★ Very RARE, Extremely Fine Condition ! ★

CYPRUS. Salamis. Evagoras I, circa 411-374 BC. Stater. [ E u fa go ro ], (in Cypriot syllabic script) Head of bearded Herakles to right, wearing lion's skin headdress. Rev. Ba - si le fo se eu (in combined Cypriot and Greek letters) He-goat with long horns and beard seated right on dotted ground line. Cf. BMC 55 and BMFA 2144 (without the kerykeion on the reverse). Masson & Amandry Be. 4 = Kunstfreund 226 . A very rare variety. excellent centered style and very sharply struck.

Note: Evagoras I, the greatest king of Salamis, claimed descent from Teukros son of Telamon and half-brother of Ajax. Having failed to avenge his brother's death, Teukros was thus prevented from returning home from the Trojan war and supposedly settled in Salamis, becoming the mythical founder of the city. But Evagoras was born under the rule of the Phoenician usurpers, and according to Isokrates, was so possessed of "beauty... strength... manly courage, wisdom and justice" that "one of the princes, starting a conspiracy, slew the tyrant and attempted to arrest Evagoras, believing that he would not be able to retain the rule himself unless he should get him out of the way." First escaping to Soloi in Cilicia, then returning with a picked band of fifty men, Evagoras attacked the palace by night and established himself as ruler of the city.
The king produced a substantial issue of coinage in support of Athens and to further his ambitions for the domination of Cyprus. Indeed, with Athenian aid Evagoras succeeded in extending his rule over the greater part of the island, and even conquered several cities in Phoenicia, including Tyre. Yet when Athenian support was withdrawn under the terms of the Peace of Antalkidas, Evagoras continued to fight alone against the Persian Empire, which resulted in an invasion of the island that effectively reduced him to the status of a vassal king. In 374 he was assassinated by a eunuch for motives of private revenge, and was succeeded by his son, Nikokles.
The inscription on the reverse of this coin is written in a combination of Cypriot syllabic and Greek characters. Although Cypriots were Greeks and their language a dialect of Greek, their written language was recorded in an older and more difficult system, the Cypriot syllabary, which was ultimately derived from the Linear A script of the Minoans. Evagoras has been called a pioneer of the adoption of the Greek alphabet in Cyprus in place of the older Cypriot syllabary.

Condition:Extremely Fine

Weight: 10.75gr
Diameter: 20mm