CARIA, Kaunos
AE12. 1.18g, 11.6mm
MINTED: CARIA, Kaunos, circa 350-300 BC
REF: SNG Cop 181; SNG von Aulock 2563
OBVERSE: Forepart of a bull right.
REVERSE: [K]-A, Sphinx seated right.
 
Provenance:
Ex Richard Plant Collection
Reverend Richard Plant (1928-2000) was a lifelong coin collector and the author of the books "Greek Coin Types and Their Identification", "A Numismatic Journey Through the Bible", and his most famous work, "Arabic Coins and How to Read Them", for which he won the Royal Numismatic Society's Lohkta Memorial Prize in 1975.
 
Notes:
Dark blackish-green patina; some pitting and earthen deposits.
 
Historical Notes:
Kaunos was a bustling Carian seaport situated on the southwestern coast of Anatolia that thrived on the trade of fish, figs, salt, and slaves.  From the 6th century BC, it and other city-states in the region were conquered by the Persian Empire.  It participated in the Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC) that failed, but it was liberated after Greek forces led by the Athenians defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC.  Kaunos came under Persian rule again in the early 4th century, where it remained until the destruction of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.  Its ruins today include an acropolis, theater, temples, and cliffside rock-cut tombs.