Description:

Greece, Macedon, Acanthus, ca. 430 to 390 BCE. Phoenician standard silver tetradrachm. Obverse: Lion right, attacking bull crouching left. Reverse: Greek letters in shallow incuse square around raised quadripartite square, the quarters granulated. Of the Archaic Greek coinages, the imagery of Acanthus is among the most striking and influential, depicting a lion attacking a bull, a motif soon adopted by several other cities. Lions prowled the majestic landscape of Thrace and Macedon during this time period and Herodotus recounts an episode when the baggage train of the Persian King Xerxes's army was set upon by lions during its march from Asia Minor into Greece proper. This particular rendering on this silver tetradrachm of the life-and-death struggle is especially powerful, with its juxtapositioning of the two animals struck in living high relief. Desneux 117 (D113/R105); SNG ANS 14. Size: 0.95" W (2.4 cm); 13.4 grams

Provenance: private Healy collection, Studio City, California, USA, acquired over the last twenty years

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#138633

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February 6, 2019 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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