57

Thraco-Macedonian Tribes, Orreskioi. Silver Stater (10.13 g), ca. 500-480 BC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1,200.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 USD
Thraco-Macedonian Tribes, Orreskioi. Silver Stater (10.13 g), ca. 500-480 BC
Naked ithyphallic satyr right, carrying off protesting nymph. Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square. Svoronos pl. VI, 22; SNG ANS 982; Asyut 96. Test cut on the obverse and the reverse with rough surfaces. Good Very Fine. Variations of the satyr abducting a protesting nymph type are not uncommon on coinage struck by the peoples in the Thraco-Macedonian area, and must have appealed to the rustic senses of the largely rural inhabitants. Frequently the satyr is shown nude and ithyphallic, and the nymph is typically portrayed as if she were attempting to fight of the satyr, with her arm extended as if she were pleading rescue. The engraving is archaic in style, and the design ended everywhere except at Thasos in about 480 BC. At Thasos, the type continued until the end of the fifth century, but over the decades it progressed stylistically from the severe Archaic style such as we see here on this stater of the Orreskioi, to a particularly fine Classical style by the end of its production.