GREEK, Pisidia, Selge, 2nd-1st Century BC, AR Triobol

Head of Herakles wreathed with styrax facing slightly right, lion's skin draped around neck, club in left field. / ΣEΛΓEΩN between club and sacred styrax plant on an altar, bucranium in right field.
SNG BN 1959; BMC 19, 260, 37; Sear GCV 5484.
(15 mm, 2.41 g, 12h)
ex- David P. Herman Collection

This facing head of Herakles is a miniature masterpiece of the engraver’s art, including such small details as the Adam’s apple of Herakles. The tilt of Herakles head and his semi-skyward gaze is reminiscent of the preferred portraiture of Alexander the Great for whom Herakles was a patron God. Following the death of Alexander the Great, Herakles became a favored subject for the facing head portrayal on Hellenistic coinage in contrast to the preceding period in which Athena dominated.