Silver Obol of Argos, Argolis, Greece, 0.88 g.

Silver Obol of Argos, Argolis, Greece, 0.88 g.

Argos, Argolis, Greece

322-229 BCE

Obverse: Head of wolf facing right; ΣΙ above.

Reverse: In incuse square, large Α, with small to Γ to left and small Ρ to right: Argos abbreviated; club below.

Style/Period: Greek (ancient)

Argos, a city in the northern Peloponnesos, played an important role in early Greek legend and in the Classical period was famous for its sculptors. Argos may have issued coins from as early as the sixth century BCE, but it was not until after its expansion of c. 468 BCE that its major coinage begins.
The wolf is a frequent type on the smaller denominations of Argive coinage such as this obol, one of the smallest denominations in the collection (6 obols = 1 drachm). It is a symbol of Apollo Lykeios, Apollo the wolf-killer, who had long had a cult at Argos. His temple was located in the agora, the civic and market center of the city (Pausanias, Description of Greece 2, 19). On the reverse is the abbreviated name of the city, and beneath it a club, a reference to the preeminent Argive hero Herakles.
-- Rebecca H. Luhmann Levine, LU '93

Bibliography: B.V. Head, Historia Numorum (Oxford 1911) 437-439.

Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Ex Lockett collection; Edward Gans, 1959.

91.075

Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890

Greek, wolf, Argos, club, Argolis, Greece