KYRENAICA. Kyrene. in alliance with Euhesperides, circa 480-435 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 17.30 g, 1 h). [Ε - Υ] /Ε -Σ ( retrograde ) Silphium plant with two pairs of leaves and five umbels. Rev. ΚVΡΑ Head of Zeus-Ammon to right, bearded, with ram’s horn over his ear and with his hair bound in simple plaits; dotted border. Cf. BMC p. xlii, 60e and pl. VII, 19. Extremely rare, and of truly splendid early Classical style. A bright, attractive example, and with an obverse legend sufficiently clear to ensure its attribution as an alliance issue. Only paralleled by the badly corroded piece in Berlin, BMC 60e. Very sharply struck and lustrous. Traces of overstriking and with some flatness, otherwise, extremely fine.

Zeus’s head has a quiet elegance that is very impressive in its serene power. The cult of Ammon began in Egypt; the god seems to have been first assimilated with Zeus by the Greek colonists in Kyrene, and from there spread to Greece proper (he was particularly popular in Sparta). Alexander the Great claimed Zeus Ammon was his father and this story was particularly emphasized by his portrait with the horn of Ammon on the coinage of Lysimachos.