Zeus

AR Tetradrachm, 17.12g. 30mm.  Rhodes mint, Stasion magistrate, c.201-190 B.C.  Head of Herakles wearing lion's skin to right.  Rev. Zeus enthroned to left holding eagle and scepter; "STASSION" to left and "PO" below the throne( the ethnic abbreviation for Rhodes); rose in field to left.  Price 2517.  Luster under medium gray toning and scarce in this high quality.   

Price notes that the Rhodes mint issues were of limited production with several of the magistrates sharing the same obverse die.  Stasion's name also appears on the autonomous Rhodian coinage of the period and must have been from one of the wealthy Rhodian families. 

Provenance/Pedigree:
Ex: Hess-Leu, Lucerne, Auction 27, 1956, lot 274
Ex: Münzen und Medaillen, Basel, List 289, June 1968, no. 18.

AR Tetradrachm, 16.91g. 26.5mm.  Alexander III types struck under Kassander. Uranopolis mint.    Head of Herakles to right wearing lion's skin.  Rev. Zeus enthroned to left holding scepter and eagle; star on cone (symbol of Aphrodite Urania) in field to left.  Price 513.  Wonderful quality and style; lovely deep toning.

Provenance/Pedigree:
Ex: Walter Weise collection, purchaed from Rudiger Kaiser, Frankfurt, 1986.

AR Hemidrachm, 2.17g. 14mm.  c.265-240 B.C.  Laureate head of Zeus to right.  Rev. Thunderbolt within wreath.  BCD Olympia 229(dies).  SNG Delepierre 2217(dies).  SNG Lockett 2437.  Toned.

Provenance/Pedigree:
Ex: CNG 103, 2004, lot 60.

AR Tetradrachm, 16.42g. 35mm.  Dated year 205=94-93 B.C. Diademed head of Nikomedes to right.  Rev. Zeus standing to left holdiing wreath and scepter; eagle on thunderbolt in field to left.  Recueil II, 591. de Callatay, Guerres, pl. 56 D60/R2(this coin).   Exceptional high relief portrait and attractive old collection toning.

Provenance/Pedigree:
Ex: Glendining, London, Auction March 7-8, 1957, lot 256, Sale of a Foreign Ambassador.

AR Tetradrachm, 17.08g. 28mm. Seleukia in Pieria mint, c.300 B.C. Head of Herakles to right wearing lion's skin. Rev. Zeus enthroned to left holding scepter and wreath-bearing nike; K P below; monogram in field to left; Greek inscription, "King Seleukos"  SC 29.1b.  WSM 893. Houghton 401.  Fine style and struck in high relief. Toned.

Seleukos founded the port city of Seleukia in Pieria on April 23, 300 according to a 6th century chronicle by Jophn Malalas.  The city was later the site of Seleukos' tomb and posthumous cult ( See SC, vol. 1, p. 23). 

Provenance/Pedigree
Ex: Spink, Zurich, Auction 20, October 6, 1986, lot 334.

AR Tetradrachm, 16.71g. 30mm.  Damaskos mint, dated year 195= 118/117 B.C.  Diademed head of Antiochos VIII to right.  Rev. Zeus Ouranios standing to left holding scepter and star; lunar crescent above.  SC 2322.5; die break on reverse.  Toned.

Provenance/Pedigrees
Ex: Auctiones, Basel, Auction 29. June 121-13, 2003, lot 749.
Ex: Münzen und Medaillen, Basel, Auction 17, October 4, 2005.lot 1228

AE 25, 10.54g. Laureate and cuirassed bust of the mature Caracalla to right. Rv. Zeus standing to right holding scepter and thunderbolt.. Jurukova 7. Die break on obverse; green and brown patina. Exceptional quality and virtually as struck.

Provenance/Pedigrees

Ex: Aufhauser, Munich, Auction 16, October 16, 2001, lot 375.

AE 37.5mm, 23.83g.  Facing busts of Septimius and Julia Domna; counterstamp with head of Caracalla below.  Rev. Zeus Panamaros holding scepter and riding to right.  BMC 55.  SNG von Aulock 2668. Hoegego 84 for counterstamp. Brown patina.

Provenance/Pedigree:

Ex: Münzen Auktion Essen, 1994, lot 317.

Panamara was a dependecy of Stratonikeia and contained an important temple to Zeus.   Labienus and the Parthians in 40/39  B.C. unsuccesfully attempted to capture both Stratonikeia and Panamara.    They were foiled at Panamara by an intervention of Zeus.  (See: Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976.).  This manifestation of Zeus is depicted on the reverse of the coin. 

A dedicatory inscription probabably for a sculptural group was found at Panamara and relates the details of Zeus' aid during the siege.  The Parthians fist attempted a surprise attack at night but Zeus illuminated the sky with lightining to alert the Panamarian defenders.   During a subsequesnt attack, Zeus enveloped the attackers in fog and a severe storm which caused great confusion within their ranks but allowed the defenders to be hidden in the fog with a resulstant slaughter of the attackers.  (See: Georgia Petridou, "Crossing Physical and Cultural Borders in the Battlefield: Amorphous Epiphanies and Divine Bilingualism"  pp. 155ff. in Borders, Terminologies, Idiologies, and Performances, Annette Weissenrieder(ed), 2016.

AE 14, 1.69g. Head of Gamerses(?) to right wearing short hair with long braid, earring, and necklace. Rv. Zeus standing to left; star in field to left. Klein 563. Excellent portrait and fine green patina.

Gamerses is otherwise unknown except for his coinage. His name appears on the reverse of this coin and it is likely that it is his portrait on the obverse.

Provenance/Pedigrees: 

Ex: Künker, Osnabruck, Auction 257, October 10, 2014, lot 8234

AE 18, 5.98g. 2nd-1st cents. B.C.  Laureate head of Zeus to right.  Rev. Thunderbolt within wreath. SNG Kayhan 1010. BMC_. SNG COP_.  SNG Munich_.   Dark brown patina.

AE 15mm, 2.26g. Humped bull standing to right.  Rev. Zeus seated to left.  Lindgren I, 1733. Lovely green patina.

Provenance/Pedigrees: 

Ex: Numismatik Naumann 48, Munich, November 20, 2016, lot 292

AE Drachm, 72.15g. 42.5mm. Alexandria mint. Diademed head of Zeus Ammon to right. Rev. Eagle standing to left on thunderbolt; cornucopia in field to left.  Svoronos 964.  SNG COP 171-2.  Reddish-brown patina with some areas of encrustation.

Provenance/Pedigree:

Ex: Freeman and Sear, Los Angeles, Mail Bid Sale 15, June 27, 2008, lot 224.

AE Dichalkon, 2.68g.  15.5mm. Paphos, Cyprus mint.  Diademed head of Zeus Ammon to right.  Rev. Cult figure of Aphrodite standing; she holds lotus flower to breast with her right hand and poppy or myrtle branches in her left hand.   Lorber B450.  SNG COP 647. Svoronos 1008.  Wieser 108.  Lovely green patina and possibly the finest known example of  this scarce issue.

Provenance/Pedigrees

Ex: Bankhaus Aufhäuser, Munich, Auction 8, October 9, 1991, lot 278
Ex: CNG 87, 2011, lot 702.