MYSIA. Kyzikos. Circa 450-330 BC. Stater (Electrum, 20 mm, 16.00 g, 1 h). Sphinx with straight wings seated left on tunny to left. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. BMC -. Boston MFA -. Hurter & Liewald I, 27a. Jameson 2205. L. Mildenberg, The Cyzicenes: a reappraisal, in: AJN 5-6 (1993-1994), pl. 2, 21. SNG Paris -. SNG von Aulock -. Von Fritze I, -. Extremely rare. Very well centered and of fine style, with a wonderful sphinx. Good very fine.


The sphinx was not a specifically Kyzikene creature: it was above all the familiar civic badge of Chios, where it formed the principal coin type for centuries and was probably associated with the cult of Dionysos. Its appearance at Kyzikos may therefore be more than a purely decorative choice. The great trading city was remarkably receptive to the imagery of the wider Greek world, occasionally adopting well-known foreign types for its own celebrated electrum coinage.