★ Unique "Kalarita" Stater! ★

CYPRUS. Salamis. Nikodamos, circa 460-450 BC. Stater (Silver, 22.5 mm, 10.96 g, 12 h), "Kalarita" type. 𐠛𐠍𐠭𐠗 - 𐠩𐠵𐠐𐠪𐠞 ( = 'pa-si-le-wo-se //Ni-ko-da-mo' ), 'of the king Nikodamos', in retrograde Cypriot syllabics, starting on the top right, continuing to the middle left, then on the bottom right ) Ram recumbent to left. Rev. 𐠊-𐠭/𐠏-𐠥 ( = 'ri-la-ta-ka' ), in retrograde Cypriot syllabics, counter-clockwise from the bottom right) Ankh; within the circle, Cypriot syllabic letter 𐠛 ( = ni, the initial of Nikodamos ). Apparently unpublished. Cf. J. I. McGregor, The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, from the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries. University College London (PhD Thesis 1998, unpublished) 321 var. = Traité II, 1 948 (1/3rd stater). Unique. A fascinating coin of great interest. Some uncleaned deposits and encrustations, as found, otherwise, very fine.

From a Swiss collection, acquired from "a Lady" as part of an old family accumulation in 1990.

This coin is a part of an extremely limited series, which has a reverse legend that is atypical compared to the standard types of Nikodamos (as McGregor 321-324). In fact, this legend arrangement is only known from less than a dozen fractions, ranging from 1/3rd to 1/12th staters. The intriguing legend "Kalarita" caught the imagination of some of the most prominent numismatists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hoffmann and Deecke proposed that it was an ethnic associated with the area of the river Klyrios. Six, Hill and Babelon thought that it was the name of either a brother or co-ruler of Nikodamos, who was possibly named Lacharidas.

The reverse legends on the majority of Nikodamos's staters either bear the name of the king, ni-ko-da-mo for Nikodamos, or the name of the mint, se-la-mi-ni for Salamis, but in case of this coin, we have something quite different. The appearance of the Cypriot syllabic letter ni, the first letter of Nikodamos's name, in the center of the ankh, reminds us of the way it appears on most known examples of the type (as on Nomos 24, lot 240, where it is surrounded by the letters of the mint name se-la-mi-ni, Salamis). This makes it highly unlikely to be a personal name like Lacharidas; rather, it supports the probability that it is a mint name. However, the fact that, according to McGregor's study, the tritai with the "kalarita" reverse are die-linked to others bearing the mint name "selamini", suggests that the dies for this issue were made centrally and were then either subsequently sent out to the "kalarita" mint, or were actually struck in Salamis from silver supplied from Kalarita. Another, though somewhat far-fetched possibility, is that the term, Kala Rita, refers to a highly successful and locally famous courtesan who donated the bullion to make this rare issue.