Catalog
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| Issuer | Olympia (Elis) |
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| Year | 432 BC |
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| Diameter | 23 mm |
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| Obverse description | Eagle of Zeus standing to left on a hare or serpent, wings partially raised in a posture of dominance, rendered in bold high relief with finely engraved feather detail. The bird's powerful talons grip the prey firmly, conveying the sovereign authority of Zeus. The composition fills the broadly circular flan with confident archaic naturalism characteristic of Elean coinage of the fifth century BC. The field is plain and unlettered, the entire design framed by the natural edge of the hammered flan. |
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| Reverse description | Nike, the winged goddess of victory, depicted in the kneeling-running (knielauf) posture to left, her large feathered wings spread widely behind her. She holds a wreath or fillet in her outstretched hands, an unmistakable allusion to the Olympic games celebrated at Elis. The figure is rendered within a shallow incuse square, the drapery falling in fine archaic folds about her crouching form. The ethnic inscription FΑΛΕΙΟΝ (of the Eleans, in the digamma-retaining Elean dialect) appears in the field to the right, identifying the issuing authority. The overall style reflects the refined archaic-to-early-classical transition characteristic of Elean die-cutting circa 432 BC. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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