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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Themes & Provenance| ▸ |Gods, Non-Olympian| ▸ |Helios||View Options:   | | | Helios was imagined as a handsome Sun god crowned with the shining aureole of the sun, who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. Helios is sometimes identified with Apollo. Greek poets never described Apollo driving the chariot of the sun, but it was common practice for Latin poets. Worship of Helios (and later Sol) was sometimes considered a cult in conflict with traditional worship. |
Sandan was a Hittite-Babylonian sun, storm, or warrior god, also perhaps associated with agriculture. The Greeks equated Sandan with Herakles (Hercules). At Tarsus an annual festival honored Sandan-Herakles, which climaxed when, as depicted on this coin, an image of the god was burned on a funeral pyre.RP99547. Bronze AE 21, SNG BnF 1334 (same rev. die, same c/m); SNG Levante 952 (same c/m); BMC Lycaonia p. 180, 106 ff. var. (controls); SNG Cop 333 ff. var. (same), F, green patina, earthen deposits, edge split, reverse edge beveled, weight 5.905 g, maximum diameter 21.1 mm, die axis 0o, Tarsos (Tarsus, Mersin, Turkey) mint, c. 164 - 37 B.C.; obverse veiled and turreted head of Tyche right; countermark: radiate head of Helios within oval punch; reverse Sandan cult image standing right on horned and winged animal, on a garlanded base and within a pyramidal pyre surmounted by a winged animal, TAPΣEΩN downward on right, AP / AP / DI / Θ (controls) left;
Macedonian Kingdom, Alexander the Great, 336 - 323 B.C.
SH56285. Gold stater, Price 792, Müller Alexander 1541, SNG Alpha Bank -, SNG Saroglos -, EF, edge bump, weight 8.575 g, maximum diameter 19.9 mm, die axis 0o, c. 325 - 310 B.C.; obverse head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with a coiled snake; reverse AΛΕΞANΔPOY, Nike standing left, wreath in right hand, stylus in left, radiate facing head of Helios in left field; uncertain mint in Greece or Macedonia; SOLD
Athens, Attica, Greece, c. 138 - 137 B.C., New Style Tetradrachm
In 1961, Margaret Thompson completed her brilliant study, "The New Style Coinage of Athens." At that time, she estimated there were fewer than 8000 new style tetradrachms "above ground."
Thompson catalog numbers indicate the obverse die. Reverses for each obverse are indicated by a letter. For this obverse die, Thompson does not record a reverse with these control letters.SH75276. Silver tetradrachm, cf. Thompson Athens 303e (letter on Amphora uncertain); Svoronos Athens pl. 40, 2; BMC Attica p. 42, 352 (same); SNG Cop 129 (same), Choice VF, nice style, nice strike, nice toning, contact marks, weight 16.795 g, maximum diameter 30.8 mm, die axis 0o, Athens mint, c. 138 - 137 B.C.; obverse head of Athena Parthenos right, wearing crested helmet; reverse owl stands right on amphora, A-ΘΕ across upper field divided by head, ΓΛ/AY (magistrate Glaukos) over smaller HP (control or third magistrate) left, EXE (magistrate Echekrates) over bust of Helios right, M (month) on Amphora, all within olive wreath; SOLD
Athens, Attica, Greece, c. 138 - 137 B.C., New Style Tetradrachm
In 1961, Margaret Thompson completed her brilliant study, "The New Style Coinage of Athens." At that time, she estimated there were fewer than 8000 new style tetradrachms "above ground."
Thompson catalog numbers indicate the obverse die. Reverses for each obverse are indicated by a letter. For this obverse die, Thompson does not record a reverse with these control letters.SH26465. Silver tetradrachm, Thompson Athens 294 var. (KT, E not listed); cf. Svoronos Athens pl. 40, 15; SNG Cop -, VF, weight 16.495 g, maximum diameter 31.2 mm, die axis 0o, obverse head of Athena Parthenos right, wearing crested helmet; reverse A-ΘΕ, owl stands right on amphora, ΓΛAY over smaller KT left, ΕXΕ over bust of Helios right, E on Amphora, all within olive wreath; excellent centering, a little frosty; SOLD
Rhodos, Carian Islands, c. 88 - 43 B.C.
Helios was the Greek personification of the sun. Each day he drove the chariot of the sun across the sky. The Colossus of Rhodes, the sixth of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was a huge statue of Helios measuring 32 meters (100 feet) high, built at Rhodes in 280 B.C. Rhodes held annual gymnastic games in honor of Helios.GS03603. Silver trihemidrachm, SNGvA 2836 variety, EF, weight 4.17 g, maximum diameter 21.3 mm, die axis 270o, Rhodos (Rhodes, Greece) mint, c. 88 - 43 B.C.; obverse radiate head of Helios three-quarter facing to right, hair loose; reverse open rose, magistrate P-O, magistrate's name ΦAINAΛAΣ; mint luster, golden toning with iridescent blue in some recesses; SOLD
Macedonian Kingdom, Perseus, 179 - 168 B.C., Pseudo-Rhodian Coinage
Richard Ashton has attributed this type to a mint in Thessaly striking during the third Macedonian war for Perseus to pay the 3,000 or more Cretan mercenaries in his army. Rhodian coinage, including locally struck imitatives, circulated in quantity on Crete and the type would have been preferred method of payment for Cretan mercenaries. SH58549. Silver drachm, Ashton Pseudo-Rhodian Mainland pp. 29 - 30, Larissa Hoard p. 241 (N. Greece), SNG Keckman 793 - 795 (Thessaly), SNG Cop suppl. 358 (Peraea Rodia), EF, rose toning on luster, weight 2.675 g, maximum diameter 16.8 mm, die axis 180o, uncertain Thessaly mint, magistrate Hermias, c. 171 - 170 B.C.; obverse head of Helios facing slightly right; reverse ΕPMIAΣ (magistrate), rose, with bud right, I - Ω flanking stem; a beautiful coin!; SOLD
Macrinus, 11 April 217 - 8 June 218 A.D., Emesa, Syria
RY08009. Silver tetradrachm, Prieur 1004, Bellinger Syrian 208 var, EF, sharp, weight 12.73 g, maximum diameter 24.7 mm, die axis 0o, Emesa (Homs, Syria) mint, 217 - 218 A.D.; obverse AVT K M OΠ CE ••• MAKPINOC CE - [•B•], laureate head right; reverse ΔHMAPX EΞ YΠATOC Π Π (holder of Tribunitian power, consul, father of the country), facing eagle, wings open, head left, wreath in beak, O beneath eagles head, radiate head of Helios left between legs; ex Superior Coin, 6/84, #1694, ex Jonathan Kern; SOLD
Mylasa, Caria, c. 167 - 130 B.C.
Mylas is an ancient city on the coast of southwestern Turkey. They traded and did business with the people of Rhodes. "The Pseudo-Rhodian Drachms of Mylasa" by Richard Ashton in Numismatic Chronicle 1992 catalogs and discusses a hoard of very similar drachms attributed to Mylasa. His coin number 274 (and others) shares the same obverse die with our coin. This reverse and the control marks on this example were missing from that hoard and from the many references examined by Forum.GS97273. Silver drachm, Pseudo-Rhodian; cf. Ashton Mylasa 274 (same obv. die - A98, Π-E / Δ-Δ); BMC Caria p. 249, 211 ff. (controls); SNG Cop 922 ff. (same), gVF, toned, slightest porosity, weight 1.837 g, maximum diameter 14.5 mm, die axis 0o, Mylasa (Mylas, Turkey) mint, c. 167 - 130 B.C.; obverse head of Helios facing (not radiate), eagle with wings closed standing right in front of right cheek; reverse rose on stem with branch and bud on both sides, Π-A / Δ-Δ (magistrates or controls) flanking across field divided by flower and stem; ex Numismatik Naumann auction 92 (2 Aug 2020), lot 290; rare variant; SOLD
Mylasa, Caria, c. 170 - 130 B.C.
Mylas is an ancient city on the coast of southwestern Turkey. They traded and did business with the people of Rhodes. "The Pseudo-Rhodian Drachms of Mylasa" by Richard Ashton in Numismatic Chronicle 1992 catalogs and discusses a hoard of very similar drachms attributed to Mylasa. The control marks on this example were missing from that hoard.
Ex William Turner Collection. William Turner (1792 - 1867), British diplomat of the early 19th century, authored his interesting and opinionated Journal of a Tour in Levante (1820) describing his adventures in the area. This specimen was obtained by Turner in the course of his travels (1812 - 1817).GS70822. Silver drachm, Pseudo-Rhodian Drachm; SNG Tüb 3638, Ashton Mylasa -, SNG Keckman -, SNG Cop -, SNGvA -, SNG Mugla -, BMC Caria -, aVF, weight 2.056 g, maximum diameter 15.8 mm, die axis 0o, Mylasa mint, c. 170 - 130 B.C.; obverse head of Helios facing (not radiate), eagle with wings closed standing right in front of right cheek; reverse rose on stem with branch and bud on both sides, Π - E / A - M flanking across the field; ex Heritage Auctions 231407, lot 64054; from Alex G. Malloy Auction XLIV 126; ex William Turner Collection; rare variant; SOLD
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