DOI issue:
Artikuły / Articles
DOI article:Bodzek, Jarosław: A new Achaemenid coin: several comments on a unique tetradrachm of the type “Great King/Prow” and some other issues of the satraps
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43282#0034
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
monetarnych wykorzystanych w wypadku opisywanej monety w kontekście innych
przykładów z zakresu mennictwa achemenidzkiego.
SŁOWA KLUCZOWE: Achemenidzi, tetradrachma, mennictwo satrapów,
Wielki Król, prora
In 2017, a unique silver coin, depicting a “figurę with a bow and a spear” on
the obverse and a prow image on the reverse, appeared on the antiquarian market.2
The coin weighs 15.13 g, which means that it may be regarded as a tetradrachm
minted in the Chian (Rhodian) standard.
The coin is in surprisingly good, even excellent, condition, as a result of which
the details of the elements constituting the archer’s attire and the prow’s structure are
still clearly visible. The image of the “archer” on the obverse corresponds to type III
(according to I. Carradice’s Classification); this image is known from darics, sigloi,
and some other Achaemenid-era coins.3 The “archer” is shown in the characteristic
kneeling position, which is supposed to symbolize him running. He holds a bow
in his left hand and a spear in his right. He has a long beard and long hair that falls
down over the back of his neck in the form of an ostrich-plume, represented as four
rows of pearls symbolizing locks (?). On his head, he wears a crenellated crown in
the form of a high cylinder with three leaf-shaped prongs. In the auction description,
the crown is correctly referred to as a kidaris 4
The figurę wears a long ankle-length robę with regulär long folds. In the
upper part, at ehest height, it is decorated with triple trimming. Two stripes run
from the shoulders down to morę or less the navel, forming a decorative, foldless
triangle over the ehest. The third trimming, marked only in its lower section,
appears to divide the triangle into two halves. The arm holes are adorned with
a single trimming as well. The robę is laid out in such a way that the left leg,
from the knee down, is bare. The left knee, calf, ankle joint, and foot are depicted
schematically but clearly. The left foot appears to be bare, but the way in which
the right one is represented suggests the presence of some footwear (specifically,
a shoe with a pointed tip).5
The auctioneer falsely referred to the figure’s robę as candys. This term was used
by G. Rawlinson in reference to the robę worn by the archer on Persian coins,6 and
2 Cf. Triton XX, lot 376: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=324569 [accessed 30 May 2017],
3 For the typology of Persian royal coinage, cf. ROBINSON 1958; IDEM 1960; CARRADICE1987b; IDEM
1998; KRAAY 1976: 32ff; STRONACH 1989; ALRAM 1993; LE RIDER 2001: 124ff; ALRAM 2012.
4 For morę on this subject, see: SCHLUMBERGER 1971: 377ff.
5 This shoe may be an example of what are called yellow-striped shoes; cf. BITTNER 1985: 123f.
6 ROWLINSON 1867: 152f.
monetarnych wykorzystanych w wypadku opisywanej monety w kontekście innych
przykładów z zakresu mennictwa achemenidzkiego.
SŁOWA KLUCZOWE: Achemenidzi, tetradrachma, mennictwo satrapów,
Wielki Król, prora
In 2017, a unique silver coin, depicting a “figurę with a bow and a spear” on
the obverse and a prow image on the reverse, appeared on the antiquarian market.2
The coin weighs 15.13 g, which means that it may be regarded as a tetradrachm
minted in the Chian (Rhodian) standard.
The coin is in surprisingly good, even excellent, condition, as a result of which
the details of the elements constituting the archer’s attire and the prow’s structure are
still clearly visible. The image of the “archer” on the obverse corresponds to type III
(according to I. Carradice’s Classification); this image is known from darics, sigloi,
and some other Achaemenid-era coins.3 The “archer” is shown in the characteristic
kneeling position, which is supposed to symbolize him running. He holds a bow
in his left hand and a spear in his right. He has a long beard and long hair that falls
down over the back of his neck in the form of an ostrich-plume, represented as four
rows of pearls symbolizing locks (?). On his head, he wears a crenellated crown in
the form of a high cylinder with three leaf-shaped prongs. In the auction description,
the crown is correctly referred to as a kidaris 4
The figurę wears a long ankle-length robę with regulär long folds. In the
upper part, at ehest height, it is decorated with triple trimming. Two stripes run
from the shoulders down to morę or less the navel, forming a decorative, foldless
triangle over the ehest. The third trimming, marked only in its lower section,
appears to divide the triangle into two halves. The arm holes are adorned with
a single trimming as well. The robę is laid out in such a way that the left leg,
from the knee down, is bare. The left knee, calf, ankle joint, and foot are depicted
schematically but clearly. The left foot appears to be bare, but the way in which
the right one is represented suggests the presence of some footwear (specifically,
a shoe with a pointed tip).5
The auctioneer falsely referred to the figure’s robę as candys. This term was used
by G. Rawlinson in reference to the robę worn by the archer on Persian coins,6 and
2 Cf. Triton XX, lot 376: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=324569 [accessed 30 May 2017],
3 For the typology of Persian royal coinage, cf. ROBINSON 1958; IDEM 1960; CARRADICE1987b; IDEM
1998; KRAAY 1976: 32ff; STRONACH 1989; ALRAM 1993; LE RIDER 2001: 124ff; ALRAM 2012.
4 For morę on this subject, see: SCHLUMBERGER 1971: 377ff.
5 This shoe may be an example of what are called yellow-striped shoes; cf. BITTNER 1985: 123f.
6 ROWLINSON 1867: 152f.