A guide to the principal gold and silver coins of the ancients ...

. as
B.C. 700-480. 11
. the wheel is of Chalcis. The tetradrachm, No. 25,
probably dates from the time when the Pisistratidas were
exiles in Euboea.
Plate 6. 26. Athens (?). JR. Obv. Owl to left. 2iev. Incuse square, diagonally
divided. Wt. 124 grs.
27. Athens. JR. C6u. Head of Athena. i2ei?. A0E. Owl and olive
branch in incuse square. Wt. 264'8 grs.
28. Athens. JR. Similar. Wt. 257 grs.
These two tetradrachms are fine examples of the archaic
style of art in Hellas. It is probable that they are not
much later than the time of Solon, or, in other words,
of about the middle of the sixth century b.c. At this
remote period Athens seems to have been one of the few
cities which made use of double dies (reverse as well as
obverse) for the coinage.
29. ^gma. JR, Obv. Sea-tortoise. Bev. Incuse square, divided into
eight compartments. Wt. 192 grs.
Phidon, king of Argos (8th cent. B.C.), is said to have
been the first to introduce weights and measures into
European Greece, and iEgina was the first town in
Europe to strike coins. It is probable that the ^ginetic
standard is that which was introduced by Phidon.
30. Corinth. JR. Obv. Pegasus prancing; beneath, koppa. Hev
Incuse square, divided into eight triangular compartments. Wt.
128-3 grs.
This is the earliest coinage of Corinth. It may date
from the time of Periander, b.c. 625-585.
31. Corinth. JR. Obv. Pegasus standing; beneath, koppa. Hev.
Incuse of peculiar form, resembling the so-called '' swastica
pattern. Wt. 131-3 grs.
These thin flat coins of Corinth are also of a very early
period, though later than the preceding.
32. Crete. Cnossus. JR. Obv. The Minotaur, in the shape of a man
with the head of a bull, kneeling on one knee and holding a stone
in his hand. Hev. Labyrinth of " swastica " pattern, the four
corners consisting of deep incuse squares. Wt. 184-8 grs.
This is an early representation of the famous labyrinth
built by Daedalus, the home of the Minotaur.
"