Exceptional Lampsacus Electrum Stater

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is excited to
offer a wide variety of choice ancient coins in our August ANA World’s Fair of
Money auction in Denver. One such piece is an Electrum Stater from Lampsacus.
Lampsacus was strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in
the northern Troad. This location in modern-day Northern Turkey, near the
Dardanelles, has been of great importance to trade for millennia. Indeed, trade
has been so important to this region that they, very early on in their history,
began to mint coins to facilitate trade. This example follows in the footsteps
of the first minted coinage (also struck in electrum) produced by Phoenicia.
Lampsacus was colonized from Phocaea and Miletus, and is noted for its
excellent wine.

The obverse design features the
forepart of the mythical winged horse Pegasus facing left with a grape vine
around. The Pegasus design is often seen on ancient coins, and is arguably one
of the most famous creatures from Greek mythology. Poseidon, god of the sea and
patron of horses, donned the form of a horse and visited the Gorgon Medusa.
From this union the divine winged stallion, pure white in color, Pegasus was
born. Pegasus would prove a loyal ally to the hero Bellerophon as he vanquished
the formidable Chimaera. The grape vine that winds around the forepart of
Pegasus is a reference to the famed wine produced by Lampsacus. The reverse
design features the typical quadripartite incuse square design. This piece is
well centered on a nice round planchet of good quality metal. This iconic and
beautiful coin is a choice example, and should command spirited bidding when it
crosses the auction block.

While we are no longer accepting
consignments for our August 2017 ANA Auction, we are still accepting
consignments of Chinese and other Asian coins and currency for our August 2017
Hong Kong Showcase Auction. In addition to this, we are currently taking
consignments of world and ancient coins as well as world paper money for our
October 2017 Collectors Choice Online Auction and the January 2018 New York
International Auction. Time is running short, so if you are interested in
consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a whole collection or a
single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment directors.