Of course, the labyrinth was an Ancient structure built for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its purpose was to hold the Minotaur, a mythical creature that was half man and half bull. Here are some Ancient Greek coins from Knossos: Insel Kreta Knossos Stater 320/300 v. Chr. 10.56 g. Kopf der Demeter mit Ährenkranz / Quadratisches Labyrinth zwischen Pfeilspitze und Köcher, im Zentrum K. Svoronos, Crète, S. 71, 48 Le Rider, Monnaies crétoises, Tf. VII, 9 Selten Sehr schön Crete, Knossos Æ20. Circa 220 BC. Knossos-Gortyna alliance coinage. Europa on bull left / Labyrinth. Svoronos, Numismatique 122; SNG Copenhagen 378. 6.94g, 20mm, 1h KRETA KNOSSOS Stater, circa 450 - 375. Kopf der Ariadne mit Ohrring nach links. Rs: Labyrinth in Form eines Mäanders, im Zentrum fünf Punkte, an den Ecken vier punktförmige Vertiefungen. BMC 9; Svoronos 70, 39; Le Rider, Monnaies Crétoise, 23. 11,78g. Selten. Sehr schön/fast vorzüglich. Any insights into the use of the labyrinth on Ancient coins? I was asked at another site and I had nothing to add. I was asked when the first coins with a labyrinth-like structure appeared in Ancient numismatics and did they later appear in numismatics (especially Roman coins and even modern coins)? guy
Off the top of my head, I believe the last stater you posted should be one of the earliest struck. The type only appeared on the coinage of Knossos, with Roman provincial issues of the city bearing the same design at least into the Julio-Claudian era. To my knowledge, the Labyrinth didn't appear again, save for 19th century European medals.
While researching the scarce labyrinth coins (this post shows most of the ones I knew) pay attention to how rarely the minotaur appears on coins. There are 5th century coins with minotaur and labyrinth you should be aware of. There are many man faces bulls but bull heads on human bodies are scarce. Why? I have no idea. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=540262 http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=17172 Note the prices on these.
I would agree with Bill's answer. In antiquity the story was well known, but only associated with Knossos, so they really only appear on those issues. One may wonder why, when there are so many Herakles coins, and coins showing Gods, why so few with the minotaur and labyrinth? Its because Herakles traveled the world, so many places could claim attachment to him, and he became a demigod so people could pray to him. The other Gods were everywhere, so they also could be portrayed on any coin. The labyrinth, though, was very specific to only one site, and that city was never large during age of coinages, and basically got smaller as time went. Extremely cool coins, and the highlight of anyone's ancient collection if you are lucky enough to own one.
