GREEK. CILICIA, Tarsos. Tarkumuwa (Datames). Satrap of Cilicia and Cappadocia, 384-361/0 BC. Silver Stater (10.72g). Struck circa 375 BC. Baaltars seated right, torso facing, holding grain ear and grape bunch in extended right hand, cradling eagle-tipped sceptre in left arm; B'LTRZ (in Aramaic) to left, thymiaterion in background; all within crenellated wall / Satrap seated right, wearing Persian dress, testing arrow held in both hands; TRKMW (in Aramaic) to left, winged solar disk with volutes to upper right, bow to lower right. Casabonne Series 2; Moysey Issue 6, dies 1/- (unlisted reverse die); SNG France -; SNG Levante 86; Sunrise 52 (this coin). Lightly toned. Superb EF. This stater was struck under Tarkumuwa, better known by his Greek name Datames, one of the most capable Achaemenid commanders of the 4th century BC. Its types neatly fuse local and imperial messages: Baaltars of Tarsos, with his grain, grapes and thymiaterion, speaks of civic prosperity and sacred favour, while the satrap in Persian dress testing an arrow on the reverse captures aristocratic virtue and military readiness. With Aramaic naming both god and ruler, it is a concise and powerful piece of Persian statecraft seen through a Cilician lens. (P)

Estimate: AUD 3000