124 125
124
Attica, Athens (c.449-415 BC), Silver Tetradrachm, 16.76g. Helmeted head of Athena facing right. Rev.
ΑΘΕ
,
owl standing right, head facing, olive-spray with berry and crescent above to left, all within an incuse square
(Kroll 8; Svoronos pl. 14; SNG Copenhagen 31-). Very fine.
$ 1,000
125
Attica, Athens (c.449-415 BC), Silver Tetradrachm, 17.17g, 9h. Head of Athena facing right, wearing a crested
Attic helmet decorated with three olive-leaves and a palmette. Rev.
ΑΘΕ
, owl standing right, head facing, an
olive-sprig and a crescent behind, all within an incuse square (Kroll 8; SNG Copenhagen 31). Slightly oval
flan, nearly extremely fine.
$ 800
ex Spink Numismatic Circular, volume CXV, number 6, December 2007, item GK2354
126 127
126
Attica, Athens (c.449-415 BC), Silver Tetradrachm, 16.92g, 2h. Head of Athena facing right, wearing a crested
Attic helmet decorated with three olive-leaves and a palmette. Rev.
ΑΘΕ
, owl standing right, head facing, an
olive-sprig and crescent behind, all within an incuse square (Kroll 8; SNG Copenhagen 31). Attractive style,
lightly toned, very fine.
$ 650
127
Attica, Athens (c.449-415 BC), Silver Tetradrachm, 16.2g. Eastern imitation. Helmeted head of Athena facing
right. Rev.
ΑΘΕ
, owl standing right, head facing, olive-spray with berry and crescent above to left, all within
an incuse square (cf Kroll 8; cf Svoronos pl. 14; cf SNG Copenhagen 31-40). Ancient test cut behind head,
extremely fine.
$ 2,500
128
Attica, Athens (86-84 BC), Silver New Style Tetradrachm, 15.94g, 12h. Issue of Sulla, struck 86-84 BC.
Head of Athena facing right, wearing a triple-crested Attic helmet, decorated with Pegasos and the
protomes of four horses. Rev. owl standing right, head facing, on amphora, monograms to left and
right, A on amphora (Thompson 1313; Svoronos pl. 78, 11). A few old marks and small test-marks,
nearly extremely fine.
Rare
.
$ 1,500
Just as Rome was beginning to recover from the Social War, a new crisis developed in the East. The Pontic king Mithradates VI
slaughtered 80,000 Roman and Italian residents of Asia in a single night. In response, the Senate gave command to the consul Lucius
Cornelius Sulla to stem the Pontic tide and punish its king. Marian forces usurped the Senate and awarded command to Gaius Marius,
but Sulla’s legions remained loyal to him and he forced Marius out of Rome. In the meantime, Mithradates had seized Asia Minor,
while Pontic forces under general Archelaus occupied Greece, where Archelaus set up the philosopher and Pontic king’s friend
Aristion as tyrant in Athens. Sulla headed east in 87 BC launching the First Mithradatic War. Landing in Epiros, Sulla marched on
Athens, putting it to a siege. On the Kalends of March, 86 BC, Sulla captured the city, meting out a harsh punishment. In Boeotia,
Sulla met and defeated Archelaus at the Battles of Chaeronea and Orchomenus, and Greece was fully restored to Roman rule.
