From the Norman Davis Collection
LOKRIS, Lokri Opuntii. Circa 360-350 BC. AR Stater (23mm, 12.18 g, 11h). Head of Persephone left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace, hair held by dotted band at nape of neck / Ajax, nude but for crested Corinthian helmet, holding sword in right hand, shield decorated with palmette and griffin on left arm, advancing right on rocks; OΠONTIΩN to left; broken spear below. H&D Group 17, 134f (O15A/R47) = Davis 131 (this coin); BCD Lokris 456.5; HGC 4, 990; SNG Copenhagen 44; Athena Fund II 522 = Hunt Sale IV 256; Dewing 1477 (all from the same dies). EF, toned, slight die shift on reverse.
Ex Texas Numismatic Association 3 (12 January 1985), lot 86; Norman Davis Collection (Numismatic Fine Arts XI, 8 December 1982), lot 114.
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.
