Obverse: Bust of Amazon Kyme Facing Right,
Hair Bound in Ribbon
Reverse: Horse Prancing to the Right, One
Handled Amphora at Feet, Inscription,
“KYMAION” to Right and “MHTROFANHS” Below,
All Encircled in a Wreath
According to the writer Strabo, Kyme was the
largest and noblest of the cities in Aeolis, a
region of Asia Minor. The legendary founder of
the city was the Amazon Kyme, whose portrait
begins to appear on their coinage after about
250 B.C. The people of Kyme were almost
exclusively agricultural and the horse may
symbolize their rural nature or perhaps was
related to the god Poseidon. The amphora might
relate to the cult of Apollo. The horse and
amphora in combination may also be symbolic of
the games. The inscription, “MHTROFANHS,” on
the reverse refers to the name of the magistrate
Metrophanes, under whose authority this coin
was issued. The other Greek inscription,
“KYMAION,” means “of” or “belonging to the
people of Kyme.” Kyme was under the
domination, successively of Persia, the Seleucids,
the Attalids, and finally Rome. Ultimately, the
city was devastated by an earthquake in A.D. 17.
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 an
ancient city passed from the hands of civilization
to civilization, from generation to generation.
- (C.0399)
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