Unique Early Akanthos Tetradrachm
MACEDON, Akanthos. Circa 525-470 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 17.18 g). Attic standard. Lion right, attacking bull crouching left, biting into its hindquarter; inverted lotus flower below, extending through exergual line / Deep, rough quadripartite incuse square. Unpublished. EF, deep gray tone, with blue and golden hues, a hint of granularity on obverse. A spectacular coin, well centered and struck, and of an exceptionally fine archaic style. Unique tetradrachm from the earliest issue of coinage at Akanthos.
Ex Numismatica Genevensis SA V (2 December 2008), lot 61; Leu 48 (10 May 1989), lot 106.
Akanthos is located in the Chalkidike near the point where the Akte peninsula joins the mainland. In the late sixth century BC, this city began striking coinage, apparently to facilitate the increased trade with those Attic Greek colonies and emporia that had recently been established there. During this same period, as the Persian Empire began its westward expansion into Europe, these coins were also used to pay tribute, part of the Medizing process, in which the locals allied themselves with the Persians. During the Greco-Persian Wars (499-479 BC), Akanthos supported the Persians and, in early 480 BC, provided labor for the construction of a canal across the peninsula, so that the Persian fleet could avoid sailing around the treacherous waters below Mt. Athos at the peninsula's southernmost tip (Hdt. 7. 22-24, 115, 117).
The lion and bull design is common to the tetradrachms of Akanthos from the sixth to the early fourth century BC. The earliest tetradrachms are characterized by thick, dumpy flans, a variable style of incuse, and the head of the lion in three-quarter perspective. Subsequent issues, however, have a flan that is relatively thinner and broader, an incuse of a more regularly quadripartite style, and the head of the lion in profile. The floral symbol in the exergue, which first appeared on some of the earliest tetradrachms, became more stylized in subsequent issues, and sometimes was replaced with other symbols, such as a fish. Later, a pellet-in-annulet appeared above the lion on the obverse, followed by the addition of a subsidiary letter, and, finally, letter combinations and symbols. The series was initially struck on the Attic standard, but when the city became an ally of the Persians in 480 BC, they adopted the Phoenician standard that was common among Persian coinages of the time.
The present piece is from the earliest period of coinage at the mint, as evidenced by its thick flan and deep, rough incuse. In fact, the incuse here is deeper and less formed than all other published pieces from this early period, which suggests this coin is the earliest issue known. The piece is also striking for its near realistic style, which is typical of dies in the classical period, but is an unusual characteristic for an archaic issue. One may observe the tense musculature of the attacking lion, the strained posture of the bull reacting to the surprise attack, and even the delicate leaves of the lotus flower below them. This superior artistry suggests that the dies were engraved by a master, which, in addition to the rough incuse, suggests that the dies were the first that were produced for striking tetradrachms at Akanthos, particularly since all the subsequent issues appear to be stylized depictions of the scene as it appears here. All of the early, thick flan issues of Akanthos are extremely rare, with only a handful ever appearing on the market, and the very few known from published hoards are almost all fragments of cut coins. Desneux only located two examples for his 1949 corpus. Not one was even present in the famous archaic coin sales of Kunstfreund and Rosen, nor the great Asyut and Zagazig hoards of archaic coins. The present coin is truly a remarkable specimen for its artistry, rarity, and exceptional state of preservation.
