mid 4th-late 3rd centuries BCE
AE Chalkous 11mm 1.1g
Head of Aphrodite to right, wearing stephane.
Rev. NI Dolphin right; above, grape bunch; below, trident left.
Ashton, Nisyros, Issue 2.ii. HGC 6, 1349. SNG Copenhagen 706
Many years ago, Poseidon cut off part of Kos and threw it on the giant Polybotes to keep him from escaping. So came to be Nysiros, or at least in legend.
What I find intriguing about Nysiros’ coinage is how similar it is to that of Myndos. Instead of Poseidon we have Aphrodite and the trident’s direction is reversed. Clearly one influenced the other. My suspicion is Myndos was the prototype, mainly because the coins of Nyriros are rarer. In fact, the seller of this coin originally listed it as Myndos, but when I realized the similarities I pored through all the coins of Myndos I found and sure enough there was this one, misattributed.
Nysiros was mentioned by Homer and supposedly the best ancient millstones came from here.
The island has its own volcano, which is currently active and has erupted four times in historical record and is considered dangerous. The island and town both look very pretty, and I’d like to visit it before it’s perhaps destroyed.