Nomos 38

PERSIAN ASIA MINOR, Achaemenid Empire. Kyros the Younger, Satrap of Lydia, Phrygia and Cappadocia, 408-401 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 24 mm, 16.72 g, 9 h), Sardes, 402-401 BC. Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with three olive leaves and palmette, round earring and pearl necklace; on the cheek, 𐡔‎ (= S in Aramaic). Rev. AΘE Head of Athena to right, wearing a crested Attic helmet, adorned with three olive leaves and a palmette, a circular earring and a pearl necklace; on her cheek, 𐡔‎ (S in Aramaic). Hess-Leu 49 (1971), 163 (same dies). SNG ANS Palestine - South Arabia, 3 (same dies, but as an issue of the Samaritan city of Shomron). W. Weiser, Die Eulen von Kyros dem Jüngeren: Zu den ersten Münzportäts lebender Menschen, ZPE 76 (1989) pp. 267-296, and pl. XVI, 2-3 (same dies). A historically fascinating coin of great interest. Well-struck and very attractive. Minor marks, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

In his seminal 1989 paper on the 'owls' of Cyrus the Younger, Wolfram Weiser linked a group of coins—two of which are featured in this auction—to the mercenary pay provided to Greek soldiers in the service of the ill-fated Persian prince between 407 and 405 BC. According to his argument, such coinage eventually helped the Spartan faction win the Battle of Aegospotami and, consequently, the Peloponnesian War. This theory is supported by ancient historiographers, most notably Xenophon in his Hellenica. However, a second possibility must be considered, and it also involves Xenophon: What if these high-quality imitations of Athenian owls were actually produced to pay a different group of mercenaries? Specifically, the Greek elite warriors enlisted by Cyrus to overthrow his brother Artaxerxes II, whose adventures were immortalized in the Anabasis?