Soloi (BC 385-350) Stater

385-350 BC. AR Stater (10.55g). Helmeted head of Athena right; helmet decorated with a griffin / ΣΟ-ΛΕ-ΩΝ, grape cluster on vine, within incuse square; A-B on either side. Attractively toned, good VF.

The reverse of this Soloi stater ranks among the most inventive of all Greek coinage. On the eareliest coins of Soloi the customary grape cluster was set into an incuse square as was the norm at most mints in the mid-5th century BC. Here we have a much later coin referencing the by-then-obsolete feature by placing the grape cluster in a shallow incuse surrounded by a raised field that is adorned with the ethnic and a vine leaf. To make this uncommon treatment all the more remarkable, the distinction between the raised outer shelf and the sunken square is bridged by a stem that joins the grape cluster to the vine leaf.