HistoricalCoins

Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 247. Closing Date: Jan 
10, 2005. THRACE, Chersonesos. Miltiades II. 
Circa 495-494 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.20 gm, 3h). 
Estimate $20000 Sold For $42500 

THRACE, Chersonesos. Miltiades II. Circa 495-494 
BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.20 gm, 3h). Lion standing 
right, head left, raising left forepaw, tail 
curled above / Head of Athena left, wearing 
crested Attic helmet and earring, within incuse 
square. Seltman Group Q, 488-489 var. (A332/P-; 
unlisted reverse die); BMC Thrace -; SNG 
Copenhagen -; Muschmov 5445 = Traité pl. LVII, 15; 
Pozzi 1101 = J.P. Six, "Monnaies grecques, 
inédites et incertaines," NC 1895, pg. 186, 5; 
Weber 2400 = H. Weber, "On some Unpublished or 
Rare Greek Coins in my Collection," NC 1892, pg. 
188, 6; Pozzi 1100; Hirsch 897 (all from the same 
obverse die). Good VF, toned, minor porosity. 
Extremely rare, the finest of six known. ($20,000)
This issue dates from the Ionian Revolt (499-494 
BC). Miletos was the principal mover in the 
revolt, and city after city joined the cause 
against Persia. Athens sent a fleet to assist her 
Ionian cousins. The chief city of the Chersonese 
was Kardia, originally a Milesian foundation. 
Other cities expelled their pro-Persian tyrants, 
but the tyrant of the Chersonese was an Athenian 
with no love of the Persians, and Miltiades threw 
off his Persian allegiance and issued this coinage 
which proclaimed his loyalty to the revolt. Struck 
on the Attic rather than the Persian standard, 
these tetradrachms display the lion of Miletos on 
the obverse and a head of Athena, reflecting 
Athenian coins of the time, on the reverse.

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