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Research Coins: Feature Auction

 
Triton XVI, Lot: 23. Estimate $2000.
Sold for $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SKYTHIA, Olbia. Circa 460-450 BC. Cast Æ (43mm, 73.36 g). Paus(a)-, magistrate. Head of Athena left, wearing Attic helmet; to left, dolphin upward; all within incuse circle / Wheel with four spokes (‘solar disk’); retrograde [EΠI] ΠAY[Σ] around rim of wheel. Cf. Anokhin 160 (larger denomination); Karyshkovskij –; Frolova & Abramzon –; SNG BM Black Sea –; SNG Pushkin –; SNG Stancomb –; Sutzu II –. Fine, green-brown patina, a few scratches. Extremely rare, one of only 3 of this type known, the other 2 of which are in museums.


From the Alex Shubs Collection.

From the late 6th century BC, the cult of Apollo Delphinios was preeminent among the many cults located at Olbia, and its temple was the city's central temenos, and formed part of the agora. This cult was important at Miletos, and therefore it is not surprising that it became the main cult at Olbia, which was Miletos's primary colony on the northern Black Sea. Naturally, the administration and customs of the cult at Olbia closely followed the norm at Miletos: The observance was carried out by a group of six called the Molpoi ("singer-dancers"), whose leader was called the aisymnetes. At Miletos, the aisymnetes was also the political leader of the city, and this was also the case at Olbia, where he was also the eponymous official. During the time of oligarchic government at Olbia, prior to the expedition of Perikles to the region, the Molpoi were certainly part of the ruling elite. In fact, the magistrate Pausa–on these early cast issues was probably the same Pausanias that was known to have been one of the aisymnetes in the 5th century. The importance of the cult is also reflected in the coinage types at Olbia, where dolphins feature prominently from the earliest proto-money (cast dolphins). By the time of the present issue, one can observe the changing dynamics of the Olbian polity. The dolphin is retained as a prominent symbol, but it appears beside the profile of Athena, which must relate to the cult of Athena that, along with Zeus and Apollo Delphinios, was also in the central temenos at Olbia. The wheel on the reverse, which is also featured on later issues, likely refers to the cult of Apollo Iatros (cf. A.S. Rusyaeva, "Miletus - Didyma - Borysthenes - Olbia. Problems of Colonization of the Lower Bug Region," VDI 2 [1986]: 25-64), which had been the central deity at Borysthenes, but was also important at Olbia, particularly so after the former became the emporion of the latter. (Cf. IACP, p. 938-9; and F. Graf, Apollo [Taylor & Francis, 2008], p. 89-90.)