PHRYGIA. Synnada. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Diassarion (Bronze, 25 mm, 7.58 g, 5 h), time of Antoninus Pius, 138-161. BOYΛH Laureate and veiled bust of Boule to right. Rev. CYNNAΔЄΩN ΔΩPIЄΩN Lakedaimon, helmeted and in military attire, standing front, head to right, holding spear with his right hand and the Palladion in his left. BMC -, cf. 30 (hero standing left, described as 'Akamas (?)'). Imhoof-Blumer, KM -, cf. p. 294, 15 (Antoninus Pius on the obverse). Martin -, cf. Synnada 5 (hero standing left, described as 'Akamas (?)'). RPC IV online -, cf. 2205 (Antoninus Pius on the obverse) and 3941 (Marcus Aurelius as Caesar on the obverse, the reverse described as 'Akamas (?)'). SNG Copenhagen -. SNG Leypold -. SNG Righetti -. SNG Tübingen -. SNG von Aulock -. Apparently unpublished and unique, a very interesting issue. Light earthen deposits, otherwise, good very fine.

While the coins of Synnada usually claim both a Dorian and an Ionian heritage, this coin, together with issues of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Caesar showing the same unnamed hero on the reverse, only boasts the Dorian descent of the city. This remarkable coincidence not only dates our coin to the reign of Antoninus Pius, but it also gives considerable weight to the argument of Imhoof-Blumer that the figure on the reverse is indeed the Dorian hero Lakedaimon, not Akamas, who was, as an Athenian, of course an Ionian