124, Lot: 88. Estimate $1000. Sold for $682. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CYPRUS, Salamis. Evagoras I. 411-374 BC. AV 1/10th Stater (8mm, 0.70 g). Bearded head of Herakles right wearing lion's skin headdress / Forepart of goat kneeling right. BMC Cyprus pg. 56, 52; SNG Copenhagen 46; Traité 1152, pl.cxxvii, 24. VF. Rare.

The reign of Evagoras began on a rocky note; he only came to power after the overthrow of a Phoenician usurper. Nonetheless, by adroit diplomacy between the competing Athenian and Persian spheres of influence he was able to establish control over much of the island by the time of his assassination in 374 BC. His gold coinage with the potent symbol of Herakles and the goat (which may be a punning reference to his own name - aigagros) reflects both his Hellenizing ambitions and his self-aggrandizement. There is a great variation in weight for Evagoras' coinage, making it difficult to determine the intended denominations and the weight standard.