The Beginning of Bronze Coinage in Karia and Lykia - Royal ...

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8 R.H.J. ASHTON those of the Zeus / pentangle issues which would precede and succeed it is troubling. A single fi rm fi nd-spot would go a long way towards solving the problem. 30 I should note here another issue of fourth century bronzes of similarly small module with on the obverse a female head right and on the reverse a spearhead fl anked by the letters Χ − Α (Pl. 3, 37: 8mm, 0.64g, 03h; my coll., acq. 2002). These have in the past been attributed to Chalketor in inland Karia or Chalke, an island off Rhodes, but the evidence of fi nd-spots makes it clear that the mint was in the Troad or Mysia, most probably the island of Chalkis in the Hekatonesoi in the gulf of Adramytion. 31 Similar is the case of some rare fourth century bronzes with types radiate head of Helios right and rose fl anked by the letters M-E (Pl. 3, 38: 10mm, 0.78g, 03h; my coll., acq. 1998). They, and the corresponding drachms, are often attributed to the island of Megiste off Lykia, and at all events their Rhodian-like types suggest south-west Asia Minor. In fact, however, recent fi nd-spot evidence makes it quite clear that they come from the Troad; I now believe that they were struck around 360 by one or other of the Rhodian brothers Mentor and Memnon who were mercenary generals for the Persian Great King, had estates in the Troad, and at one point controlled Lampakos, whose mint produced gold coins with very similar obverse type. 32 This exhausts the list of bronzes from or allegedly from Karia which could with varying degrees of plausibility be assigned to the late fi fth century or fi rst quarter of the fourth. They are all very rare in comparison with bronze coinages from later in the fourth century, and give the impression of rather tentative, experimental coinages which were short-lived and had little economic signifi cance. It should however be noted that several of the issues concerned have come to light only in recent years and only in single specimens; future discoveries may well modify this picture. From the second quarter of the fourth century, the practice of minting bronze spreads to other states. Knidos begins with an issue of chalkoi from about 375 and of dichalka a couple of decades later; 33 Kos, 34 Myndos, 35 Nisyros, 36 Telos, 37 30 There are no specimens at the museum of Fethiye, ancient Telmissos on the coast between Karia and Lykia, but, given the rarity of the issue, this proves nothing. 31 Stauber 1996, Vol. 2 (with M. Barth), pp. 280-2, with preceding bibliography. 32 Ashton 2002b. 33 Pl. 4, 39 (chalkous: 9mm, 1.11g, 02h: BM 1928-7-14-44 (N. Zitelli)); Nordbø 1972, pp. 154-6; Nordbø 1989, p. 53; Ashton 1999b, pp. 89-92. 34 Ingvaldsen 2002, pp. 164 and 167, dates his fi rst bronze issues IX and X (e.g., respectively, BMC 99-100 and 25-6) vaguely to ‘330-250’, but on no very solid grounds; they look more like purely fourth century coinages to me, though there can be no certainty. See Pl. 4, 40 (9-10mm, 1.01g, 12h; BMC 25). 35 Pl. 4, 41 (11mm, 1.26g, 12h; my coll., acq. 1972). Louis Robert’s instinct to attribute to Myndos these common bronzes with Poseidon / dolphin + trident + ΜΥ (in Akarca 1959, pp. 60-2) has been confi rmed by fi nds in the area (information from Koray Konuk); see also Ashton 1999a, p. 15, C. Akarca’s date for this issue (c.210-30 BC) is clearly too late. 36 Pl. 4, 42 (10-12mm, 1.04g, 12h; my coll., acq. 1997); Ashton 1999a. The apparent dichalka of issue 1 (ibid. p. 17: radiate head of Helios three-quarter facing r. / female head r., with rose behind, offi cial’s name below, and Ν in front) are not certainly attributable to Nisyros. Their heads of Helios, with the tie of a chlamys below the neck on some dies, are not dissimilar from those on the ΚΡΑΝ bronzes and the early Helios / sphinx bronzes of Kaunos (see above), both of which can be assigned to the earlier part of the fourth century. However, the heads of Rhodos on the probable Nisyrian coins look later. If these apparent dichalka belong to the early part of the fourth century, they will be the only Karian bronzes of larger than chalkous denomination known for that period. 37 Pl. 4, 43 (10mm, 1.53g; Aufhäuser 13 (1997), 192); Robert 1934, esp. p. 46; Ashton 1999a, p. 23; Ashton 1999b, pp. 79, n. 13, and 91, n. 31.
THE BEGINNING OF BRONZE COINAGE IN KARIA AND LYKIA 9 Astypalaia 38 and Syangela 39 seem to strike bronzes around the middle of the fourth century, in some cases perhaps a little earlier or later - hoard evidence for more precise dating is lacking. The same may apply to the early bronzes of Kalymna, 40 which are usually assigned to the third century BC, but look earlier to me. Rhodes (as we have seen above), Iasos, 41 Kaunos, 42 and probably Halikarnassos 43 resume the practice of minting bronze around the middle of the fourth century, and Idyma perhaps towards the end. 44 But it seems clear that even by the end of the fourth century the practice of minting bronze in Karia was far from widespread. If we discount the issues improbably attributed to Kranaos on the Maeander and Pisye, no inland state seems to have struck bronze before the end of the fourth century, apart from Mylasa with its small late fi fth century issue. 45 The coinage of Eupolemos of the late fourth century, which is usually attributed to Mylasa, is hardly an exception to this general observation, for it is non-civic in nature and in any case it may well have been struck at coastal Kaunos. 46 Indeed, no inland Karian state in the fourth century is known to have struck any precious metal coin either, apart from Mylasa, Euromos, Syangela 38 Pl. 4, 44 (dichalkon? 13mm, 2.21g, 12h; BMC Caria etc., ‘Astyra’ 11). These and related bronze coins with legend ΑΣΤΥ have in the past been attributed to an alleged Astyra in Karia (BMC Caria, pp. 60-1, ‘Astyra’ 8-19), but this city never existed. Given the Rhodian provenance of most of the British Museum specimens and the clearly Rhodian style of the Helios head on some of their obverses, the attribution to Astypalaia proposed at SNG von Aulock 8170 is preferable to an attribution to Mysian Astyra proposed on balance by Stauber 1996, Vol. 2, pp. 258- 60 (with M. Barth). See Ashton 2001, p. 84, n. 32; since then I have seen in a private collection a further bronze with ΑΣΤΥ (female head r. / amphora) which was acquired on Rhodes. Astypalaia on Kos can be ruled out since (i) Koan coinage had been issued in the name of the whole island since the fi fth century, and (ii) the Rhodian coins whose obverses inspired the Helios on the ΑΣΤΥ coins date to the late 340s or later (Ashton 2001, nos. 95-102), a quarter-century or more after the Koan synoecism in 366. 39 Pl. 4, 45 (11mm, 1.26g, 06h; Hauck & Aufhäuser 15 (2000), 212); Yarkin 1975; Yarkin 1977. The bronzes are dated by Yarkin to the early third century, but look earlier to me. 40 Pl. 4, 46 (11mm, 1.72g, 06h; my coll., acq. 1996). 41 Pl. 4, 47 (11mm, 1.41g, 12h; private coll.). Delrieux 2001, following an idea of O. Picard, suggests that these chalkoi with types Apollo / prawn + scallop were used as payment for attendance at the city’s ekklesia attested by an inscription dating perhaps to c.330-325. However, as noted in Ashton 2003b, p. 138, the value of these coins seems inconveniently small for the purpose: the city apparently envisaged expenditure of 180 drachms a month, and, if Gauthier’s calculations (1990, p. 438) are correct, each citizen who qualifi ed for the payment received about three obols. Konuk (paper given at a conference on Hellenistic Karia in Oxford June-July 2006) has reached the same conclusion. I return to the question in a forthcoming paper on the coinage of Iasos. 42 Pl. 4, 48-49: respectively, 11mm, 1.41g, 12h, BMC 1; 12-13mm, 1.53g., 12h, BM 1926-2-5-2 (Spink).These very common coins retain the seated sphinx of the earliest bronzes on the reverse but have a bull or a bull’s forepart on the obverse and the ethnic in Greek on the reverse; they seem to belong to the second half of the fourth century, like most of the even more common Rhodos / rose chalkoi of Rhodes, though in the case of the Kaunian bronzes conclusive hoard evidence is lacking. 43 Pl. 4, 50 (11mm, 1.41g, 06h; my coll., acq. 2001). These chalkoi, with head of Apollo left on the obverse and standing eagle with lyre symbol on the reverse, are often assigned to the third or second century, but may belong to the mid-fourth century, since at least one and perhaps as many as four were found in fi ll above the sacrifi cial layer at the Mausoleum: see Jeppesen et al. 1981, p. 51, but note also Hornblower 1982b, p. 109, for the potential circularity of this argument (coins and pottery dated before 353 to suit context of Mausolos’ burial, but the sacrifi ce dated to time of Mausolos because of the pottery and coins). Note that Kinns 2003, p. 6, has demonstrated that a mid-fourth century bronze coin with lion / star given to Halikarnassos by Imhoof-Blumer 1908, p. 88 no. 1 (= Winterthur 3352) should be assigned to Miletos. 44 Two issues of Idymian chalkoi with respectively female head r. / fi g leaf and Apolline head of Pan r. / fi g leaf occur in good condition in IGCH 1289-1290, a single hoard, though contaminated with later material, whose core was concealed in the early third century (Ashton 2002a, p. 125, and n. 44). See Pl. 5, 51-52: 9mm, 0.79g, 9h, BM 1969-5-15-11; 11mm, 1.29g, 12h, BM 1969-5-15-10 (both ex IGCH 1289-1290). 45 Mylasa also struck some very rare bronzes of very small module with types eagle on shield / crest of helmet, but I should be inclined to follow Akarca 1959 (p. 62, no. 21) in dating them to the third century or later. They bear no resemblance to the early bronzes with ΜΙΛΑ discussed above. 46 Ashton 2004, pp. 43-4. In the same article I also propose transferring to Kaunos most of the late lifetime/early posthumous gold, silver and bronze coinage in the names of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaios usually given to Miletos or Mylasa.
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