| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 29 | Auction date: 24 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 890 Price realized: 850 CHF (Approx. 965 USD / 892 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: CILICIA. Mallos. Circa 385-375 BC. Stater (Silver, 20 mm, 10.22 g, 3 h). Herakles kneeling to left, strangling the Nemean lion; below, club. Rev. MA[Λ] Laureate and bearded head (of Herakles?) to left. Casabonne type 10. SNG Paris -. SNG Levante 154 (same dies). Very rare. Porous, otherwise, very fine. From an American collection, ex Naumann E-Auction 87, 1 March 2020, 208. Herakles is not normally associated with Mallos on the city's coins. Usually one sees solar deities and swans, Aphrodite and Hermes, and occasionally a Persian satrap. What is special about this coin is that it not only depicts the heroic demigod, but it also employs one of his most iconic representations, namely the slaying of the Nemean lion. After strangling the beast, which was said to be black as night, he wore its skin as a cloak that could not be pierced, thus protecting Heracles from all possible injuries. Interestingly, while the obverse shows Herakles as a youth without a beard, the reverse shows him in his more typical form, with a full beard and a laurel wreath. Starting price: 250 CHF |  |
