Nomos 18

PAMPHYLIA. Side. Circa 430-400 BC. Stater (Silver, 23 mm, 9.25 g, 1 h). Pomegranate with its stem above and flower below. Rev. Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet and simple necklace; above to right, olive branch; all within incuse square. Cf. SNG France 627 and SNG von Aulock 4765. A remarkably sharp example, well-struck on a broad flan, with a head of Athena engraved by a local artisan in a curious style. Virtually as struck.

Coins struck in southern Asia Minor during the latter part of the 5th century were struck from dies that were made by engravers of widely differing levels of talent. The helmeted head of Athena on the coin of Side in the previous lot, struck circa a decade earlier than this piece, is archaic in style and rather reminiscent of the early heads of Aphrodite on the coinage of Knidos. While not of the highest artistic quality, its engraver was highly competent. However, on this piece - and on many others from the same period - the head of Athena is not only crude, but actually bizarre. The helmet is particularly odd: it almost looks as if Athena has a porcupine sitting on her head! It should be clear that the die cutter who produced this depiction had no real training in the Greek tradition; in fact, his level of skill (we assume it was a he since no female artist could be this bad) is best compared with the Athenian tetradrachms struck c. 480, which Seltman suggested were made by blacksmiths! .