Cypriot Paphos, king Aristo... silver silos coin.: Cypro Classical (c 460 or 410 BC ?)

Silver Siglos coin from Paphos, issued by king Ari[…] (or Aristo[...], late-5th century BC.

Silver Siglos coin from Paphos, issued by king Aristo[...], mid-5th century BC.

Bull standing to left, winged solar disk above; Cypriot letters below in retrograde “a-.-. (indistinct) [ankh in front?].  On reverse: Eagle flying to left within incuse square.  Weight 11.26g,  22mm, 7h." 

Although King Evelthon of Salamis was the first to mint coins in Cyprus, by the start of the Classical period, most of the other Kingdoms of Cyprus had issued coins, following his lead.  Coins have been attributed with certainty to the kings of Salamis, Paphos, Kition, Amathous, Marion, Lapethos, Soloi, and probably Kourion, while unidentified ones may have come from other kingdoms.  The earliest coins minted by Paphos were from the end of the 6^th century BC.  Aristo… and Onasi (probably 9^th and 10^th kings to issue Paphian coins) used the same design

All the kingdoms used the Babylonian/Lydian weights and a Siglos (Persian name for a Stater) was always just over 11gm.  The Paphos coins with an eagle’s head are earlier, as are those with a standing eagle (this sequence was reassigned recently).

 The winged solar disc may show influence from Egypt, as does the ankh.  The Cypriot writing was syllabic (a letter represented a syllable, not a single sound) and was derived from Cretan Linear A (as was the Mycenaean Linear B).  In the 4^th century BC Cyprus changed to using the Greek alphabet (except Kition (Larnaca) which for a while used the Phoenician characters).  Before that the ancient script was used to write Greek and ancient Eteo Cypriot which was a completely different language which has yet to be translated.

Size: 2.2mm. 11.26gm

BMC 40 (same rev. die); (Traité 1312.) Evangeline Markou, Kyproscharacter website.

(From the collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria, collected 1960s-1990s (also Salamis Siglos))

(Acquired Roma Numismatics auction XVIII lot 662, 29th September 2019)