550-450 BC. EL Stater (16.06g, 22mm). Head of Athena left, wearing crested Attic helmet, base of crest decorated with zig-zag and pellet pattern; tunny fish left below / Quadripartite incuse square. Good VF. Carr coll.
Less than a dozen of these staters are known - most of which, including this one, have been struck from the same die and using the same punch. In addition, examples are known for the fractions one sixth, one twelfth and one twenty fourth of a stater with the hectes being the more abundant example of which at least 20 are known. Head in his 1887 tome, "Historia Nummorum" (figure 271) was an early reference to this stater. In describing another example of the staters, Roma summarise much of the collective wisdom of the historical significance of this type when they note the following:
"Worship of Athena in Kyzikos is attested in the Palatine Anthology which states that Kyzikos had the first sanctuary in Asia to Athena" (6.342.5-6). Although little more is said regarding any strong connections between the city and this goddess, her appearance on this coin clearly highlights her presence in the religious life of the city. Here the goddess is represented in the formulaic archaic portrait style for which Kyzikos is so well-known. Brett (in the Catalogue of Greek Coins, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1955, coin 1446) marks the similarity between the zigzag pattern on the base of the helmet crest on this coin type with that of sixth century Athenian coins (see plates 2-4 in Svoronos, Corpus of the Ancient Coins of Athens). "It is therefore possible that the depiction of Athena on this issue was directly influenced by her appearance on Athenian coins circulating in the sixth century. [Roma Auc. XV (5/4/2018) Lot 216].
"Worship of Athena in Kyzikos is attested in the Palatine Anthology which states that Kyzikos had the first sanctuary in Asia to Athena" (6.342.5-6). Although little more is said regarding any strong connections between the city and this goddess, her appearance on this coin clearly highlights her presence in the religious life of the city. Here the goddess is represented in the formulaic archaic portrait style for which Kyzikos is so well-known. Brett (in the Catalogue of Greek Coins, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1955, coin 1446) marks the similarity between the zigzag pattern on the base of the helmet crest on this coin type with that of sixth century Athenian coins (see plates 2-4 in Svoronos, Corpus of the Ancient Coins of Athens). "It is therefore possible that the depiction of Athena on this issue was directly influenced by her appearance on Athenian coins circulating in the sixth century. [Roma Auc. XV (5/4/2018) Lot 216].