Rhizous

Triton XV, Lot: 722. Estimate $100. Sold for $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Rhizous (IACP 457)

Rhizous was in Magnesia and virtually nothing seems to be known about it, save for a few literary references and its coins, quite rare and entirely in bronze; and all from the mid 4th century BC.

THESSALY, Rhizous. 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (11mm, 1.51 g, 9h). Female head l., wearing pendant earring, her hair gathered up around and above her head / PI⌶ above, OY below, forepart of a young doe l., all in oak wreath tying above. Unpublished and unknown, unique (?). Near VF, green patina with several corrosion pits, mostly on the obverse.

The obverse of this hitherto unknown coin probably portrays a local nymph or deity. The reverse gives us a glimpse of the landscape around Rhizous and the typical flora and fauna encountered in the area. The exact location of Rhizous still escapes us but we know that it probably was situated in the densely wooded area of what is known today as Pelion, in the mountainous part of eastern Thessaly or Magnesia.