Lot 4234

Description

Peloponnesos, Sikyonia, Sikyon, (330/320-280's B.C.), silver hemidrachm, (2.68 g), obv. chimaera to left, **SI* below, on ground line with right foreleg raised high, rev. dove flying to left, (cf.S.2774, BCD 288.1 [LHS 96], BMC 124). Toned, nearly very fine.

The Chimaera's presence on the coinage may have ties to the Achaean cult of Bellerophon, slayer of the monster and to the Corinthian coin types derived from this myth. Corinth was the ancient enemy of Sikyon. The dove on the reverse was probably the animal of Aphrodite, whose worship was important at Sikyon.