Myndos (BC 200-0) Hemidrachm

Mid 2nd century BC. AR Hemidrachm (13mm, 2.29g, 3h). Kallikles, magistrate. Wreathed head of young Dionysos right / Winged thunderbolt; KΛΛΛIKΛHC below. Good VF, old cabinet toning. Extremely rare for magistrate, the second known without additional symbol on reverse.

The analysis of the 1996 Myndos hoard by B. Zabel and A.R. Meadows (CH IX, pp. 244–52) revealed three groups of issues, the first two of which included magistrate names and an additional symbol on the reverse, while the last group only had magistrate names. Kallikles is known to have struck hemidrachms in two issues, one with a cornucopia symbol, and one with no additional symbol. Of the former, there are approximately 13 coins known, all from a hoard in 1985 (CH VIII, 481). His second issue, without symbol, is apparently known only from a single specimen in a hoard found in 1987 (CH VIII, 495), which was struck from the same reverse die as the present coin.