Ancients MYSIA. Cyzicus. Ca. 450-350 BC. EL stater (20mm, 16.07

Ancients
MYSIA. Cyzicus. Ca. 450-350 BC. EL stater (20mm, 16.07 gm). NGC AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Heracles, nude, kneeling right, both arms wrapped around neck of the Nemean lion, which crouches left, trying to bite Heracles' left leg; tunny fish right below / Quadripartite mill-sail incuse square pattern. SNG France 308-309. Extremely rare with only one other example, in a much lower grade, having come to auction in the past 20 years. Wonderfully centered with bold depth and mellow brilliance to the fields.

Cyzicus was an important city on the northwestern coast of Anatolia, well positioned to take advantage of trade across and through the Sea of Marmara. Its coinage was in more or less continuous production from circa 550 BC-AD 630, a nearly 1,200 year span unmatched by any other ancient mint. The tunny (tuna) fish was the symbol of Cyzicus from mid-6th century BC, when the city began striking electrum staters and fractions that circulated so widely the generic term for a stater became a cyzicenus. The fishing trade was critical to the economy of Cyzicus and it is likely the tunny fish became a form of pre-coinage currency, which carried over to become a mint symbol after the invention of coinage in nearby Lydia.

The adventures of the mighty Hercules can be found on coinage throughout ancient Greece and Rome, and the staters of Cyzicus are no different. The epic story of Jason and the Argonauts tells of the ship of heroes landing on the island of Cyzicus where they were welcomed warmly by the king, Cyzicus. After their ship mistakenly returned and was believed to be an enemy invader, a battle ensued resulting in the death of the king who was slain by either Jason or Hercules. This type, with Hercules in the throws of one of his labors above the island's mint symbol, is a delightful example of the merging of myth, history, and culture in the form of coinage.

https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-mysia-cyzicus-ca-450-350-bc-el-stater-20mm-1607-gm-ngc-auand-9733-5-5-4-5/a/3107-30021.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023

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Estimate: 40000-60000 USD