Silver Tetradrachm of Ainos (Aenus), 16.09 g.

Silver Tetradrachm of Ainos (Aenus), 16.09 g.

Aenus (Ainos), Thrace, Turkey

c. 467-465 BCE

Obverse: Head of Hermes wearing petasos, to right.

Reverse: Goat in incuse square; ΑΙΝΙ: of Ainos; in right field, kantharos.

Style/Period: Greek (Classical)

In mythology, Aeneus, son of the god Apollo and the nymph Stilbe, founded the Thracian city of Ainos. According to Kallimachos (Kallimachos, Diegesis, 7-8), the great carpenter Epeios, before constructing the Trojan horse, fashioned a statue of Hermes that was lost at sea and brought by the river god Scamander to Ainos. Some fishermen caught the statue and tried to use it for firewood but were unable to cut it or burn it. The fishermen then threw it back into the sea only to catch it again. Now realizing that the statue was divine, the fishermen built a shrine for it. Later, Apollo gave a sign that the statue should be brought into the city. It is for this reason that Hermes Perpheraios (Περφεραῖος possibly referring to a ritual called a περιφέρειν: meaning to carry around) became the patron deity of the city.
On the obverse of the coin is the profile head of Hermes wearing his characteristic petasos. The reverse is stamped with an incuse square containing a goat, which is a symbol of Hermes as the divine herdsman, and, at the bottom right, a kantharos, one of many different symbols that accompany the goat on these coins (see also 91.045, a later coin of Ainos with variations of these images).
Max Lavery, LU '17

Bibliography: J. M. F. May, Ainos, its history and coinage, 474-341 B.C. (Oxford 1950), 30-31, 272-274, pl. 1, no. 14.

Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased from Harlan J. Berk, Chicago, IL

2001.082

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

Greek, Hermes, petasos, goat, Aenus, Ainos, Thrace, Turkey