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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |Anatolia| ▸ |Caria| ▸ |Rhodos||View Options:   | | | Rhodes was an important slave-trading center, best known for The Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes, the sixth of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a huge statue of Helios measuring 32 meters (100 feet) high, built at Rhodes in 280 B.C. but destroyed by an earthquake later in that century. It has inspired many later sculptures including the Statue of Liberty. |
The c. 3 gram drachm standard on which this coin is struck, used by Rhodes and other Carian cities, is called 'Plinthophoric' for the square incuse around the reverse type (plinthos = brick or ingot). The archaized incuse reverse revived a characteristic more typical of the 5th century B.C.GS112255. Silver plinthophoric hemidrachm, Jenkins Rhodian, group B, 42; SNG Keckman 649; BMC Caria p. 257, 303; HGC 6 1462 (S); SNG Cop -, aVF, uneven toning, bumps and scratches, weight 0.922 g, maximum diameter 12.4 mm, die axis 0o, Rhodos (Rhodes, Greece) mint, magistrate Dionysios, c. 170 - 150 B.C.; obverse radiate head of Helios facing slightly right; reverse rose with budding branch right, ΔIONYΣIOΣ (magistrate) above, P-O flanking at sides, cornucopia (control symbol) lower left, all within incuse square; $90.00 (€84.60)
Rhodos, Carian Islands, 190 - 85 B.C.
In 190 B.C. a fleet from Rhodes defeated the Seleucid fleet under command of the fugitive Carthaginian general Hannibal. Rhodes was rewarded with territory and enhanced status, but clearly Rome now ruled the world and autonomy was dependent upon good relations. Those good graces evaporated in the wake of the Third Macedonian War. Rhodes had remained scrupulously neutral, but some Senators felt she had been too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some even proposed declaring war. In 164, Rhodes became a permanent ally of Rome, ending an independence that no longer had meaning. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves.GB99139. Bronze AE 15, SNG Keckman 727; HGC 6 1475 (S); BMC Caria p. 250, 223 var. (dolphin lower right); SNG Cop 797 var. (no control), VF, green patina, light earthen deposits, small edge chips, weight 1.950 g, maximum diameter 15.4 mm, die axis 0o, Rhodos (Rhodes, Greece) mint, 190 - 85 B.C.; obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse rose superimposed on solar disk with top of disk and rays rising above, bud on each side, branch (control) left; scarce; $80.00 (€75.20)
Rhodos, Carian Islands, 190 - 85 B.C.
In 190 B.C. a fleet from Rhodes defeated the Seleucid fleet under command of the fugitive Carthaginian general Hannibal. Rhodes was rewarded with territory and enhanced status, but clearly Rome now ruled the world and autonomy was dependent upon good relations. Those good graces evaporated in the wake of the Third Macedonian War. Rhodes had remained scrupulously neutral, but some Senators felt she had been too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some even proposed declaring war. In 164, Rhodes became a permanent ally of Rome, ending an independence that no longer had meaning. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves.
Although the exergue area on our coin is not clear, the obverse is identical to a specimen in the BnF (Fonds général 1605 = HN Online T546.10). The style of the latter's reverse is also very similar. GB114979. Bronze AE 16, HN Online T546.10 (same obv. die); SNG Keckman I 727 & 729-730; SNG Ashmolean XI 690-692; SNG Cop 797; BMC Caria p. 250, 225; HGC 6 1475 (S), F, some striking weakness, good centering on slightly irregular flan with brushing of reddish sediments, weight 1.600 g, maximum diameter 16.0 mm, die axis 0o, Rhodos (Rhodes, Greece) mint, 190 - 85 B.C.; obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse rose surmounted by radiate solar disk, bud and/or branch on either side and the abbreviated ethnic P-O (obscured); scarce; $65.00 (€61.10)
Rhodos, Carian Islands, 190 - 85 B.C.
In 190 B.C. a fleet from Rhodes defeated the Seleucid fleet under command of the fugitive Carthaginian general Hannibal. Rhodes was rewarded with territory and enhanced status, but clearly Rome now ruled the world and autonomy was dependent upon good relations. Those good graces evaporated in the wake of the Third Macedonian War. Rhodes had remained scrupulously neutral, but some Senators felt she had been too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some even proposed declaring war. In 164, Rhodes became a permanent ally of Rome, ending an independence that no longer had meaning. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves.GB114749. Bronze AE 14, SNG Cop 797; BMC Caria p. 250, 225; SNG Keckman 725 ff. var. (various controls in lower fields); HGC 6 1475 (S), F, green patina, buff earthen deposits, weight 1.787 g, maximum diameter 14.0 mm, die axis 0o, Rhodos (Rhodes, Greece) mint, 190 - 85 B.C.; obverse laureate and bearded head of Zeus right; reverse rose superimposed on solar disk with top of disk and rays rising above, bud on each side, P-O flanking in lower fields, no visible controls; scarce; $60.00 (€56.40)
Mylasa, Caria, c. 167 - 130 B.C.
Mylas is an ancient city on the coast of southwestern Turkey. They traded and did business with the people of Rhodes. "The Pseudo-Rhodian Drachms of Mylasa" by Richard Ashton in Numismatic Chronicle 1992 catalogs and discusses a hoard of very similar drachms attributed to Mylasa. His coin number 274 (and others) shares the same obverse die with our coin. This reverse and the control marks on this example were missing from that hoard and from the many references examined by Forum.GS97273. Silver drachm, Pseudo-Rhodian; cf. Ashton Mylasa 274 (same obv. die - A98, Π-E / Δ-Δ); BMC Caria p. 249, 211 ff. (controls); SNG Cop 922 ff. (same), gVF, toned, slightest porosity, weight 1.837 g, maximum diameter 14.5 mm, die axis 0o, Mylasa (Mylas, Turkey) mint, c. 167 - 130 B.C.; obverse head of Helios facing (not radiate), eagle with wings closed standing right in front of right cheek; reverse rose on stem with branch and bud on both sides, Π-A / Δ-Δ (magistrates or controls) flanking across field divided by flower and stem; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 92 (2 Aug 2020), lot 290; rare variant; SOLD
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