Dyrrhachion
Circa 305-275 BCE
AR stater 21mm 10.57g 5h
Obv: cow standing left, looking back at suckling calf standing right below; monogram above.
Rev: double stellate pattern divided by line, all in double linear square border; ΔYP (P retrograde) and club around; all within linear circle border.
Paškvan-; Maier 34 var. (same); Meadows, CH (forthcoming) 193; SNG Copenhagen-425 var. (orientation of obv.); BMC-29 var. (same).
ex Classical Numismatic Group 2015
Dyrrhachion today is the second largest city in Albania, but it was originally called Epidamnos and was founded by Corinth and Korkyra in the 7th century BCE.
The double stellate pattern on these coins has been the subject of much debate. The real truth is we continue to have no idea, but that hasn’t stopped numerous numismatists from conjecturing. The following have been proposed.
– The garden of Alkinöos, the mythical king of Phaiakia, as described by Homer. It’s believed these gardens were at Korkyra, which colonized Dyrrhachion.
– Random strokes, along the lines of “this looks cool”
– Some religious floral arrangement belonging to a religious cult, most likely to Apollo Aristaios or Nomos
– Not Homer’s garden of Alkinöos, but a separate one at Dyrrhachion
More likely are the beliefs in the obverse, with a cow suckling a calf. These mirror the coinage of Karystos, which is believed to have settled Korkyra, the parent city of Dyrrhachion