Cult Statue of Athena Magarsia - Eastern and Western Motifs

Triton XIX, Lot: 292. Estimate $10000. Sold for $11000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID EMPIRE. Demetrios II Nikator. First reign, 146-138 BC. AR Tetradrachm (30mm, 16.54 g, 1h). Mallos mint. Struck circa 145-143/2 BC. Diademed head right; M to left / Cult figure of Athena Magarsia standing facing, wearing aegis, holding spear; rosettes over shoulders, [monograms to lower left and right]. SC 1896.2; Houghton, Mallos 3–4 (A2/P2); HGC 9, 965; Babelon, Rois 929 (same dies); CSE II 494 (same dies); Hunterian 2 (same dies). EF, toned, a few marks, off center on reverse. Extremely rare, one of only four published for this issue, two of which are in public collections (Paris and Glasgow).

The Temple of Athena at Magarsos, near Mallos, was an important cultic sanctuary in the Hellenistic period. The central statue of Athena Magarsia is known only from the handful of coins that have survived, and which show a blending of Greek and eastern motifs.