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Drachm: Forepart of Lion (obverse); Head of Aphrodite (reverse)

465–449 BCE
(Karia)
silver
Diameter: 1.6 cm (5/8 in.)
Weight: 6.156 g (0.22 oz)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1917.994
Location: not on view
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Did You Know?

The forepart of a lion on Knidian coins is thought to represent Apollo.

Description

The lion, king of the beasts and an animal associated with regal and heroic power, featured prominently on the coinage of many ancient Greek city-states. Artists placed the lion in a variety of poses, sometimes including the whole body, at other times the foreparts or just the head. Although it may once have roamed nearby, for many Greeks the lion was a monster nearly as exotic as the Chimaera, of which it formed a part, together with a goat head and snake-headed tail.
Drachm: Forepart of Lion (obverse); Head of Aphrodite (reverse)

Drachm: Forepart of Lion (obverse); Head of Aphrodite (reverse)

465–449 BCE

Greek, minted at Knidos (Karia)

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