20080508

Greece/Macedon; Mende c. 500 BCE


AR Partitioned Tetradrachm, 8.48 g; 19 x 14mm (cf. illustration below for full Tet.)

O: Ithyphallic ass stg l crow perched r on his back pecking at his rump.
R: Five incuse triangles arranged in “mill sail” pattern.

Price & Waggoner 195-203 cf, BMC 5, 1

Ex: Asyut Hoard (part of the group not pictured in the corpus); cf. below
Ex: W.P. Wallace Collection.
Ex: Dr. Paul Rynearson Collection (CA)

Acquisition: 2008

The Asyut (ancient Lycopolis) Hoard, 300 km S of Cairo, was found in 1969.
It was buried according to Price c. BCE 475 it is IGCH 1644 (according to CH IX, 680 the deposition is now thought to be BCE 475-470 with 900 AR deposited, all dispersed. The citations appearing in the CH series are IGCH 1644, CH 2.17, CH 4.11, CH 8.44 besides CH 9.680)Contents: 869+ AR, many fragmented and chiseled; found with 3+ AR ingots.

The Asyut Hoard, discovered in 1969 in Egypt, comprised the largest hoard to date of Archaic Greek coins. In addition to its size, it is also important for the wide variety of Greek types represented, indicating a broad network of trade in the eastern Aegean in the time between the late Archaic and early Classical periods. http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=31096


17 Tetradrachms from Mende were recorded.

According to CH VIII; 44, “study of cut fragments including three of Neapolis staters additional to the published record” was produced by P. Rynearson in SAN XII.4 (1981-1982), pp. 71-73. (this coin illustrated as #4 in article) The actual title of the article was “Partitioned Coins: Hoard Evidence For Fractional Denominations?”


drawing of the tetradrachm before partitioning. from Catalogue of Greek Coins; Macedonia etc., by B. V. Head ( London; 1879, p. 80)