Nomos 37

THRACO-MACEDONIAN REGION. Uncertain mint. Circa 500-480 BC. Hekte (Silver, 12 mm, 2.25 g). On the left, moving to right, a spider using four of its arms and its jaws to attack a wasp, moving to left with its wings spread. Rev. Irregular incuse square. Apparently unknown and certainly unpublished. Seemingly unique, an extraordinary and iconographically exciting coin, with possibly the only known depiction of a spider on a Greek coin. Rough surfaces, otherwise, very fine.

From a Bavarian collection.

While written long ago, F. Imhoof-Blumer and O. Keller's classic volume, Tier und Pflanzenbilder auf Münzen und Gemmen des klassischen Altertumes, published in Leipzig in 1889, has a very instructive selection of the insects that appear on ancient coins and gems; but there are no spiders. No definite city can be suggested as this coin's mint, but the general area running from northwest Asia Minor on into the Thraco-Macedonian area seems right. In fact, given the variety of northern Greek issues with insects on them - though not spiders - Thrace might be the best bet. But what does the scene on the coin mean? A clear parallel can be found in the battles between lions and bulls we find on coins ranging from Akanthos down into Kilikia and beyond: they were an ancient Near Eastern symbol of power; but a spider battling a wasp? It is surely nothing to do with Arachne and must be a reference to a local myth long since lost.