Obverse: Portrait of Helios
Reverse: A Rose
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.
