DYNASTS OF LYCIA. Kybernis (?), circa 500-480 BC. Stater (Silver, 19 mm, 9.47 g, 1 h). Forepart of a boar to left, ending in a pelleted vertical line; on the shoulder, KYB. Rev. Irregular incuse punch. Falghera 35 var. (with KY on shoulder). Müseler III, 3 (same dies). SNG von Aulock 4045 var. (with KY on shoulder). Traité I 792 and Pl. XXI, 9 (same dies). An exceptional example of this important issue, lightly toned and very well struck. Some die rust and with minor scrapes on the reverse, otherwise, about extremely fine.



The legend KYB on this coin, and KY on others, may refer to Kybernis, son of Sikas, an early Lycian dynast attested by Herodotus as having taken part in the Persian invasion of Greece (Hdt. VII.98) and likely the owner of the famous Harpy Tomb at Xanthos. If so, these would be among the earliest, if not the earliest, Lycian coins to name a local dynast, struck at a time when the Greek alphabet was on the verge of being replaced by the newly developed local Lycian script.