GREEK COINS
CRETE
Cretan Coins From the Brünn Collection, the property of Dr. Ludek Vostal, once in the Collection of A. PicekThe Cretan coins that appear in this and the following lots all once belonged to a Czech collector named A. Picek. He was born shortly before the beginning of the 20th century, and was mustered into the Austro-Hungarian army soon after World War I broke out. He ended up being stationed on the Italian front, which was the scene of an almost endless series of terrible battles that took place in mountainous terrain. Along the Isonzo, the Austrian army continually repulsed attacks by the Italians, inflicting massive casualties (though suffering considerably itself). At some point, probably around the time of the Austrian victory at Caporetto in November 1917, the young soldier Picek saved the life of an Italian civilian, a banker; in return, this unknown Italian gave his savior two bags of old coins (!). One contained copper pieces and the other silver. This led Picek into a life of collecting coins and paper money. In 1970, when the present owner, Dr. Ludek Vostal, was a young collector, he met Picek, then in his 80s; now Dr. Vostal is proud to acknowledge his debt to a man he considered to be his mentor. In 1975 Picek sold him a small collection of ancient Cretan coins, which came from one of those sacks that he had received over fifty years earlier Dr. Vostal promised to keep the group intact as long as he continued to collect coins; now that his interests lie solely in paper money, he has decided to let these coins go to new owners. Where that nameless Italian got these coins is unknown, but when he got them has to be prior to 1914: they must be remnants from one of those many 19th century Cretan hoards the only traces of which lie within Svoronos’ famous work on the ancient coinage of Crete.

Chersonesos. 330-300 BC. Stater (Silver, 25mm, 10.86 g 1). Laureate head of Zeus to right, with long locks of hair falling down the back of his neck. Rev. ΧΕΡΣΟΝΑΣΙΩΝ Artemis-Britomartis seated left on high-backed throne; draped, resting her left hand on the throne and holding, in her right hand, a stag leaping to left. Babelon, Traité 1479 and pl. CCXLVI. 23. Le Rider -, but see p. 17, n. 2 and pl. XXXIV, 15 (=BM ex Evans, AC XII, 1926, 1585). Extremely rare, one of, perhaps, six known examples, four of which being in museums . Some corrosion and somewhat crudely struck on a very irregular flan; otherwise , very fine. From the Brünn Collection, acquired in Italy prior to World War I. Chersonesos, or Chersonasos, was the port for the major inland city of Lyttos (or Lyktos) and was itself a flourishing town well into Byzantine times. It was well known for its sanctuary to the pre-Greek, Minoan, goddess Britomartis who was, in Classical times, identified with Artemis in an effort to ‘civilize’ her, since in the Minoan period she apparently was both a powerful and a dreadful figure (she probably retained that aspect among the rural population).