Lampsakos (BC 394-330) AV Stater - Artabazos

Artabazos, Satrap of Daskylion, ca 356 BC. AV Stater (8.46g, 3h). Head of Artabazos left, wearing a Persian tiara tied with a diadem / Forepart of Pegasos right in shallow incuse. Good VF, a few light scratches. Extremely rare, only six examples recorded, four of which are in museum collections.

Traditionally, this stater has been assigned to the satrap Orontes, based on the similarity of its reverse to silver and bronze coins believed to have been struck by him at Lampsakos. Although Orontes did control portions of Mysia, he was in fact subordinate to his kinsman Artabazos who was the true satrap of the entire region of Daskylion, which encompassed Lampsakos at the time this coin was struck. When both Orontes and Artabazos rebelled against the Persian king Artaxerxes III in 357 BC, Artabazos secured Lampsakos through the agency of the hired Athenian mercenary, Chares. When Chares accomplished his mission, Artabazos richly rewarded him in coin, the likely occasion for striking this issue.