ARKADIA

Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 2530. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $1350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ARKADIA, Arkadian League. Circa 480-470 BC. AR Hemidrachm (2.77 g, 5h). Kleitor mint. Zeus Lykaios seated left, holding scepter; eagle flying left from his hand / Head of Kallisto left, wearing tainia, within incuse square. Williams, Confederate, period I, 4 (O4/R3); BCD Peloponnesos (Kleitor) -; Weber 4283 (same dies). Good VF, attractively toned, a couple light scratches under tone, slight die shift on reverse. Very rare.

Ex BCD Collection (not in LHS sale); Vinchon (27 October 2000), lot 147 (part of).

The largest district in the Peloponnese and located at its center, Arkadia was a region of few cities, but many villages for which farming was the dominant activity. Minting began in many of these villages in archaic times, but increased when the Arkadian League was formed during the 5th century BC. Mints in Kleitor, Mantinea, Tegea, and, later on, Megalopolis issued League coinage. Kleitor, an important city in northern Arkadia, was a leading member of the Arkadian League and possessed effective fortifications. Mantinea, another of Arkadia’s important cities, at times found itself at odds with neighboring villages, owing to both territorial disputes and its alliances with Sparta. Experiencing much of the strife from Mantinea’s territorial claims, Tegea also had troubles with Sparta, which attempted to dominate Tegea on multiple occasions. One of the largest cities in the Peloponnese, Megalopolis was formed through a synoecism of surrounding villages. Possibly intended to become the capital of the Arkadian League, it was founded just before the league was dissolved in 363 BC. Coinage for the Arkadian League, however, did not account for all of the production from this area, as many of the cities also struck coinage for the Achaian League. The later Roman administration led to a general cessation of coinage apart from some issues during the Severan period.