ISLANDS OFF THRACE, Lemnos. Myrina. Circa 300 BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 10 mm, 1.33 g, 9 h). Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet. Rev. M-Y Owl standing right, head facing. CNG E-Auction 474 (2020), 30. HGC 6 -. Lindgren 891. SNG Copenhagen -. Extremely rare. Minor corrosion, otherwise, very fine.


The island of Lemnos is situated to the west of the Dardanelles. In Archaic times, it was home to the non-Greek Tyrrhenians, whose poorly recorded language shows remarkable similarities to Etruscan. In the early 5th century BC, Lemnos was conquered by Miltiades and subsequently remained under Athenian control until the Severan time, which explains the appearance of Athena on the obverse and her owl on the reverse of this extremely rare civic issue.