Masterpiece, 22 June - 3 July 2019
A show dedicated to the history of coinage and the stories that these precious objects tell. Over 30 coins were placed in bespoke cabinets, taking the visitor on a curated journey through diverse peoples, cultures and histories of the ancient world.
Silver hemidrachm
from Kyrene
Libya,
Circa 490 - 475 BC,
Münzen und Medaillen, March 1953, lot 20.
Highly prized in antiquity as a wonder drug, the Silphium plant was the most important export for the city of Kyrene. The plant was over harvested to extinction. Here we see the seed pod.
Silver stater
from Siris
Macedonia,
Circa 500 BC,
Numismatics Fine Arts XXVI, August 1991, lot 56.
“The Satrians never yet became obedient to any man, so far as we know... for they dwell in lofty mountains, which are covered with forest of all kinds and with snow... and in which are mines both of gold and silver.”
Herodotus, VII.
Silver tetradrachm
of Alexander
Miletos,
Circa 323 - 319 BC,
From the collection of Henri de Nanteuil, acquired prior to 1925.
The iconic silver coinage of Alexander the Great shows Herakles wearing the lion skin, an allusion to Alexander's relation to the demigod.
Silver tetradrachm
from Damastion
Central Balkans,
Circa 395 BC,
Münzhandlung Basel 8, 22nd March 1937, lot 269.
Damastion was an ancient city in the Balkans whose whereabouts has been lost. It is known only from its coinage, which seems to have been modelled on coins from the Chalkidian league.
Silver tetradrachm
from Akanthos
Chalcidian peninsula,
Circa 470 BC,
British private collection, acquired 1960s - 1970s.
Spink, 2nd December 2013, lot 10.
The image of a lion attacking a bull was a popular Archaic motif and may have been an allegory of the struggle between civilisation and nature.
Silver tetradrachm
issued under King Philip V of Macedon, Pella or Amphipolis
Circa 188 BC,
Christopher Morcom collection.
Subsequently Triton XI, January, 2008, lot 132.
Philip V identifies himself with the hero Perseus, alluding to his ambitions for Macedonian expansion. Perseus is emblazoned on a Macedonian shield, carrying the harpe sword.
Silver didrachm
from Tarentum
South Italy,
Circa 425 - 415 BC,
Bank Leu, December 1960, lot 49.
Here we see the Oikistes, or chosen founder of a city, Taras, shown in heroic fashion, holding an oil jar in his left hand and a staff of wool in his right, an allusion to Tarentum's important textile industry.
Gold Oktadrachm
of Ptolemy III Euergetes
Alexandria, Egypt,
Circa 219 BC,
Private US collection, purchased from F. Kovacs, January 1986.
The huge supply of gold from the mines of Nubia allowed the Ptolemaic rulers to mint some of the largest gold coins of antiquity.
Silver dekadrachm
from Syracuse
Sicily,
Circa 405 BC,
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, acquired prior to 1878. Deaccessioned in 1961.
At the end of the 5th Century BC, some engravers began to sign their dies. This is one of the masterpieces of the die engraver, Kimon.
“Human minds cannot conceive of something greater than these Syracusan coins.”
J. Winckelmann
Silver drachm
from Zankle
Sicily,
Circa 520 - 500 BC,
Bank Leu 2, April 1972, lot 88.
Zancle was situated on a harbour along the Strait of Messina. The coin type shows a dolphin on the right and a sickle shape on the left, a schematic rendering of the harbour and also a pun on the city's name.
Punic Silver Tetradrachm
from Carthage occupied Sicily
Circa 345 - 315 BC,
CNG, auction 38, June 1996, lot 167.
The palm (phoinix) behind the running horse on this coin is another pun, proclaiming the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry.
Silver stater
from the island of Aegina
Greece,
Circa 480 - 457 BC,
Bank Leu 79, October 2000, lot 578.
It was not the great cities of Athens, Sparta or Corinth that produced the first coinage of the western world, but a tiny, rocky island in the Aegean sea.
Silver tetradrachm
from Leontini
Sicily,
Circa 450 BC,
Coin Galleries Numismatic Review IX, 1968, no. E6.
Sometimes engravers used visual puns to remind viewers of the coin's origin. In this case the lion is a pun on Leontini. The barley grains refer to the city's fertile land.
Silver stater
minted under tyrant Agathokles of Syracuse
From the collection of Count René Philipon (1870 - 1936).
When Timoleon of Corinth took Syracuse in the mid 4th century BC, he brought with him the typical colts (coins showing an image of Pegasus) of his homeland.
“These you can take, if you give one colt, those if you give a pair. These are going
for four silver colts. The girls like an Athenian if he brings a lot.”
Euripides, Skiron
Silver tetradrachm
of Ptolemy I
Alexandria, Egypt,
Circa 305 - 282 BC,
SKA auction 42, September 1, 1984, lot 61.
Breaking with Greek tradition, Ptolemy was the first king to portray himself on his own coinage. Consequently, Hellenistic coins offer us some of the first true likenesses of the rulers of the ancient world.
Silver tetradrachm
from Athens
Greece,
Circa 454 - 404 BC,
British private collection.
These Athenian coins, struck with silver from Laurium, circulated at the time of the Persian wars and the Athenian golden age.
“If they are favourable... we will load them with benefits... Firstly, the owls of Laurium, which every judge desires above all things, shall never be wanting... you shall see them homing with you, building their nests in your money-bags and laying coins.”
Aristophanes, Birds, 1106.