I, too, have a couple of those delightful Hellenistic bronzes of the famous
Apollo Didymaeus by the Archaic sculptor Kanachos; only the Ephesian
Artemis seems to have been more famous, and Kanachos is a very
rare example of an Archaic artist's name actually preserved. I think these are the regular bronze of the period (though I'm sure folks took some
home, as a US American might bring back a Maple Leaf coin from
Canada). Under the Empire there are some larger and more elaborate issues with the
Apollo; some of these may have been special, to be sure, especially if a neokorate or an
alliance were involved.
Cf. also the coins of
Alexandria Troas, which
had an Archaic
Apollo of its own as the cult statue. It is almost as common as their regular badge, the
horse, on Imperial/Provincial coins. There was also a Late Classical statue of
Apollo resting with one
leg raised (like a
Hermes or a Poseidon), presumably one of the bronze
statues that adorned the sanctuary (it was said to have been made by Skopas). Are the
Horse and
Tyche coins the regular ones, with the cult reference put on coins to please visitors? It was, in fact, one of the popular stops on the equivalent of Canterbury Tales trips. I don't know. On the other hand, we are making States Quarters for ourselves...
Patricia Lawrence
