203, Lot: 121. Estimate $100. Sold for $84. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AEOLIS, Gyrneion. 3rd century BC. Æ 18mm (3.56 g, 5h). Laureate head of Apollo facing slightly left / Mussel shell. SNG Copenhagen 202; SNG von Aulock 7689. VF, rough green patina.

From the D. Alighieri Collection.

Herodotus, in his History (i.149), lists “Gryneion” as one of the eleven ancient cities of Aeolis. While every reference down to the present day notes “Gryneion”, “Grynion”, or “Grynium” as the city name, all the coins are clearly marked ΓYPNHωN (“Gyrneion”). This is an example of "metatheses" or the transposition of syllables in a word. It would be interesting to find other ancient inscriptions with the city name to compare spellings.