Obverse. Radiate head of Helios.
Reverse. Rose, Bud to the Right, Club and Bow to
the Left, Name of Magistrate "STASION" Above
The island nation of Rhodes was an immensely
successful commercial power of the Aegean.
They strategically sided with Athens but, when in
jeopardy, negotiated favorable surrenders to
Sparta, Alexander the Great, and Demetrios
Poliorketes, allowing them to sustain at least
some degree of independence based on
neutrality. Rhodes was named for the rose,
depicted on the reverse of this coin. A portrait of
Helios, the sun god, wearing a crown of rays
graces the obverse. This image was based upon
the head of the great statue of Helios, better
known as the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The
Colossus memorialized the war with Demetrios
Poliorketes. He unsuccessfully attacked the city
for over a year, around 305-304 B.C. Eventually,
a settlement was negotiated and Poliorketes
abandoned his siege towers constructed from
valuable timbers that the Rhodeans in turn sold
off for shipbuilding. The proceeds from this sale
were invested in the huge (105 ft.) bronze statue
of Helios standing at the entrance of the harbor.
While the famous statue served as a reminder of
the city's fortitude during the siege and became
a tourist attraction, it only stood until 227 B.C.
when it was toppled by an earthquake.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or your 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 touched the coin before us, or where the
coin will venture to after us. More than money,
coins are a symbol of the state that struck them,
of a specific time and place, whether currency in
the age we live or an artifact of a long forgotten
empire. This ancient coin is more than an
artifact; it is a memorial to the glories of Rhodes
passed from the hands of civilization to
civilization, from generation to generation.
