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Persephone was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility, Queen of the Underworld, daughter of Demeter and Zeus and the consort of Hades.
Anazarbus, Cilicia, 114 - 115 A.D.
The torch is a symbol that can be related to either Artemis or Demeter. Although goddess on the reverse is usually identified in references as Artemis, we believe it is Demeter. In year 132, this type was struck at Anazarbus with larger denominations depicting Trajan on the obverse, some with reverses depicting Trajan's sister Marciana, and others with reverses depicting her daughter, Trajan's niece, Matidia. Circulating alongside the other coins, these coins advertised the importance of Marciana and Matidia to the imperial family and suggested that they, similar to Demeter and her daughter Persephone, were essential to the prosperity of the empire.GB110042. Bronze hemiassarion, Ziegler 122; RPC III 3375; BMC Lycaonia p. 31, 3; SNG BnF 2026; cf. SNG Levante 1380 (year 132); SNG Cop -; SNGvA -; SNG Righetti -, F, dark green patina, scratches, reverse edge beveled, weight 3.023 g, maximum diameter 17.0 mm, die axis 0o, Anazarbus (Anavarza, Turkey) mint, 114 - 115 A.D.; obverse KAICAPIA ANAZAP, veiled bust of Persephone right, grain ears and poppy before; reverse veiled bust of Demeter right, wearing polos (resembling a pileus), flaming torch before, ET ΓΛP (year 133) upward behind; $70.00 SALE PRICE $63.00
With an army of mercenaries, through deceit, and after banishing or murdering some 10,000 citizens, Agathocles made himself master of Syracuse and later most of Sicily. Machiavelli wrote of him, "It cannot be called prowess to kill fellow-citizens, to betray friends, to be treacherous, pitiless, and irreligious" and cited him as an example of "those who by their crimes come to be princes." According to the historian Justin, very early in life Agathocles parlayed his remarkable beauty into a career as a prostitute, first for men, and later, after puberty, for women, and then made a living by robbery before becoming a soldier and marrying a rich widow.SH79280. Silver tetradrachm, Ierardi 40 (O7/R23), SNG ANS 639 (same dies), SNG Delepierre 701, SNG Lloyd 1479, Boston MFA 460, HGC 2 1348 (S), SNG Cop -, SNG Munchen -, gVF, superb classical style, excellent centering on a tight flan, toned, flan flaw on obverse, weight 16.954 g, maximum diameter 25.2 mm, die axis 270o, Syracuse mint, c. 317 - 310/305 B.C.; obverse head of Persephone (or Arethusa) left, crowned with grain, wearing triple-drop earrings and a pearl necklace, surrounded by three dolphins, NI below; reverse quadriga galloping left, young charioteer wearing long chiton, kentron in right hand, reins in left hand, triskeles above; ΣYPAKOΣIΩN over AI monogram in exergue; ex Helios Numismatik, auction 6 (9 March 2011), lot 345; scarce; SOLD
Mytilene, Lesbos, c. 377 - 326 B.C.
Mytilene was famous in ancient times for its great output of electrum coins struck from the late 6th through mid - 4th centuries B.C. The usual denomination was the hekte (1/6th stater). Warwick Wroth noted in the British Museum Catalog, "The Sixths of [this Lesbos electrum series] form one of the most beautiful coin-series of the ancient world. This will be evident from a glance."SH73442. Electrum hekte, Bodenstedt 99; SNG Cop 321; SNGvA 1729; HGC 6 1025; Boston MFA 1735; Weber 5631, gVF, fine style, minor die wear, weight 2.564 g, maximum diameter 10.5 mm, die axis 0o, Mytilene mint, c. 377 - 326 B.C.; obverse head of Kabeiros right, wearing wreath and pileus, two stars flanking cap; reverse head of Persephone right in linear square; ex Triton XVII (6 - 7 Jan 2015), lot 599; ex CNG auction 72 (14 Jun 2006), lot 714; SOLD
Syracuse, Sicily, Agathokles, 317 - 289 B.C.
Although Agathocles was brutal in pursuit of power, afterward he was a mild and popular "tyrant." His grandest goal was to establish democracy as the dominant form of government for the world. He did not want his sons to succeed him as king and restored the Syracusan democracy on his death bed.
KOPAΣ is the Doric genitive of Kore, "the Maiden," an epithet of Persephone.SH95923. Silver tetradrachm, Ierardi 171 (O43/R114), SNG ANS 672, SNG München 1263, SNG Fitzwilliam 1344, HGC 2 1536, VF, attractive barbarous style, light tone with dark spots, flow lines, bumps, scratches, die wear, weight 17.047 g, maximum diameter 26.5 mm, die axis 180o, Syracuse mint, 310 - 308 B.C.; obverse KOPAΣ (conterclockwise behind), head of Kore right, wreathed in grain, wearing earring and necklace; reverse AΓAΘOKΛEIOΣ (curving clockwise on left), Nike standing half right, raising trophy of captured arms, nude to the hips, hammer in right hand, nail in left hand, counterclockwise triskeles at feet on left, no ground line; from the Errett Bishop Collection; SOLD
Lokris Opuntia, Lokris, Greece, c. 340 - 330 B.C.
Lokrian Ajax (the Lesser) was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. Locrians are mentioned by Homer in the Iliad as following Ajax, the son of Oïleus, to the Trojan War in forty ships, and as inhabiting the towns of Kynos, Opus, Calliarus, Besa, Scarphe, Augeiae, Tarphe, and Thronium. Lokrian Ajax was called the "lesser" or "Lokrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He is also mentioned in the Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid.GS83462. Silver triobol, BCD Lokris 98; BMC Central p. 2, 9; SNG Cop 50; SNG Lockett 1700; de Luynes 1958; Pozzi 1339; SGCV I 2330; HGC 4 997, aVF, attractive style, tight flan, etched surfaces, weight 2.385 g, maximum diameter 15.3 mm, die axis 0o, Lokris Opuntia mint, c. 340 - 330 B.C.; obverse head of Persephone right, wearing wreath of grain, single-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; reverse OΠONTIΩN, Ajax son of Oileus, advancing right in fighting attitude, nude but for crested Corinthian helmet, short sword in right hand, shield on left arm ornamented inside with coiled snake (control symbol), kantharos (control symbol) below; scarce; SOLD
Caligula, 16 March 37 - 24 January 41 A.D., Smyrna, Ionia, Julia Drusilla Reverse
Julia Drusilla was her brother Caligula's favorite and was rumored to be his lover. In 38 A.D. she fell to fever. Caligula would not leave her side, and after she died, did not want anyone take her body away. He buried his sister with the honors of an Augusta, acted as a grieving widower, and had the Senate declare her a Goddess.RP58846. Bronze AE 20, RPC I 2472; SNG Cop 1343; SNGvA 2202; BMC Ionia p. 269, 272, VF, weight 4.977 g, maximum diameter 19.7 mm, die axis 0o, Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey) mint, Menophanes, Aviola procos, c. 37 - 38 A.D.; obverse ΓAION KAICAPA EΠI AOYIOΛA, laureate head right; reverse ΔPOYCIΛΛAN ZMYPNAIΩN MHNOΦANHC, Drusilla as Persephone seated left, poppies in right, grain ears and scepter in left; scarce; SOLD