Three Exceptional Lokris Staters

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 121. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LOKRIS, Lokris Opuntii. Circa 382-356 BC. AR Stater (12.23 g, 12h). Head of Persephone left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple pendant earring, and pearl necklace / Ajax, nude but for crested Corinthian helmet, advancing right on rocks, holding sword in right hand, shield decorated with serpent on left arm; OΠON-TIΩN around, two spears below. Y.E. Hindamian Collection (Ciani &Vinchon, 6 February 1956), lot 424 = Ratto (4 April 1927), lot 1225 (same rev. die); otherwise unpublished. Good VF, attractive old cabinet toning. Well centered and struck. Extremely rare variety with two spears, only one other published.

The staters of Lokris stand among the finest artistic creations of Classical Greek coinage. The head of Persephone on the obverse is directly influenced by the famous depiction of the same deity by the artist Euainetos on the dekadrachms and tetradrachms of Syracuse. It has been suggested that Lokrian mercenaries served in the wars in Sicily undertaken by Dionysios I of Syracuse, and these warriors returned home with a quantity of Syracusan coins that served as the model. The reverse displays the famous warrior Ajax, who was the leader of the Lokrians in the Trojan War. The refined nature of this coinage seems out of place at such a relatively insubstantial city as Lokris. It has been suggested that these staters began as a monetary contribution, in lieu of soldiers, to Sparta during the latter's military exploits following the Corinthian War, while Kraay argued that the coinage was produced for military needs during the Sacred War. Regardless of the purpose, this coinage was produced from dies executed by exceptionally skilled engravers, and exemplifies the high art of Classical Greece.