TROAS, Ilion. Circa 185-late 70s/early 60s BC. AR Tetradrachm (36mm, 16.76 g, 12h). Zoilos, president of the agonothetai. Good VF.

CNG Feature Auction 132
Lot: 353. Estimated: $ 1 000

Greek, 12h, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 3 625. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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TROAS, Ilion. Circa 185-late 70s/early 60s BC. AR Tetradrachm (36mm, 16.76 g, 12h). Zoilos, president of the agonothetai. Helmeted head of Athena right / Athena Ilias standing right, holding distaff and filleted spear; at her feet, owl standing right to right, winged caduceus to left; ΚΛΕ−ΩΝΟΣ across field, ΙΩΙΛΟΥ in exergue. Ellis-Evans dies O12/R39 = Demetrius I Hoard 130 (this coin cited); Bellinger T52; A. Bellinger, “The First Civic Tetradrachms of Ilium” in MN VIII (1958), 17. Lightly toned, minor marks. Good VF. Very rare.

From the Thomas Palmer Collection, purchased from David Vagi, July 2005. Ex Gemini I (11 January 2005), lot 153; 2002 Unknown Findspot (“Demetrius I”) Hoard (CH X, 301).

Founded in the seventh century BC by Aeolians on the site of ancient Troy, Ilion prospered and ultimately developed into a successful Hellenistic and Roman city. It possessed a famous temple of Athena (‘Ilias’) which was visited by King Xerxes of Persia and later by Alexander the Great. With the collapse of Seleukid authority in Asia Minor in 189 BC, Ilion, in common with many other communities of western Asia Minor, celebrated its liberation from regal authority by issuing large and impressive tetradrachms. These honor the goddess Athena Ilias, whose helmeted head appears as the obverse type, while the reverse features her standing figure, probably the statue which stood within the temple. The names appearing on these issues are not technically magistrates, but wealthy and influential citizens who financed the coinage from their own monies in return for recognition on the coins (see Bellinger, "The First Civic Tetradrachms of Ilium," ANSMN VIII (1958), p. 23-24). The patronymic form used on this coinage has a parallel in the earlier stephanophoric coinage of Magnesia ad Maeandrum (see Jones). Although lacking a wreath enclosing the reverse and thus technically not stephanophoroi, the tetradrachms of Ilion are surely part of the artistic upsurge readily evident in the coinage of Western Asia Minor during the mid-second century BC.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 132 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 18-19 May 2026.

CNG Feature Auction 132 – Session Two – Lot 319-587 will be held Monday afternoon, 18 May 2026 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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