Karia Uncertain (BC 470-420) Drachm

ca 430 BC. AR Drachm (3.78g, 3h). Gorgoneion with out-stretched tongue, surround by four wings arranged in clockwise direction / Harpy with four wings and stretched claws flying right, 3 pellets to left, all in deep incuse square. Very rare. Light toning, VF.

One of the very rare representations of a Harpy on an ancient coin. The dating and assignment to a Carian mint are not completely secure - one finds the Harpy motif on other Carian Incerta from the second half of the 5th century BC (see Troxell, Winged Carians, p. 262, 37-40), but a mint in Lycia could also be conceivable.

File information
Filename:	00141q00.jpg
City/Mint name:	Karia Uncertain
Rating (6 votes):
Keywords:	silver / classical
References:	Babelon, Traite II, 1606 and Pl. CXLV, 1 = de Luynes 2751 = Imhoof-Blumer, Monnaies grecques (Paris/Leipzig 1883), S. 466, 39. J. P. Six, Monnaies grecques, inï¿½dites et incertaines, NC 1890, p. 236, 26
Valuation:	Lanz Auc. 106 (11/2001), lot 141 (DM 5,500 ($2,497) + comm)
Photo courtesy of:	Numismatik Lanz - www.numislanz.de
Filesize:	46 KiB
Date added:	Dec 24, 2004
Dimensions:	727 x 349 pixels
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