Kyme in the
Aeolis was one of a number of cities that claimed a connection to
Homer by putting him on their coins in
Roman times. The reason for this claim was that Homer's mother Kritheis (or Krethis) was said to have been from Kyme (there are different accounts about her). Unlike the
Homer coins from Amastris (which are
rare but not extremely so), the ones from Kyme are, to my knowledge, very
rare. I thus felt very lucky in finding an unidentified specimen on
eBay some while ago, the first I have personally seen on the market so far. At least one other bidder must have realized what it is as he bid me up way above what would have been a normal
price for a
pseudo-autonomous bronze with seated
Zeus as it was described by the seller.
Still the
price seemed
fair to me for what the coin is.
RPC online knows four specimens of the
type with the
ethnic in oak
wreath reverse, two in
London, one in
Paris and one in
Vienna. There is a second
type from the same series of which
RPC knows seven specimens, this time with Kritheis as
reverse type.
Kyme,
Aeolis,
AE19, time of
Commodus.
Obv: OMHPOC,
Homer seated right, resting right
arm on seat and holding scroll in left hand.
Rev: ΚΥΜ/Α/ΙΩΝ within oak
wreath.
RPC online 2469: 4 specimens, none illustrated, but
cf. BMC Aeolis p. 115, no. 109-110
Lars