Asia Minor Coins - Photo Gallery

Ancient Greek and Roman coins from Asia Minor


Coin ID #3143

Memnon (BC 340-334) Siglos

Memnon of Rhodes, Satrap in Ionia, ca 340-334 BC. Ephesos? AR Siglos (5.46g, 3h). Persian king or hero in kneeling-running stance right, holding dagger and bow / Incuse relief map of the hinterland of Ephesos(?). Good VF, trace of encrustation on reverse. Extremely rare.

The reverse depicts what Johnston interprets as a relief map of the hinterland of Ephesos (the earliest Greek map and first physical relief map known) - the mountains Tmolos and Messogis between the river valleys of the Caister and Maeander, and three mountain ridges (Madranbaba Dagi, Karincali Dagi, and Akaba Tepesi). Johnston follows Six in suggesting that the coins were probably struck under the Persian general Memnon at Ephesos, circa 336-334 BC, in order to pay his army after he had captured the city, but before his defeat by Alexander at the Battle of Granicus in 334. However, this theory is still debated and doubted by some scholars, most recently by Leo Mildenberg.

File information
Filename:700238.jpg
City/Mint name:Satraps and Governors
Rating (2 votes):00000
Keywords:silver / classical
References:Cf. Johnston, "The Earliest Preserved Greek Map: A New Ionian Coin Type," JHS (1967), 1-2 (AE); cf. Mildenberg, "Uber das Muenzwesen im Reich der Achaemeniden," Vestigia Leonis, pp. 25-26 and pl. XII, 110 - XIII, 112; cf. Baldwin's
Valuation:CNG Auc. 70 (9/2005), lot 238 ($1,300 + comm)
Photo courtesy of:Classical Numismatic Group - www.cngcoins.com
Filesize:48 KiB
Date added:Nov 13, 2005
Dimensions:380 x 176 pixels
Displayed:898 times
URL:http://www.asiaminorcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=3143
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