IONIA MAGNESIA. Themistokles Satrap
AR-Trihemiobol, 464/459 BC; 1.14 g. Θ-E Bearded head of Themistokles/Hephaestus (?) with wreathed cap right//In incusum: ΘΕ surrounded by dotted border.
Nollé/Wenninger Th 3c; von Mosch 7 d (this example); Lathe Biosas -.
Of extreme rarity. Good, very fine. One of seven examples known.
Kuenker 416, lot 1222, october 2024
Roma Numismatics XVII, London 2019, no. 443.
Druckrey Collection
This is the only example known to us that shows the complete obverse with the monogram of Themistocles. Themistocles, victor of Salamis and savior of Greece, fell victim to the Athenian practice of ostracism in the late 70s of the 5th century BC; he was banished from the city and fled. He was eventually sentenced to death in absentia for high treason. Themistocles arrived at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes I and gained his trust. Artaxerxes I subsequently granted him dominion over Lampsakos, Myoûs and Magnesia, where coins were minted bearing Themistocles’ monogram. The head on the obverse of our coin was interpreted by Cahn and Gerin as a portrait of Themistocles, but this was disputed by Johannes Nollé and Alois Wenniger (Münzen-Revue 9, 1996, p. 34 f.; SNR 75, 1996, p. 5 ff. esp. p. 18 ff.): Nollé and Wenniger argue that it must be the head of Hephaestus. On the other hand, Hans-Christoph von Mosch has recently argued that the head on the obverse should be interpreted as a portrait of Themistocles (see JNG 72, 2022, p. 13 ff. esp. p. 25 ff.). The discussion is still ongoing. Even if the identification of the head is not quite clear, the coin is one of the most interesting and historically significant coins from Asia Minor in the area of cultural tension between Greeks and Persians.
