#lebedos

VERY RARE, Ancient Greek Cities Of Ionia, Lebedos Bronze Coin, Circa 350 BCE, Cow With Calf And Ship Prow With Akrostolion, Numismatics

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Dimensions, Diameter 9 mm, All measurements are approximate. Sold As Pictured. Provenance, Private Collector, Denmark, Acquired By tc&tc Private Collector in NYC 2026.

Ancient Greek Cities Of Ionia, West Asia Minor, Lebedos, Standard Circulation AE Coin, Circa 350 To 300 BCE. Composition, Bronze. Shape Round But Irregular. Hammered. Obverse With Cow Standing To The Left With Calf Below. Reverse With Ship Nao Prow With Akrostolion Oriented To The Left, Script In Greek With Lettering LEBE. References, Imhoof-Blumer in SNR 19, 108.

// Ancient Numismatics And Collectibles, Ancient Mediterranean History, Iron Age Coinages, Greece, Italy, Antique Bronze Coins, Classic European Antiquities, Small Coins.

// Lebedos Is A Very Interested Polys On Ancient History. According To Pausanias, The Town Was Inhabited By Carians When The Ionian Greeks Immigrated There Under The Guidance Of Andraemon, A Son Of Codrus. Strabo, However, States That It Was Colonized By Andropompus And That It Previously Bore The Name Of Artis In Lydia. Velleius Paterculus Wrote That Greeks From Athens Established The City As Well As Other Cities In Ionia. Lebedos Became A Flourishing City Thanks To Its Commerce, And Was Famous For Its Mineral Springs, But It Was One Of The Smaller Cities Of The Ionian League, Handicapped By The Limited Space Of Its Hinterland And A Comparatively Unsuitable Port.

Stephanophoric type tetradrachm from Lebedos, Ionia by Pyrtanis the magistrate, c. 160-140 BC

This coin shows the head of Athena facing to right, wearing a crested Attic helmet. On the reverse is ΛEBEΔIΩN with an owl standing facing on a club, between two cornucopiae, ΠPYT-ANIΣ below, all within a wreath.

Lebedos was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League and was located on and around the modern Kısık Peninsula in Turkey. According to Pausanias, the town was inhabited by Carians when the Ionian Greeks immigrated there under the guidance of Andræmon, a son of Codrus. Strabo, however, states that it was colonized by Andropompus and that it previously bore the name of Artis in Lydia. Lebedos became a flourishing city thanks to its commerce, and was famous for its mineral springs. But it was one of the smaller cities of the Ionian League, handicapped by the limited space of its hinterland and a comparatively unsuitable port.

In the Hellenistic age, around 304 BC, Antigonus I Monophthalmus tried to join the city with Teos; however, this operation was incomplete and eventually annulled by Lysimachus, who moved its population to Ephesus in 292 BC.

Under Roman rule, it flourished anew, becoming the meeting place of the actors of all Ionia when these were temporarily exiled from Teos, and festivals were celebrated in honour of Dionysus.