primitive ‘mill sail’ punch on the reverse of this coin marks it as being among the very earliest of Corinthian staters. Soon it was replaced with a more refined incuse punch bearing a swastika-like pattern. The extreme rarity of this first type is underscored by its absence from most of the major private collections. None existed, for example, in BCD, a collection in which one might have expected to see multiple examples. It is now generally believed that the three earliest coinages in Greece were those of Aegina, Corinth and Athens, all of which were introduced soon after the Lydian King Croesus (c.560-546 B.C.) had abandoned electrum in favor of a bi- metallic coinage. This is a significant departure from the thoughts of early scholars, who tended to date the first Corinthian staters perhaps a century earlier than current evidence supports. Barclay Head, for example, dated the present type to 657- 625 B.C., during the time of Cypselus. It is now supposed that the Aegina turtles were the first Greek coins, commencing in about 555/50 B.C. Following in quick succession were the colts of Corinth, perhaps as early as c.555 B.C., but perhaps closer to c.550 B.C., and the Wappenmünzen (‘heraldic coins’) of Athens, starting in about 545 B.C. Dates as precise as these, however, must be taken with a grain of salt, as they are ever subject to revision upon the discovery of new evidence. The cast of the coin illustrated in the plate of Ravel's publication is damaged in such a way that one would expect that the coin had a whole in it, however this is evidently not the case. Lucien Hirsch in the text of the catalogue states that he only knows one other specimen of this exceedingly rare issue.

Question about this lot?

Bidding

Price realized 22'000 CHF
Starting price 10'000 CHF
Estimate 12'500 CHF
The auction is closed.
Feedback / Support