Nomos 15

BOEOTIA, Federal Coinage. Thebes. Circa 287 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 26 mm, 17.13 g, 11 h), Attic standard. Laureate head of Poseidon to right, with his hair long and falling down the back of his neck. Rev. ΒΟΙΩΤΩΝ Poseidon, holding dolphin in his right hand and trident in his left, seated to left on a throne with lion's legs at the front, an armrest ending in a volute, and a side decorated with a Boeotian shield. BCD Boiotia 81 (same reverse die). De Luynes 1980 (same obverse die). Gulbenkian 920 = Jameson 2065 = Weber 3303 (same reverse die). Head, Boeotia p. 83. Extremely rare, lightly toned and with a noble head of Poseidon - very probably the finest example of the type known. Small area of flat striking on Poseidon's beard, otherwise, extremely fine.

Ex Triton XI, 8 January 2008, 147.

Thebes was captured in 291 by Demetrios Poliorketes during his incessant wars. In the face of the combined forces of Pyrrhos, Lysimachos and Ptolemy I he was forced out of Macedon in 288, finally ending up in Asia where he was captured by Seleukos I and interned until he died of drink in 282. Previously, in an attempt to raise support, he had freed Thebes in 287: this coin was struck in honor of that occasion. Since Poseidon was neither important in Boeotia as a whole, or specifically in Thebes, his appearance on both sides of this coin has to be seen as a complement to Demetrios Poliorketes, since he viewed Poseidon as his patron.