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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 2477501, member: 44210&quot;]Ok yeah, far from my beaten collecting paths of late antiquity and the Middle Ages, but I do have some interest in the ancient Greek world, which led me to purchase (months ago, only just sharing now) these two tiny silver coins from the Greek city of Kyzikos, in the region of Mysia. On one side is a boar head and on the other side a lion head. I&#039;m guessing everyone and their mother that collects Greeks has this type already, but I&#039;m still taking baby steps when it comes to Greek coins (or anything outside my main collecting areas that I want to further explore a bit).These are currently the oldest coins in my entire collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>Very brief history since, again, this is not normally my area and I&#039;m sure a many of you have a good grasp of the history of Kyzikos (and those of some of the other Greek city-states).</p><p><br /></p><p>The Pelasgians from Thessaly were the founders of Kyzikos prior to the 8th century BC, but only after the decline of Athens and Miletus after the Peloponnesian War did Kyzikos become a vital center of commerce. During the war, in 410 BC, it was the site of a Spartan naval defeat at the hands of the Athenian navy. A little over two decades later, the city was ceded to the Persian Empire, but was captured by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Almost 300 years later, Kyzikos, by then know to the Romans as Cyzicus, allied with the Roman Republic and withstood a siege against King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Cyzicus would become a major city of the Roman Empire, and later the Eastern Roman Empire.</p><p><br /></p><p>When the Muslim Arabs invaded the Eastern Roman Empire in the late 7th century AD, they briefly held Cyzicus, and used the city and the surrounding area as a launchpad for their assault on Constantinople. The Arabs, despite their string of successes in the previous decades, failed to take the capital. Cyzicus remained in Roman hands for the next seven centuries, entering a decline in the later half of the Middle Ages from which it would not recover, a decay that only got worse after the Ottomans took the region.</p><p><br /></p><p>(hopefully I got the exact attributions correct, I might need help if they aren&#039;t)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kyzikos, Mysia</b></p><p>AR hemiobol</p><p><b>Obv</b>: Forepart of running boar left, tunny fish behind neck</p><p><b>Rev</b>: Lion&#039;s head left, jaws wide open, small panther head above</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Kyzikos</p><p><b>Date of striking</b>: 5th century BC</p><p><b>Ref</b>: Rosen 522</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]522463[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kyzikos, Mysia</b></p><p>AR obol</p><p><b>Obv</b>: Forepart of running boar right, tunny fish behind neck, all within incuse square</p><p><b>Rev</b>: Lion&#039;s head left, jaws wide open, retrograde K above, all within incuse square</p><p><b>Mint</b>: Kyzikos</p><p><b>Date of striking</b>: 5th century BC</p><p><b>Ref</b>: BMC 123</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]522464[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]522468[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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