AEOLIS. Kyme. Circa 155-143 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 34 mm, 17.00 g, 1 h), Herakleides, magistrate, circa 151/0. Diademed head of the Amazon Kyme to right. Rev. KYMAIΩN - ΗPAKΛEIΔHΣ Horse prancing right; below, one-handled cup; below raised foreleg, eagle with closed wings standing right on thunderbolt; all within laurel wreath. Oakley 65.3 and pl. 12 (this coin). SNG Copenhagen 105. A spectacular coin of great beauty. Lightly toned, struck on a very broad flan and of magnificent Hellenistic style. Extremely fine.



The city of Kyme, situated on two hills along the western coast of Asia Minor, was the largest and most significant settlement of Aeolis. Its fluctuating fortunes - an influential yet never dominant polis, alternating between independence and subjugation under the Persian, various Hellenistic, and ultimately the Roman great powers - were typical of Greek settlements in Asia Minor. In numismatics, Kyme is especially renowned for its magnificent Stephanophoroi - high Hellenistic tetradrachms featuring the Amazon Kyme, the city's legendary founder, on the obverse and a horse on the reverse. As is often the case with these coins, the artistic styles vary considerably. However, this example must be one of the finest tetradrachms of Kyme known. Not only is it perfectly struck on a very broad flan - and thus free from the striking weaknesses that usually plague this series - but it was produced from dies cut by a highly skilled artist, who created a true Hellenistic masterpiece.