Cilicia, Mallus AR stater c. 386-380 BC Tiribazus stater, Ahura-Mazda/Ba'al, ex-Zhuyuetang VF+

Cilicia, Mallus, Tiribazus, satrap under the Achaemenid Empire, AR stater c. 386-380 BC. Ahura Mazda holding wreath and lotus blossom right/Baal standing left with eagle and sceptre. 24 mm, 10.29 g.

Very fine, perfectly centered, the obverse from a somewhat worn die, superb image of Ahura-Mazda. Scarce and a choice example, comparable in quality to the Sunrise collection example which sold for $13,000 in 2015.

Although it is known that the Achaemenids followed a Mazdan religion, the first coinage to depict the supreme Zoroastrian deity Ahura-Mazda was this issue, struck under the Persian satrap Tiribazus in south-eastern Anatolia.

SNG Levante 147; SNG von Aulock 5712; Zhuyuetang 15 (this coin illustrated); CNG Triton XVIII, 51 = Sunrise 40 (same dies, hammer $13,000)

ex-Richard W.C. Kan collection (Hong Kong); ex-CNG 60, 22 May 2002, lot 866; ex-Gorny 32, 12-13 November 1985, lot 98

 

 

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