★ An Intriguing "Missing Link" ★

AKARNANIA. Stratos. Circa 425-380 BC. Diobol (Silver, 11 mm, 0.95 g, 3 h), probably c. 400/390 BC. Bearded facing head of the androkephalic, horned, river-god Acheloos. Rev. Κ-Α-Λ Head of the nymph Kallirhoe to right, her hair bound up at the back; all within an incuse square. Cf. BCD Akarnania 8-9 and 355-360 for the basic type. For an example struck from the same obverse die, but from a different reverse die, and wrongly attributed to Larissa, see BCD Thessaly I, 1121. very fine.

Stylistically, this hitherto virtually unknown coin seems to fall right at the end of the later 5th/earlier 4th century issues of Stratos and before those of the 2nd quarter of the 4th century. The earlier ones have a facing head of Acheloos turned slightly to the left and a head of Kallirhoe, also turned slightly to the left. They bear retrograde legends reading ΣΤΡΑ. The 4th century issues have right-facing profile heads on both sides, accompanied by the legend ΚΑΛΛΙΡΟ. The present piece has a fully facing head of Acheloos on the obverse coupled with a neat head of Kallirhoe, as Cahn's 2nd group of Series VI from Knidos, dated to c. 411-394, and with the legend ΚΑΛ. An intriguing "missing link".