weight 10,99gr. ; silver Ø 21mm.

obv. Herakles, wearing lion skin, in fighting stance right, holding
club overhead in right hand, bow extended before him in left hand
rev. Lion attacking stag crouching right; Phoenician legend l-azbal
above; all in dotted square within incuse square.

Azbaal (449-425 BC) is the son of Baalmelek I (479-449) to whom Xerxes entrusted the city of Kition at the end of the Persian Wars. Athens seizes part of Cyprus in 449 BC and Kimon, leader of the expedition, dies soon after. Azbaal recovers the territory of his father and is the first to take the title of king of Kition and Idalium, which he kept until his death, replaced by Baalmelek II his son (425-400 BC).

cf. NAC Auction 114, Lot 273 (in vf: CHF 7.000 + 21%)

cf. BMC pg.11-13, no.10-23 ; SNG Copenhagen 9-10 ;
Bank of Cyprus 5-6 ; Zapiti & Michaelidou 6 ; Tziambazis 17 ;
Babelon, Traité 1204 (Pl. CXXX, 19) ; Weber 7689 ;
Jameson 1623 ; SNG.Fitzwilliam 9141 ; SilCoinCy A1163 R
Testcut on the obverse. Usual crude strike. Attractive reverse.
vf

weight 10,88gr. ; silver Ø 20mm.

obv. Ram walking left, upon which an ankh symbol is superimposed
rev. Laurel branch with bud at top, and a leaf and fruit on each side;
anchor to left, ankh symbol to right; all in dotted square within incuse square

Struck from a heavily worn obverse die, which is standard for the issue; see H. Troxell and N.M. Waggoner, ″The Robert F. Kelley Bequest,″ MN 23 (1978), pp. 33–6, for an examination of this coinage. The obverse die was used to strike three different issues, all with different reverses. These were struck in succession, with the present type belonging to the third issue, when the ankh was engraved over the ram, and the obverse die was in a heavily worn state. The present variety, which adds subsidiary symbols to the fields on the reverse, is apparently unpublished.

The bull and the Ankh symbol are particularly seen in the Paphos coinage.
Therefore this is the most likely mint for this interesting coin type.

cf. NAC 114, Lot 114 (in about vf ; SFR 2.000 + 21%)

BMC - ; Babelon, Traité - ; Tziambazis – ;
Six, NC 1895, pl. VII, 17. ; SilCoinCy A1107 ;
Zapiti & Michaelidou 2 var. (no symbols in field on rev.) ;
Asyut pl. 32, N-O var. (same) ; SNG Copenhagen Supp. 625 ;
E.S.G. Robinson, ″Greek Coins Acquired by the British Museum,
1938-1948″ in NC 1948, 5 var. (same) RRR
Usual crude obverse strike, but very attractive reverse. Extremely rare.
vf

weight 9,55gr. ; silver Ø 22mm.

obv. Head of bearded Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress,
in front; e u va ko ro in Cypriot characters.
rev. Bearded goat lying right, above, grain of corn above,
in exergue EYA, around; ba si le vo se in Cypriot characters.

In the second half of the fifth century BC the Teucrid dynasty of Greek kings of Salamis was expelled from the city-kingdom and replaced by Phoenician rulers more obedient to the will of the Persian Great King. Among the exiled members of the dynasty was a youth named Evagoras, who desired to return to power one day. In 411 BC, Evagoras and 50 followers assembled at Soli in Cilicia and secretly crossed to Salamis and took control of the city-kingdom. Knowing that the Persians would eventually try to reassert their influence, Evagoras I tried to forestall the day of reckoning by supporting the Persian fleet against the Spartans at the battle of Knidos (394 BC). He also strengthened his position by forming alliances with Athens and the Egyptian pharaoh Achoris. Through these alliances he was able to expand his influence over the other city-kingdoms of Cyprus and even over parts of Cilicia and Phoenicia. The problematic situation could not go on forever and at last a vast Persian force invaded Cyprus in 382 BC, breaking up Evagoras′ larger Cypriot kingdom and placing him on the defensive. In the following year he was defeated at the naval battle of Kition and forced to escape to Salamis where he was besieged. Evagoras I was ultimately forced to sue for peace, but he was able to get relatively light terms by exploiting the rivalry of the Persian generals. He was praised by the Athenian orator Isocrates as a just Greek king, but came to an ignominious end, murdered by a palace eunuch. Although Heracles had never appeared on the royal coinage of Salamis previously, he is prominent on issues of Evagoras I.

The Greek culture hero, here his head shown wearing lion skin headdress, may perhaps be depicted here as a means of advertising the king′s Hellenic outlook and his desire to be a defender of Greek Cyprus from Persia. If Heracles is here intended as an indicator of Evagoras′ ″Greekness″ it is a little ironic that the weight standard used for the coin is that of the siglos (shekel).

cf. CNG.Auction 90, lot 654 (in xf- ;  $ 18.000 + 15%)

BMC 55 ; SNG.Copenhagen 47 ; Masson & Amandry II.B.a.1;
Tziambazis 113 ; Babelon, Traité II 1156 ; Jameson 2335 ;
Gillet 1170 ; ACGC 1083 ; SilCoinCy A1841 RR
Light traces of oxidation. Very rare.
f/vf

weight 3,21gr. ; Ø 17mm.

obv. Capricorn to right, star above
rev. Scorpion to left, star above

This cointype was formerly attributed to Commagene. Due to finds on
the island it is more likely that this cointype was struck on Cyprus.

BMC 4 (Commagene) ; Amandry, Julio-Claudien I, Group 6 ; Parks 7 ;
RPC.3916 & suppl. ; CNG., auction 81, lot.803 (in vf ; $ 1800 + 15%) RR
vf-/vf