PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. Time of Darios II to Artaxerxes II, 423-359/8 BC. AE (Bronze, 15 mm, 3.00 g, 12 h), struck under Tissaphernes (?), Satrap of Lydia and Ionia. Dora, circa 413-401 BC. Bearded male head to right, wearing satrapal headdress. Rev. BA Owl standing right, head facing; all within incuse square. Jeselsohn p. 169, 1-2. S. Qedar: Tissaphernes at Dor?, in: Studies Mildenberg, Group D. SNG von Aulock 7636 (as Sigeion). Very rare and exceptionally well preserved. A beautiful example of this intriguing issue with a lovely portrait and attractive earthen highlights. The reverse struck somewhat off center, otherwise, good very fine.


The attribution of these pieces has long been disputed. Qedar proposed a minting in Phoenician Dora - today’s Tel Dor, about 20 km south of Haifa - since several examples have turned up there both as stray finds and in excavations. Von Aulock, however, acquired his specimen near Sigeion and therefore assigned it to that city, especially as the owl strongly recalls the civic coinage of Sigeion.

In the recently published D. Jeselsohn collection, the attribution to Dor is preferred, though it is emphasized that the circumstances of the minting remain unclear. The coins are often associated with Tissaphernes, the powerful Persian satrap of Lydia and Ionia, who played a major role in the protracted wars in Asia Minor during the late 5th and early 4th centuries BC. The portrait recalls very rare satrapal tetradrachms, which bear a similar head on the obverse and, on the reverse, depict the Great King in a kneeling-running stance, a galley, and the Greek legend BAΣIΛEΩΣ - corresponding to the BA on the reverse of our coin. The image, however, is not identical, and it remains uncertain whether it portrays Tissaphernes himself or merely a generic satrapal type.

We know that Tissaphernes commanded significant Phoenician naval forces, which might explain why he had coins struck at Dor, far from his own satrapy. The coin acquired by von Aulock could then have reached the Troad through the operations of the Phoenician fleet in the Aegean. The reverse scenario is also conceivable: that the coins were minted in Asia Minor and brought to Dor by returning ships. Against this, however, stands the ratio of finds - a single piece from the Troad compared to ten from Dor - as well as the fact that this coin type has not appeared in any other city of the Levant. We therefore favor an attribution to Dor, even if absolute certainty is unattainable.

Interestingly, both Qedar and the Jeselsohn collection describe the coins as bronze cores of plated silver drachms. A close examination of our specimen, however, makes it clear that it was never silver-plated: no traces of silver can be detected, nor does it show the typically porous and blurry surfaces of such bronze cores. On the contrary, the piece is a sharply struck bronze coin with perfectly intact patina. Von Aulock likewise found no evidence of plating on his coin. It is conceivable that all the pieces were originally struck in bronze, and that some were later dipped in silver rather than plated in the usual way - but this would require more thorough metallurgical studies of those specimens that are said to show silver traces.