Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio is excited to offer a wide variety of choice ancient coins in our upcoming Official Auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Chicago. One such piece is an Electrum Stater from Lampsacus. Lampsacus was strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. This location, in modern-day northern Turkey near the Dardanelles, has been of great importance to trade for millennia. Indeed, trade has been so important to this region that very early on in their history, they began to mint coins to facilitate trade. This example follows in the footsteps of the first minted coinage (also struck in electrum) produced by Phoenicia. Lampsacus was colonized from Phocaea and Miletus, and is noted for its excellent wine.
The obverse design features the forepart of the mythical winged horse Pegasus facing left with a grape vine around. The Pegasus is an often seen design on ancient coins, and is arguably one of the most famous creatures from Greek mythology. Poseidon, god of the sea and patron of horses, donned the form of a horse and visited the Gorgon Medusa. From this union Pegasus, the divine winged stallion, pure white in color, was born. Pegasus would prove a loyal ally to the hero Bellerophon as he vanquished the formidable Chimaera. The grape vine that winds around the forepart of Pegasus is a reference to the wine that Lampsacus produces. The reverse design features the typical quadripartite incuse square design. This piece is well centered on a nice round planchet of good quality metal, is a choice example, and should command spirited bidding when it approaches the auction podium.
Look for this and other ancient and world numismatic rarities in our upcoming August ANA World’s Fair of Money Auction and Sale. Preview this impressive coin along with the rest of our auction this July at the Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio office located in Irvine, California. For details please refer to the Events Calendar at www.StacksBowers.com. To schedule an appointment, please call 800.458.4646. While our Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio August ANA World’s Fair of Money Auction is closed for further consignments, we are currently taking consignments of world and ancient coins for our 2014 August Hong Kong Showcase Auction and Whitman November Baltimore Auctions. Time is running short, so if you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a whole collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment directors.
