The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

QUAESTIONES CYREXAICAE. 63
with Gyrene, Ionia does not take this step till the
fifth century, for the coins of the Ionian revolt have
still the plain incuse. In Caria, on the other hand,
the change seems to take place earlier ;
at Cnidus, for
example, the head of Aphrodite begins about 550, 29
i. e. about the same time as the appearance of a reverse
type at Athens. On the other hand the cities of Rhodes,
with which Cyrene stood in such near relations, are little
if at all earlier in making the change than those of
Ionia. 30 We ought not to be surprised, then, if the
reverse type were introduced somewhat later in Cyrene
than is generally acknowledged. The closing years
of the sixth century may be indicated as the date
of this innovation.
A further argument may be drawn from another
consideration. We have seen that the introduction
of the new standard took place not earlier than
the last years of the sixth century, say 525. No
coins with a plain incuse are of the new standard ;
but the earliest coins of the new standard have very
simple types, one or two silphium seeds on the
obverse, and a seed in a square incuse on the reverse.
This suggests that the new standard was introduced
not long after the reverse type. The evidence from
finds is not at all conclusive, but does not contradict
29
Ibid., p. 427, No. 699 ; the initial dating of these coins (650)
B. M. C. : Caria and Hist. Num. seems too early.
?0
See above, p. 60.
u The coin published by Sir Hermann Weber in Num. Chron.,
1899, p. 286, No. 26, is only an apparent exception. The weight
of this piece is 55-5 (i.e. above the maximum of the new standard);
it is in bad condition and has been re-struck, both of which cir-
cumstances would account for some loss of weight, while others
of the same class (Traite, No. 1980) are obviously of the Attic
standard.
31