Archaeology Magazine - September 1954 - Cover3

subsequentwork by the French and by
the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus indicate that this is but the beginning and we can expect much more
material of qual or greater value from
this ancient capital of Cyprus.
Saul S. Weinberg
Universityof Missouri
Two Hoards óf Greek Coins
A Third CenturyHoard of Tetradrachms
from Gordion, by Dorothy Hannah
Cox. vi, 20 pages, 8 plates, 1 map. The
University Museum, University of
Pennsylvania,Philadelphia 1953 (Museum Monographs) $0.75
In 1951 a find of 114 silver pieces
was made at Gordion in Turkey. Of the
total, 102tetradrachms are posthumous
spread-flan Alexanders, issues of the
earlier Seleucid rulers, and coins of
Lysimachusof Thrace; the remaining
twelve pieces were struck by various
Macedonian,Bithynian and Pergamene
kings and by the mint of Perga.
Miss Cox has used the collectionsof
the American Numismatic Society in
cataloguingthe Alexander pieces from
Gordion, and the resulting attributions
represent a valuable addition to the
published record of the late mints.
Several barbarous imitations of Alexander types are included in the hoard;
the tentative identificationof these as
Galatian rather than Danubian copies
is of deep interest.
A burial date of ca. 210 b.c. for the
hoard, based on evidencefrom the site
and on the condition of dated Aradus
and AntiochusIII coins, has important
implications.The excellentpreservation
of two coins with Poseidon head obverse and seated Apollo reverse, previously assigned either to Antigonus
Gonatas or his successor Antigonus
Doson, indicates that the type continued into the latter's reign. Evidence
of wear also supports the attribution
of one Pergamene issue to Eumenes I
rather than to the second ruler of that
name. Two autonomous Perga coins,
generally dated in the second century
B.c., were in the hoard and, therefore,
belong in the late third century. Miss
Cox suggests 218 b.c. as a historically
justifiabledate for the opening of that
Pamphylian mint. The spread-flan
Alexanders of the Gordion deposit,
representing a wide range of mints,
must likewisebe regarded as third century coinages.Heretofore, it had been

assumed that most of these issues were
struck after the battle of Magnesia in
190B.c.,but Miss Cox feels that a large
scale re-introduction of the Alexander
type in Asia Minor probably began
some forty years earlier, ca. 229/8 B.c.
A Hoard of Silver Coins from Carystus,
by David M. Robinson. 62 pages, 6
plates. The American Numismatic Society, New York 1952 (Numismatic
Notes and Monographs No. 124)
$3.00
This hoard of ninety-two coins, said
to have been unearthed at ancient
Carystus, is important in view of the
amount of Euboean material made
available. Thirty-one examples of the
federal coinage of Euboea and fortyfive staters and drachms of Carystus
were found in association with tetradrachms of Athens, staters of Elis,
drachms and tetradrachms of the Alexander type (one with the name of
Seleucus I) and a tetradrachm of
Antiochus Hierax which dates the
burial of the hoard to ca. 230 B.c.
Dr. Robinson's chronological arrangement of the Euboean issues is his
fundamental contribution and its
validity can be adequately assayedonly
in relation to the exhaustive study of
Euboean coinage now being made by
Dr. William P. Wallace. Here we can
only note that the heavy reliance on
stylistic criteria and the deliberate disregard of relative wear are to some extent disconcerting.
With respect to the Alexander type
coins, there are errors which strikingly
illustrate the danger of mint identifications based solely on symbolsor monograms. For example No. 83 is attributed to Amphipolis "since the caduceus is a frequent symbolof that mint."
However, in Newell's publication of
the Demanhur Hoard (Numismatic
Notes and MonographsNo. 19), which
deals only with Alexander issues prior
to 318 B.c.,the caduceusis found as the
sole marking on the tetradrachms of
two other mints and in conjunction

with monograms on those of three
more. The obverse style of No. 83 is
quite alien to that of the Amphipolis
mint. On the basis of Newell's arrangement of the Alexander material it is to
be associated either with Pella or another northern Greek mint. More
serious is the definiteidentificationand
dating of No. 85 as a coin of Seleucus
I, mint of Seleucia305/4 B.c. Sincethe
Carystus Hoard specimen is broken
where Seleucus'name would have been
inscribed, it seems evident that the attribution is based on the rather common
monogram which appears in the left
field.This monogram,or a variety of it,
was used at Seleucia under Seleucus,
but it was also used elsewhere,and the
obversestyle of No. 85 is certainlylater
than that of the Seleucidpieces. Actually the issue belongs to Magnesia-onthe-Maeander,as is proved by a British
Museum coin struck from the same obverse die. The Magnesia type with a
similar monogram is published in Miss
Cox's Gordion Hoard (see above) and
there dated after ca. 240 B.c.If this dating is correct, the Carystus Alexander
is roughly contemporarywith the Antiochus Hierax tetradrachm which
serves to date the burial of the hoard.
Margaret Thompson
AmericanNumismatic Society
Ivory Carvings
Early ChristianIvories, by Joseph Natanson. 34 pages, 51 plates. Alec Tiranti, London 1953 7s.6d.
This slim, pocket-sÌ2edvolume is devoted to the art of the ivory in Early
Christian times. After the briefest survey of the problemsof style and iconography, Joseph Natanson considersfirst
the ivories of the fourth and fifth centuries in terms of pagan and Christian
ideas and the invasion of artistic ideas
from the East. In dealing with the
sixth century ivories,such as the Berlin
pyx, the Archangel Michael ivory and
the throne of Bishop Maximianus of
Ravenna, he develops his presentation
in terms of the flux of ideas which accompanied the formation of the art of
Byzantium and points out their importance for European mediaeval art. This
brief introduction with its excellent
plates serves as intended as a concise
chapter in the history of the art of
Early Christian times.
Homer L. Thomas
Missouri
University of
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Archaeology Magazine - September 1954

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September 1954