Macedon, Acanthus "Bull" AR Tetrobol 5th-4th Century BC

Description: Macedon, Acanthus "Bull" AR (Silver) Tetrobol 5th-4th Century BC - NGC Choice XF! 5/5 Strike, 3/5 Surface!Forepart of a bull left, head reverted; / Quadripartite incuse square. Very Rare in this Condition! Acanthus (or Akanthos) was an ancient city in Macedonia, Greece, located on the Athos peninsula. The city earned its name from the thorny bush with ornate leaves found abundantly in the area. The main use of the plant by the Greeks (and later, the Romans) was ornamental. Carvings depicting acanthus leaves can be found on columns dating back to at least to mid 5th century BC. This coin was minted in Acanthus sometime in 5th to 4th century BC. The obverse is a portrayal of bull pointed forward, its head turned backwards to its right, kneeling, with the front legs folded to its left. The design is a marvelous employment of space filling the flan, leaving just enough room for a “PE” mint mark above the bull’s head. Like the shallow incuse grid on the verso, the exact meaning of the mark remains unknown. This kneeling bull design is widely interpreted as portraying a sacrifice. Many ancient cultures sacrificed these animals for worship (and presumably also for food). The Greeks were no different: bulls had many associations with gods such as Hera and Dionysus, and, of course, there was also the famous Cretan Bull that grappled with Hercules, and later Theseus. No wonder the bull was a popular design on ancient Greek coinage. Ancient communities commonly carried out bull (and other animal) sacrifices. These religious, social, and culinary events were also opportunities for trade, and it has even been proposed that striking of coins was linked to such gatherings. Perhaps, in this case, the kneeling bull design was meant to commemorate the doomed beast. Acanthus, Ancient Greece Macedon History:Akanthos (Ancient Greek: Ἄκανθος; Latin: Acanthus) was an ancient Greek city on the Athos peninsula, on the narrow neck of land between the sacred mountain and the mainland, to the northwest of the Xerxes Canal. It was founded in the 7th century BCE as a colony of Andros, itself a colony of Chalcis in Euboea. Chalcidice was multi-cultural. The archaeology of the region suggests that some Hellenes were already there. The site is on the north-east side of Akti, on the most eastern peninsula of Chalcidice. Its growth during the Archaic period is reflected by the wide circulation of its currency, first minted around 530 BCE with the distinctive emblem of a lion killing a bull—perhaps linked to Herodotus’s account (vii. 125) that on the march of Xerxes from Acanthus to Therma, lions seized the camels which carried the provisions—at least 92 different types of coins have been found. Its economic resources emanated from the mining and wood from the nearby forests, but also through agricultural and vegetable goods that were transported through the sizable harbor.The first historical reference, in Thuycidides, from mid-5th century BC, connects the city with the Persian Wars, during which the townsfolk officially welcomed the Persians and willingly helped with the digging of the canal for Xerxes, 480 BC, for which Xerxes richly rewarded them. They declared one of his relatives who died in the area, named Artahei, a hero, and willingly took part in the expedition against Greece. Classical periodAfter the Persian wars Acanthus became a member of the Athenian Alliance, paying tribute of three talents. In 424 BCE, after a short siege and oratory by Brasidas, the city was convinced to ally itself with the Spartans, although Thucydides remarks the greater likelihood that it was the threat to destroy their profitable vineyards, rather than Brasidas's rhetoric, that truly moved the Acanthians. In the initial phase of the establishment of the Chalcidice League, it was mainly smaller towns and cities in Macedonia that were enrolled. Only when it was firmly established was an offer made to Acanthus. When this was refuse a second offer was made but with the threat that force would be used should Acanthus refuse to join the federation.[28] The townsfolk refused to join it, in part due to the old quarrel with the Chalcidians. Under threat from the Chalcidians, Acanthus called in Sparta's help, which came in 382 BC when the Spartans and Acanthians captured and destroyed Olynthos and the alliance, at least temporarily. Acanthus's staying-out of the alliance meant that in 350 BC, when it was conquered by Philip II of Macedon, it was not destroyed. Later it was incorporated to the region of Ouranoupolis, a new city that was founded by Alexarchos (Cassander's brother), in the isthmus, between the Strymoinan and the Singitic gulfs. The ancient city extended along a ridge comprising three hills bordering the south-east of modern Ierissos about 0.6 km (2,000 ft) from it. The ridge dominates the landscape. It is terminated on the north by the coastal road (Vasileos Konstantinou) and the beach between Ierissos and its harbor. The modern city is about equal in size to the ancient site, which is now partially wooded. Remains of an 8 m (26 ft) high circuit wall, a citadel, and Hellenistic buildings are visible embedded in the terrain, along with a deserted Byzantine church and two post Byzantine churches. The name selected for the colony is a phytoname, the name of a plant. The plant would most likely be Acanthus mollis, which abounds on the Mediterranean rocky coasts. Pomponius Mela says that it grew on the coast between the River Strymon and Athos. The plant, a thorny, flowering perennial, was known for its medicinal powers. It is the model for the plant design used on Corinthian capitals. The prosperous and successful city in the course of time became a part of the Byzantine Empire. In the 6th century CE the empire declined due to devastation of its population by plague, starting about 541. The peninsula was abandoned by the Hellenes only to be gradually repopulated by Slavs. In the 9th century the Byzantines recovered and reoccupied the peninsula, bringing in Hellenes and Armenians from Asia Minor. They were protected in Roman-style fortified towns called kastra. One of these was Erissos, placed over the site of Akanthos. After it became the site of a Bishopric, Erissos was changed to Ierissos by analogy with Hieros, "sacred." There is an etymology for Erissos as follows. The Marble of Ladiava, an inscription from Ierissos, reports the presence of a large community of Roman merchants, 27 BCE–14 CE. They chose to call Akanthos, etymologically "spiny," Echinia, "hedgehog." In the course of time Echinia came to mean "sea urchin," which also is spiny. The Roman colony disappeared along with the Greek city in the 6th century. When the Byzantines returned they chose the Latin form of the word, Ericius, which became Erissos by palatalization of the "c." In 1430 Thessaloniki fell to Murad II, bringing Macedonia finally under the Ottoman Empire. Before then it had changed hands among the Ottomans, the Byzantines, and the Republic of Venice, since the late 14th century. The native population fleeing the city were pursued and brought back by the Turkish army. Subsequently, the city was augmented by the forced transplantation of Yuruk tribesmen from Anatolia, semi-nomads who kept sheep, practicing transhumance over the grasslands of Halkidiki, The region had been gradually deforested during the Byzantine era. The Ottoman rulers left Halkidiki in the hands of the monastic communities of Athos, whom they encouraged and allowed to rule. Please Check out Our Web Site : antebellumnumismatics. com where you can see many new purchases and other listings. Please reach out to us if you have any questions about any listings you see. *Combined Shipping Available ON ALL Items, Request an Invoice or we will send you one after one business day. Items over 16 oz. or $800 in value must be shipped Priority Mail. Payment on all items is expected within Five Business Days to ensure a timely delivery. Please contact us directly if you need more than Five Business Days to send payment. ALL Precious Metals tested with our own Sigma Metalytics Precious Metal Tester and guaranteed genuine. We Offer A 30-Day No-Questions-Asked Return Policy on Most* items to all our customers! Please message us if you have any questions about our items and we are happy to answer them, as returns can be an inconvenience to both parties. The only exception is when items are damaged, tampered with, or removed from holders. All Bullion or Silver Sales are final as market conditions are constantly changing. Please check out our other listings! We have auctions almost every week so make sure to follow us! Follow our owner on Instagram as well at... antebellum.numismatics ... to see things we buy and are passionate about. At Antebellum Numismatics LLC we try to offer a wide variety of items including graded and ungraded coins from modern to bust series, paper currency, obsolete and confederate currency, exonumia such as civil war and hard times tokens, world coins such as thalers and numismatic medals, and we are always listing interesting items as well as many rare key dates. And many other interesting items like shipwreck recovered coins and ancient coins. Feedback is crucial to us here on EBAY and we kindly ask you to contact us if there are any unforeseen issues before leaving negative feedback and we will be happy to resolve them with you. We pride ourselves on having outstanding customer service. Shipping is by USPS First Class Mail unless package is Fragile or Over $800. All packages over $800 will be sent priority mail in order to be fully insured. Our Insurance Provider is Ship&Insure Inc. All orders will be filled in one business day and shipped out either same business day or the following. International Shipping is through Ebay's Global Shipping Program by default, which may get expensive in some foreign countries. If items are shipped internationally it is the Buyer's Responsibility to pay any import duties or taxes. Coin grading is subjective and all coins can be interpreted differently, so we try to post very large, up close shots of each item we list. And remember to buy the coin and not the holder! Be sure to take a close look and come up with your own opinion! All ungraded coins we offer are authentic and genuine as we ONLY buy from reputable dealers and shows, if there are any discrepancies, we are happy to address them and always offer our 30-Day return policy to all our buyers. We are a family-owned small business and appreciate your business and feedback.

Price: 595 USD

Location: Harvest, Alabama

End Time: 2024-10-25T00:21:38.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.95 USD