Obverse: Forepart of a Pegasus facing left,
surrounded by a grapevine.
Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square.
Mysia was an ancient district in northwest
Anatolia (modern Turkey) adjoining the Sea of
Marmara on the north and the Aegean Sea on the
west. Mysia designated a geographic rather than
a political territory and encompassed Aeolis,
Troas, and the region surrounding the great
city- state Pergamum. Lampsakos, originally
called Pityussa, was a Mysian city located on the
southern shore of the Hellespont opposite
Kallipolis. It had a good harbor, and was said to
have been founded by the Milesians or the
Phokaians. During the 6th and 5th c. B.C. it
belonged to Lydia, and then to the Persians; it
joined the Athenian League, paying 12 talents,
and was an object of contention among the
Athenians, Spartans and Persians from 411 B.C.
until the Hellenistic period. Ultimately, it allied
with Rome in 190 B.C. and prospered thereafter.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. This magnificent coin is a
memorial to the ancient glories of Lampsakos
and greater Mysia passed down from the hands
of civilization to civilization, from generation to
generation.
