KYRENAICA. Kyrene. Ophellas (Ptolemaic Governor, first reign, circa 322-313 BC). GOLD Hemistater - Drachm. Chairios, magistrate.

Obv: XAIPIOΣ.
Horseman riding right, with petasos hanging from neck.
Rev: K - Y / P - A.
Silphion plant; cicada to lower left.

BMC 131; Boston MFA 1328; McClean 9943; Pozzi 3275; Weber 8438.

Rare

Founded in 631 B.C. by settlers from the island of Thera, Cyrene was soon one of the richest and most important Greek cities. The period from the end of the Battiadian dynasty to the rise of Alexander the Great was the city's golden age. It earned the nickname 'Athens of Africa', hosting important philosophers such as Aristippos, the poet Callimachos and the astronomer Eratosthenes. Silphium was a plant widely used in antiquity as a medicine, condiment and for perfumes. It is mentioned by Herodotus but also by naturalists such as Theophrastus and Pliny the Elder and was considered as valuable as gold and silver. Despite its popularity, however, silphium disappeared completely back in antiquity, probably due to the overcrowding and climatic changes North Africa underwent, combined with the very small habitat in which it grew, a narrow strip of land in Cyrenaica. When the plant began to become scarce, the Greeks and Romans tried to cultivate it, without success. Its collection in the wild was strictly regulated, and a thriving black market was dedicated to its trade. Nowadays no one knows what silphium looks like; the only records of this plant are offered by literature and coins like this one.

Condition: Good very fine.

Weight: 4.30 g.
Diameter: 14 mm.