THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 356-342 BC. AR Stater (24mm, 12.19 g, 11h). Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly left, hair in ampyx, wearing necklace / Bridled horse prancing right; ΛAPI-ΣAIΩN above and below. L-S Type 2, Series B, dies O11/R3, a & c = Weber 2848 = Nanteuil 843 (
this coin); BCD Thessaly II 305 (same obv. die); HGC 4, 409. Near EF. Struck from dies of pleasing style, with attractive old cabinet toning.
Ex Gorny & Mosch 107 (2 April 2001), lot 139; Hess-Leu 36 (17 April 1968), lot 183; Henri de Nanteuil Collection, 843; Sir Hermann Weber Collection, purchased from J. P. Lambros, 1897.
Despite its feminine sound, the name Larissa derives from a proto-Greek word for "citadel" or "fortress." One of the largest cities in Thessaly, Larissa produced a large and varied coinage from the early-fifth century BC, mostly featuring the hero Thessalos wrestling a bull. Starting about 404 BC, inspired by Kimon's Syracusan facing-head portrait of the spring nymph Arethousa, Larissa introduced a new design also featuring a facing female head, probably intended to represent a local spring nymph bearing the city's name. The nymph heads feature on nearly all Larissan coinage, including bronzes, tiny fractions, silver drachms (by far the most numerous coins struck and surviving), and staters of two drachms. The larger staters, in particular, are closely modeled on Kimon’s Arethousa, lacking only the dolphins surrounding the portrait on the original
