Ancients: Sikyon Stater and a museum pedigree

This coin is a considerable upgrade to a previous example I owned. I bought it from the most recent Roma auction at considerably more than I thought it would go for, but didn't want to let it go and miss the opportunity to own it. This coin was part of the Jacob K. Stein collection, a great collection of 182 ancient coins displayed at the Cincinnati Art Museum for 12 years between 1996 and 2008.



Sikyon AR Stater. Circa 350-330 BC. Chimaera, with lion's body and goat forepart rising from back, advancing left, right paw raised, SE below, wreath above / Dove flying left, N below beak; all within laurel wreath BMC Peloponnesus 57-58. ACGC 306. Cf. Traite III 776; SNG Copenhagen 48; BCD 218. 12.25g, 24mm, 2h. Perfectly centered, struck on a large flan, and magnificently toned with exquisite violet highlights. Superb Extremely Fine.

Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1996-2008, no. 49. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, July 1988.

Sikyon was located 11 miles northwest of Corinth in the northern Peloponnesus. Sicyon was known in antiquity for its industries including wood sculpture, bronze work, andpottery. Its central location meant it was frequently involved in the wars of its neighbors, Thebes, Corinth, Athens and Sparta. It was the main mint for the anti-Athenian states in the Peloponnesian war and issued a substantial number of coins, most of which were melted down to finance further conquests.

Sikyon was the cradle of western art, credited with originating tragedy in theater, the modern art of painting as it still stands today, and the invention of using multiple instruments arranged orchestrally. The great sculptors Polykleitos and Lysippos both studied at the famous in Sikyon.

This coin comes from an issue of staters produced at Sikyon after Alexander’s appeal for mercenaries from the Peloponnese in 334 BC. They seemed to have been paid out as a signing bonus and then buried for safe-keeping. Unfortunately, many of these mercenaries never came back, explaining why many coins of this type still exist today and were never melted down.

The coin depicts a chimera, a mythical, fire-breathing monster composed of parts of three animals: a lion with the head of a goat arising from its back and a tail that ends in a snake’s head, walking proudly to the left in an almost heraldic manner. According to Greek mythology, the chimera was slain by Bellerophon with Apollo’s help, and appeared on most of the major coinage of Sikyon. A dove is also depicted, representing the main emblem of the city and a symbol of spirit.

 

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WOW! Each post gets better than the prior. What eye appeal, perfect centering. The coin is in the right hands now!

 

Ode to a Coin

Superb, sublime,
Fantastic, divine,
Astonishing,
Staggering,
Wish it were mine.

 

Oh wow.

 

Damn!, what more can be said?

 

Well done dies particularly in the Chimera. It is a later version with the wreath which usually has little detail in the snake head but this does show a mouth there so it is excellent for its class even there. The tone and strike are wonderful.

I recall visiting the Cincinnati museum and being disappointed in their few coins. Of course, I did not know about it until after this was gone in 2008. This, I regret.

 

OUTSTANDING!!!!

 

Wow!!!

=> that coin is killer!! (congrats, again)

Ummm but sadly, whenever I read one of your threads and see your amazing new coins, I feel kinda badly for my poor collection ... *sigh*

AJ => here is your coin's Hillbilly cousin ... similar style, but my example doesn't seem to have the big city pollish and da edjacation

 

Yours is a nice example little brother. If it's the hillbilly version, than mine must be the third world version (but I still like mine all the same):

 

We need more than just a "like" button in this case.
:-O

 

I don't collect ancients, but I really want this coin! It's an absolutely outstanding piece

 

!!!

 

I love the rainbow toning surrounding chimera...beautiful coin. I'm jealous

 

The coin is outstanding, that is for sure. If the coin is perfectly centred, should the lions rear paw not be visible and the wreath not ending off the flan to the right? Not trying to detract from the beauty of the coin in any way, but I have far less valuable bronze Roman coins which I wouldnt describe as 'perfectly' centred, because a tiny piece of detail is off the coin as with this one......just curious?

 

Wow, wow, and WOW!!!
Thank you for sharing; it is the best example I have ever seen.

 

The perfectly centered definition is from the auction house, and I don't disagree with it. A coin can be perfectly centered but not "perfectly complete" which is the adjective used to describe all detail being present.

That said, these Sikyon staters are rarely, if ever, fully on the flan just because of the size of the design compared to the size of the planchets. This happens with quite a few different types of coins, dekadrachms come to mind in particular.

 

Thanks!

 

Not bad

 

I fully agree with AJ's statement on this. Some coins, certainly this, have some details that are more important than others. I really value the lion's tongue and the snake's head. I'd really prefer the front paws to the rear. If everything were on flan, I'd start getting picky on what was crowded and what had a bit of space to spare. The poster child for this is the Athenian tetradrachm which almost never has the complete crest of the helmet. I really, really hold it against a coin that cuts off the tip of Athena's nose but can live with a coin that is missing much crest. It is always dangerous to use words like 'perfect' because someone will come up with a coin that is a bit 'more perfect' (this term is almost as offensive as 'uniquest'). We probably would have seen the same price realized if the seller had said 'exceptionally pleasing centering'.

Let me point out that my stater is better than AJ's in two respects. One is that rear paw and one is the snake head detail (because mine is an earlier style when they were into snake heads). Now two out of a hundred points is not bad and will keep me from asking AJ if he wants to trade.

Also see my little hemidrachm which really is perfectly centered because it touches the edge to just about the same degree with every part of the critter. As AJ pointed out, there is a difference from perfectly complete. In truth, I bought this coin because it was so well centered but I would probably be happier with it if it had a gap at the nose and tail points and lost a tiny bit of back foot. Perhaps there is room for a concept of 'slightly better than perfect'???