Nomos 24

MYSIA. Kyzikos. Circa 400-330 BC. Hekte (Electrum, 10 mm, 2.67 g). Military man standing to left, diademed, wearing cloak hanging over his shoulders and behind his left arm, heavy belt and under-skirt, raising his right hand in salute and resting his left on his waist, and, in the crook of his left arm and going behind his back, a short, downward pointing spear; below his feet, tunny fish to left. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Unpublished, save for the slightly inferior pieces that appeared as Roma 9, 2015, 337 and Triton XIII, 2010, 175 (both from same dies as this). Hurter & Liewald -. von Fritze -. A fascinating and attractive hekte, the finest of the three known examples), with a clear representation of a human, non-mythological figure. Well-centered and nicely toned. Minor scuffs on the obverse. About extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection, acquired in 2007.

This is a particularly exciting coin: not only is it a hitherto unknown type for Kyzikos, it is almost certainly the "portrait" of a living person rather than a divine or mythological figure. Seemingly diademed, wearing military dress, and holding a short spear, this must be a military leader rather than a simple soldier (he is not a hunter as he is not wearing hunting dress), especially since with his raised right hand he appears to be in the process of exhorting his troops. So who is he? The figure itself dates stylistically to the end of the 5th century at the earliest, but is more probably late Classical, quite possibly well down into the 4th century. Could it be a representation of Alexander and, thus, date to 334 BC, soon after Alexander's capture of Kyzikos from the Persians?