Nomos 32

THRACE. Dikaia. Circa 515-480 BC. Stater (Silver, 20 mm, 9.86 g). Head of bearded Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. Incuse square divided into four triangles, of which two are further divided in half by thin lines. ACGC 562. BMC 1. J. M. F. May, The Coinage of Dikaia-by-Abdera c. 540/35-476/5 B.C., NC 1965, pp. 1-25, esp. p. 11, 3 (A.3/-) and pl. I, 3. Weber 2355 (same obverse die). Schönert-Geiss, Bisanthe, p. 24, 10 (V4/R-). Very rare. A bold, well-centered and well-struck coin with a remarkably attractive head of Herakles in Late Archaic style. Nearly extremely fine.

From the Spina Collection, Nomos 7, 15 May 2013, 22, ex Triton VII, 12 January 2004, 164.

The head of Herakles gives a very powerful impression: his staring eye, sharp nose and pointed beard, along with his somewhat frowning mouth, seems to indicate that he is not quite happy about whatever he is gazing on. The mannered way his beard is rendered, in comparison to the lion’s mane, is perhaps meant to show the difference between the mannered strength of Herakles and the savage strength of the lion.