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Greek Coins :
Greek City States : Thessalian Silver Stater of Pherai
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Thessalian Silver Stater of Pherai - C.2068
Origin: City of Pherai
Circa: 369
BC
to 357
BC
Collection: Numismatics
Style: Thessalian
Medium: Silver
$6,500.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
Obverse: Bust of the Goddess Hekate
Reverse: Cavalryman Charging to the Right
The ancient city of Pherai, modern Velestino, was
one of the most important cities in Thessaly. The
site of the city had been occupied since Neolithic
times (ca. 3000 B.C.) and Pherai thrived until the
beginning of Imperial Rome’s power (ca. 1st
Century A.D.). Stylistically, the portrait of
Hekate, the Goddess of Witchcraft, is based upon
the coins minted in Larissa depicting the nymph
of the same name. These coins, among the first
minted in Thessaly, were in turn influenced by
the portraits of the nymph Arethusa from the
coins of Syracuse. This type, introduced by the
famous die-engraver Kimon in the last decade of
the fifth century, was imitated by numerous
mints in Greece and even in Persia and became
the stereotypical type for nymphs, as useful in
Thessaly as in Sicily. Thessaly was a country of
fertile plains which provided excellent grazing
ground for its cattle and horses. The region was
particularly famous for it’s well-bred horse and
fierce cavalry, depicted on the reverse of this
coin.
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 long forgotten empires. 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 Pherai and
greater Thessaly passed down from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from generation to
generation.
- (C.2068)
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