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Stater 110th Olympiad
| Issuer | Olympia (Elis) |
|---|---|
| Year | 340 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 12.14 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Eagle with folded wings standing in three-quarter profile to the right, perched atop the severed head of a ram also facing right, rendered in bold relief. The bird's plumage is finely detailed, with layered feathers visible across the breast and wings, and powerful talons gripping the ram's head. The field is divided by the ethnic legend FAAIP (retrograde digamma: Ϝ-Α-Λ-Ε-Ι-Ω-Ν, abbreviated), with letters disposed around the eagle — Ϝ and Α to the upper left and right respectively, Α and Ρ to the lower left and right. The composition is bold and heraldic, emblematic of Zeus's sacred bird and the sanctuary at Olympia. |
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| Reverse lettering | Ϝ Α Α Ρ |
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| Additional information |
Elis held a peculiar monetary privilege in the ancient Greek world: coinage was struck not continuously, but in batches tied directly to the quadrennial Olympic Games cycle. Each issue commemorates a specific Olympiad, making this stater attributable to the games of 340 BC — the 110th Olympiad. The mint was effectively dormant between cycles, which kept overall output low and gives each series a discrete, almost archival character.
The number of major collection references this piece carries — Seltman, BCD, Jameson, Weber, Gulbenkian, Lockett, BMC — reflects how consistently it has passed through the great 20th-century sales.