Archaios | Lesbos 1/48th Stater Two Human Eyes / Incuse Punch

Description: Archaios Numismatics Description: Greek Silver fraction (1/48 Stater) from the Island of Lesbos. Uncertain mint circa 525-513 BC. While commonly referenced as a Tetartemorion the archaic billon coinage has been shown to be more acurately tied to the fractional stater. Obverse: Two Stylized Almond Shaped Human Eyes filling the fllan. Suggested as a reference to the "evil eye" type apotropaic significance. Reverse: Incuse Punch Mint: Methymna?, Lesbos Size: 5 mm Weight: 0.24 g Ref: BMC Lesbos pl.XXX,15/18; LAZZARINI Series II. Condition: VF, some porosity. Rare type. Please use the Pictures as your judge as grading is subjective. Inventory #: 1902.14.18 Notes: Lesbos was an important island of the ancient Greek world located off the coast of western Anatolia opposite Aiolis. It was the most famous of the twelve Aiolian cities listed by Herodotos that corresponded to the poleis of Ionia (others of which were: Pitane, Elaia, Gryneion, Myrina, Aigai, Kyme, Neonteichos, Temnos, Larisa and Smyrna). During the 7th century BC, there was an immigration from cities of Lesobs, particularly Mytilene and Methymna, to Asia Minor on the eastern shores of the Aegean.. As the area's primary concern was agriculture, it did not play a large role in historical developments, however it was extremely important in the fields of music and poetry. Sappho, Alkaios and Terpander, the inventor of the 7-tone scale were all from Lesbos. Lesbos is particularly famous for its experiment in using for coins metals like electrum (mixture of gold and silver) and billon (mixture of silver and other base alloys), which is thought to be the first such attempt to manipulate the purity of coin metals not only in Asia Minor but the entire Greek world. The Billon coinage has not been nearly as well studies as the electrum issues and not much archaeology has yet been done on Lesbos to help nail down the minting details of these coins. Per Lazzarini, The coins of the series of coins containing this type " may be dated to between 525 and 513 BC. The beginning of the issue was probably prompted by the establishment of an anti-Samian alliance between Lesbos and Miletus, which may have occasioned the need for substantial amounts of money, for example to pay the island’s troops. We know that despite the committed resistance of the Lesbians, Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, managed to gain control of the island in 525 BC, but died shortly afterwards, in 522 BC28 and the island was thus freed from its new occupiers. If the time interval proposed above is correct, the year 525 BC suggested as the burial date of the “Lesbos?, 1991” hoard (CH 8, 8) containing of staters with three lion protomai, must be brought forward. The end of the issue of the second series can be reliably dated to 513 BC because it corresponds to the moment when Coes, one of the many lieutenants of Darius installed as satraps in Asia Minor, came to power in Lesbos. Under this Persian autocrat a new series began to be issued. It was based on an entirely different coin standard from the previous series, related to the Achaemenid shekel and not to either the heavy or the light Lesbian stater." He proposes that this type is identified with Methymna rather than Mytilene. Various excerpts from Head Hist. Num, and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia; L. Lazzarini "A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE ARCHAIC BILLON COINAGE OF LESBOS" updated 2011. We Thank You for stopping in and taking time to look at and bid on our listings. Good Luck Bidding ! We encourage you to click the "See other items" link above in the "Seller Information" area of the listing as well to check out our other items posted. We have a variety of great classical and other ancient numismatic items available. We will be regularly continuing to post for sale and auction a wide variety of Ancient Roman, Greek, and Eastern coins as well as Medieval, Byzantine, and some Modern coins as well. You can also follow us to be notified when new listings are posted. With over 20 years in the numismatics hobby we continue to revel in the excitement that comes from holding each new small piece of history in our hands. We enjoy the enduring sense of history both of the prior uses and users as well as the creativity and necessity that surround the time and place at which these coins were minted and used in circulation. Our aim is to cater not just to the high end collector but also to the hobbyist and the newly initiated and those on a limited budget. Everyone starts the hobby somewhere and where we can share our knowledge to help inform or jumpstart your collecting pleasure we will aim to do so. We want you to love every purchase you make with us and we always stand by the quality and authenticity of all the coins we are selling.

Price: 65 USD

Location: Seattle, Washington

End Time: 2024-08-11T20:31:33.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3 USD