NEW YORK SALE 2018 Ancients.indd

Magnificent Mende Silver Tetradrachm

Macedonia, Mende. Silver Tetradrachm (17.15 g), ca. 460-423 BC. Dionysos, inebriated, holding kanthar-

os, reclining left on back of ass standing right. Rev. MEN-

A-I-ON, vine with five grape bunches. SNG

ANS 336; Gulbenkian 410 (same dies). Boldly struck and well centered.

Very Rare.

One of the finest

known. Nearly Mint State.

$20,000

From the Dionysus Collection

Ex E. Waddell inventory, April 1999.

Founded by Eretrian colonists in the Chalkidike in the ninth century BC, Mende is said to have derived its name from a corrup-

tion of minthe, the Greek name for the mint plants that grew in the region. The city grew wealthy from its access to lumber,

silver, and gold from the Thraco-Macedonian interior, but owed much of its fame to local wine production. Mendean wine was

so renowned and sought after that the fourth-century BC sculptor Lysippos reportedly designed a special form of amphora

specifically for the transport of this vintage. Thus it is not surprising that a large vine heavy with succulent grapes was chosen

as the badge for the reverse of this tetradrachm, while the obverse depicts the god of the vine, Dionysos or, perhaps, Selinos.

The latter was a rustic deity, the father or grandfather of both the satyrs and the nymphs and spent most of his time completely

drunk. Indeed, he was usually so drunk that he needed to be supported by satyrs or, as on this coin, by an ass. When the wine god

Dionysos was born from the thigh of Zeus, Hermes placed the infant in the care of Silenos - after all, who else more suited to

raising the god of wine than a drunken satyr - who became his tutor and was a prominent figure in the Dionysiac thiasos (retinue).

Macedonia, Olynthos. Chalkidian League. Silver Tetrobol (2.45 g), ca. 432-348 BC. Olynthos, 383/2 BC.

Laureate head of Apollo left. Rev.

KID

]

, kithara within incuse square. Cf. SNG ANS 516;

cf. SNG Copenhagen 236. A superb specimen of fine style. Lightly toned. Extremely Fine.

$800

Ex Gorny & Mosch 190 (11 October 2010), lot 119;

Ex Lanz 92 (4 June 1998), lot 196.