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A bronze coin of Miletos showing Apollo Didymaios and a lion Coin Type: Bronze coin of Miletos in Ionia
Mint and Date: Miletos, c. 200 BCE.
Size and Weight: 17mm x 18mm, 4.14g
Obverse: Cult statue of Apollo Didymaios right, holding out on right hand a small stag which looks back towards him, bow in left hand.
MI monogram (for Miletos) in lower right field.
Reverse: Lion crouching right, tail held high, head facing back towards a star in high left field.
Exergue: ZΩΠYPOΣ (magistrate)
Provenance: pdtripodi (eBay), March 2011.
Ref: GCV 4519 var (magistrate).
BW Ref: 002 053 168
Click on the picture for a larger scale view of the coin

Note: The temple of Apollo at Didyma, a few miles south of Miletos and within its territory, was the site of an ancient oracle that was second in fame only to the Delphic Oracle on the Greek mainland. Within this temple was an archaic cult statue of Apollo, sculpted by Kanachos in the late 6th century BCE. This is the statue represented on the obverse of this coin. Kanachos, who came from Sikyon in Corinthia, was famous for this statue, which was of bronze, and for another statue of Apollo in Thebes, made from cedar wood.


The content of this page was last updated on 3 April 2011