LOT 2646
Kings of Cappadocia, Hypaioros AE 17mm. Circa 250-187 BC.
Uncertain mint. Head to right, wearing bashlyk / ΥΠΑΙoΡo[...], Nike standing facing, head to left, holding long palm in extended right hand. Unrecorded ruler but cf. Roma Numismatics, E-81, 607 ('ΥΠΑΙ' legend on coin of Ariarathes) and HGC 9, 493b (similar reverse of issue of Antiochos III). Good Very Fine. Unpublished and unique; of great historical and numismatic importance.(5.00gr, 17mm, 11h.).
ProvenanceEx 'V' gentleman's collection, Switzerland.
From the property of a North London, UK, gentleman.
It is not rare when a coin can be the only evidence about the existence of a person or city from the past. On this particular coin, it is the inscription of YΠΑΙΟΡΟ that makes it difficult to attribute. No city or ruler is recorded with this name and the only ancillary evidence we have is its similarity to some other types.
First of all, the style of the leather helmet (called bashlyk, common for the Cappadocian bronzes) and the lack of the royal title, refer us to the king of Cappadocia, Ariaramnes. The Roma's example is the only other example who bears the abbreviated legend YΠΑΙ but on a coin of Ariarathes. On the other hand, the reverse type and style of legend resemble the bronze coins of Antiochos III struck in Southern Coele-Syria (SC 1100a; HGC 9, 493b).
It is not certain whether the name refers to a city or to a ruler. Bronze coins of Ariaramnes can have the name of the mint abbreviated (cf. Simonetta 9a&b), but it is considered unusual in this period to have a bronze coin with a full ethnic and the portrait of the ruler.
It is very likely that we are dealing with the name of a Cappadocian ruler who was active for a short period in the second half of the 3rd to the first part of the 2nd century and participated in the recovery of the outlying provinces of the Seleucid Empire from Antiochos III.
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Seleukid Empire, Seleukos I Nikator AR Tetradrachm. Second satrapy and kingship, 312-281 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Babylon I mint. Struck circa 311-300 BC. In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied beneath chin / ΒΑΣIΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus seated to left on high-backed throne, right leg drawn back, his feet resting on a low foot rest, holding long sceptre in his left hand and, in his right, eagle standing to right with closed wings; in left field, [MI above bee]; monogram or MHTP in wreath beneath throne. SC 82.2b; Price 3754; HGC 9, 10f. 16.93gr, 26mm, 8h.
Near Very Fine.
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. -
![Group of Four [4] AE Greek Coins.](https://timelineauctions.com/upload/images/items/small/224309-s.jpg)
Group of Four [4] AE Greek Coins. 2nd-1st century BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Various rulers and cities. 21.88gr total.
Very Fine.
Ex 'V' gentleman's collection, Switzerland. From the property of a North London, UK, gentleman. -
Seleukid Empire, Antiochos VIII Epiphanes (Grypos) AR Tetradrachm. 121/0-97/6 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Antioch mint; struck circa 109-96 BC. Diademed head of Antiochos to right within filleted border / ΒAΣΙΛEΩΣ ΑNTIOXOY EΠIΦANOYΣ, Zeus Nikephoros seated to left, holding sceptre; monogram of PE above A in outer left field, control mark beneath throne; all within wreath. SC 2309.2c. 16.06gr, 31mm, 12h.
Near Extremely Fine. Beautifully toned.
Acquired in 1995. From a private collection in Europe.
The Greeks loved to give nicknames to their kings, a custom that lasted until the late years of the Byzantine empire. An example of this is Antiochοs VIII Epiphanes, the so-called Grypos ('hook-nosed'), a fact confirmed in his iconography.
