Lot 3114
Thessaly, Kierion, c. 400-344 BC. AR Stater (11.88 g) struck c. 350 BC. Laureate head right of Zeus. Reverse: Asklepios seated left on rock; to left, snake in tree. Babelon (Traité IV) 507, pl. 289, 21 (same dies). Excellent metal. Struck from a forceful obverse die and a somewhat worn reverse die. The finest of four known examples of this type. Extremely Fine and very rare.
Located in the center of the southern plain of Thessaly, Kierion was home to a venerable sanctuary of Poseidon, and an ancient temple of Athena Itonia also lay in the neighborhood. As often happens, the local coinage attests to additional cults not mentioned by ancient authors in connection with the city. Its staters feature a head of Zeus strongly influenced by the tetradrachms of Philip II of Macedon, reflecting the dominant role played by Philip in the mid-fourth century as leader of the Thessalian Confederacy and victor in the Third Sacred War. The reverse depicts the healing god Asklepios, whose cult apparently originated in Thessaly, at Trikka, and spread from there to become one of the most influential of the Hellenistic world. This charming design has a narrative aspect and must surely allude to a myth, perhaps one explaining how the god formed his association with a snake. Asklepios was usually portrayed as a mature, bearded man, but a famous statue at Sikyon, by the sculptor Kalamis, showed him young and beardless, as he is here.
Estimated Value $15,000 - 20,000.
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