SWAN-STRICH? => a sweet Cilicia, Mallos AR Obol

[stevex6]

A coin buddy from another site figured that this might be a SWAN-STRICH? (yup, she is pretty clever and I totally agree)

I fell in love with this cool lil' Obol ... a mere 8 mm of awesomeness (oh, and only 0.78 grams)

CILICIA, Mallos. AR Obol
Circa 440-390 BC
Diameter: 8 mm
Weight: 0.78 grams
Obverse: Half-length bust of winged figure facing, head right, holding disk
Reverse: Swan running right, wings flapping; symbol to right
Reference: Cf. Göktürk 9 (types left); cf. SNG BN 374 (swan left, no symbol); SNG Levante 130
Other: 11h … Good VF, lightly toned, a little rough. Rare

Ex Gorny & Mosch 204 (5 March 2012), lot 1573


=> pretty fricken cool, eh?

[EB]

What a wonderful coin! Such great detail in such a tiny package.
Can you tell us more about it? To me, that looks like a helmeted head of Athena, but with wings? And what is the symbol in front of the swanstrich? It looks like a magnifying glass.
Regards,
EB

[stevex6]

Nope, I don't have too much to add to the seller's comments ... I looked around for a sec and noticed that a few of these types had "Kronos/Cronos" as the winged figure holding the disc

Does anybody else out there have anything to add (thanks, either way)

Cheers

[EB]

A Levante 130 on wildwinds has this description:
Cilicia, Mallos. Circa 425-385 BC. AR Obol. Upper part of male with curved wings, holding solar disk with both hands / Swan standing right.

[Mat]

Great sawn, I like the winged figure too.

[peterpil19]

Thanks for sharing,

It amazes me how they fit all that detail onto an 8mm die!

It stuns me to think it may have been done without some sort of magnification.

Does anyone know if it was possible that they used magnifying lenses?

Peter

[EB]

Hi Peter,
Yes, they did use lenses. According to Wikipedia,
The earliest written records of lenses date to Ancient Greece, with Aristophanes' play The Clouds (424 BC) mentioning a burning-glass (a biconvex lens used to focus the sun's rays to produce fire).[7] Some scholars argue that the archeological evidence indicates that there was widespread use of lenses in antiquity, spanning several millennia.[8] Such lenses were used by artisans for fine work, and for authenticating seal impressions.

However, in the case of this particular coin the fabrication process was even more impressive than you might imagine. Not only did they use lenses, but they trained swanstriches to engrave self portraits using lenses and mirrors. Hence, the magnifying glass appears along with the swanstrich in the reverse image. As a final note, the reason that the left type is more common is because there are more right handed swanstriches than left handed.
Regards,
EB

[peterpil19]

Not only did they use lenses, but they trained swanstriches to engrave self portraits using lenses and mirrors. Hence, the magnifying glass appears along with the swanstrich in the reverse image. As a final note, the reason that the left type is more common is because there are more right handed swanstriches than left handed.

Very witty! 

Peter

[stevex6]

EB => I've added your findings to my coin notes (thanks for the extra research ... absolutely fascinating)