Nomos 35

MACEDON. Mende. Circa 460-423 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 16.93 g, 2 h), c. 440-430 BC. Dionysos, bearded and wearing an ivy wreath and a himation, holding a kantharos in his extended right hand and resting his left hand on the cloth covering the donkey's back, reclining left on the back of a donkey walking to right; in the lower right field, crow perched to right within a pair of ivy branches. Rev. MEN - ΔA - I - ON Linear square containing a vine with leaves, tendrils and five bunches of grapes. Noe 57 (this coin). SNG Lockett 1346 (same dies). Struck from a beautifully detailed and designed obverse die, of the finest classical style. Well-centered, well-struck and attractively toned. Some some minor deposits, typically found on coins from Kaliandra Hoard, otherwise, extremely fine.

From the collection of a Discrete Amateur, ex Morton & Eden, 24 October 2011, 86, and from the collection of A. Voirol, Münzen und Medaillen 38, 6 December 1968, 36, who acquired it in 1945 from Dr. Jacob Hirsch. It was already recorded in 1926 by S. P. Noe as being originally from the Kaliandra Hoard of 1913 (IGCH 358).

Contrary to Noe's belief that only a single example existed from this die pair (Noe 57), there were actually two pieces found in the Kaliandra 1913 hoard; the present example and SNG Lockett 1346. Unfortunately Noe did not illustrate the single example he knew of, so we cannot be sure which of the two was the one to which Noe referred. When Herbert Cahn catalogued the Voirol coins for the 1968 sale he wrote that this coin was the one cited by Noe. Voirol must have learned that when he bought the coin from Jacob Hirsch in 1945.