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Lycia(?), 5th Century B.C.
Although unlisted in the major references, this hemidrachm type was first published by 1890. Five examples are listed on Coin Archives, which were offered at auction in the last two decades. The chimera (also chimaera) was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing creature of Lycia in Anatolia, composed of the parts of three animals - a lion, a snake, and a goat. Usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ended in a snake's head, the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The term chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals, or to describe anything perceived as wildly imaginative or implausible.
GA84765. Silver hemidrachm, Boston MFA 2325; Greenwell 1897, p. 281, 2; Six Monnaies 1890, p. 235, 16bis; BMC -; SNG Cop -; SNGvA -; Rosen -; Klein -, VF, light marks, obverse off center, reverse struck with damaged die (left side of incuse), Anatolia, uncertain mint, weight 1.946g, maximum diameter 11.6mm, 5th century B.C.; obverse Chimera standing right, right foreleg raised, jaws open; reverse gorgoneion (facing head of Medusa), snaky locks, tongue protruding, within incuse square; extremely rare; SOLD
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