★ "Of the Eleans" ★

Elis, Olympia AR Stater. 'Hera' mint, 109th Olympiad, 344 BC. Head of Hera right, wearing stephane, F-A across fields / Eagle, with spread wings, standing left, head right, on head of stag right; all within wreath. Seltman, Temple 332 (dies FC/ιο) (same dies); BCD Olympia 152 (same dies); BMC 97 (same dies); McClean 6654 (same dies); Pozzi 4132 (same dies); HGC 5, 386 (same dies). 12.20g, 24mm, 1h.

Near Mint State. Extremely Rare.

From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction VIII, 28 September 2014, lot 248;
Ex P. Gérard Collection, acquired in Paris in 2010.

The obverse of this coin displays the subtly placed letters F-A before and behind the neck of Hera, an abbreviation of FAΛΕΙΩΝ, i.e. [coin] of the Eleans. Yet Olympia had not always belonged to Elis; though it had been theirs since the beginning of the eighth century BC and they had organized the first of the Olympic festivals, their power diminished and it fell into the dominion of the nearby city of Pisa. It was during this time that the first temple of Zeus was constructed at Olympia by the Sikoudians, allies of the Pisatans, which was built of limestone, brick and wooden columns. With Spartan assistance, the Eleans reconquered Pisatis in 580 BC and destroyed the city of Pisa, thus also bringing the sanctuary of Olympia back under their control. Yet The Eleans, much as they might have wished it, could not destroy all traces of the former inhabitants. The sacred temple of Zeus at Olympia could not be pulled down and so remained as a reminder of the occupation of Olympia which had lasted for nearly a whole century.

In 476 the Greeks convened an arbitration court in Olympia to act as a mediator between the cities of the Greeks in cases of disputes to try to end the inter-city warfare that kept the Greeks divided and fractious. In commemoration of this newly found place at the heart of Greek politics the Eleans erected a massive new temple to Zeus built of marble (which would later house the gold and ivory statue by Phidias). The humble old temple of the Pisatans was rededicated to Hera, who had no important cult at Olympia until then. It was in this rededicated temple that the 'Hera mint' coins were supposedly struck.

The obverse is engraved in beautifully fine style; Hera wears a stephane modestly ornamented with palmettes, and triangular earrings with inset gems. This contrasts with the proud and elaborate depiction of the eagle on the reverse, which stands with wings spread atop a stag's head. This image appears infrequently on Greek coinage - the only other notable occurrences are on the coins of Kroton (HN Italy 2146) and an uncertain mint in Cilicia (SNG France 472).