Obverse: The God Ba’altars Enthroned Facing Left
Reverse: A Lion Advancing Towards the Left
Cilicia is an ancient region of southeastern Asia
Minor (modern Turkey), along the Mediterranean
north of Cyprus. It included a high and barren
plateau, Cilicia Trachia, an inhospitable region
that served as shelter for pirates, and a richly
fertile plain, Cilicia Pedias, that served as a
strategic passageway throughout history. The
area was under the domination of the Assyrian
Empire before it became part of the Persian
Empire. The Greeks settled on the coast early on,
and Cilicia was Hellenized to a great extent.
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
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
coin is a memorial an ancient city and leader
passed from the hands of civilization to
civilization, from generation to generation.
