Moesia - Istros Dioscuri - Museum Gallery

April 2024

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Istros was a Milesian colony that issued a large quantity of silver coinage, and was an important commercial center (400-350 B.C.).
AR Stater. OB: Two young male heads facing, side by side, one upright, the other inverted. Rx: Sea-eagle stg.l. on dolphin l., which it attacks with its beak (see Sinope on the Black Sea). There are various monograms below the dolphin, here it is 'ΔI'.This unusual obverse type has been interpreted as representing the Dioskouroi, the rising/setting sun, or the two branches of the Danube river (Ister). Greek letters ΙΣΤΡΙΗ above [Istros].
Sear lists these as S1669 and weighing c.5.75 gm.; this one is about the right diameter but weighs only 4.8 gm., this one does not have the 'A' under the tail of the sea eagle. I think it's a later issue from the 3rd-2nd Century (313 - 280 B.C.E). HGC 3.2# 1802, SNG-B BlSe# 247, SNG-B BlSe# 248
Castor and Pollux are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who raped Leda in the guise of a swan. [Wikipedia]