Triton XIV, Lot: 59. Estimate $10000. Sold for $30000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MACEDON, Akanthos. Circa 480-470 BC. AR Tetradrachm (29mm, 17.56 g). Attic standard. Lion, right, attacking bull crouching left, biting into its hindquarter; Θ to upper left, small Δ above; floral ornament in exergue / Quadripartite incuse square. Desneux 48-68 var. (unlisted dies); AMNG III/2, 4; SNG ANS 10; SNG Copenhagen 2; BMC 3; Weber 1862 (same dies). EF, toned.

Ex Leu 83 (6 May 2002), lot 160; Peus 351 (23 April 1997), lot 104.

Akanthos was situated on the Chalcidike near the point where the Akte peninsula joins the mainland. In early 480 BC, Xerxes used the city as a stepping stone in his invasion of Greece by employing the citizens of Akanthos in the construction of the canal across the Athos Peninsula (Her. 7. 22-24; 7.115.1; 7.117).

The name “Akanthos” comes from a type of plant that inhabits the Mediterranean. Naming a city after a plant was not uncommon in the ancient world; for example, the city of Selinos was named after the selinos plant, the leaf of which also provided the main symbol on that city’s coin.

The use of the lion attacking a bull scene on the coinage of Akanthos was a very popular motif in the ancient world, originating in the ancient Near East. Willy Hartner (“The Earliest History of the Constellations in the Near East and the Motif of the Lion-Bull Combat,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 24 [1965], pp. 1-16), identified the earliest depiction of this type on a prehistoric Elamite seal impression dating from the fourth millennium BC. He argued that the image originally referred to an astronomical event involving the Zodiac constellations of Leo and Taurus.

The lion and the bull are among the earliest figures to appear on coinage - the mid-6th century BC coinage of the Lydians is the best example of this usage. Already by this time, however, the lion attack motif was in use in mainland Greece. There is a wonderful near-contemporary Attic black-figure tripod in the manner of the KY Painter in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (Accession Number 12688) also depicting a lion attacking a bull, showing the wide popularity of the image.

This and the previous coin from Akanthos show subtle variations between the Eastern and Western takes on this classic scene. The first coin, dating to 500-480 BC, shows the traditionally Western style. The lion looks much more realistic and life-like, as if based on something one would see in real life. This can be seen most clearly in the heads and legs of the two beasts. Compare this to a marble relief dating to the late 6th century BC found near the Olympeion at Athens that also shows this scene (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 42.11.35). It is clear that the same artistic school of thought influenced the artists in both the case of the coin and the relief. The second coin, dating to 480-470 BC, looks very different. Not only is the flan larger, showing the influence of other classical-era coins, but the engraving of the lion attack is more Orientalized. This is clearly the result of Persian influence following Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. According to Herodotus, “When Xerxes came to Acanthus, he declared the Acanthians his guests and friends, and gave them Median clothing, praising them for the zeal with which he saw them furthering his campaign, and for what he heard of the digging of the canal” (7.116.1). One can compare this coin to the famous relief at Persepolis. Both the relief and this coin depict the scene using more pellets than the fluid-like archaic depiction. The mane on both animals, as well as their legs, show much bolder joints and lines.