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GREEK. Ephesos AR Tetradrachm. Hecatomnus Hoard (1977).
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Circa 405-390 BC (21mm, 14.95 g, 12h). Aristainetos, magistrate. Hecatomnus 53b (O11/R48 – this coin); SNG Kayhan –; Winterthur 2904 (same obverse die). Obverse: bee with curved wings. Reverse: forepart of stag right, head left; palm tree to left (off flan), APIΣTAINETO[Σ] to right. Toned, VF. Struck on a tight flan.
Ex Hecatomnus Hoard (CH V, 17; CH VIII, 96; and CH IX, 387). Ex CNG Electronic Auction 338, lot 85.
The bee, palm tree and the stag are emblems of Ephesos. This city was an important center of worship of the Greek goddess Artemis, and the images on Ephesian coinage represent her. Ephesos also used the bee on its coins since it was a producer of honey, so the bee advertised their most famous product. The bee was also mythologically connected to Ephesos because, according to Philostratos, the colonizing Athenians were led to Ephesos in Ionia by the Muses who took the form of bees. Ephesos occupied the alluvial plain of the lower Cayster, but it owed its chief wealth and renown less to the produce of its soil than to the illustrious sanctuary of the old Anatolian nature-goddess, whom the Ionian Greeks identified with Artemis, the Goddess of Hunt. It is noteworthy that the high-priest of the temple of Artemis was called Ηεσσην, ‘the king bee,’ while the virgin priestesses bore the name of “melissai” or Honey-Bees. The stag was regarded as sacred to her and stag figures were said to have flanked the cult statue of Artemis in her temple at Ephesos. The palm tree alludes to Artemis’ birthplace, the island of Delos, where the goddess Leto gave birth to Artemis and her twin brother Apollo underneath a palm tree. Therefore, the coin might represent the city’s origin as well.
The earlier type tetradrachmae of Ephesos could be identified by the curved pair of wings of the bee on the obverse side of these coins. It is roughly estimated that a total of about less than a hundred of these tetradrachmae exist as compared to the straight wing bee variant of later emissions, which are believed to be seven to eight times more common than the former. These estimates are based on the findings and studies made after the discoveryof the Hecatomnus and Pixodarus hoards in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Prior to their discovery, there were only about 35 of these curved wing tetradrachmae recorded in existence.
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![GREEK. Ephesos AR Tetradrachm. Hecatomnus Hoard (1977).
Circa 405-390 BC (21mm, 14.95 g, 12h). Aristainetos, magistrate. Hecatomnus 53b (O11/R48 – this coin); SNG Kayhan –; Winterthur 2904 (same obverse die). Obverse: bee with curved wings. Reverse: forepart of stag right, head left; palm tree to left (off flan), APIΣTAINETO[Σ] to right. Toned, VF. Struck on a tight flan.
Ex Hecatomnus Hoard (CH V, 17; CH VIII, 96; and CH IX, 387). Ex CNG Electronic Auction 338, lot 85.
The bee, palm tree and the stag are emblems of Ephesos. This city was an important center of worship of the Greek goddess Artemis, and the images on Ephesian coinage represent her. Ephesos also used the bee on its coins since it was a producer of honey, so the bee advertised their most famous product. The bee was also mythologically connected to Ephesos because, according to Philostratos, the colonizing Athenians were led to Ephesos in Ionia by the Muses who took the form of bees. Ephesos occupied the alluvial plain of the lower Cayster, but it owed its chief wealth and renown less to the produce of its soil than to the illustrious sanctuary of the old Anatolian nature-goddess, whom the Ionian Greeks identified with Artemis, the Goddess of Hunt. It is noteworthy that the high-priest of the temple of Artemis was called Ηεσσην, ‘the king bee,’ while the virgin priestesses bore the name of “melissai” or Honey-Bees. The stag was regarded as sacred to her and stag figures were said to have flanked the cult statue of Artemis in her temple at Ephesos. The palm tree alludes to Artemis’ birthplace, the island of Delos, where the goddess Leto gave birth to Artemis and her twin brother Apollo underneath a palm tree. Therefore, the coin might represent the city’s origin as well.
The earlier type tetradrachmae of Ephesos could be identified by the curved pair of wings of the bee on the obverse side of these coins. It is roughly estimated that a total of about less than a hundred of these tetradrachmae exist as compared to the straight wing bee variant of later emissions, which are believed to be seven to eight times more common than the former. These estimates are based on the findings and studies made after the discoveryof the Hecatomnus and Pixodarus hoards in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Prior to their discovery, there were only about 35 of these curved wing tetradrachmae recorded in existence.](albums/userpics/23765/ephesos~0.jpg "GREEK. Ephesos AR Tetradrachm. Hecatomnus Hoard (1977).
Circa 405-390 BC (21mm, 14.95 g, 12h). Aristainetos, magistrate. Hecatomnus 53b (O11/R48 – this coin); SNG Kayhan –; Winterthur 2904 (same obverse die). Obverse: bee with curved wings. Reverse: forepart of stag right, head left; palm tree to left (off flan), APIΣTAINETO[Σ] to right. Toned, VF. Struck on a tight flan.
Ex Hecatomnus Hoard (CH V, 17; CH VIII, 96; and CH IX, 387). Ex CNG Electronic Auction 338, lot 85.
The bee, palm tree and the stag are emblems of Ephesos. This city was an important center of worship of the Greek goddess Artemis, and the images on Ephesian coinage represent her. Ephesos also used the bee on its coins since it was a producer of honey, so the bee advertised their most famous product. The bee was also mythologically connected to Ephesos because, according to Philostratos, the colonizing Athenians were led to Ephesos in Ionia by the Muses who took the form of bees. Ephesos occupied the alluvial plain of the lower Cayster, but it owed its chief wealth and renown less to the produce of its soil than to the illustrious sanctuary of the old Anatolian nature-goddess, whom the Ionian Greeks identified with Artemis, the Goddess of Hunt. It is noteworthy that the high-priest of the temple of Artemis was called Ηεσσην, ‘the king bee,’ while the virgin priestesses bore the name of “melissai” or Honey-Bees. The stag was regarded as sacred to her and stag figures were said to have flanked the cult statue of Artemis in her temple at Ephesos. The palm tree alludes to Artemis’ birthplace, the island of Delos, where the goddess Leto gave birth to Artemis and her twin brother Apollo underneath a palm tree. Therefore, the coin might represent the city’s origin as well.
The earlier type tetradrachmae of Ephesos could be identified by the curved pair of wings of the bee on the obverse side of these coins. It is roughly estimated that a total of about less than a hundred of these tetradrachmae exist as compared to the straight wing bee variant of later emissions, which are believed to be seven to eight times more common than the former. These estimates are based on the findings and studies made after the discoveryof the Hecatomnus and Pixodarus hoards in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Prior to their discovery, there were only about 35 of these curved wing tetradrachmae recorded in existence.")
