Early Stater From Teos

211, Lot: 259. Estimate $1000. Sold for $950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Teos. Circa 510-475 BC. AR Stater (19mm, 11.87 g). Griffin seated right, raising foreleg / Quadripartite incuse square. Balcer group I (A6/P8); Traité I 504 (same dies). Good VF, struck from a slightly worn obverse die.

A member city of the Ionian Dodekapolis, Teos was a thriving seaport with two fine harbors. It was the birthplace of Anakreon the poet, Hekataios the historian, Protagoras the sophist, Skythinos the poet, Andron the geographer, and Apellikon, the preserver of the works of Aristotle. When the Persians under Cyrus invaded circa 540 BC, many Teans fled, resettling in Abdera. The griffin was the badge of the city of Teos, and is present on the coins of both cities.