Mylasa or Kaunos - A Closer Look

Sale: CNG 78, Lot: 390. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2008.  Sold For $1150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.07 g, 12h). Mylasa or Kaunos mint. Struck circa 250 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; labrys in left field. Price 2074. EF, toned. Artistic obverse die.

From Collection C.P.A. Ex Gorny & Mosch 126 (14 October 2003), lot 1244.

Price was fairly certain that his issues 2073-6 belonged to Mylasa, based solely on their control marks. R.H.J. Ashton, however, argues that these same symbols also apply to the mint at Kaunos (“Kaunos, not Miletos or Mylasa,” NC 2004, pp. 33-46). Regardless of the attribution, based on their style and fabric, Price’s date of circa 300-280 BC is certainly too early for these coins, while Ashton’s placement in the mid-3rd century is more likely.