Helmet Decorated with Head of Gorgon

CNG 97, Lot: 446. Estimate $7500. Sold for $4500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BAKTRIA, Indo-Greek Kingdom. Philoxenos Aniketos. Circa 125-110 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 9.22 g, 12h). BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANIKHTOY ΦΙΛOΞENOY, diademed heroic bust left, seen from behind, wearing crested helmet covered with pelt of scales and adorned with head of Gorgon and wing, aegis on shoulder, brandishing spear with right hand / Maharajasa apadihatasa Philasinasa in Kharosthi, Philoxenos, in military attire, on horse rearing right on ground line; Σ and monogram to upper left. Bopearachchi 9C and pl. 44, D (same obv. die); ; Bopearachchi & Rahman –; SNG ANS 1198; MIG Type 343c (second coin illustrated – same dies); CNG E-314, lot 218 (same obv. die[?]). VF, porous. Extremely rare with the helmet adorned with the head and wing.

While the obverse type of the helmeted king wearing an aegis is known in the Indo-Greek series, it is unusual to find the helmet itself similarly decorated with the elements of an aegis (excluding snakes) – the head of the Gorgon set on a pelt of scales, as well as wings – rather than the bull’s horn, a type that went back to Eukratides I (circa 171-145 BC). Although the wing and the scales are readily apparent to the naked eye, the head is not. This is not unusual, since the design’s delicate relief, the strike, and the preserved examples, make it easy to be missed. For the use of these elements in denoting the aegis in Classical and Hellenistic art, see the late fifth century BC Athena Lemnia of Pheidias, the first century BC Alexander Mosaic, and the first century AD Blacas Cameo.