Beschreibung:

Ionia, uncertain mint EL Trite. Circa 620-550 BC. Pegasos, with curved wing, walking to left / Two square punches side-by-side, with irregular surfaces, one slightly larger than the other. Weidauer 148; Babelon, Traité I, pl. 2, 25; W. Greenwell, 'On Some Rare Greek Coins', NC 1890, p. 28, pl. 3, 17; Boston 1761. 4.75g, 13mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare, and among the finest of very few known examples. This is the earliest appearance of Pegasos on a coin. Though the myth of Pegasos is very ancient indeed, the earliest reference we may find of the winged horse is in Hesiod's Theogeny, thought to have been composed in the late eighth or early seventh century, and the earliest portrayals are to be found on Corinthian pottery dating from the seventh century. This electrum trite bears what is perhaps the very earliest depiction of Pegasos on a coin, who otherwise starts to appear on electrum fractions of uncertain mints struck both the Milesian and Phokaic standards towards the beginning of the sixth century (see in particular Rosen 318 and Weidauer 143), and on the coinage of Kyzikos from about 600-550 (von Fritze 59). Pegasos is here shown with the characteristic curved wings of his depictions in the archaic period. In mainland Greece, the transition from curved to straight wings on earthenware appears to have started around the middle of the sixth century, and on coinage from the start of the fourth century, though curved wing depictions persisted in deliberately archaized forms until much later. In the east, the curved wing depiction of Pegasos as it is seen here remained the standard until at least the second century, due in part at least to the strong influence of Persian (and earlier) art forms wherein curved wing animals and gods were particularly prevalent.