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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
88, Lot: 46. Estimate $200.
Sold for $310. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SIKYONIA, Sikyon. Circa 431-400 BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 5.59 gm). Chimaera left; SE below / Dove flying left; I before, all within wreath. BMC Peloponnesus pg. 41, 68; SNG Copenhagen 37. Toned VF.

Ex Lakeview Collection.

Sikyon’s major output of staters on the Aeginetan weight standard can possibly be attributed to the local tyrant Euphron, who established a democracy circa 367-365 BC and confiscated private property on a grand scale (Xenophon, Hellenica VII, 1, 46). The highly developed late-classical style and precision engraving of the issue may be connected to the school of native bronze sculptors, the brothers Lysippos and Lysistratos, active circa 370-315 BC and famous for producing gods, heroes, portraits, and animals. The curious choice of the Chimaera, a form of 'she-goat', as city badge for the obverse may be connected with Aigialeia, an ancient name for Sikyon, while the reverse dove alludes to the local cult of Aphrodite.