MYSIA. Kyzikos. Circa 550-500 BC. Stater (Electrum, 19 mm, 16.13 g). Head of Silenos facing between two tunny swimming upwards, both with their backs outwards. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Greenwell 45 ( different denomination ). Hurter & Liewald I, 77. Von Fritze 77. With a strong facing head of excellent style; lightly toned. Minor edge breaks, otherwise, good very fine.

From and European collection, acquired in Munich prior to 1995 .

The head on this coin is commonly identified as being that of Silenos; but is it? Could it simply be the head of a satyr? Or could it be Acheloos, especially since more clearly struck examples show the bearded head is not bald, as we might expect a head of Silenos would be? In addition, Acheloos was a much more important mythical figure - the god of all the rivers of the world - than Silenos was.
In fact, the identification of facing male heads with pointed, animal, ears is quite confusing: Silenos is always bearded, always has animal ears, and is sometimes, but not always, bald; Satyrs have animal ears, are sometimes bald and usually have beards but sometimes don't; as for Acheloos, he always has animal ears, is usually bearded (but sometimes isn't), is never bald, and always has horns! A perfect example of what seemed a correct attribution, but which turned out incorrect, is a lead tessera from Pherai then in the BCD Collection (Nomos 4, 1307). The head has always been identified as that of a satyr (as Rogers 526), but if you look carefully at the photo in Nomos 4, he has horns : so he's Acheloos!