Obverse: A Nude Horseman Riding Sidesaddle on
Horse Rearing to the Right
Reverse: Goat Kneeling to the Right, Reverse
Legend "KELEN" Above
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.
The ancient port of Kelenderis was one of the
best harbors on the southern Anatolian coast.
Definitive information is lacking about the
founders of the city and the date of its original
establishment. Writer Apollodoros claimed that
Kelenderis was first built by Sandon, a Hittite
god. Excavations carried out since 1986 have
revealed findings that go back as far as the 8th
millenium B.C. Kelenderis enjoyed its first
golden age during the 4th and 5th millennia B.C.
as the easternmost member of the Attic-Delian
Maritime Union, established under the leadership
of Athenians to fight the Persians. Later, the city
would join a political coalition with the Ptolemaic
Dynasty of Egypt and was eventually absorbed
into the Roman Empire where it flourished again.
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 passed from
the hands of civilization to civilization, from
generation to generation that still appears as
vibrant today as the day it was struck.
- (C.2061)
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