CILICIA. Mallos. Circa 385-375 BC. Stater (Silver, 20 mm, 10.22 g, 3 h). Herakles kneeling to left, strangling the Nemean lion; below, club. Rev. MA[Λ] Laureate and bearded head (of Herakles?) to left. Casabonne type 10. SNG Paris -. SNG Levante 154 (same dies). Very rare. Porous, otherwise, very fine.


Herakles is not normally associated with Mallos on the city's coins. Usually one sees solar deities and swans, Aphrodite and Hermes, and occasionally a Persian satrap. What is special about this coin is that it not only depicts the heroic demigod, but it also employs one of his most iconic representations, namely the slaying of the Nemean lion. After strangling the beast, which was said to be black as night, he wore its skin as a cloak that could not be pierced, thus protecting Heracles from all possible injuries. Interestingly, while the obverse shows Herakles as a youth without a beard, the reverse shows him in his more typical form, with a full beard and a laurel wreath.