The Islands of the Aegaean Sea (Cyclades and Sporades)

[Wroth, B. M. C., Crete and Aegean Islands; Imhoof, Griechische Münzen (cited as G. M.);  Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, vol. i, chap. x.]

The earliest coins of the Cyclades and Sporades belong to the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., and are evidently modelled on the money of Aegina. All these insular coinages belong to an age that is anterior

The prevailing weight-standard of the earliest coins is the Aeginetic, the stater being a didrachm. At Melos, the most archaic coins are of Phoenician weight; at Delos—if the attribution be correct—we find a Euboïc didrachm. From the fourth century till circ. B.C. 200 the chief standards employed are the Rhodian or Ptolemaic, the Rhodian reduced, and the reduced Attic. From about B.C. 200 the silver currency was probably chiefly furnished by the new Athenian silver money and by the coins of Crete, &c. In many of the less important islands coinage does not begin till circ. B.C. 300, and in some cases consists entirely of bronze. In B.C. 308 Ptolemy liberated Andros from the Macedonian garrison, and, soon after, the Cyclades passed under the mild rule of the Ptolemies, who appear to have allowed them to retain a modified autonomy and the right of coining their own money.

Many extant specimens of the archaic coinages of the Islands and of Aegina come from finds in Melos (Borrell, N. C., vi. 134), from the great hoard of 760 pieces discovered in Thera (see Wroth, ‘The Santorin Find of 1821 in N. C., 1884, p. 269), and from a hoard discovered about 1890 (Greenwell, N. C., 1890, p. 13: see also Bröndsted’s Reisen, Paris, 1826 and 1830). These finds consisted of a great variety of specimens, the majority of which are doubtless of the Islands, though others, with more or less certainty, may be assigned to Western Asia Minor. The following have some claim to be regarded as early coinages of the Islands, judging by provenance and weight, but it should be observed that they furnish a great number of different types and may ultimately prove to be the coinages of some other parts of the Greek world.

Forepart of lion l. looking back. Rev. Rude incuse square, or sometimes star in inc. sq. Aeginetic stater. N. C., 1884, p. 272 f. Santorin find; a specimen found in Melos is inscribed on obv. ΟVΑ or VΑΟ (?): see N. C., l. c. and infra under Miletus; cf. Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, i. p. 1290, among ‘Uncertain of Asia Minor'.

Two dolphins swimming l. and r. Rev. Inc. sq. of several compartments. Aeginetic stater. N. C., 1884, p. 277; cf. Svoronos, cited by Imhoof, N. C., 1895, p. 273, sometimes assigned to Argos. Regling (Z. f. N., xxv. p. 39) preferably attributes them to Thera; cf. Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, i. p. 1323. (Cf. the Aeginetic stater with obv. Two dolphins, both swimming r. (Greenwell, N. C., 1890, p. 16); perhaps Carian (Regling, op. cit., p. 42).

Naked youth riding on dolphin. Rev. Inc. sq. Aeginetic drachm, 92 grs. See Head, B. M. C., Caria, p. lix; Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, i. p. 1274; Svoronos (Journ. int., 1900, p. 59) attributes it to Syros.

Frog or Toad. Rev. Rude inc. sq. Aeginetic stater, drachm, and obol. N. C., 1898, p. 120; Svoronos (Journ. Int., i. p. 205) attributes these coins to Seriphos; cf. Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, i. p. 1303.

Head of Satyr r. with pointed beard and pointed ear. Rev. Rude inc. sq. Phoenician stater, 211 grs. N. C., 1884, p. 280, Santorin find; Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, i. No. 1949, ‘Naxos'.

Boar's head r. Rev. Rude inc. sq. Phoenician stater, 223 grs.; also ½ stater, 64 grs. See N. C., 1884, p. 276 f., Santorin find.

Eagle flying r. Rev. Inc. sq. of several compartments. Phoenician stater, 219 grs. See Dressel, Z. f. N., xxii. p. 248, No. 63.

Bee. Rev. Inc. sq. divided diagonally. Phoenician ¼ stater, 53 grs. Rev. num., 1861, p. 419; Imhoof, G. M., p. 543, attributes it to ‘Anaphe ?'.

Two bunches of grapes. Rev. Inc. sq. of several compartments. R. N., 1861, p. 418. 157 grs. (broken; originally abt. 180 grs. ?). Babelon, op. cit., No. 1859.

Amorgos. The island of Amorgos, south-east of Naxos, contained on its western coast three cities,—Aegiale in the north, Minoa in the middle, and Arcesine in the south. Down perhaps to the latter part of the fourth century these towns, as is evident from the following coins and from inscriptions, formed a single political community, but afterwards they appear each as an independent state.

Aegiale, in Amorgos :

Imperial—(B. M. C., p. xlvii.) Domna, Caracalla. Inscr., ΕΓΙΑΛΕΩΝ. Demeter in quadriga holding torches; Dionysos standing; Hera and Apollo. Mag., Archon, Prytanis.

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Arcesine, in Amorgos :

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Minoa, in Amorgos :

Imperial—Ant. Pius to J. Paula and J. Maesa. Inscr., ΜΙΝΟΗΤΩΝ Cultus-statue of Hera (N. Z., 1891, p. 4); Apollo Kitharoedos. Mag., Archon.

On the coins of Amorgos see P. Lambros, Νομισματα της νησου ‘Αμοργου Athens, 1870, and P. Becker in Num. Zeit., ii. p. 349.

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Andros, the largest and most northerly of the Cyclades. The chief divinity of the island was Dionysos, within whose sanctuary was a fountain which ran with wine every year during the festival of the god (Paus. vi. 26). The coinage of certain attribution dates from circ. B.C. 308, when Andros was freed by Ptolemy from its Macedonian garrison. For descriptions of the coins see Paschales in Journ. Int., i. p. 299 f.

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Imhoof (Gr. M., p. 537) regards these as the earliest coins of Carthaea in Ceos, and the attribution to Andros can hardly be accepted as certain.

The bronze coins have usually heads of Dionysos, young or bearded, on the obverse, and on the reverse, Thyrsos, Amphora, or Kantharos. Inscr., ΑΝΔΡΙ.

Imperial—Hadrian to Geta. Inscr., ΑΝΔΡΙWΝ Dionysos; Simulacrum resembling Artemis of Ephesus. Also quasi-autonomous (some counter- marked with head of Trajan); types, Dionysos, Apollo Kitharoedos.

Ceos. In addition to the coins of the three cities of Ceos, viz. Carthaea, Coressia, and Iulis, there are bronze coins of the second and first centuries B.C., struck (probably at Iulis) in the name of the island (cf. Imhoof, Griech. M., p. 536).

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Bearded head, laur. (Aristaeos).	ΚΕΙ Forepart of dog encircled by rays (Seirios). Æ .7-.55
Youthful head, laur. (Apollo or Aris- taeos ?).	Similar type. Æ .5

‘With the island of Ceos, Aristaeos was very closely connected. At a time when it was suffering from drought and pestilence he appeared and

Carthaea, on the south-east coast of Ceos. The standard of its early coins, as elsewhere in the Aegaean Islands, is the Aeginetic.

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Coressia, in early times an independent city of Ceos, but in Strabo's day only the harbour of Iulis.

FIG. 255.

QΟ Sepia, beside which, dolphin. [G. M., pp. 538, 539; Babelon, Traité, Pl. LXI.]	Incuse square of ‘mill-sail’ pattern. AR Stater (Fig. 255), Dr., ½ Dr., Obol.
Dolphin, sometimes with Q or QΟ. [G. M., p. 539.]	Incuse square, on plain surface. AR ½ obol.
Dolphin, sometimes with Q.	K in incuse square [G. M., p. 539, 34 and 35]. AR wt. circ. 5 grs.

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Iulis stood on a height in the interior of Ceos and was the most important city of the island.

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Cimolos, a small island close to Melos.

Cythnos, between Ceos and Seriphos.

Delos. It would seem likely that during the early period of its independence, before the Persian Wars, Delos issued money of the same fabric and weight (Aeginetic) as that of Ceos, Paros, and other island- neighbours. No such pieces have, however, been identified. The coins inscribed Δ, type lyre, described below, though of Euboïc weight, have a plausible claim to be considered the earliest known issues of the island. From the later coins it is certain that the lyre was a distinctive Delian coin-type. The swan, and the palm-tree, also found on coins of the island, are well-known to have been sacred to Apollo. Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis under the shadow of a palm-tree, and Nikias the Athenian dedicated in the island a palm-tree of bronze (B. M. C., p. xlvi). Cf. also Macdonald, Coin Types, p. 62.

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From B.C. 478 down to circ. B.C. 308 (Pauly-Wissowa, ‘Delos,’ p. 2482) Delos was more or less under the control of Athens, and coinage probably ceased; but from circ. B.C. 308 down to circ. B.C. 87 there is an issue of silver and bronze. During the second and first centuries Delos was a trading centre of predominant importance.

Bronze coins, usually with obv. Head of Apollo, rev. ΑΘΕ Owl on amphora; Lyre; Tripod, &c., are found in Delos, and were probably the coinage of the Athenian Kleruchs in the island from B.C. 166 (Köhler, Mittheil. d. deutsch. arch. Inst. (Athens), vi. 238; Journ. int. num., 1900, p. 51). For other coins struck by the Athenians in Delos see Athens, supra, pp. 387 sqq.

Ios, north of Thera, asserted the possession of the burial-place of Homer, and claimed that his mother was a native of the island.

Imperial—Trajan—Commodus (Annali, 1833, p. 264, cf. p. 267); also quasi-autonomous. Inscr., ΙΗΤΩΝ. Types as on the pre-Imperial series.

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Melos. This important island, first colonized from Phoenicia, and at a later period Hellenized by Dorians, struck coins on the Phoenician standard, which must have survived in Melos from remote times. The type is at first a ewer, but this was afterwards, and permanently, super- seded by the pomegranate, μηλον (Doric μαλον), a ‘canting device’ or type parlant.

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In B.C. 416 the city of Melos was taken by the Athenians, and its male inhabitants put to the sword. A remnant of the population was restored by Lysander after the fall of Athens, and coinage recommenced circ. B.C. 400.

¹ For other Melian staters of the fifth century B.C. of the Phoenician standard, reading ΑΛΙCN, ΑΛΙ, ΜΑΛΙ, &c., Obv. Pomegranate; rev. Incuse sq. containing rings; Wheel; Square of eight triangles; Stellate flower; Three dolphins swimming round omphalos (?); Crescent; Ram’s head; Young male head in conical helmet, &c.; see Berl. Münzkab., No. 8 (this coin uninscribed), and Rev. Num. 1908, pp. 301 fr.

Æ with obv. Pomegranate, rev. Naked archer, Helmet, Pecten, Kan- tharos, &c.

Æ with obv. Pomegranate, rev. Kantharos, Amphora, Cornucopiae and pilei of Dioskuri, Athena, Lyre, &c.

Imperial—Commodus, ΕΠΙ ΑΡΧ · ΦΛ · ΕΠΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΟV within wreath (cf. C. I. G., No. 2427).

Also many quasi-autonomous Æ of Imperial times (Commodus, &c.). Sizes 1.05-.45. Inscr., ΜΗΛΙΩΝ. Obv. Head of Boule; Head of Athena; Pomegranate; Tyche (ΤVΧΗ) leaning on column holding child (Hunter Cat., ii. p. 207; cf. Imhoof, Gr. M., p. 547; cf. Melian relief, J. H. S., 1898, p. 60 f.). Rev. Wreath; Owl; Simulacrum of Athena with spear and shield; cf. Melian relief, Mittheil. deutsch. arch. Inst., xv. 249.

Mag. ΕΠΙ ΤΙ · ΠΑΝΚΛΕΟC ΤΟ Γ. Mark of Value, ΔΡΑΧΜΗ. Wt. 183 and 231 grs.

Myconos, a bare and rocky little island adjacent on the east to Delos. It was not altogether unfruitful, and its wine was of some note (Plin. N. H. xiv. 7, 75). Its coinage is described by Svoronos, Bull. corr. hell., xvii, p. 455 f.

All the coins are of bronze (sizes .7-.4) of the fourth century B.C. to first century B.C. Inscr., ΜΥ, ΜΥΚΟ, ΜΥΚΟΝΙWΝ. Obv. usually Head of bearded Dionysos in profile, or Head of youthful Dionysos, three-quarter to front: also Head of Demeter; Head of Poseidon (rev. Dolphin). Rev. usually Grapes and Corn-grain: also corn-stalk with two ears; Ivy-wreath. Imperial—Augustus. ΜVΚΟΝΙWΝ, Dionysos standing. A religious decree of Myconos of the first century B.C. (Michel, Recueil, No. 714) enumerates among its divinities Dionysos Ληνευς and Βακχευς, Demeter Χλοη and Poseidon.

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FIG. 256.

Kantharos, bound with ivy-wreath, and with a bunch of grapes hanging from each handle; above, an ivy-leaf.	Rough incuse square, quartered (Fig. 256). AR Stater 191 grs; also ½ Stater. [E. F. Weber Sale (1908) 2230, Pl. XXX.]
Id.	Id. AR Trihemiobol.

From B.C. 490, at first under the Persians and then under the Athenians, who settled five hundred Kleruchs in the island, Naxos struck no coins. The second series of Naxian coins begins after the fall of Athens B.C. 404.

At Naxos the Priest of Dionysos was the eponymous magistrate, and it is probably his name which appears on the coinage (C. I. G. 2265, l. 21).

Imperial—Ant. Pius, Sept. Severus, Domna, and Geta. ΝΑΞΙ, ΝΑΞΙΩΝ. The Three Charites; Krater; bust of Dionysos, with magi- strate’s name ЄΠΙ ΦΑΝ ΙΔΟC (Imhoof, Gr. u. röm. Münzkunde, p. 277).

Paros, a large and important island west of Naxos, famous for its fine marble quarries, which were the chief source of its wealth.

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FIG. 257.

Goat kneeling on one knee, with head reverted; beneath, dolphin.

Incuse square, divided into six trian- gular parts, some deeply indented (Fig. 257). AR Stater.

Paros was subject to Athens down to the end of the fifth century, and in B.C. 378 she joined the second Athenian alliance; but, apparently in B.C. 357, again separated herself from the Confederation, in conjunction with the Chians, with whom then and afterwards the Parians were in close relations (Bursian, Geog., ii. 486).

FIG. 258.

Head of Kore or Artemis (?), her hair bound thrice round with a ribbon (Fig. 258).	ΠΑΡΙ Goat standing or reclining. Magistrates, ΑΝΑΞΙΚ.., ΑΚΟΥ, ΑΡΙΣΤΗ, ΚΤΗΣΙ, ΠΕΙΣΗΝ, ΠΡΑ- ΞΟΣ, ΦΙΛΑΝ [Z. f. N., vii. p. 18]. AR Didr. 118 grs. and Æ .75
Veiled head of Demeter, crowned with corn. [B. M. Guide, Pl. LVI. 36.]	ΠΑΡΙ in ivy-wreath. AR Didr.
Same head, without veil.	„  Id. AR Dr.
Id. [B. M. C., Pl. XXVI. 8.]	„  Id. Magistrates, ΕΥ—ΚΤΗ, Ε— ΑΚΟΥ, Ε—ΚΛΕΟ, ΑΝΤΙΛ, ΘΟΥΡΙ, ΧΑΙΡΙ. AR Dr. 58 grs.
Head of young Dionysos, ivy-crowned. [B. M. Guide, Pl. LVI. 35.]	ΠΑΡlΩΝ Demeter seated on corn- measure, holding corn and sceptre. Magistrates, ΑΡΙΣΤΟΔΗΜ[ΟΣ], ΣΙΛΗΝΟΣ. AR Tetradr. 240 grs.
Id. [Z. f. N., xxi. 262.]	ΠΑΡΙΩΝ The poet Archilochus seated playing cithara. Mags., ΠΕΙΣΙΒ, ΑΝΑΞΙΚ. AR Tetradr. 239 grs.

Also Æ, some apparently of first century B.C. Obv. Head of Demeter, rev. ΠΑΡΙ Goat standing or reclining. Obv. Female head in stephane, rev. ΠΑΡΙ Cornucopiae.

The chief cultus of Paros was that of Demeter Thesmophoros (Pauly- Wissowa, ‘Demeter,’ p. 2722 f.). Imperial—M. Aurelius and Faustina, jun. Inscr., ΠΑΡΙΩΝ Bust of Athena. The three Charites.

Pholegandros, between Melos and Sicinos, said to pave been founded by Pholegandros, a son of Minos.

Imperial—M. Aurelius. ΦΟΛΕΚΑΝΔΡΙΩΝ Bust of Athena (Hunter Cat., ii. p. 210, Pl. XLIV. 1).

Seriphos, between Cythnos and Siphnos, the home of Perseus and his mother Danaë. Its coin-types all refer to the legend of that hero (cf. Paus. ii. 18; Strabo x. 487). For the archaic coins, type Frog, some- times attributed to this island, see p. 480, supra, ‘Uncertain.’

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Sicinos, between Pholegandros and Ios.

Siphnos, south-east of Seriphos, famous in ancient times for its gold and silver mines, a tenth of the produce of which the Siphnians dedicated in their own treasury at Delphi (Paus. x. 11. 2).

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The following (cf. also Babelon, Traité, pt. 2, i. p. 1307 f.) are archaic coins of the period during which the mines continued to be a source of immense wealth to the island.

FIG. 259.

Eagle flying. (Fig. 259.)

Incuse square, divided into triangular compartments, of which some are deeply indented. AR Stater and ½ Drachm.

The gods chiefly worshipped at Siphnos were Zeus ‘Επιβηνιος, Apollo ‘Εναγρος, and Artemis ‘Εκβατηρια (Hesych. S. v.). Imperial—Gordian III Inscr., CΙΦΝΙWΝ. Athena standing. Also quasi-autonomous Æ obv. Head of Athena or Roma, rev. Eagle.

Syros. This island was situate nearly in the centre of the circle formed by the Cyclades. Of its history we know very little.

Imperial—Domitian to Sept. Severus. Inscr., CΥΡΙΩΝ, CΥΡΙ ΚΑΒΙΡΩΝ, ΕΙCΙC CΥΡΙΩΝ, ΕΡΜΗC CΥΡΙΩΝ. Types—Heads of the Kabeiri with an ear of corn between them, and a Bee and a Star beneath. Bust or full-length figure of. Isis. Hermes, standing. On Æ of Sept. Severus, ΑCCΑ ΗΜ Υ(συ) = 1½ Assaria (Imhoof, G. M., p. 487).

Tenos, separated from the southern point of Andros by a channel one mile in breadth, was famous chiefly for its magnificent temple of Poseidon, much frequented by the people of the surrounding islands (Strab. x. 747).

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FIG. 260.

On the bronze coins, which range in date from the fourth century to the second century, the following are the most frequent types: Head of Zeus Ammon, bearded or young Head of Poseidon, laureate. Dionysos, standing with thyrsos before altar. Rev., ΤΗ, ΤΗΝΙΩΝ. Grapes. Poseidon standing with trident, around which a dolphin twines, or holding dolphin and trident, Rose in the field. Trident and dolphins, Rose in the field. (See B. M. C., Pls. XXVIII, XXIX.)

The Rose, as an accessory symbol, may indicate an alliance with Rhodes, which at this time exercised a predominant influence in the Aegaean Sea. From Boeckh, C. I. G., 2334, it appears that the Tenian silver money did not usually exchange at par with the Rhodian, although it was struck on the same standard, the ordinary rate of exchange being 105 Tenian drachms against 100 Rhodian. This agio was due, it can hardly be doubted, to the prestige which attached to Rhodes as a great commercial state. In actual weight the Tenian drachms are fully equivalent, if not superior, to the contemporary Rhodian issues. See Mommsen, Mon. Rom., i. p. 51.

Imperial—Sabina to Sept. Severus. Inscr., ΤΗΝΙΩΝ. Types: Poseidon standing; Dionysos standing.

Thera, the modern Santorin, west of Anaphe and south of Ios, is an island formed by a submarine Volcano, the edge of the crater of which. rises above the sea-level. It is said to have been first inhabited by Phoenicians, and to have been afterwards colonized from Sparta. It was the mother-city of Cyrene in Africa. Its archaic coinage is perhaps to be recognized in the seventh-century silver staters with two dolphins as type, described supra, p. 480, as ‘Uncertain‘.

Imperial—M. Aurelius to L. Verus. Inscr., ΘΗΡΑΙΩΝ or ΘΗΡΕΩΝ. Types: Apollo Kitharoedos; Naked archaic statue of Apollo radiate facing; Simulacrum or Term facing (B. M. C., Pl. XXIX. 17, 18).

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