Rhodes HELIOS /Rose. NGC Certified Didrachm Ancient Greek Silver Coin 340 BC

Description

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Ancient Greek Coinage
ISLANDS off CARIA, Rhodos
RHODES
Ca. 340-316 BC
Silver Didrachm 20mm, c. 6.5gm.
Obverse: Head of Helios facing, inclined slightly to right, hair parted in center and swept to either side.
Reverse: POΔION above Rose with single bud on stem to right, a bunch of grapes and E on lower left, all within an incuse square turned.
Helios (identified with Apollo) was adopted as the patron diety of Rhodes upon the city's
foundation in
407 BC, & became the nearly universal obverse type of Rhodian coinage over
the following four centuries. The rose was a pun on the city's name ~
Rose
, Rhodon in Greek
,
a common
practice in Greek coinage.
The Rhodians built the famous statue of Helios known as Colossus of Rhodes.
T
he Colossus,
one of the Ancient Wonders of the World was toppled in a mas
s
ive earthquake in 226 BC, &
its remains lay on the ground for over 800 years
(Strabo 14.2.5) before being sold as scrap following the Arab Conquest in 654
(Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio XX-XXI).
Ref. SNG Keckman 436-7; SNG von Aulock 2790; BMC 27, pl. XXXVI, 8; SNG Copenhagen 728.
NGC Certified Ancient and Graded Choice Fine.
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Images are not actual size ~ Please see description for actual measurements
.