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Æ16
| Issuer | Ioulis |
|---|---|
| Year | 325 BC - 275 BC |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Reverse description | Honey bee depicted facing upward in three-quarter dorsal view, with wings spread symmetrically to either side and segmented abdomen rendered with careful detail, a well-known civic emblem of Keos and its city of Ioulis. The inscription ΙΟΥ appears divided in the left field, identifying the issuing polis. The design fills the flan with characteristic Cycladic directness and economy of composition. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Ioulis was the principal city of Keos, the island that gave the ancient world the Simonides and Bacchylides — but its coinage is notable for a grimmer reason. Keos was subject to a Athenian decree, the so-called lex Keia, that allegedly required citizens over sixty to drink hemlock rather than consume scarce resources. Whether enforced or mythologized, the island's relationship with Athens was sufficiently fraught that its civic bronze issues reflect periods of interrupted autonomy throughout the fourth and third centuries.
SNG Copenhagen 657 remains the standard reference point for attribution; examples surface rarely enough that auction appearances still draw specialist attention.