MYSIA. Kyzikos. Circa 500-450 BC. Stater (Electrum, 20 mm, 16.09 g). Gorgoneion facing, with open mouth, protruding tongue and serpent hair; below, tunny fish to left. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. BMFA 1445 = Warren 1492. SNG Paris -. Von Fritze 129. Very rare. Nicely centered and clearly struck. Good very fine.

From a European collection, ex Roma X, 27 September 2015, 495.

Gorgoneia were very popular on Greek coinage during the 6th and 5th centuries BC - as on the coinage of Neapolis, above lots 68-69 - so it is not surprising to find one here on the coinage of Kyzikos. The proportions of the head are actually rather odd: here cheeks extend outwards far beyond her ears, giving her head a rather pear-shaped look. Given that the choice of types for the electrum coinage of Kyzikos were left to the magistrates responsible for each issue, it would be interesting if the magistrate responsible for this piece had connections with a city like Apollonia, or Neapolis or Parion, which used a gorgoneion as a badge on its own coinage.