Advanced Search
Tetradrachm of Mende with ithyphallic ass
Greek
Late Archaic Period
510–480 B.C.
Mint: Macedonia, Mende
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
Diameter: 29 mm. Weight: 16.08 gm.
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number04.679
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsNumismatics – Coins
Catalogue Raisonné
Brett, Greek Coins (MFA), no. 0545.
DescriptionObverse: Ithyphallic ass walking to right, left foreleg bent; on rump a crow to left pecking at the animal.
At right, a bird standing right, wings closed.
Dotted ground line.
Inscription in Greek.
Border of dots (and test cut).
Reverse: Incuse square divided into alternately raised and sunk compartments of which five are incuse triangles.
At right, a bird standing right, wings closed.
Dotted ground line.
Inscription in Greek.
Border of dots (and test cut).
Reverse: Incuse square divided into alternately raised and sunk compartments of which five are incuse triangles.
ProvenanceFrom the Egyptian Delta Hoard, 1887 (Num. Chron., 1890, pl. i,4); by date unknown: Canon Greenwell Collection; July 1902: acquired from Canon Greenwell Collection by Edward Perry Warren; September 1904: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren