An Exquisite Portrait of Aphrodite
347. Karia, Knidos AR Drachm. Circa 465-422 BC. Head and foreleg of roaring lion to right / Head of Aphrodite to right, wearing necklace, hair bound in taenia and in queue down neck, within incuse square. HNO 609 (temporary); Cahn, Knidos 79 (V38/R54); SNG Keckman 130; SNG Copenhagen -. 6.23g, 17mm, 9h. Near Extremely Fine; from dies of charming style, with an attractive old collection tone.
2,500
Ex Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger, Auction 352, 25 September 2019, lot 2395; Ex A.W. Collection, formed prior to 2013. Knidos was a city of high antiquity, probably of Lakedaemonian or Megaran colonisation. The cult of Aphrodite was well established there, with no fewer than three temples for the goddess within the city walls - one for Aphrodite Doritis (the oldest), one for Aphrodite Akraia, and one for the Aphrodite called Knidia, which housed the renowned statue of Aphrodite by Praxiteles. This portrait of Aphrodite is of exquisite style. The goddess’ features are gentle and refined, her neck slender, her ear delicate and her lips slightly parted. The tainia is, unusually, highly detailed and bears a reversed wreath pattern - an interesting contrast with the simple necklace of modest design that Aphrodite wears; her hair is similarly demure, tied behind her head. The engraver’s art is neatly framed within the rim created by the narrow die, and is now accentuated by the coloured flashes that play upon the metal’s surface.
Possibly the Second Known
348. Islands off Karia, Kos(?) AR Triobol or 1/2 Siglos. Circa 5th century BC. Forepart of bull to right, head reverted / Crab, Θ to right, all within dotted border in rectangular incuse. SNG Kayhan -; SNG Keckman -; Asia Minor Coins Online -; HGC 6, -; Numismatik Naumann 53, lot 310 (same dies). 3.18g, 13mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare; apparently unpublished, possibly only the second known example after that sold at Naumann in 2017.
300
From the inventory of a German dealer. Although the mint attribution is highly uncertain, the presence of the distinctive crab on the reverse could suggest Kos as a possibility for the issuing authority, though a small number of other related issues (Naumann 80, 10; Leu wa15, 563) may indicate a more extensive series from an as yet undetermined mint.
2x
2x
349. Islands off Karia, Kos AR Hemiobol. Circa 500-480 BC. Crab with eight legs / Quadripartite incuse square. HNO 2124 (temporary); BMC 5; CNG e287, 206; cf. SNG Kayhan 903 (crab with six legs, slightly different incuse); cf. Tzamalis 5 (same); cf. HPM pl. XV, 16 (slightly different incuse); HGC 6, 1297. 0.60g, 9mm. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare.
250
From the inventory of a German dealer.
RHODOS
2x
2x
350. Rhodos, Kamiros EL 1/12 Stater. Circa 500-460 BC. Lydo-Milesian standard. Fig leaf / Rough incuse square. HNO 2625 (temporary, one coin listed) = Roma XXI, lot 234, otherwise unpublished in the standard references in this denomination; cf. SNG Copenhagen 710 (1/24 Stater); cf. BMC 1 (same); cf. HGC 6, 1379 (Aiginetic Standard, 1/24 Stater). 1.06g, 10mm. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare.
1,000
From the inventory of a German dealer.
105