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Chimaera and Dove
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Sikyonia, Sikyon, 330/20-280 BC, AR Triobol
Chimaera standing left; ΣI below. / Dove flying left; Δ above tail feathers. BCD Peloponnesos 298 (this coin); BMC 112 var.; SNG Copenhagen 61 var. (ΔI on reverse) - very rare variant.
(15 mm, 2.99 g, 7h)
CNG; ex- BCD Collection; LHS 96 (8 May 2006) Lot 298.
The Chimaera, featured on the obverse of this coin, was a mythical fire-breathing beast; a composite of a lion, a goat and a snake. In myth, it inhabited Lycia in Asia Minor. It’s sighting was considered to be a portent or omen of storms, shipwrecks and natural disasters. The Chimaera’s representation in the arts is wholly Greek. It evolved to become a decorative motif in the region around Corinth. The pairing of a motif that forebodes disaster on the obverse, with a dove, the symbol of Aphrodite, goddess of love on the reverse is curious. Perhaps this was a metaphor for the ancients’ view of the double-sided nature of life?
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