Asia Minor, Uncertain mint Stater circa 500-480, EL 14.05

Asia Minor, Uncertain mint
Stater circa 500-480, EL 14.05 g. Lion lying down r.; above, lotus flower. Rev. A rectangular incuse with rough surface between two square incuses with rough surfaces. Linzalone 1174. Rosen cf. 245 (lion l.). Ute Wartenberg, White Gold, 10 (this coin).

Of the highest rarity, the finest of only five specimens known. A magnificent representation

in powerful Archaic style perfectly centred on a full flan. Extremely fine



Privately purchased from Damastion on the 28 January 1992 and notarized as being in Switzerland prior to 2004.

This early electrum stater is a remarkable object to which no mint can be reliably assigned. Its style, fabric, method of production and Milesian weight standard all suggest a mint in Lydia or Ionia, yet the lotus flower that is so prominently displayed on this coin is a familiar feature of the early coins of Thrace and Macedon. Similar electrum staters have been found in the northerly regions of Greece, but find spots of large-denomination coins do not always speak to their origin, as they were habitually used in regional or international commerce. The lotus flower appears on at least two other early, electrum staters of the Milesian standard, both represented in the Jonathan Rosen collection (sylloge nos. 148-149). The first shows a bull kneeling with its head reverted; the other shows two rampant lions upright on their hind legs with heads reverted and paws extended. On these coins comparable flowers (shown above the bull and between the lions) are just as prominently displayed as on the present stater. In all three cases the lotus flower is an integral design element, and its presence is perhaps of greater import than the lions and the bull, which were equally familiar designs in Greece and Asia. The lotus flower appears on Archaic Thracian and Macedonian coins, including tetradrachms of Abdera, tetrobols and dodecadrachms of the Derrones and tetrobols of Olynthus. It is also a prominent and recurring design element on the tetrobols and tetradrachms of Acanthus and on coins usually attributed to Stageira or Methone. The method of production for this stater is also of interest. Instead of occurring as a single event, striking was performed in three stages, with the application of the large center punch being followed by two flanking impressions by a smaller punch. This three-step minting usually caused some unevenness in the obverse field. Many other staters were produced in this three-step manner, though in some cases the second and third strikings were performed with different punches. The obverses for staters produced in this manner are diverse and appear to cover the full evolution of early electrum, ranging from extremely early pieces with no discernible obverse design (Weidauer 1-3) to those with fully developed designs, including (at least) the present issue, ones portraying joined lion and bull protomes, joined lion protomes with a lotus flower, a human headed, a winged bull, the stag of Phanes, joined gorgon heads, joined facing lion heads, two ram heads, a kneeling ram, a lion forepart, confronted lion heads, the recumbent lion of Miletus, a charging bull, a seated pantheress(?), a lying horse and a horse protome.

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