I picked this up for a song (heh) a few weeks ago and it finally arrived today. I've seen several posts with the more popular (and infinitely more expensive) staters from Sikyon but I haven't seen many of the smaller copper coins, so I figured I would post this one here and see if anyone else had some to add to the flock. The Greeks were really incredible artists even when it came to these tiny coins. I can't imagine the poor engravers who had to make the dies for these coins. Their eyes must have been shot after just a few years. Sikyon 323-251 BC AE15 2.55 g. Obverse: Dove flying left Reverse: ΣI within olive-wreath
That is a very handsome coin, FF. This gives me an excuse to post a similar one from Sykon I got this summer (for a song!). It has a weirdly thin, oblong flan for a Greek AE. I had some difficulty attributing it. It seem to be "rare" but maybe it is just a bad imitation of something rare. It's pretty ugly! Sikyonia, Sikyon Æ 22 (c. 100-60 B.C.) Laureate head of Apollo right / Dove flying left within wreath. cf. BCD Peloponnesos 352-3; cf. HGC 5, 266. Note: I could find only one example of this type; Numismatik Naumann Auction 70, Lot 101, 07.10.2018 (3.84 grams / 22 x 17 mm) eBay June 2020 Lot @ $3.10 Here's the one from the NN Auction (16 mm 3.45 grams): https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5356426
That's a really nice example, @furryfrog02. I have a small bronze and a few silvers from Sikyon. SIKYONIA, Sikyon AE Chalkous. 1.5g, 11.8mm, SIKYONIA, Sikyon. circa 365/45-335/0 BC. BCD Peloponnesos 273.3; HGC 5, 268 (S). O: Dove flying right. R: Large letter san, oriented vertically, with palmette below. SIKYONIA, Sikyon AR Hemidrachm. 2.62g, 15.3mm. SIKYONIA, Sikyon, circa 330/20-280 BC. BCD 284; SNG Copenhagen 57; BMC 111. O: Chimaera advancing left; ΣI below. R: Dove flying left. SIKYONIA, Sikyon AR Drachm. 5.03g, 18mm. SIKYONIA, Sikyon, circa 431-400 BC. BCD Peloponnesos 180-4; HGC 5, 206. O: Dove alighting left; Σ–E flanking. R: Dove flying left within wreath. Ex BCD Collection SIKYONIA, Sikyon AR Stater. 11.98g, 24.2mm. SIKYONIA, Sikyon, circa 431-400. BCD Peloponnesos 186; HGC 5, 181. O: Chimaera standing left; ΣE below. R: Dove flying left within wreath. Ex BCD Collection; ex Coin Galleries Mail Bid Sale, 10 February 1993, lot 80
Some are convinced that the Greeks had microscopes 2000 years before it was “invented” and point to coins and cameos as proof . Who knows...
Sikyon Ar Stater 335-330 BC. Obv Chimeara prowling left Rv Dove flying left within wreath BCD 219 HGC 201 12.30 grms 22 mm Photo by W. Hansen Is this another example of the downside of too much fermented grape juice. Planchet archives at: https://edmontoncoinclub.com/the-planchet/the-planchet-archived/
@Terence Cheesman - lovely example . Mine lacks the wreath BCD Peloponnesos 220 (wreath on obverse); HGC 5, 201 (same); cf. CNG e418, 226 (same dies).
A very nice little Greek bronze! I only got a fairly worn example of the usual hemidrachm from Sikyon: Sikyonia, Sikyon, AR hemidrachm, ca. 330-280 BC. Obv: chimaera advancing l., right paw raised; ΣΙ below. Rev: dove flying left. 16mm, 2.6g. Ref: SNG Copenhagen 64f.
For those who find the hemidrachms too large, Sikyon also issued silver obols. This is ex. BCD and 0.8g. Note the retrograde ΣΙ reverse right.
